Age Has No Bar! A Dancer's Dream on Popular T.V Competition Dance India Dance & Finding Your Passion at Any Age
Have you ever felt like it was too late to pursue your passion? Today’s woman dreamer, Sunita Malhotra, a mother of three, shares how she made her dreams as a classical dancer come true. Having her Arangetram at the age of 40 and competing on the widely renowned Dance India Dance competition at the age of 52, Sunita reminds us that age has no bounds. She writes, “Though all of the students were as young as the age of my kids, I had joined their group and started learning dance alongside them. I still remember once someone asked me how I felt learning dance as a grown up among little girls.” Enjoy this touching and inspiring story below!
1) Tell us about yourself? What got you interested in dance?
I was born in conservative middle class Punjabi family in Delhi, India. My mom was homemaker and my dad was working in a bank. While growing up in India, quite a few times I thought of learning to dance but I knew that my family would not approve of it. I kept my thoughts to myself and continued my education; during that time I continued to not share any of my thoughts of learning dance to my parents. I studied diligently and got my Master’s in Operational Research in 1980. While finishing my Masters, I had an arranged marriage. I came to USA with my husband after finishing my studies. I was living a wonderful life with my husband and became a mother of three handsome boys.
I had always enjoyed watching Bollywood movies and listening to Indian music and so the thought of learning dance was always at the back of my mind. I used to feel sad when I would see people performing dances at parties and I did not partake. My husband noticed this and asked me if I wanted to learn dance as well. While I had been busy taking care of three school-going kids, I never had any time to think about myself.
When I was around 35 years old, our family friend’s daughter began to learn Indian folk dance in the same town. As the girl was her teacher’s only student, she wanted someone to learn dance with her. To give her company, I decided to join her and started learning folk dances as well.
2) Tell us about your dance journey. What were the challenges when you prepared for your Arangetram?
I had watched some Indian classical dances performed by high school students in my town. I started loving Bharatanatyam performances the most. I loved their outfits, their facial expressions, their hand movements—almost everything about them. By then, I really wanted to learn dancing seriously. I had started taking lessons with Ranjani Saigal, who had just started her dance school and had only a few young students at the time. Though all of the students were as young as the age of my kids and new to Bharatanatyam, I had joined their group and started learning dance alongside them. I still remember once someone asked me how I felt learning dance as a grown up among little girls. My reply was that one is never too old when it comes to learning. In fact every step of the way I learnt a lot from the children in my class regardless of age. I performed in a group with them and had many solo performances too.
When I turned 40 and had learned Bharatanatyam for about 5 years, I decided to have my Arangetram which was not easy for a working mother of three boys - 15, 9 and 6 years old at the time. I remember I used to get up at 4:00 AM every morning to practice my dance for 2 to 3 hours before I sent my kids to school and again in the evening practiced for at least another 3 hours during the months preceding my Arangetram. At that time I was also working a job and taking our kids to after-school activities. It was busy to say the least! Finally, the day of my Arangetram came when I performed 10 dances with live musicians in front of the crowd of 350. I felt so happy and proud that with my dedication and hard work, I had managed to achieve my dream in May 2001.
3) Do you still do Indian classical dance? Tell us about your experience competing in North America Super Moms Dance India Dance Competition.
I never stopped learning classical dance after my Arangetram. I actually joined another dance guru, Neena Gulati who teaches other forms of classical dance, such as Odissi and Kuchipudi, to expand my repertoire. At the request of my friends and acquaintances, I had also started teaching Bollywood and folk dances to their children to perform at the cultural shows of many Indian organizations I have become involved in including United India Association of New England, Indian Association of Greater Boston, and Indian Association of Merrimack Valley. Outside of these events, I have also performed at fundraisers that support philanthropic causes.
More recently, I have been lucky to participate in a few dance competitions. In 2014, I had won Super Moms Competition in Gujar Association of New England. At the age of 54, my most challenging competition was North America Super Moms Dance India Dance, the biggest dance platform on Indian Television. This show promises to give a platform to those women who gave up their dream of becoming a dancer and settled for a career, family life and motherhood. Despite my age, I got selected and was invited for the audition which was held in New Jersey. The judges included Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, leading Bollywood dance choreographer Master Feroz Khan and Arya Dance Academy‘s founder Rupal Patel. The all-day shoot took place at Royal Alberts banquet hall in New Jersey, where a couple of well-known Indian-American names took to the stage, including comedian Rajiv Satyal, who hosted the show with humor and ease, and Monica Bassi, an actress, host and producer. International correspondent Rasha Goel spoke to the moms before they made their way to the stage to showcase their passion for dance. With much praise and love from the judges, 13 out of the 52 contestants were selected after much deliberation. I was one of the lucky 13. We all went to Mumbai and performed at the Maha Lakshmi Studio for our final competition. I was ecstatic that I not only made it to the final 13 but also went on to be the 2nd runner up in the competition.
WOW, What a moment that was when they announced my name as a 2nd runner up! I felt extremely fortunate and grateful.
4) As a Dreamcatchers platform we have to ask, what is your big dream?
I have been incredibly lucky that I, with the support of my loved ones, have been able to fulfill and continue to live my dream. Dance is my passion and I will always keep looking for more opportunities to push myself and perform anywhere I can regardless of my age.