My top 10 dance inspirations - Zofia Lichota

Togetherness: The many Indian professional dance groups that exist globally inspire me. I want to create the same in Poland.

Creation: Dance gives me a possibility to forget about everyday life problems. When I dance there is only me, my art, and an opportunity to create.

Breaking barriers: Dance is a universal language and seeing foreigners globally purse classical Indian dance forms is for me a big inspiration to continue with this passion.

Expression: I come from a  contemporary background, where emoting is not very common. That is why the expression aspect of Indian classical art really inspires me more and more to continue my dance journey.

Culture: The richness of Indian culture inspires me to go deep into the field and study more about the art of the country. As a European, I am very impressed by how Indian classical dances use mythological stories and present these on the stage. All of these stories are bringing a universal truth and have a timeless quality.

Melody: Music really inspires me a lot to continue my dance education and to create new choreographies. Like dance, music is universal too.

Health: The benefits of dance are not only connected with the physical but also mental health. In today's modern life, when everyone is busy and full of stress, dance gives us an opportunity to stop for a while and look at our life from a distance.

Hero: A contemporary dancer and choreographer from Poland, my first dance teacher Barbara Ducka will always remain my hero. She inspires me a lot to not give up my dance passion. The manner in which she has given her whole life to dance is just amazing!

Sharing: Dancers needs to cooperate with each other and share their own experiences. That environment of being around my performing colleagues is very inspiring for me to continue my dance journey. We sweat, fail and win together. We also collectively celebrate when a programme is a great success. We have good and bad days together. So all those people, who like me, decided to take this path and were ready for all pain as well as benefits, inspire me. These are the dancers of Natarang Indian Dance Group in Poland, students of Arunima Kumar Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Studio Tendi and all dancers who I’ve met during my journey.

My guru: Arunima Kumar inspires me to dance because I can see beautiful movement and perfection in her art, and so much more. There is the audience connection, a wonderful presentation of important topics and just bringing joy through the art. When I perform with her, I can feel the positive spirit, energy and enjoyment. That is why I cannot imagine my future without learning from her and continuing our beautiful journey.

Poland-based Zofia Lichota is a Kuchipudi dancer and choreographer. She is a student of Arunima Kumar, who has curated the International Kuchipudi Dance Festival taking place at Bhavan Centre in London on November 16, 2019.

Visit www. bhavan.net & Instagram: @zofialichota