Welcome to the "House of WOW"

Riddhi Gupta, the Founder of House of Wow which is a creative and performing arts space in Mumbai opens up about her newly launched venture today,

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I am a dancer & choreographer by passion and have been involved in the dance arts for over 2 decades. I began dancing at the age of 4 and initiated my dance journey by training in the Indian classical dance form – Bharatnatyam. I have learnt the Tanjore style of Bharatnatyam. Dancing was not only a part of my life but was also my medium of release ever since.

At the age of 16 years, I received a full paid scholarship from the Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company for a training program in dance arts. This for me became a stepping stone to bettering my skills as a dancer. Having studied arts for 2 years in St. Xaviers College, Mumbai & Management undergraduate from Sydenham College I always had a wide array of options for a corporate career however somehow I always feared monotony. I always believed that Arts especially performing arts in our country would take years to receive the status of a serious profession & therefore decided to swing in favour of the same by not only changing the perception of many around me but also each day challenging myself to offer newer, better & more creative learning options.

My venture - House Of Wow is a creative and performing arts space in Bandra (Mumbai) and is my brain child that has come to life after years of planning. I always wanted a space for artists in the city that makes them never want to leave once they enter and that's exactly what "HOW" is.

It is a French inspired space, it has everything from a vintage fireplace to French doors and vintage type writers and a bird cage to add to the touch. We have stuck to white and pastels along with floral vintage wall papers that would literally help you time travel back into ancient France. From chandeliers to Victorian couches, the space screams elegance. We believed that most people are comfortable when at home and therefore it was essential to create a vibe as warm for people to stick on and shed their inhibitions.

The studio walls remain pastel velvet foam so that most people can focus on themselves while amidst a training.

We have different verticals of art dance fitness and wellness, from W for wellness to W for workshops we ensure the "Wow" factor is a constant. We have open mic nights, to social tango Milongas and Kizomba evenings to theatre festivals and play screenings as one off events at the space. In regulars we have everything from dance, yoga , body movement music therapy workouts and martial arts.

For an Entrepreneur in the Arts it becomes uncertain how the path towards the development of this community unfolds. A vision seen a couple of years ago is something we are able to achieve an execute a year into House Of Wow. This by itself speaks a lot about the growth of arts in our country. However I would like to build a parallel community based Art brand all over the country with several concept based spaces to allow people not only to learn but also to lead and be bold enough to opt for this as a career. In the future, several House Of Wow(s) will be on their way hopefully all over India and probably beyond in the next 5 years... 

We are amazed to see everyone from 4 to 64 year olds shake a leg or be a part of our shows at the space. Everyone with a passion for something and a craving to explore and discover the WOW in life is indeed a potential HOWsemate.