Lam Grace Touthang of Kuki community is a dancer, a choreographer, a dance instructor and an influencer from Kohima, Nagaland. She is popularly known for winning the ‘Global Dance Visual Competition’ – under the solo category through her skills in ‘hip-hop’ dance, ‘popping’ and her great skills as a cinematographer.
Lam grew up loving dance at an early age but never took ‘dance as a career’ seriously until 2016 when she gave up her studies. Today, after going through trials and tribulations, she runs a dance crew and is the Managing Director of Nagaland Dance Fiesta where she hopes to provide a right platform to the young upcoming dancers.
Mokokchung Times shares a conversation to know more about the personality and her experience behind the very talented and strong, young lady, Lam Grace.
MTNews: Thank You Grace. What have you been up to lately?
Grace: You are welcome. Thank you for having me. I’ve been working with my crew for our upcoming performance and am also caught up with my dance classes.
MTNews: We are familiar with you as an amazing dancer but would you kindly tell us a little more about yourself, your life before dancing and the journey of how you decided to become a dancer?
Grace: Well, my name is Lamgrace Touthang, from Kuki Community. I was born and brought up in Kohima but I hail from Bungsang Village, Medziphema. I am a choreographer, Dance Instructor and Managing Director of Nagaland Dance Fiesta and also a content creator on YouTube. Currently I am collaborating with World of Dance as a ‘World of Dance Influencers’.
Academically, I am a Chemistry graduate but dance has always been my passion since I was very young but it was only after my graduation that I stopped pursuing for further studies because I knew it was God’s calling for me to dance.
However, dancing didn’t pay me so, as a graduate there were lots of pressures to get a Government job or at least a private job and I did work for a lot of private sectors but I realized I couldn’t do this forever. So, I started practicing hard during my free time in the office halls where I was working and made dance videos for my YouTube.
I worked really hard by giving out home tuitions, teaching at coaching centers just to save up some money so that I could finally land in Mumbai for representing Nagaland at Indian Hip-hop Dance Championship. And luckily, I managed to get into Top 6 so, after returning, I started organizing a dance event called ‘Nagaland Dance Fiesta’ to promote and give the right platform to our young upcoming dancers.
MTNews: When did you decide to make dance your professional career? Was it scary?
Grace: Only recently, because I realized that we can make a living through what we love to do. If a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a musician etc. can earn then why not dancers- the mentality that “dance is entertainment and is for free” needs to be changed.
“Art” is original; it cannot be for free because a lot of time, energy and creativity is put into one performance alone.
I really took a risk and made dance my profession. Gradually, God started opening doors for me. And yes, given our society it was really scary because our society is accustomed to considering dance as “cheap” and “unholy”. But in my view, God created Dance for us to glorify Him and to make us explore His creativity.
I realized that if I don’t make a change in this generation it won’t ever happen. Today’s fight is for tomorrow’s change and I wanted the Next generation to be a generation who are not afraid to follow their dreams.
MTNews: You are also associated with a dance crew by the name ‘Fyre Flys’. Are you like the leader there? Kindly brief us more about ‘Fyre Flys’ and what it plans to do?
Grace: Well, yes, I’m leading Fyre Flys. It’s a new crew, just launched this year in January. It’s a project crew under TaFMA. We are a group of young dancers from Kohima with a vision to inspire young people and represent Nagaland in National competitions and bring laurels to our land.
MTNews: How do you ensure your team to stay strong and fit enough to perform?
Grace: As a performer, I always encourage my team to be disciplined. Apart from it, regular practices, workouts, unity, hunger to learn, staying humble, staying away from unhealthy eating habits and of course, giving more than 100% is something we all try to abide by.
MTNews: Where do you draw your inspirations from regarding your moves and choreography?
Grace: I draw my inspiration from almost everything; my own personal life, from videos or movies I watch, from people’s life, from nature etc. Music also plays a very important role for me in drawing inspiration to create something authentic.
MTNews: In your opinion, what are the most important traits a dancer should have? Do you have your greatest strength and weakness as a dancer?
Grace: According to me, the most important trait a dancer should have is “discipline”. The first letter of D-A-N-C-E is D which stands for “Discipline”. The rest of the quality follows along. My greatest strength is the love and support I get from my loved ones. My greatest weakness is that I trust quite easily.
MTNews: What are the things you like to do when you’re not dancing?
Grace: Apart from dance I love editing videos, playing drums, Art and DIYS.
MTNews: You represented India in an online global dance competition – ‘Global Dance Visual Competition’ – under the solo category and won first place and also got nominated for ‘best cinematography’. How was that experience for you? Did you receive the right kind of support and help?
Grace: Making dance videos has always been a part of my passion along with dancing. During the pandemic, I had enough time to put my creativity into action in making dance visuals and it was also my favorite thing to do. Therefore, winning the World of Dance Global Dance Visual Competition was like a dream come true for me. I literally became speechless because it was an International competition and WOD is my dream stage. I still believe it is my biggest achievement till date.
I am really satisfied that I was able to achieve something through what I love because I really did struggle a lot without having a good camera or a laptop but God is good and today it has become my testimony.
Speaking about the right kind of support and help, so far, I haven’t received any because I am still unable to have a dance studio to practice or a laptop to make more creative videos.
MTNews: Do you think your success as a dancer might have impacted our society’s attitude towards having dance as a career? What is next for you?
Grace: I strongly believe it did. When I started my dance career there were people mocking me, there was lots of criticism, some of my relatives thought I was crazy.
Today, they congratulate me, encourage me and I believe this is just the beginning of a change towards the mindset of our society. However, it doesn’t mean my life is perfect or I am rich, it’s an everyday struggle but at least I’m able to sustain myself through what I love doing.
MTNews: If there is one thing you’d like to share with our readers, what would it be?
Grace: I just want to encourage everyone today not to be scared to pursue your dreams. The journey is not easy but if you don’t give up you will eat the good of the land. Government sectors are saturated; therefore discover your qualities and your gift and do not be afraid to make mistakes. If you have a dream, go for it, the journey won’t be easy but it will be worth trying.