Pirouette into the future

A moment from dance group Uproar’s act. Pics Courtesy/Meghna Bhalla

A dancer, singer and videographer walk into a pub. That's most likely how #WhereToGo - one vertical of On The Move, a festival for performing artists - will begin. Hosted by Kaleidoculture Magazine (KCM) and The Artist Inside You, #WhereToGo is a mixer for creatives and stakeholders across disciplines such as dance, theatre and music. Vidula Bhave, founder of Kaleidoculture Magazine, an online publication for Indian performing arts, tells us, "The moment we realise that we can't do much alone is when we come together as a community and really make things happen. That's what #WhereToGo is - a mixer and career fair - stands for. It's a gathering where people find other like-minded people and career opportunities, too."

(From left) Afia Modak, Dhiraj Bakshi, Vidula Bhave and Puneet Arora

Born from the intention of lending perspective and aim to artistic pursuits, Bhave continues, "The magazine's work, and the thought behind this event we developed with Puneet Arora from The Artist Inside You, is to make sure that dancers aren't just pursuing hobbies or arts education without a career direction in front of them. It's also for people who are so serious about their art, that they don't have to work in silos but within the industry."

Kaleidoculture Magazine works as an independent publication. The Mumbai-based founder shares, "We promoted Indian performing arts with a focus on how all artistes irrespective of their art form can exchange learnings." Sharing an example, she says, an actor's ability to develop a character can be useful to a dancer in their performance. Again, techniques that dancers use can help actors and singers with their movement on stage.

Rayska at a previous event by KCM

The event will include industry leaders such as Afia Modak and Dhiraj Bakshi from Split Sole Dance Academy, stakeholders like visual artiste Meghna Bhalla, videographer Sushant Kamble, and various dance studios and community centres which will offer scholarships, teacher training programmes, internships and job positions. The on-ground initiation will take place at the mixer within the relaxed environment of a pub.

And of course, as most festivals do these days, this one will have pop-up stalls of dance-related accessories and more. The 25-year-old tells us, "When it comes to dance, there's a lot that one can do instead of only relying on teaching and performance gigs. You can be a dance writer, an artist manager, or get into business development, production or events. This career fair will help open your options and opportunities." Along with opportunities, Bhave hopes that creative professionals who walk into the pub, leave with plans for a
collaborative project.

On: April 28, 12 pm to 4 pm
At: Doolally Taproom, Khar
Log on to: @kaleido.culture to register
Cost: Rs 800