Today we’d like to introduce you to Pooja Uberoi.
Hi Pooja, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I have always been ambitious as a child and a go-getter. I am huge on making plans, setting goals, and achieving them no matter what. After trying my hand at various professions such as Banking, Architecture, Customer services, and Sales I decided to follow my passion and chose Dance and there has been no looking back ever since.
I realized early in life both personally and professionally that working from a space of love and passion can make life very fulfilling and happy. Since then I have followed my heart and no matter how tough it was to follow this path I kept my mission, vision, and goals in mind and kept facing every challenge.
None of this was possible without the support of my family in India and my husband who has supported me and trusted me with every choice I wanted to make in life. I have never been disappointed with failures and always learned a lesson from them. In my next phase of life, I want to make sure I can give back to the community and add value to others through my dance and passions and create a better world for all to live in.
I truly believe in the term IKIGAI which combines the terms iki, meaning “alive” or “life,” and gai, meaning “benefit” or “worth.” When combined, these terms mean that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose, and that’s my Mantra for life and work
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not at all. All success starts from struggles and failure. As my mentor mentioned, Struggle is a sign of growth. It wasn’t easy for sure as some of my closest friends and family members doubted what I was doing and often even demeaned and discouraged me from following my passion. Every time this happened, I worked harder and let my work talk.
One of the greatest lessons I learned is that collaboration is key, and one should encourage others to discover their passion and mission. That is why I formed my company IKIGAI which revolves around the life mission to follow your passion and live by it.
My brand talks about creating, connecting, and celebrating life through art. I would like to be an example for many other women like myself who come from a country and a time when dancing was not considered mainstream or viable. If I can inspire and encourage even one person today and help them follow their passion, it would be a great win for me.
I have seen a lot of artists give up on their art and passion and it is not easy to be an artist, so I understand where they’re coming from. But I truly believe that it is meant to be hard and that’s why everybody cannot do it.
I wish and pray for a day when more people would encourage and support artists and donate generously, buy tickets and help small businesses because that is truly something that can help our children and future generations. I wish every child can be exposed to performing arts, imagination, and creativity and that is only possible if more artists are supported and encouraged by those who can afford to support them.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an artist and have been dancing ever since I was 3 year old. Over the years I trained professionally first as a Kathak student and later also with a Jazz company called The Danceworx Performing Arts Academy for 12 years and toured and performed in shows all over the world, worked as a teacher, and headed a dance school with 800 students under my direct supervision.
I also worked extensively as a show director and choreographer in Musical theatre and touring productions. From there I moved to Bollywood and assisted and worked with some choreographers in movies , TV shows and musicals.
The biggest part of my journey as an artist and dancer has been my work in choreography. Whether it was TV shows, movies, or live musicals, I have been using my life experiences to choreograph. I have been a very observant child and adult and extremely curious to listen to stories of courage and life lessons. This has shaped my art and choreography style.
5 years ago I started my company IKIGAI USA to further my vision as a director, choreographer, teacher and entrepreneur and also launched WEAR IKIGAI – my dance wear brand. I have since choreographed two bollywood musicals in New York and directed a musical. I host workshops for those who want to follow their passion and teach dance to adults and kids to become the best version of themselves and stay fit.
I have been a great believer in the quote – “If your mind can conceive and believe it, then you can achieve it” What sets me apart is my constant will to learn and be a student first. The day we think we know everything, we stop growing. I have followed my passion and purpose in life with great dignity.
Professionally I always believed hard work can beat talent. As the Bhagavad Gita mentions, “Follow your Karma and work towards it, don’t look for immediate results.” I am a fighter, and I am never afraid to start over. I am a big fan of Bollywood Musical theatre and am very good at direction and visualization and believe I can tell stories through my Bollywood choreography.
Bollywood dance choreography and teaching is my strength and I truly believe I can change bodies through movement and turn a good dancer into a great one if they are serious and work with me long enough. I am known to be a finisher and make sure I complete all projects within a certain time frame and in the best way possible. I am known for that and proud of it.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
To be an artist is to be a risk-taker, experimenting with possible failure, ugliness, and the feeling of loss, for the potential discovery of something completely new, amazing, unique, and original. I am a firm believer in taking risks even though I might not take them all of the time.
As an artist, we have the option to be vulnerable and re-create our work and risk our past works as many times as we want and we must use that freedom of expression and choice.
But in the arts, failure is often seen as a dirty word—no one wants to be responsible for a flop art choreography or show. But without taking a risk and pushing boundaries, art would remain stagnant, and the creative spirit would be wasted on our fears.
As artists, we also take risks when we share our art because of the fear of plagiarism but I am a firm believer in the quote – ” What is not shared is Lost”. Therefore art must be shared with others.
Personally, in my Career, one of the biggest risks I took was to leave a flourishing Career in Bollywood in Mumbai after 15 years to move to the USA and start all over again and I don’t regret it. It was very difficult initially and still is but I believe I am where I was meant to be.
Pricing:
- $35 for Drop-in Class adults in Miami and New York
- $110 for 4 classes adults
- $25 Kids Bollywood classes
- $250 for private Bollywood classes
- $1000 for corporate workshops
- Email for curated dance and entertainment, musical productions, IKIGAI motivational workshops and weddings
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ikigaiusa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ikigaiusa/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ikigaiusa
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/uberoipooja
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkubxBQrIWNm9ye8vMJW-Uw
Image Credits
@samreynoldsphotography and @picturesbyclarita
