A Kathak dancer and choreographer, Pooja had been enthralled with the traditional Indian dancing style since childhood and started dancing at the age of 4. She has been awarded the 'Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Award' and ‘Kala Ravi Award’.A Kathak dancer and choreographer, Pooja had been enthralled with the traditional Indian dancing style since childhood and started dancing at the age of 4. She has been awarded the 'Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Award' and ‘Kala Ravi Award’.

Pooja Pant is a Kathak Performer and Founder of Pooja Pant School of Kathak in Mumbai.

Ever since she was four years old, Pooja has been learning and performing the dance. She was immediately enrolled in dance class as soon as her parents realised she had an interest in dancing since she comes from a Marathi household, where it is normal for young children to study any of the traditional arts and dances. Since then, she has been fervently committed to it.

Pooja claims that after seeing her instructor perform on stage while she was in the eighth grade, she made the decision to pursue a career in Kathak dancing. In addition, renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor's remarks during a career advising speech encouraged her to pursue her passion as a job, saying, "When you love what you do, it never feels like work." Pooja recognised that learning Kathak would make her happy and provide her with a rewarding profession.

Pooja was recently conferred with the ‘Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Award’. Moreover, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar gave her the ‘Kala Ravi Award’.

Pooja explains that Northern India is where the ancient dancing style known as ‘Kathak’ began. In Sanskrit, the term ‘Kathak’ means ‘storytelling’, and true to its name, Kathak is renowned for its expressive storytelling conveyed via deft footwork, elegant hand gestures, and poignant facial expressions. The dancing style has a long history and is well ingrained in Indian mythology and culture.

Mumbai is where she was born, raised, and finished her schooling. She eventually obtained a master's degree in Kathak, a certification in dance, and a bachelor's degree in English literature. Her favourite childhood memories are of her first Kathak performance, which she did when she was four years old. She can clearly recall the rush she had from dancing on stage with her group and dance teacher, which sparked a passion for dance that she carried with her for the rest of her life.

Pooja states that late Pandit Durgalal, the seasoned Kathak dancer, had a major influence on her. She also looks up to Vaibhav Arekar, Bijayini Satpathy, and Aditi Mangaldas for inspiration.

Pooja talks about one of her challenging moments, when she stumbled on stage during a performance but still finished her act. She later learned that she had damaged the ligament in her left knee, and her doctor advised her to stop dancing so that the injury could heal correctly. Pooja was unfazed by the setback and took the opportunity to concentrate on other elements of her dance performance.

One of the dance pieces she choreographed required her to play eighteen different personas. However, she did that dance piece in ‘Baithaki Bhav’, where the dancer tells a tale while seated much of the time. Setbacks, in her opinion, present chances for development and offer an alternative viewpoint on art.

She advises the young dance enthusiasts that in order to establish a solid foundation in their dance training, they must adhere to the teachings of one guru. To fulfil their goals of becoming professional dancers, they must find a guru and learn under him/her for seven or eight years. She warns everyone not to pick up this dance style from YouTube.

If given a chance to time -travel, Pooja would use a time machine to go back in time to her early years and start learning ‘Hindustani vocals’ in order to hone her abilities and become an expert in the subtleties of Hindustani vocals.

Pooja counsels all young Indians to discover their passion and begin following it at a young age. She notably exhorts students to pick at least one Indian art or cultural form as a hobby.