Pia Sutaria is the proverbial beauty with brains. A talented, compassionate and ambitious 20-year old, a reigning beauty pageant holder and an accomplished ballet dancer who topped her class several times at the Royal Academy of Dance in London since she was eleven.
Instead of making the most of her reigning Miss Petite Intercontinental title by walking the ramp or queuing up for Bollywood film auditions, like most reigning beauty pageant holders from Mumbai would do, Pia is in London to pursue her education in dancing. She chose to follow the tougher and less glamorous road of performing arts because that is where her passion is.
Pia is warm and grounded, poised and mature for her age and she greeted me with a smile that could easily launch a thousand ships. Sipping a hot chocolate and munching on a freshly made sandwich at a café close to the Trinity Leban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich, Pia shared her thoughts about ballet in India, the beauty pageant that dedicates itself to multiple causes, her education and her philanthropic desires to give back to society.
“The funny thing about pageants is, like everything in life, it is all about people. You must be real to give a 100% of yourself. Everybody can see through you,” she said matter-of- factly.
“Never in my wildest dreams had I thought I would be a part of a beauty pageant and most definitely not an international one. I recently went through a shoulder surgery because I repeatedly dislocated it over the past two years and that forced me to step back and take a break from my dance, which was honestly quite devastating at the time.”
“I was extremely fortunate that I did not have much time to dwell over things because I got called to take part in a nationwide audition for a beauty pageant which was dedicated to multiple causes.”
“I almost didn’t go, but when I found out that it was the first pageant that didn’t discriminate based on height, (Pia is 5 feet 2 inches) I decided I wanted to be a part of it and change the mindset that you have to be tall to be a model or a beauty queen.”
Pia was selected from 150 participants in Goa and after a week of rigorous competitions, crowned the Miss Petite Intercontinental India.
She went on to represent India in Costa Rica and was the first Indian to win the world title, Reina (queen) Petite Intercontinental 2016, along with Miss Talented, Miss Bikini and Miss Attitude.
“They considered every aspect of your personality, the way you carry yourself, the things you decided to dedicate your life to, your achievements and so much more. You must be an ambassador of the world.”
“I found out only after winning that I was the first Asian and Indian to ever win one of the titles. It was a huge honour.”
She grinned as she said “it was all so overwhelming because I was there with my own clothes, make up and no previous experience, up against girls who were preparing for this for months with formal training.”
Pia is clearly being humble and truthful about this. Performing arts has been her life, she has been training children and adults since she was 16. She heads the ballet division at the Danceworx in Mumbai and is a part of Navdhara, one of the first Indian contemporary dance companies that tours nationally and internationally.
Her journey started at the age of five when she was taken to watch the musical Billy Elliot. She walked wide-eyed out of the theatre, looked at her mother and said ‘I just have to do this.’
Her twin sister Tara and she have been practicing classical ballet in Mumbai since, under the guidance of Trushna Dallas, “one of the most fantastic mentors and teachers I have known,” said Pia.
“I studied ballet through the Royal Academy of Dance in London, aced all my graded examinations and topped the school multiple times.”
“At 15, I was curious to develop other aspects of my dance and moved to studying at the Danceworx Mumbai where I started exploring other styles like jazz, contemporary, some ballroom and hip hop etc. I started teaching children and adults with the academy at 16, and discovered I am extremely passionate about teaching as well.”
Unfortunately, a lack of trained teachers makes ballet a rare form of dance in India and the exclusivity makes it expensive too.
Pia wants to popularise the dance and make it accessible to all kinds of students. “I am hoping that in the next few years with the help of the Danceworx system of ‘dance in education’ we can involve ballet in schools as a subject.”
India does not have its own ballet company even though there is tremendous potential and talent among the dancers. Awareness about the dance form and its potential as a career option is also something that Pia wants to take up in the next decade or so.
“There is no ballet company that can employ dancers in India, and this is going to make the transition extremely difficult. I am hoping to work towards this in the next ten years and change the face of ballet in the country.”
Pia has always dreamed of becoming a professional dancer. The last few years have been full of surprises for her, but having graduated in Business Management studies, she looks forward to taking her dance further for a while.
“I would love to take my music forward as well, so after a couple of years I would love to explore the world of musical theatre. Along with this I really look forward to spreading awareness about ballet and teaching ballet in India.”
She is fascinating because she is different. She is creative and down to earth. She dreams big but has her path carefully chalked out. She is aware of her short-comings but confident of her aptitudes.
“I would like to think I am quite a transparent, passionate and emotional person. The two things I am most passionate about though are travel and food. Once I set my mind to something, I become quite determined to get it right,” giggled Pia – a real power packed petite femme to reckon with.
If you are all heart, there’s nothing that can stop you from winning.
