‘Dance is the most honest form of communication’

On International Dance Day, dancers from across Delhi – each devoted to preserving and celebrating diverse dance forms – pose for us at Delhi’s iconic heritage sites. Through stories woven with rhythm and passion, they share how their art has given them a voice and charted a path for expressing emotions.
Kathak has taught me restraint, and that things take their own time to reach perfection: Shinjini Kulkarni

Kathak is one of the fundamental relationships I have made as a human being. It has taught me restraint — every time I felt I was not reaching up to the point of perfection, despite doing the same routine in riyaaz, I learnt that things take their own time. It has taught me how one has no control over what they think they’re most prepared for. All my emotions have been mirrored in my dance productions, I sometimes go back to older projects to understand how I felt or used to emote them.

I’ve realised that I can express some of the deepest emotions through Kathak, even before addressing or understanding them completely. It allows me to look at my own emotions from a third-person perspective.

Dance is a language through which I process & express: Ayana Mukherjee
For me, dance is no longer just movements – it’s the language through which I process, question, and express the world around me. Over the years, it has grown into my most honest form of communication, especially when words fall short. Whether I’m embodying mythological women whose stories have been forgotten, or choreographing moments, where a mother like Yashoda grieves for all the children lost in war, I find myself speaking truths through my body.

In every slow unfolding of a gesture, in every repeated attempt to perfect a movement, I’ve learned that mastery is not immediate – it’s earned over time, through showing up again and again. There are days when the body resists, or the expression feels out of reach, but Kuchipudi teaches me to stay with it. To breathe through the struggle.

The rootedness of Kuchipudi – both in tradition and in storytelling – keeps me connected to something larger than myself. Dance is how I remember, resist, and reimagine.
Ballet keeps me balanced: Mario Fernando Augilera
Dance allows artists to express emotions and ideas beyond the scope of words, utilising movement, space, and time as a language. I believe that the practice of ballet and teaching the dance form are very therapeutic. It keeps me balanced and centred, and without it, I would not be able to get through the week.

Dance is raw, honest language that allows us to express exactly how I feel: Team Hashtag
As artistes, we’re privileged to experience a deeper and wider range of emotions than others. These emotions naturally flow into our body and movement, allowing us to express what words often can’t. Dance has no barriers — it’s a raw, honest language where we can move freely and express exactly how we feel.