Best Indian Dance Classes & Studios in Palo Alto, CA

From the Business:Amit Pawar is a versatile dancer with Creativity, Dynamics and Dedication. He has a great passion about bringing his knowledge of story telling, direction, and choreography to the stage. He is a dancer with high potential and commitment in sharing all his expertise with his students. e is a member of the Indian Film & Choreographers Association along with International Dance Council (CID) Paris and France. He has 18 year plus experience in Bollywood and Entertainment industry as a performer, instructor, and choreographer. He started to dance at an early age of 4 and since then he has continued to follow his dream and passion for dancing all through these years. His experience includes Indo-Fusion, Semi-Classical, Traditional Folk (Garba, Bhangra, Lavni …etc.) Bollywood & HipHop dance. His enthusiasm for creating a fusion of East and West makes him unique when it comes to his choreography. e has worked with famous Indian choreographers like Prabhu Deva, Saroj Khan, Farah Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant, Ganesh Hegde, Remo D’souza, and Geeta Kapoor. His dance depicts the dynamic skills of all forms in exclusive live concerts and workshops recognized at National and International level. He has performed in various concert shows like Filmfare Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Big Star Entertainment Awards, Stardust Awards, IPL opening Ceremony, Megastars World Tour, Merchants of Bollywood, Screen Awards, Femina Miss India, MTV Immies Awards, and Ceat Awards.Showcasing his choreography and dance skills, Amit has toured all over the world. He is the finest dancer, a fact that has been accredited by the Judges of the Dance USA Dance, ICC Youthsava, Bay area’s Bollywood Competition CCF and Dance-A-Thon.Read more

From the Business:Yuva Bharati is a non-profit organization formed to promote classical Indian dance in the US. It is registered in State of California and recevied tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) in year 2006. Mission of Yuva Bharati is to promote classical Indian dance in USA among youth. Yuva Bharati provides stage for solo performances for upcoming artists. It also invites dance teachers and senior artists to perform inspirational performances. Yuva Bharati Concerts include solo performances, new choreographies and collaborations by artists. The concerts are funded by concert sponsors and members. They are held in local Bay Area theaters.Read more

From the Business:Dance Connection offers classes for ages 3 to adults from beginning to advanced levels. Children’s combination dance classes and graded classes in ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and tap dance are guided by experienced dance professionals.Read more

From the Business:Vicky Brey is the ballet master for Dance Visions in Palo Alto, She also teaches at Stanford (HIP). Former ballet and jazz dancer, Vicky studied with Sona Castaneda in Mexico City as well as renowned ballet companies such as ABT, Harlem Ballet and Alvin Ailey in New York.Read more

From the Business:Guru Gayatri Joshi is a highly accomplished Odissi exponent who has been dancing for more than 30 years. She has performed internationally in prestigious festivals like Konark, International Odissi, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Global Natya Festival, Angkor Wat, and many more. She touches everyone’s hearts and souls everywhere she goes with her sharp expressions and grace. Witnessing her dance is like seeing the ancient temple sculptures come to life. When she performs, she takes you on a journey through the story she is portraying. Aside from being a gifted dancer, she has brought tears and smiles to people’s faces through her brilliant choreography. She is also an exceptional and nurturing teacher who has been teaching for the past 15 years. She teaches her students how to mature not only as dancers but also as confident and passionate leaders ready to take on the world. She influences her students to strive for greatness in the field of dance and in life. Her dream is to influence the next generation to promote Indian culture and this beautiful Indian classical dance that we call Odissi.Read more

From the Business:The repertoire of Bharatanatyam, like all major classical Indian dance forms, follows the three categories of performance in the Natya Shastra. These are Nritta (Nirutham), Nritya (Niruthiyam) and Natya (Natyam).Prahelika Rajagopalan is an upcoming Bharatanatyam dancer who began learning dance at the age of 4. She started training in Bharatanatyam under Smt. Santha Bhaskar, Singapore and Smt. Ambujah Thiru, Singapore. As a kid, she has given numerous performances, both solo and group presentations with Nrithyalaya Aesthetics Society. She has not only performed in NAS’s annual programs, but also in many temples and other such platforms in Singapore. She has participated and won a number of competitions and won the silver medal at SYF (Singapore Youth Festival).Prahelika moved to India and continued dance under the tutelage of guru Sri. Pandanallur Gopalakrishnan Pillai and Smt. Indu Varma. She was trained in the Tanjavur style and did her arangetram in 2005. She has also performed in a many sabhas under Smt. Indu Varma’s guidance and did a group presentation on Tyagesha Kuravanji. She has also performed the ‘Narayaneeyam’ in Chennai and Mangalore.Prahelika is currently pursuing Bharatanatyam under her guru Dr. Sujatha Mohan, a senior disciple of Dr. Padma Subramaniam. With the support and encouragement from her guru, she completed her Master Of Fine Arts (M.F.A) under Dr. Padma Subramaniam at Sastra University in 2014. She has performed a number of margams in many Sabhas in Chennai and also participated in numerous group presentations. She also started learning Nattuvangam under her guru and assisted her guru in taking class for the kids. Prahelika is one of the core dancers at Padmashree Nrithyalaya.Read more

From the Business:The Nrityodaya Kathak Academy, of Los Angeles, United States of America, established in 1989, is a sanctuary of the arts devoted to preserving the culture of Kathak dance and classical Indian art. The founder and director of the academy, Smt. Bhairavi Kumar, began her formal training in the Institution of Pt Nikhil Gosh under the guidance of Smt. Shivani Pandya, a Ghanda Bhandan shagrid of Pt. Lacchu Maharaji of the Lucknow gharana. Bhairavi Kumar’s training continued under Smt. Uma Dogra, disciple of Pt. Durgalalji of the Jaipur gharana. She has performed in numerous countries including India, Africa, Canada, and throughout the US. Smt. Bhairavi Kumar has been teaching Kathak in and around Los Angeles for over twenty five years and has earned a distinguished reputation as a traditional and dedicated teacher-performer of Kathak amongst her colleagues and pupils. The academy is dedicated to educate, research, and bring diversity to the community through innovating dance and performance. In addition to performances at numerous events and festivals, the Nrityodaya Kathak Academy organizes and produces a bi-annual dance production. The Nrityodaya Kathak Academy has had the honor to host the Legendary Pt Birju Maharji for his 75th anniversary tour, Concert of the Legend, as well as multiple workshops with the legend himself and his prestigious shagirds. The academy has recently had the privilege of a workshop with the Smt. Jayanti Malaji, shagird of the legendary Queen of Kathak Smt. Sitara Devi. Recent highlights of her incredible journey include performing at the Ganesh Festival in Los Angeles, The Food & Wine Festival at Disney California Adventure, Anantha: Infinite Possibilities performed at Mt. San Antonio College, and “India’s Fabled City: the Art of Courtly Lucknow” performed at LACMA. Smt. Bhairavi Kumar and her 5 most senior disciples toured throughout various cities in India and won first place at Bharat Sanskriti UTSAV 2014, a five day international competition in Burdwan, India.Read more