Bollywood Beats

Deepti Sami was three and a half years old when she first began dancing. Her parents had enrolled her in classical Indian dance classes to bring her closer to her heritage. At the time, "she had no choice," she jokes. Her parents wanted her “to keep learning about [East Indian] culture,” she says. And by the time she was 10, she had formed a deep love for the dance.

As she grew older, she realized she wanted to explore other styles of dance; to give hip-hop, salsa or merengue a try. “But, the times being the times,” Deepti says, “and how my parent’s mindset was [back then], they decided they didn’t really want me to venture into other things.” Deepti stresses that learning classical Indian dance taught her the importance of community. “I’m thankful for that,” she says.

Deepti continued learning the same style of dance until she was 19. As a young adult, she began seeing her hometown of Dubai differently. In her opinion, it wasn’t a free-minded place. But Deepti says, “Dubai’s very different than it was 25 years ago.”