At just 20 years of age, I was given the most incredible opportunity; to complete a six month contract in India. This entailed working in Bollywood films, dancing in live shows and corporate events and gave me the opportunity to meet people from around the world.
I started dance training when I was three years old and over the years I have learnt jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, basic Bollywood and LA Style Salsa On-1. In year 11, I changed schools and went to The McDonald College, which is a Performing Arts High School. There I learnt that one can have a career in dance, and a viable one at that. The school’s philosophy was simple: in order to make art our future, we need to support it with education. Therefore, whilst enhancing our dance technique we also focused on our studies and channelled our energy towards completing our Higher School Certificate (HSC).

When I left High School, I was determined not to become one of those people who trained as a dancer but did nothing with it. So I started performing in children’s shows. In one of the shows, the sound man was so impressed with my positive and professional attitude, that he offered me an opportunity to be a singer in a three piece band that he was forming. Unfortunately, after eight months of tireless training, we decided that it wasn’t going to work out.

During that year, my dream of becoming a professional entertainer seemed to slip away. I became desperate and poured myself into anything that came my way. I thought that if I became a better singer, I would have an edge over the other girls when applying for a dance job, or maybe if I learnt burlesque, or learnt to salsa; maybe this, maybe that – all I knew is that I had to learn some extra skills. So on top of learning these, I drove myself crazy working four jobs and attending every single social event I physically could. Looking back now, I realise that my desperation for a professional contract made me overload myself with work, which helped me block my fears of never actually getting that first dance job.

This desperation led me to my first crossroad; am I fighting something I shouldn’t be? Regardless, I decided to give my love for dance one last shot. I auditioned at Ev and Bow Dance School and was accepted into their Full Time Course.

Physically conditioning my body was a challenging and emotional experience and I was still pressuring myself about getting a job. So I auditioned for a cover band called Frogs on Toast. After attending one week of rehearsals, fitted around my full time dance schedule, I was thrown onto the stage as a singer, actor and dancer. After two months of struggling with the pressures of doing a full time show, they mercifully fired me. In this time, the band and I realised that I didn’t have the time to attain the skills required for the show. None-the-less, I learnt that my passion for dance is very strong and that I have the guts to give it a go.

At the end of 2010, I graduated from Ev and Bow. On the Monday after I graduated, I contacted an agent who contracts entertainers for work on cruise ships. Only two hours before my call, my agent received an opportunity for dancers to work in India. She booked me in for an audition on Thursday, and a week later, I was on a plane, flying half-way across the world, feeling completely at peace knowing that this was meant to be.

In returning to Australia, I can feel how much I’ve changed in the past six months of experiencing some of the most life challenging situations. I have learnt that with patience, my heart’s deepest desires will come true. I learnt that things might not happen when I plan them to, but in pursuing my passions, my dreams will eventually realise themselves.

In living far from my family and away from my country, I learnt how much I value both. There were nights where I found it hard to sleep; longing for a cuddle from my Mum. I would dream about the wind rustling through the trees in my back yard, only to wake up, look out the window and realise that I was still in Mumbai, with a view of the slums and noisy traffic resounding through the room.

To me success is about growth; to grow as a person. I love challenging myself and my character which I feel makes me a more accepting person. Success is also about achieving a goal or dream. It’s that feeling of ‘Yes! All the training, planning and persistence were worth it’. In the past five years, I was very close to giving up. Whenever I thought I was failing, I would have minor breakdowns to my Mum.

Currently I am looking forward to a new contract and am doing the most I can to get one. At present, nothing has come through. It’s a little scary because I don’t always have the patience or the confidence I spoke of before, but I trust that everything will work out at the end. Until then, I need to prepare myself so that when that new contract arrives, I will be ready. I have many plans for the future. I see an entire entertainment industry just waiting to be injected with new energy. But for now I just want to travel and dance and when the being that is in charge of all this, be it God, Buddha, or Karma, is ready, I’ll be ready too.