Binder1 Inner_JRD

fitness and well-being
There is a difference between being gymfit
and physically robust. 35 year old, Aarti
Pandey, Founder of Folk Fitness,
understands this difference in all its entity.
With her well-conceptualised routines that
disband the otherwise popular western
form of dance fitness, she clubs India’s
rich culture into a fitness routine to provide
a fun, quirky and desi routine to meet
one’s fitness needs. In an exclusive
interview with Vidya Unnithan, Aarti
reveals the idea behind folk fitness and its
many benefits
Like a quintessential Indian kid, Aarti Pandey’s tryst with
dance began at a young age when she joined a Bharatnatiyam
class. The dance form and the fluidity it offered,
proffered her to venture deep into the foxtrot. Being
limitless in her persuasion, she gathered knowledge and understanding
of each form, from the myriad international dance
routines to the traditional folk dances of India, she mastered
it all, almost compulsively.
Leaving behind six years of corporate experience to
pursue her calling, she set up a dance studio Danza De La Liga
in 2010 as her first and very successful entrepreneurial endeavour.
“I started dancing at a very young age and I always knew that
dance was my passion but back in 1990s dance was not really
pursued as a career, so I followed what everyone else was doing
and did my MBA and dancing continued to be a hobby. So, I
worked for five days a week and I would attend Latin dance classes
on weekends. During my certification, I was offered a position to
teach and I continued to do so for a long time. It was only after my
first kid was born that I truly considered letting my corporate
career go to pursue passion and that’s how Danza De La Liga
happened. I went places with it, I went abroad taught these dance
forms and got certified in Zumba. While I was in a happy place
in my life, I also realised that there is a lot of fitness opportunity
through dance and thats when me and the co-founders ideated
Folk Fitness.”
108 march 2017 www.crememagazine.in