Skill learning is a new way to pace up with the world

Ucanji, a leading online dance learning platform is on a mission to make skill learning accessible, available, and affordable to millions across the globe. The edtech platform believes that skill learning and education belong to everyone across the various strata of society. Divanshi Gupta, founder, Ucanji, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz says, "Having the Indian government onboard to encourage skill learning through Skill India Mission and Atmanirbhar Bharat, is an indication that skill learning is a new way to pace up with the world."

So far, we have been receiving quite encouraging and motivating responses. As we are not in the past decades when accessibility was an issue to learn a new skill. In the days of OTT platforms, parents and their wards look forward to pursuing new skills and also participating in the journey of their kids' learning. It aspires us to achieve and improve every day with dedication and purpose

What are your views on the education system of India where skills like dancing, painting, debating are being side-lined in front of science and maths?

Having the Indian government onboard to encourage skill learning through Skill India Mission and Atmanirbhar Bharat, is an indication that skill learning is a new way to pace up with the world as a leader. On that note, we want to build a leading skill learning platform that possesses all the integral values and holistic approach towards a child's skill development that is based on self-directed and hands-on methods leaving the physical and traditional way of learning behind. We aim to make skill learning an essential part of every individual as gone are the days when only academia pertaining to the school system was only education for anyone. By making diverse learning accessible, we will be able to nurture the minds of students from any economic strata.

What are the responses you usually hear from young parents regarding their kids' future and aspirations?

So far, we have been receiving quite encouraging and motivating responses. As we are not in the past decades when accessibility was an issue to learn a new skill. In the days of OTT platforms, parents and their wards look forward to pursuing new skills and also participating in the journey of their kids' learning. It aspires us to achieve and improve every day with dedication and purpose.

What does Ucanji signify?

Our name itself asserts our propaganda to reach out and motivate all those enthusiastic individuals, who are not able to access adequate resources and the right kind of inspiration to learn and enhance dance skills. 'Yes, you can ji.' With our network of expert dancers, online dance classes, and collection of dance courses, our subscribers can acquire appropriate means to learn, grow and enjoy dance learning.

Who are the teachers in Ucanji and how many? B) How do you decide who to pick as teachers for your platform? Is there an 'audition'?

There are over 50 teachers associated with us who are experienced and highly trained in their dance style. They have represented India internationally on various platforms and have experience teaching more than 3000 kids. To name, Dennis, a crew member of a popular MJ5 group that has won several reality shows like Dance Champions, Dance Plus. Released the trending song 'Bawaal' and 'Ziddi' along with his MJ5 team that has been acknowledged with mega views. A dedicated artist with an enriching experience of 8 years as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and visual artist.

We also have internationally renowned dancers offering beginner to advanced courses to our registered users such as Radhika Sengupta who is post-diploma in Bharatnatyam and has been traveling across the nation & overseas for performances having a keen interest in dance, her schooling in the discipline of psychology adds to her teaching pedagogy. On the other hand, Ashna Katoch, a professional Contemporary Dancer and teacher, trained from The Broadway Dance Center. Been a part of the Bollywood movie ABCD, performed at TedX, and colours tv show 'India Banega Manch'. An artist pursuing Contemporary dance professionally for over 12 years, to name a few. Skilled Professional dancers with teaching experience preferably in recorded sessions and proven mentorships have been fundamental foundation for their selection criterion. We access their dance skills, teaching skills, achievements and work background, interactive skills. To deliver only the best to our users, we ensure that each teacher is handpicked carefully through a 5-step selection criterion that does not only focus on their expertise and experience in the field but also their ability to break down tutorials in modules with easy step by step learning.

What do you want to create out of Ucanji?

Having said earlier that our primary and sole motto of establishing Ucanji is to make skill learning accessible, available, and affordable to millions across the globe. We believe that skill learning and education belong to everyone across the various strata of society.

We aspire to become a global leader in the skill development industry wherein we are known for our approach to bringing change. We strive and thrive for uniformed goals keeping the one-stop solution as an essence behind the skill learning worldwide.

How were your initial days of Ucanji and the hardships you faced?

While curating and creating something everlasting, having the values of dreams one wants to deliver, requires a mammoth might to clear the clutter and prioritize the relevance with relevant roadmap despite having noise and distractions around. All of us know that to carve a path of success that too in the journey of entrepreneurship, juggling with multiple thinking hats is another skill that is required.

Having a humongous list of tasks and goals with fewer hands to work is another challenge that requires a lot of focus to bring the right product to the table with the best quality content. We burnt all the midnight oil with our dedicated team to build the Magna Carta of learning and development having an ambition of delivering the best experience to the people with unforgettable memories. Also, while building something avant-garde, one always needs a team of people who adhere to the core values of the vision and contribute with the same spirit to achieve one-of-a-kind milestones. And I was backed up with the massive force of a team who are achievers and turn the table around.

Are you planning to include other forms of art in your venture?

Like I mentioned, we want to be the one-stop solution for all sorts of skill learning in order to democratize the learning and development as we believe that any skill shall not be limited to certain criteria, especially when we are in times of change and development at a fast pace. With the aid of favorable policies, digital penetration, and changing mindset, we want to be the change-maker for the betterment. In the future, you would witness Ucanji, coming up with more skills to learn with vibrant fun and flair.

How Ucanji is different from other N numbers of online dance learning platforms and what kind of impact it is giving to the young learners?

We provide structured dance courses and choreographies with step-by-step tutorials. There is more than 1000+ video lessons of varied dance forms and choreographies. Our enthusiastic learners have a wide variety to choose from and pursue courses of their choice. Our innovative features make dance learning easier.

Well-curated courses: The courses are carefully crafted by our certified artists, keeping all age groups and difficulty levels in mind. Step-by-step tutorials with all levels of dance learning are available with Ucanji, including beginner, intermediate and advance levels of each dance style.

Accessible 24x7: All trending choreographies and dance courses are accessible at the comfort of home. After signing up with Ucanji, one can learn dance online anytime, anywhere from any device.

Ask an expert: Users can post their queries in text or video format and receive personalised feedback from our expert artists.

See yourself: Users can match the moves with the experts.

Mirror Screen: Users can avoid the issue of right-left while learning any tutorial.

Speed Control: Users can learn at thier own pace.

Multi-device functionality: The platform is accessible from any device.

No Age Bar: We believe there is no age for learning. People from all age groups can learn to dance with Ucanji.

In Addition to other features, Ucanji also has dance-a-minute, and dance-o-fit to make learning fun and beneficial for both mind and body. Dance is a self-confidence developing activity and a skill that boosts creativity. Ucanji has made dance learning easy for the masses, plus it's accessible anytime, anywhere. We encourage the complete physical, mental, and emotional well-being of each learner.

How your entrepreneurship journey has been so far?

Well to answer this, I would like to mention that entrepreneurship is all about juggling and leading different roles and endeavours that are full of learnings and enriching experiences. Entrepreneurship is more of wearing different thinking hats and pursuing the direction of the best of permutation and combination. It is all about the journey towards a uniform goal that you aim towards. After all, entrepreneurial journeys are all about, "jack of all trades."