House of Sway was formed in 2019, by a group of then college students who were rejected by dance schools/troupes for various reasons and found solidarity under a group that just wanted to dance.

Founding member Darshan Sonawane was in college when he went to join a group and was told he was overweight. “If you want to join dance troupes or groups, they have some very outdated ideas about how a dancer should look. Looking lean and to fit into all these body categories, has actually nothing to do with the person’s capacity or talent,” he says. Sonawane, who happened to have a friend who is was also a trans person, told him that it was time they started their own troupe. “Once we said ‘come one come all, all we need is a passion to dance and openness to learn’, we saw people wanting to join,” he adds.