We recently connected with Tanya Chauhan and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tanya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Being a full time dancer, I have experienced many unexpected problems/issues in my creative journey
To address some of the major unexpected issues, I would put light on- .
1) Very early in my dance career I got body shamed which led to a serious eating disorder.
2) Injuries are the most sad part about our journey.
3) There are no working hours in this field hence, many a times dancers are fatigued and burnout because of long rehearsal and training or just work days!
4) Being dominated or not treated right in the work space/dance space.
5) Getting obsessed with dance and the fancy tricks and turns and flexibility that come with it, which often lead to criticising your own personal talent and artistry and being extremely hard on yourself and your body!

I would like to put light on the body shaming and eating disorder that I experienced which also led to injuries.

I started working as a professional dancer when I was 16 and I am also a late starter to dance. Little did I know before committing to this profession that neither my body nor my mind was ready to take the load of it. I was always an active person, who was very much involved in sports and dance in school. One day someone really close commented on my body weight and the way I look and that triggered all my insecurities. After that point I had almost stopped eating, I used to maintain a notebook for my calorie count, I didn’t allow myself to have more than 1000-1500 calorie a day ( with all the dancing ), i started starving and I could see that my body is giving up but being a kid I think we all have crazy energy at that age, i had no cheat days or meals but once in a blue moon if I had eaten something unhealthy then I used to workout and dance extra with layers of clothes on me to sweat more.

After a point my body actually gave up mentally and physically, I fainted in school, didn’t have energy to do anything and I was mentally so stressed about what I am eating, how am I looking, why my body is giving up, how can I eat all my favourite chocolates and not gain weight.
In 2020 when I had left the dance company that I was working for due to some circumstances which also affected my mental health deeply. At that time I actually promised myself to work smartly and rationally on myself and also I decided to go to New York for my Dance career is when I actually started paying attention to my body in a positive way.

At that time, dance was the only thing that was keeping me sane with all my insecurities, with all that had happened in the company and past experiences of body shaming. I was seeing positive results in my body mentally and physically until one day when I was again triggered by all the thoughts and started working for insane hours on my body to get ready for America, I started sitting in splits for 30-40 mins, I started practising jumps on concrete floor which now I know is so injurious for your back and knees. So I wasn’t still very strong strength wise and top of that I was training insanely. I got selected to train at my dream school in New York but as soon as I reached there, within the span of 2 months my back gave up- i couldn’t walk or sleep, so my parents decided to get me back to India where I underwent CT Scans and realised I have two disc bulge in my lower back and I was diagnosed with arthritis. I was on a bed rest for 3 months, gained 10-15 kgs, for some days I couldn’t accept the fact that I was so close to my dream and because of all that I was doing to myself I had to undergo this injury.
That injury was a game changer in my life, after that point I had never punished or rewarded myself with food, I have realised how important correct food is for your entire body, if you have to last long as dancer or simply as a human in this world, you have to eat the right thing in the right amount and how much important is your mental health. Today also I struggle a lot with mirrors and how I look, but every day I’m trying to not be so hard on myself and pat myself on my back for achieving so much and for the fire I have in my body for dance. I know how true my love is for dance and for that reason I will never ever do anything like what I did to myself!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi everyone, I am Tanya Chauhan national of India but currently in New York City. I am a professional dancer, Choreographer and a dance educator. I am in the industry from past 8 years. I started my dancing with Jazz training alongside ballet once week. Hip-hop, contemporary and other modern dance forms like Graham and Horton were also a part of my training but I have more experience in Jazz and Ballet. I started my career when I did Annie the musical in my school in India and that I when I was introduced to the world of Musical theatre. I am an educator of dance also and I have a strong experience of that in India. As an artist I can say, more than performing, I love teaching, I love to give or spread my knowledge to other dancers and just see this community grow. I love teaching jazz technique and this what everyone can expect from me. I love to share my knowledge of jazz to others.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Firstly, I was more aware about the professional degree that I can get in performing arts which is known as BFA, bachelors in fine arts, secondly, I wish I was aware more about the opportunities that we have in dance but outside India, more knowledge about musical theatre the level of jazz that I see here, easy access to tap dance training or ballet training.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have a goal or I would say two goals that is driving my creative journey from a long time now.

I always feel that the reason I left India for, should not be someone else’s reason too, hence, I want to bring international level jazz, ballet and tap training to India.
I want to open my own dance school in India and want to provide dance community here with knowledge about musical theatre, precision jazz, to end I would say I want Indian dancers to get close to the international level of dancing that they see and get inspired from.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Tanyachauhan18

Image Credits
Instagram handles Indoor shoot – Mondlockmoment Studio photo – Self Outdoor shoot – Modelfidelity Photo with blue backdrop – Panickerproduction