Dance is a pursuit for rich kids, not people like us,” dancer and choreographer Manish Chauhan recalls his mother’s advice to her starry-eyed teenage son. The dancer who once wore plastic bags on his head so he could pull off headspins while training on the hard floors of Koparkhairane railway station went on to prove his mother wrong. In 2020, the ‘rich kids’ tuned into Yeh Ballet (2020), a Netflix special based on Chauhan’s journey from Vashi to the most prestigious dance companies in New York. 

“But she still hasn’t seen me perform live,” he rues. That’s set to change this weekend when the artiste’s parents settle into their seats, and the curtains rise at Origins. Curated and directed by ballet dancer and educator Pia Sutaria, and presented by INT Aditya Birla Center for Performing Arts, the showcase will spotlight exceptional homegrown talents including Sanjukta Sinha, Manish Chauhan, Aishwarya Raut, Neeraj Lohani, Kunaal Sangtani, Achintya Bose, and young faces from Sutaria’s Indian Youth Dance Company (IYDC). “These artistes have garnered international acclaim. Now, they are itching for a reason to come back home,” Sutaria says.

Manish Chauhan