Team

Ms. Anushya is trained in Bollywood Dance, Kuthu Dance and Masala Bhangra. She is the senior-most instructor at SDA, having joined the organization in 2019. She moved to Jersey City in 2011 and since then has attended Latin, Hip Hop and Bollywood dance workshops in Newport. Ms. Anushya has also completed an intensive choreography workshop conducted by popular choreographer Melvin Louis in 2018. Ms. Anushya manages the business affairs at SDA Jersey City.  She also heads the resource management and business communications for brand SDA. As an integral part of SDA operations since 2021, Ms. Anushya is actively involved in and assists with SDA’s strategy and business development.

She was part of the dance troupe at St. Francis Degree College, Hyderabad (2001-2004) and performed in various intercollegiate competitions across the different states and national platforms in India. She has also participated in several dance workshops including hip hop, break dance and folk in Hyderabad. With a Post Graduate Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune, Ms. Anushya has worked for several reputed publications in India. She is also a Certified Zentangle Teacher and Mandala Artist and takes art classes for children and adults in Jersey City and Manhattan. Her love for teaching dance begins at home with her two girls.

Ms. Mahi is a trained Bollywood dancer from Shehnaaz Dance Academy; she is one of the youngest and most promising dancers on our team. At age 7, in the year 2014, Mahi joined our group of talented dance students. Since then, she has participated in all SDA recitals, performed at the India Day parade in NYC in 201,8 and won the JC Dance Stars competition in 2019. Ms. Mahi has assisted Ms. Anushya in several Bollywood Beginners and Bollywood I dance classes at the Boys Girls Club in Jersey City and is now ready to conduct her dance class as an independent teacher.

Ms. Mahi has over a decade of training in taekwondo and is a 2nd Dan black belt. She has been assisting her Taekwondo instructor weekly to train special needs students for the past few years. Apart from being a class topper, Ms. Mahi is a budding novelist, loves theater, and plays basketball. As a student at Millburn High School, she is thrilled to teach Bollywood dance to kids in the Millburn area and ignite the community’s passion for performing.

Ms. Priya Tiwari is a Kathak dancer and choreographer with a Visharad Degree from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai in the year 1997. She has undergone extensive training under the guidance of Guru Shri Jayashree Tambe in Indore. Ms. Priya has taught Kathak to students of various ages at Nrutya Bharati, Indore and has worked closely on Kathak dance techniques, choreography, dance drama, storytelling and performance skills from 1997 to 2015. In the past, she has Implemented effective teaching methods to ensure understanding and engagement among students. During the pandemic, she initiated and managed the YouTube channel for Nrutya Bharati Indore which included envisioning, performing, producing and editing, as well as coaching, directing and coordinating peers and students.

A banker by profession and a member of ICSI, she has choreographed for ICSI Indore Chapter events and various cultural events at Axis Bank. Ms. Priya has served as a judge in various dance competitions in both Indore (Malwa Utsav, Kalidas Samaroh) and Mumbai (Vande-Bharatam Nritya Utsav). She was also the Cultural Committee Head of Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Indore Chapter and Cultural Committee Member for Axis Bank Ltd, Mumbai.

Priya has performed in several stage shows in India, England and Sri Lanka - with a notable televised appearance on Doordarshan – “Vande Shivam Shankaram”. The Nritya-natika production titled "Dancing Radha" breaking myths around epilepsy, performed for the Queen Welfare Society (NGO), earned the prestigious Nritya Natika award in Malaysia in 2004. Ms. Priya uses her art in raising awareness for social causes as well.

She is eager to bring her passion, expertise, and commitment to excellence in training her Kathak students at SDA.

Sandhya Rajkumar is our Bharathanatyam teacher and an architect who is currently pursuing a Masters in Architecture in New York. Originally from Chennai, she did her Arangetram in the year 2012 under the guidance of her Guru A.G. Narthana, with whom she has performed in multiple reputed Sabhas since 2015. Sandhya has a Bachelor's in Fine Arts in Bharathanatyam from Annamalai University. During her undergraduate studies, she was trained by Dr. Sumathi (Principal of Bridge Academy) with whom she had opportunities to perform in Natyanjali, Margazhi Utsav, Doordharshann, solo recitals and at the Fine Arts College of Singapore.

After her Undergraduate degree, Ms. Sandhya moved on to learn Nattuvangam from Dr. Sujatha. She believes in enriching her knowledge from several gurus and has been actively taking part in several workshops like Workshop by Rama Vaidyanadhan, Priya Govind, Madurai R Muralidharan to name a few.

Sandhya's parents are very supportive of her passion for dance and her father P.V. Rajakumar is a poet and novelist. He wrote two natya dramas so far on Arunagiri a disciple of Muruga and Urmila from Ramayana. Arunagiri was performed under the guidance of her former guru A.G.Narthana and Urmilayanam was her debut as a director and choreographer. Urmilayanam is a natya drama portraying the story of Urmila, the Wife of Lakshman who suffered in misery while her husband was in exile. Sandhya performed Urmilayanam as the protagonist with 17 other dancers. The show has given her a successful start to her career as a choreographer and teacher, which was featured in multiple magazines and newspapers like Indian Express, Kalai Magal, etc. She has been teaching art since 2015 in Chennai until she moved to the US for her master's.

Mr. Chinmay has been dancing for the last 15 years and has performed several styles of dance like hip hop, locking, popping, house, shuffle as well as Bollywood. Chinmay is also well-versed in the folk dance form of Garba. He has sharpened his dance techniques through various workshops like Urban Dance Camp (2016) and Danceworx workshops (2015).
Mr. Chinmay was a core team member of the Dance Club at BITS Pilani (2010-2014) serving as its secretary for 3 years. The Dance BITS team competed in the National Level Street Dance and Choreography competitions. His performances were showcased in India’s Got Talent (2013) and he also participated in the iconic Indian Television Dance Show Boogie Woogie.

Mr. Chinmay co-founded a dance company called Masala Beats in 2017 focusing on content creation. During the pandemic in 2020, he curated dance lessons sharing his passion for dance, techniques and musicality of various urban dance styles. Mr. Chinmay completed his Master’s from Indiana University, Kelley School of Business in 2020 and works as a management professional in a financial services firm in NYC.

Aditi is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer (Pandanallur) and has been learning and practicing the classical dance form since the age of 5. She has done her Arangetram  from Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya under the guidance of  her guru Brinda Mehta. She has mastered all the 15 styles of Bharatnatyam and has completed her Akhil Bhartiya Gandharv Mahavidhyalay Madal, Madhyama Purana in April 2013. 

She has been teaching this traditional dance form to kids and teenagers for the last two years. Apart from Bharatnatyam, Aditi is also a proficient Garba dancer and has been trained at Soni’s School of Garba Dance, Mumbai. Aditi has also explored other dance forms like Kathak and Hip Hop. She has also learnt Contemporary dance from the famous Terence Luis Academy in Mumbai and has participated and choreographed in various inter-school and college competitions. 

In 2018 -2019, she participated in the Kings United (World Hip Hop Dance Championship Winner - 2015) Workshop in New York, which gave her a lot of learning and performing experience. By profession Aditi has a Master’s degree in Information Systems from Pace University, New York and Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Mumbai University. She is working as a Data Analyst and also loves hosting virtual coding classes for young kids.

 She is very excited to teach and mentor SDA’s talented students as they take their first steps towards this beautiful classical dance form. 

Ms. Madison Meredith is a performing and teaching dance artist, choreographer, and Registered Yoga School (RYS) 200HR certified yoga teacher in the greater New Jersey/New York area. Ms. Madison holds a Master of Education in Dance Education from Rutgers Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance with minors in Psychology and Education as a Social Science from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She also holds a New Jersey Certificate of Eligibility with Advanced Standing (CEAS) in PK-12 Dance Education. 

Ms. Madison teaches a variety of dance genres including jazz, tap, hip hop, modern/contemporary, ballet, and musical theater. In addition to being on staff at SDA, Ms. Madison is also on staff as a teaching artist at The School/Community Programs at Nimbus Dance Works, Mark Morris Dance Center, Gloucester County Institute of Technology Performing Arts department, All For Dance, Be You Dance Center and Washington Rock Dance. Other teaching partnerships include BOLD Arts, Fresh Theater Arts, MOVE CJ, and Swedesboro-Woolwich Little Theater. Ms. Madison is a company member of moe-tion dance theater based in New Jersey, and has performed with Opus Dance Company based in Philadelphia, PA. She also performs for Julia Ramirez and has appeared in her works at festivals such as the 92Y Future Dance Festival and White Wave’s DUMBO Dance Festival. Ms. Madison’s professional choreographic works have been presented at Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn, NY, the Adrienne Theater in Philadelphia, PA, and the Koresh Artist Showcase in Philadelphia, PA. She has also set choreographic works for MOVE Central Jersey, Gloucester County Institute of Technology dance department, Union City High School dance department, Swedesboro-Woolwich Little Theater, and multiple competitive dance companies and recreational dance groups at studios throughout New Jersey.

Ms. Monika is trained in Bollywood Dance. At the age of 6, she joined her very first dance class, and there has been no looking back since then. She was a part of her school’s (St. Conrads) dance team from 2005 to 2010. She has been an integral part of the Lovely Professional University dance team (2014). Ms. Monika has participated in various competitions and college festivals such as One India (2015) and One World (2016) and was also a part of charity dance events at the non-profit, NSS (2013- 2018).
Her love for teaching and children pushed her to start summer dance camps for children aged between 5-10 yrs in Agra at the young age of 18. She further went on to conduct Bollywood dance classes for women in Agra.

Ms. Monika is currently an Account Executive Cybersecurity with Avancer Corporation and teaches Bollywood at SDA.

Ms. Neha is a trained Haryanvi dancer who started her dance journey at the age of 10. She was an integral part of Vaish College of Engineering’s Cultural Committees where she dabbled in dance, event planning and coordination. Ms. Neha participated with her team that won an award at the inter-college state-level competition for regional dance. She continued to nurture her passion for dance while pursuing her career at Infosys, Pune from 2010 to 2014 and participated in prominent events in San Diego like Festival of Lights, SANTA and CRY San Diego from 2015 to 2019. 

Ms. Neha teaches folk and Bollywood dance forms at SDA. She works as a Salesforce Solution Architect in PwC, New York. She also owns a small business called Dreams Alive specializing in event decor and backdrop curation and is a Mom to an energetic toddler.

Ms. Sushmitha’s love for dance started at the age of 5. She was part of her school Rosary Matriculation Chennai dance team and won multiple inter school competitions. She was also part of the dance teams of her alma maters Stella Maris College, Chennai ( 2011-2014 ) and Madras School of Social Work, Chennai (2014-2016).

She has won multiple collegiate and national level competitions like IIT Saarang, Campus Jive, landing her various awards for best artist and best dancer in solo and team performances.She has also participated and won in an online dance competition called Art Vibe in 2017. Ms Sushmitha is trained in Bollywood, Hip Hop, Contemporary and also explored other dance styles like Jazz and Salsa. She was a teacher and dancer at Independent dance Academy, Chennai ( 2018) She has also been a wedding choreographer teaching both in person and online. She also ventured into event management as her side gig and worked with the Oscar Award winner A.R Rahman for his India tour in 2017 and 2018. 

Sushmitha is a Mental Health Professional and believes dance is an outlet of expression.  After her work in India and Canada, she moved to New Jersey post her marriage wanting to explore her love for dance and pursue Mental Health.

Ms Tanya Chauhan is a versatile dancer, performer and choreographer based out of New York. Tanya has her roots in New Delhi and started dancing professionally since the age of 15 She was a company member for 5 years at a Delhi based Jazz Company. From 2021 -2022 Tanya trained virtually with Franziska Rosenzweig, a renowned UK based instructor and privately training under the guidance Ritika Chandra, founder of Elan Ballet (her mentor). In 2022, Tanya received a three months scholarship with a Mumbai based dance company - ICMD founded by the talented Pia Sutaria.

Tanya has taught dance at some of the most prestigious dance schools in Mumbai - Nritya Shakti, ICMD and Danceworx. Ms. Tanya received her PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) level 1 certification as a teacher in 2023 and is currently training in one of the most prestigious schools of New York - Steps on Broadway. 

Ms. Tanya has an experience of over a decade now in the dance industry and has trained intensively in Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Tap and Indian Martial Arts - Kalaripayattu all over the world. She is very focused on building a strong, passionate and mindful dance community in New York and New Delhi and is a huge advocate of the benefits of dance on the physical and mental being of her students. She is very excited to share her knowledge of the performing arts to the younger generation of dancers.

Ms Shreya is a Bollywood and semi classical dancer who has been dancing since she was 5. She has performed on stage almost every year, from school annual events to being featured in a dance sequence in a Marathi film in 2010. She was part of two professional dance groups in her hometown of Pune - Justine’s Dance Academy Group and Pune Heels Dance Academy where she did a year of belly dance training and also participated in many prominent events like Breast Cancer Awareness by Nag Foundation in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and Pune Commerce and New Business Awards Ceremony in 2014 to name a few.

She has done her schooling and college at St. Mary’s School, Pune and Masters in Computer Applications from Pune University. Shreya and her team led her alma mater Symbiosis College, Pune to victory in the Annual Dance Fest Symbhav in 2015. She has also completed short courses in Latin American and Ballroom Dancing ( Sumeru Dance School, Pune in 2009) has briefly trained in Kathak and Bharatanatyam through workshops. 

Ms Shreya comes from a family of teachers and she herself was a educator in Pune at Serra International School and Victorious Kids Educares from 2018-2020. Continuing her passion for teaching, she is now a Corporate Trainer and Etiquette Consultant in New Jersey. She describes dancing as a way her mind communicates with her. She is often seen swaying without music because rhythm runs in her body. She aspires to spread similar joy through dance to the students of SDA. 

Ms. Himanshi Kothari is a trained Bollywood dancer and has dabbled other dance forms like Hip-hop, Salsa, Contemporary, Semi-classical, and Garba and Heels style from dance professionals such as Sagar Mhadolkar, Swarali Karulkar, Revati Mahurkar and the Shiamak USA team. She is also pursuing Kathak dance lessons currently from Shivani Badgi in New York City, USA.

She started her dance journey at the early age of 4 and has been dancing ever since. Ms. Himanshi has performed and won folk and solo dance competitions during her school days and during her college festival – Pratibimb – in Mumbai, India in the year 2014. She has also been a part of her college dance team at VJTI (2013 – 2015) while pursuing her B. Tech in Mumbai, India. Ms. Himanshi is well versed with private events/wedding choreography. She moved to the USA in 2021 to pursue her MS in Business Analytics and is currently working with EY as a Technology Consultant.

Ms. Gauri is a passionate dancer trained in various styles of dance. Ms. Gauri has trained in Bharatanatyam for 5 years from 2012-2017 at Kalashri School of Arts, learned Bollywood at Shiamak Davar Bollywood Dance Academy for a year, and has trained in Hip Hop for past 3 years with Susie Karlik’s Dance Sensation and she is currently part of their Hip Hop competitive dance team. She shares her passion for dance with her friends at school, as she is a participant in all 3 dance clubs at Millburn High School, and is a leader in choreography and organizing events such as recitals to promote dance in the community.

Ms. Gauri has performed at multiple events such as schools dance recitals, Makar Sankranti festivals, Chinese New Year Festival, and even the prestigious Prudential Center at Kalashri School of Arts 50th Annual Performance in 2016. As a choreographer who has choreographed and danced in several community events since the age of 7, Ms. Gauri is excited to further serve the Millburn community through her love of dance.

Ms. Piya is trained in both Indian and American classical dance since the age of 4, starting with Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi under the guidance of Guru Ritha Devi (1988-1993) and later transitioning to Ballet, Tap, Jazz & Lyrical at Marianne's School of Dance in Allentown, PA. (1992-2001). Growing up she was constantly participating, choreographing and teaching dances not only for Indian events but also multicultural events to spread diversity and cultural awareness in her hometown. During college, she became one of the founding members of Temple University's first Indian Competitive dance team - Agni (2003-2005) and then went on to co-captain the Bhangra team at American University of Antigua Medical School. (2006-2008).

She was born in the US and believes her passion for Bollywood and dance keeps her connected to her Indian/Bengali heritage, something she deeply cherishes. She loves motivating others to dance not only for onstage performances, but for exercise and fun - Bhangra being her top favorite! It is clear that throughout all her phases of life, dance remained her constant source of peace and happiness.

Ms. Piya is a Physician with the RWJ Barnabas Health System in New Jersey and has two kids, one who had her first stage performance at the age of 3. She is hoping to keep the dancing passion running strong in the family.

Mr. Sunay began training at Shehnaaz Dance Academy in 2016 at age of 7. He has participated in numerous showcases at SDA. Sunay won the prestigious solo Nimbus Youth Star Award at the Nimbus Arts Festival in 2021 through which he won the scholarship for a 5-week summer intensive dance program scholarship at the Nimbus Dance Company. and also placed first with his team at the JC Dance Stars competition in 2019. Dance has helped him graduate from a shy student at Cornelia Bradford Elementary school to a confident and involved High Schooler at Millburn High School.

Besides dance, Mr. Sunay plays two competitive sports, soccer and lacrosse. He has also recently gained interest in Finance and Economics and, over the past summer, created a 50-slide presentation on China’s economy for an academic enrichment summer camp. He also values community service and is part of two school clubs that participate in many community service projects in his hometown Millburn. Mr. Sunay is excited to start teaching dance to younger students in SDA and spark their interest, especially get more boys interested in taking a keen interest in performing arts.

Ms Sandhya has trained in Bollywood dancing at Shehnaaz Dance Academy and also assisted Ms. Anushya and Ms. Shehnaaz in various classes at SDA since September 2022. Ms. Sandhya was actively involved in dancing and performing while she was pursuing her undergraduate studies in Badruka College, Andhra Pradesh, India. She has represented her college at cultural festivals, won competitions and even trained her juniors to compete. She has assisted renowned artist-choreographer Kashyap Kulkarni and was his team lead at the Amazon event in Canada for three years.

She has worked tirelessly at SDA x BuzyBugs Camp to keep our students engaged in word games and math activities. She is great with little kids and is currently training 4-5 years olds in Bollywood Beginners course. She is constantly learning and upgrading her dance skills by working with SDA Company Dancers on her technique and form. Ms. Sandhya is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Analytics at Saint Peter’s University in NJ and steadily advancing as a dance instructor with SDA. 

Ms. Ishika, a trained Kathak dancer from Indianica Academy, Iselin NJ started learning the classical Indian dance form at the age of 6. She has 7 years of extensive Kathak training and experience (2014-2022). Ms. Ishika and her troupe have performed at Lincoln Center and won 2nd place for their performance. At 12, Ms. Ishika utilized her summer break to teach dance to a group of students in her garage. She succeeded in teaching the basics of hastaks and Kathak footwork as well as Bollywood dance to her young students.

Performing since a young age has boosted her self-confidence and she is excited to take on a new role at SDA. Ms. Ishika also has 5 years of experience playing the piano and has won trophies and accolades from her piano recitals as well as a brown belt in karate. Additionally, she is a dedicated student at Millburn High School with exceptional grades.

Ms Srishti is trained in the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam - Tanjore Gharana, under Ms. Hemakshi Joshi. Always passionate about dancing even before she knew what it meant, has brought her a long way. She started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 10 and tries to dig in deeper even today. She came to the US recently to pursue her Master's of Science in Financial Management from Pace University, Lubin School of Business, NYC. She has done her Bachelor's of Business Administration in Branding and Advertising from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai (2019-2022). She believes dancing is her all-time stress buster. 

She has performed  multiple times with her dance school Shri Sai Kala Kendra, Daman, at Scouts and Guides Annual functions, school events and functions, the Prime Minister of India's visit, the Itch Summit event, etc. She has also participated in competitions like Jubilee Arts and Talent Parades between 2016 and 2019. She is also well versed in other styles like Semi-classical, Raas and Garba, Bhangra and Giddha, Bollywood, Lavani and Rajasthani folk dancers. She strongly believes that each child is a born dancer and wishes to pass her talent and grit on to her students.

Ms. Deanna has been dancing at Peak Performing Arts for over 3 years (2021-2024). She is currently training in Contemporary , Hip Hop, Jazz, and Ballet. Deanna is currently a part of Peak Performing Arts’ competition team and is training to compete at Tri State Competitions this year. In the past, Ms. Deanna has trained and performed in Contemporary dance techniques and nuances under Ms. Vaishnavi Kulkarni. She will be teaching BollyJazz and BollyHop along side Ms. Madison at SDA this semester. Ms. Deanna has also been the lead choreographer in our Under the Sea Musical with students ranging from ages 4-12 years in 2023. Her hobbies include but are not limited to dancing, singing, and acting. She hopes to make it to broadway someday as a performing artist in a lead role. Deanna loves to play guitar and hang out with my two cats, Blue and Sapphire. She can’t wait to mentor her new students at SDA this semester.

Ms. Hiral is an award-winning multimedia journalist and writer. She started her career with Network 18 as a core team member of CBNC Awaaz- a Hindi Business News channel in Mumbai. Apart from reporting for daily news, she has anchored and produced several feature shows in Hindi for CNBC Awaaz and CNBC TV 18. She has extensive experience in scripting and voicing in Hindi.

Apart from Mumbai, Ms. Hiral has also lived in Dubai. While there, she freelanced for the Times Now News Network, a film website and Radio 4- a Bollywood Radio Station. During her stint with radio, she voiced radio commercials and also dabbled in copywriting in Hindi. Besides Hindi, Ms. Hiral is fluent in English, Marathi and Gujarati. A Post- Graduate Diploma holder in Journalism and Mass Communication from Xavier Institute of Communications Mumbai, she currently freelances for Indian TV networks, content writing and copyediting. She also has a small business curating and selling artisanal home decor and accessories. Ms. Hiral resides in Jersey City with her family and is a mom to 2 lovely kids.

Ms. Apnavi, our partner for Cultural Programs and Holiday Camps, is a qualified and experienced marketing professional. Apart from the US, she has lived in Singapore and India. She founded BuzyBugs in 2015 while living in Singapore. Buzybugs creatively brings together the three important aspects of Ms. Apnavi’s life; entrepreneurship, handcrafting and working with children. She provides an engaging themed program for children with hands-on creative exploration.

Ms. Apnavi integrates storytelling with arts and crafts and curates immersive experiences like the Ramayan puppet show, mother’s day pop- up market and more. She creates an exciting environment for children to learn about the Indian culture in our community and beyond.