Since a young age, sophomore Jaya Chatterji has remained passionate about the art of dancing, specifically jazz, lyrical, and contemporary jazz. 

“When I decided to continue dancing, it was because dance has always been a big part of my life and the community my studio provides for us dancers is something really special and when I’m not in that community I feel lost,” Chatterji said.

Chatterji explained how the art and the supportive studio environment has had a significant impact on her life. Her dance journey began when her mom signed her up for a beginner’s dance class. Now 13 years later, Chatterji still loves performing.

“I always remember having a good connection with the teachers. I was at a recital one time, and I think I was looking for my mom, and I found one of those student teachers and she picked me up and helped me find my mom. I just remember how caring they were and how they always made you feel loved and appreciated at the studio,” Chatterji said.

Her strong bonds and memories with her dance community and studio keep her love for dance alive and well.

“Something I’ll never forget from the studio is probably [the] birthdays because every dancer gets this special tradition where they get surrounded by everyone and they all dance around them, and it’s just something I think everyone gets to remember for all their birthdays,” Chatterji said.

To incite a similar passion for dance among others, Chatterji also teaches at her dance studio to help cultivate the young dancers’ talents. 

“I love teaching dance because it’s fun, especially being a student teacher. It’s really fun to get to take the skills and methods you learn in your own classes in more advanced classes and simplifying it for the children that I teach,” Chatterji said.

Teaching isn’t just a continuation of her dance career, but has opened an entire new chapter of her life that includes faraway travel to destinations across the globe. The convention, Youth Melody Cultural Exchange, included just America and China. The studio attended the convention not just for dance, but for an opportunity to exchange both school and dance education between the two countries. 

“It wasn’t a competition, and the entire studio didn’t go, but we obviously had to audition and then 15 dancers made the cut to go and then we had to train and learn Chinese and so after that, 12 girls were able to travel with us to China,” Chatterji said.

Being so far from her parents had made her think about things that would make the trip more difficult such as food, language barrier which stirred some nerves for the trip.

“When I went to China for a convention, I was originally nervous because I knew that I would be in a different country with different languages. You’re traveling that far from home without any parents and you just have your dance teacher and dance friends. I expected it to be tough because the food in China is different, and I’m a picky vegetarian, so I didn’t know how many food options I would have,” Chatterji said.

Traveling frequently with her family as a child trained her to be respectful, focused, and disciplined to model good behavior for her students.

“We got to visit different schools and meet the children and dancers there. We also got to learn about how similar our [school experience] is to theirs, in the sense that we all have our classes and get to go to lunch with our friends and stuff. However, I got to see China that really values the arts, so a lot of their schools have a stronger appreciation for dance and arts than schools in America do. When we would get to watch the Chinese dances, they made us feel inspired which we then reflected on as having such a love for the arts that they could convey so that the audiences can feel inspired like we did,” Chatterji said.

Chatterji highlights the challenges of the trip as well, due to the language barrier. 

“We had a dance class, and it was all in Chinese, and we had to figure out the choreography just by looking at them and really having to pay attention to the detail. Even though we’ve been learning Chinese with an instructor, it was definitely hard to keep up with the classes,” Chatterji said.

However, the language barrier didn’t interfere with the bond she formed with the Chinese dancers. She was excited to see that despite cultural and language differences, the love of dance is universal. The chance to visit and see important cultural sites was also exciting for Chatterji.

“Something I’ll never forget about the trip was some of the places we got to visit because we got to go to the Great Wall and famous temples. That was fun and also just being with my dance team was so special because you form these strong bonds [by traveling and spending a lot of time together],” Chatterji said.

Her friend from dance, Audrey George, who went on the trip to the China convention, also had many memories with Chatterji in the dance community.

“We used to teach a dance class together of little kids and [Chatterji] was my assistant while she was training to become a teacher at Dance 1. Once she finally got her own class to teach she called me first to tell me about it and asked for help to choreograph their recital dance. She and I would formulate together and use what we learned in our dance classes to help her class that she taught in hopes that her love for dance would be expressed through her students,” George said.

Although Chatterji remains committed and passionate about dancing, she admits to facing some challenges along the way.

“Dance is such a long journey and it’s not something where you could just perfect right away. Every class is going to be different, every day at the studio is different and sometimes you just have a bad day. But I think it’s important to separate and know that when you’re at the studio, you’re supported by everyone,” Chatterji said.

The sustained effort, long hours and dedication are mandatory requirements for success in the competitive world of dance.  Chatterji says that she is sometimes impatient and wonders if all the time and sacrifice is really worth it.

“You have to choose your mind over matter and you have to remind yourself why you’re doing this. You have to remind yourself of the good parts that keep you at the studio and keep you dancing,” Chatterji said.

Chatterji remains committed and offers sage advice for those interested in walking her path.

“I would say for anyone else interested in dancing or already in dance to keep going with it because you might feel stuck or at a loss of motivation, but if you can get through that, you’ll start to see changes.” Chatterji said. “It’s important to stay determined and overcome the obstacles and the loss of motivation because in the end if it makes you happy and it’s worth doing, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t.”