Multiple authors

Every Wednesday at 7 pm, after most people had left the Institute of Development Studies building, a small group of master’s students would meet in the Study Space. We’d look for a big enough classroom and turn it into a rogue after-hours dance club powered by joy, stress relief, and the kind of community you can only build in a master’s programme where everyone is curious to learn with each other and desperate to move their bodies.

It started with a simple question, when Riya Behl (MAPP) asked Radhika Thapliyal (MAGlob): “What do you do for fun?”

Radhika replied saying she's trained in the Indian classical dance form of Kathak and has always found learning new forms and routines to be joyful. They bonded over wanting to dance more, and soon after in February 2025, started a WhatsApp group meant for mostly women and queer folks who shared the same urge to move.

Nothing about it was formal. Just a community-led attempt to teach each other what we know about dance and movement amidst academic life.

Initially, we struggled to find the right classrooms and time slots. Eventually, those details got ironed out and we began to call ourselves the Wednesday Dance Club

The idea was simple. Each week, someone volunteered to lead a session. Given the diversity of our cohort, overtime, we learned ballet basics, pop choreographies, Bollywood-inspired routines, and even a routine that was trending on TikTok!

What We Learned and Taught

Radhika kicked things off with a funk jazz session to the song Sexy Back. It began with an easy-to-follow warm up to prepare our rusty bodies for some fun-filled movement. During the group interaction, she emphasised how the idea wasn't to perfect the routine, but to give oneself the space to experience the joy of collective expression and embodied connection.

From there, others stepped in. Kathleen Vaughan a.k.a Katie (MADev) taught pop routines, including one to Honeymoon. She often arrived tired from the day but found that dancing with friends left her more energised. In the process, she also realised she loves teaching and learning from all the different dance styles that our peers were pros in!

Katie (right) says: “My facilitation skills from development work transferred easily – making sure everyone felt included, even those without a dance background.”

As a professionally trained ballerina, Amy Morgan (MAFood) shared her skills with a beginner’s guide to ballet session, She covered basic steps, posture, and notions, while also learning firsthand how differently people respond to instruction. Reflecting on her session, she claimed how being thrust into a teaching position isn’t the easiest; however, teaching friends made the experience feel safe, even when nerves set in beforehand. She also shared that the group’s enthusiasm carried her through with encouragement and strength.

Divanshi Sharma (MA Journalism) who attended Amy’s session recalls how we hilariously used whiteboards as ballet-barres, labelling it iconic. (We believe this use of whiteboards might be a first in IDS classroom history.) As a dancer herself, she later fully channelled her Rihanna energy by teaching choreography to Where Have You Been. Learning nearly a minute of choreography in an hour felt ambitious, but the group pulled it off. For Divanshi, the joy came from sharing dance with new friends and seeing routines resurface later—sometimes even at parties.

Amy (front) says, “I hadn’t danced in ages, and it made me want to dance more. It felt supportive, empowering and so friendly!”

The People Behind the Movement

What began as a small gathering gradually grew into a group of 42 members. While it was initially envisioned as a space for women and queer folks, a few men eventually joined the club too. Emilio Bunge Gonzalez (MADev) describes the experience as finally living out his Bollywood star fantasy, adding that the welcoming atmosphere made it feel more like a midweek celebration than a class.

For many, the appeal lay in the absence of hierarchy. Abhinaya Sridhar (MADev) reflects that after long days spent thinking about how to change the world, dance club offered a rare space to exist and thrive with abandon, without the pressure to get every step right.

Why it Worked

Since the dance club was a rare kind of space - one that was open, low-stakes, and genuinely communal – we felt energised to sustain it. Kathleen adds, that volunteering to teach was often about ensuring the group met that week, because dancing together with friends had become something to look forward to.

Learning from fellow batchmates dissolved the pressure that often comes with formal instruction. Without comparisons or expectations, people relaxed. We even discovered hidden talents amongst each other and found joy in the exchange of participants teaching participants, not as experts but as companions. Dancing together also had a tangible emotional impact. It lifted spirits, eased social barriers, and sparked creativity. People felt energised, more connected, and often sore in the best possible way.

Devica Saxena (MAGov) taught the group a routine on the Hindi song Radha from the film Student of The Year

We hope this story nudges you to find an empty room, make that group chat and initiate your own after-hours dance club. Keep it chill, joyful, and negative judgment-free. If you can’t facilitate, show up in support. Sweat a little. Laugh a lot. And when you’re done, please rearrange the furniture and put it back how you found it.

Written by Radhika Thapliyal and Riya Behl with many thanks to contributors and members of the Wednesday Dance Club.