Music and dance have been at the soul of mine and my family’s lives, ever since I was a toddler. I was wiggling to my dad’s records on wax long before I could walk and I was clapping along to my grandmother’s Bollywood songs before I could crawl. ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ was the first Bollywood movie I watched, and it gave me a burning desire to perform in the spotlight like the actresses on screen. Then I joined Honeys dance academy where I began to learn the true art of Bollywood dance. Although I was confident I had the moves, I didn’t have the expression. I then went onto to join an English stage school called step up in Woodford Essex where I learnt acting singing and dance. I was picked as one of three main performers to sing and dance at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Piccadilly as part of the Mardi Gras.

From dancing I retrieved a sense of worth that I didn’t get from academics. Soon realised I wanted to dance at a more professional level as I enjoyed entertaining an audience. I joined ThreeBee dance company where I trained in my performance skills, made lifelong friends and achieved things I didn’t think were possible. I was able to appear a lot on tv and with Threebee such as the advert for SKY’s ‘Got to dance’ with Davina McCall, and BBC 1’d drama Hustle. We also travelled abroad a lot for performances. I was lucky enough to be picked as part of the Britains got talent team in 2010. We even got to semi-finals!

I also achieved my diploma in the art of Kathak Dance training under Guruji Abhay Shankar Mishra. I believe dance is so enjoyable and allows people to let loose and express themselves in a fun way, as well as building confidence and keeping fit.

My fondest memories from my childhood involve dancing and singing at family gatherings, weddings and outings. There was always something about rhythm and music which lit a fire in my heart; perhaps it descends from my Punjabi heritage and the colourful culture which comes with that.

Growing up in Britain meant I was exposed to lots of other cultures and this widened my taste in music and the arts. I would clap my hands to Bollywood classics at home and reach for the stars at school while performing to S Club 7 (I was Tina, remember her?) songs – my love for dance was an eclectic one from an early age. I experienced bullying at school and I am so grateful for dancing because it was my outlet, my form of expression which allowed me to escape the negativity, develop my confidence and do something productive.

My parents’ divorce could have driven me into depression but instead, I channelled my energy into learning new dance styles and practicing my heart out. I picked up contemporary dance, belly dancing, hip hop and street, bhangra, Bollywood and even tap dancing. The art of performance saved me and from that point, it became crystal clear that I would be doing this forever. I got a chance to put my moves where my mouth is when I joined a dance group. We performed at weddings, corporate affairs, and even on TV channels including BBC1, ITV, Zee TV and Sony TV. A particular highlight for me was performing in a musical in the Ivory Coast, I just loved taking our talents overseas.

A life-changing moment arrived when I began learning Kathak under the guidance of Guru Ji, Shri Abhay Shankar Mishra – a leading figure in the field. I practiced in that class for 9 years, 3 times per week and took away discipline, determination, focus and self-awareness. These are the qualities I love to instil in my own classes today, while they took me almost a decade to discover, I am now blessed to be able to share them through BeBollywood.