IN|FORM | Aarti Bajaj
Director and Founder, Wild Dreamer Productions & 9Expressions Performing Arts
What first got you into dance / What is your first memory of dance?
My mum. I was 8, and she observed my affection towards dance and movement and introduce me to a formal education for Bharatnatyam (an Indian Classical dance form). And my first memory of dance is also from the age of 8 when I first participated in a dance competition, thinking I was the best dancer in my age group and failed to qualify in the competition. I decided I did not want to continue dancing but my dance teacher, made me understand the true value of dance. She said, “You must not dance to compete, but to communicate and feel the emotions you can’t communicate. It may feel difficult now, but if you keep practising, there will come a day when dance reveals its powers to you”. That very day that little 8-year-old discovered the power that the performing arts holds, and I can now today at the age of 37 very confidently say that dance has some amazing powers that can align us from within and outside, no matter what profession you are in, movement helps in reducing chaos from all lives.
Do you still dance for pleasure? What kind of thing?
As a trained Indian Classical dancer-actor, pleasure is too ephemeral a word for me. I dance to understand emotions, feelings, perspectives, and the deeper meaning of our existence on this planet. And when I do that, pleasure is an outcome of my movement but not the reason why I initiate the movement. So, whether I dance in an Indian Classical form or a contemporary form or just with my kids for fun, the purpose is to feel more than my physical being.
What’s your current role?
My current role/roles: Arts, health, and commerce: all three have been an integral part of my makeup. I pursued a Bachelor’s in Indian Classical Dance (Bharatnatyam) and a Bachelor’s in Physiotherapy at the same time (in India). When we migrated to Australia in 2007, I studied for a Master’s in Medical Ultrasound, while I ran a small school that taught Indian classical and contemporary dance in Canberra. I’ve been working in Radiology as a clinical sonographer for the past 14 years and doing my MBA at Griffith University. I’ve founded two start-ups: Wild Dreamer Productions and 9Expressios Performing Arts in 2017-18 on the Gold Coast. Working to create new stories with diverse backgrounds, to bring the idea of entrepreneurship and commerce to the new generation of artists, and working with young creatives in schools, universities, and creating evidence-based research in creative health are some of my passions.
What are the things you’d wish you known when you took on your leadership role?
I wish I had known that there are various types of prejudices, limitations, and fears that act as the gatekeepers for creating, promoting and consuming Arts.
What advice would you give someone just starting their career in dance / or starting a role similar to yours?
If I must share a piece of advice to someone just starting their career in dance or creative industries, I would like to share some advice that my dance teacher gave me. She said, “It’s tough out there. Because the arts doesn’t always have the tangible outcome of 2+2= 4, it can be difficult to explain the intangible effects it produces to the sectors that bring many other indirect tangible benefits. But, if you identify yourself as a creative, then it’s part of the responsibility that you must not give up.”