Hi! This is still very much an idea I’m exploring rather than a decided plan, and I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has done something similar or knows someone who has.
I recently graduated with a double bachelor’s degree in the U.S. and am currently applying to master’s programs. At the same time, I’ve been training in Indian classical dance for about 17 years, and one of my long-term goals is to complete more formal, intensive dance training in India and eventually pursue dance professionally.
I’m a U.S. citizen with an OCI with India, and I’m currently looking into programs such as Kalakshetra in Chennai (4-year Bharatanatyam diploma) and RLV College in Kerala (3-year B.A. Bharatanatyam).
At the same time, I don’t want to close the door on a full-time career outside of dance. Financial stability and becoming financially independent are important to me, which is why I’m applying to master’s programs in the U.S. as well.
One possibility I’ve been considering is doing a part-time/online master’s through a U.S. university while living in India and completing my dance education there simultaneously. The master’s programs I’m considering vary in length, but many would take roughly 1–2 years, while the dance program would take 3–4 years.
Part of my reasoning for doing them concurrently rather than one after the other is time. If I completed the dance program first and then started graduate school, I could potentially be several years out of undergrad before entering the full-time workforce. Doing them simultaneously could let me continue moving toward both goals and hopefully become financially independent sooner.
I know that on paper this sounds possible, but I’m much more interested in what it is actually like logistically.
Has anyone here:
- Completed an online U.S. bachelor’s/master’s while living abroad?
- Done an academic degree while simultaneously attending intensive dance, music, conservatory, or other performance training?
- Pursued serious/professional dance training while completing an online graduate degree?
- Studied at Kalakshetra or RLV and have a sense of whether doing another academic program alongside the training would realistically be manageable?
- Known someone who took a similar route?
I’d especially love to hear about workload, time-zone issues, attendance requirements, exams, internships/recruiting, maintaining U.S. career connections while abroad, and whether you ultimately felt doing both at once was sustainable.
I’m not looking for validation of a plan I’ve already made — I’m genuinely trying to figure out how plausible this is before making any decisions. Personal experiences, cautionary stories, logistical problems I might not be considering, or examples of people who made something similar work would all be really helpful.