Faculty

Pia Sutaria

Pia Sutaria is a graduate of the “Royal Academy of Music” where she was a recipient of the Disney Theatrical Scholarship and is also a registered teacher with the “Royal Academy of Dance”, London. Most recently, Pia played the principal role “Mala” in the UK tour of the musical “Bombay Superstar” and also performed with the Welsh National Opera’s “Migrations”, and “Settling” at the Criterion Theatre, London.

Pia has performed in India and Internationally for over a decade and has toured internationally with “Navdhara India Dance Theatre” in Turkey, Israel, Canada, USA, and Japan. A soloist at the, “National Centre for the Performing Arts” and the, “Royal Opera House”, in Mumbai, Pia has also represented global brands like Dove, Jockey, Puma, and Nike as a recognised Ballerina in India. She recently gave a TEDx talk on dance and classical ballet in India.

In 2018, Pia founded the “Institute of Classical and Modern Dance” to fill the deep void that existed for vocational training for young dancers in India. As a result, Pia’s vision is to make vocational training in dance accessible to young artists. Moreover, to make Ballet, an otherwise elitist art form, to be within the grasp of anyone who wants to pursue it. The school has successfully sent students on scholarships to top performing arts Institutions in Europe, the UK, and USA.

Arjun Menon
Jazz

Arjun Menon

Arjun Menon’s career in performing arts comprises over 10 years of experience in performing, choreographing and teaching both in India and overseas. He is the Principal dancer of Navdhara India Dance Theatre, the only Indian dance company to travel abroad for contemporary dance. The travel accolades extended from tours in America, Germany, South Africa(Nelson Mandela theatre), Bahrain, Israel (Suzanne Dellal theatre), Turkey, Canada, Mexico and China with performing in more than over 100 theaters across. He has also chaperoned in class audits and dance syllabus and headed a studio of 600 students for The Danceworx Performing Arts Academy. His teaching experience includes dance forms like Jazz, Contemporary, major placement technique (ballet) and Prana paint & flow- a unique sensatising approach that explores movement through connectivity, yoga, breath and touch. He extended his teaching in Theatre Chemnitz, Vuyani dance theatre and undertook various workshops in Canada, Mexico, Turkey and China. Arjun has choreographed for and assisted for stage and cinema with over 7 feature films and many stage productions to his credit.

Ashifa Sarkar Vasi
Ballet ABT

Ashifa Sarkar Vasi

Ashifa Sarkar Vasi began ballet at age 6 and trained for 14 years in the USA. She received intensive summer training at the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City and the reputed Rock School for Dance Education (Philadelphia Ballet) in Pennsylvania, USA. She performed for 11 years, including roles like Clara, Chinese, Doll, Arabian, Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker; soloist in La Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty; and lead roles in Les Sylphides, Carousel, and multiple original works. Her experience ranged from local community engagements to full scale pre-professional performances.

Ashifa is currently an independent ballet teacher based in Mumbai, India. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She has been teaching ballet since 1999 both in the USA and India and has worked with students of various ages, levels, abilities and backgrounds in different settings (communities, schools, dance academies, and private studios). In India, she has taught for Terence Lewis, Sumeet Nagdev, The Danceworx, Shiamak Davar, the Institute of Classical and Modern Dance (ICMD), children’s centers and workshops, private studios, as well as conducted private classes.
Her latest endeavor in the ballet space since 2017 is the Ballet Festival of India that aims to promote learning, networking, collaboration and performance opportunities in ballet with an emphasis on artistic and technical excellence. Read more about Ashifa at www.ashifa.net/ballet.

Avantika Bahl
Contemporary

Avantika Bahl

Avantika Bahl is a dance practitioner and educator based in Mumbai. As a maker, her interest lies in creating equitable performance work that can be accessed by a larger community. As an educator, she uses dance as a medium to have conversations that are relevant to the socio-political context that she and her young students are a part of.

She studied at the London Contemporary Dance School and in 2021 completed the Curriculum-in-Motion program offered by Jacobs Pillow, USA.

She has previously made and toured extensively with full- length works Say, What?, Look Left, Turn Right,{wonkot} and solos, 11048,M81, Here and Meandering. She is currently Program Head at The Institute of Classical and Modern Dance. Previously, she was full time faculty at Future School of Performing Arts. She has also been visiting faculty at Terence Lewis Dance Company, SNDA, SEA, The MA Performance Practice Program at Ambedkar University Whistling Woods and the Duende School. She toured as a performer with The Lost Wax Project and Whirlpool in 2018 and 2019 respectively. She also has a Masters degree in English Literature and has completed her Level 3 in Indian Sign Language.

Ankita Kalsi
Pilates Instructor

Ankita Kalsi

Ankita is a Qualified Pilates and Movement Instructor, educator and a Student of Pilates method for the past 9 years.She is certified in the STOTT Pilates Method from the Zone Studio in Bangalore, and is currently pursuing an academic study of the Eric Franklin Method of Movement.

She specialises in Strengtning, Rehabilitation and Athletic Conditioning through Pilates on the Reformer, Mat and Chair. She’s trained and certified in Rehabilitative exercise by the Rehab Trainer company in Australia.

Apart from Pilates, she has been a trained dancer, with Ashley Lobo’s Danceworx academy and an alumni of The future school of performing arts. Where she has also been a faculty to students instructing them in the pilates method. She is trained in classical ballet, Jazz and Latin ballroom dance forms.

She believes her education in dance with her respective teachers has made her the movement instructor she is today, and has formed the base of her repertoire majorly.
Her approach towards movement lies in building a deep connect with the mind and body.

She is passionate about animals and is constantly working on sustainable ideas for better animal habitats and their welfare in the world.

Shivani Mistry
Ballet RAD

Shivani Mistry

I’ve been dancing since the age of 5. I’m a dancer, choreographer and dance educator in India. I’ve studied Ballet, Modern Theatre, Jazz, Latin American, Musical Theatre and Contemporary. I’m also a Biotechnology graduate. I’ve been training, travelling around the world for intensives and workshops, teaching and creating. I’ve pursued dance with great zeal, passion and honest dedication. I’ve been featured in various international magazines as an influencer for women empowerment, physical and mental well-being and for dance achievements. My aim is to expand the extent of my knowledge, mind, and body whilst acknowledge my capabilities and limits only to push beyond them. I wish to constant strive to refine myself in the art I love the most. It is my endeavors to inspire people and show beyond doubt the possibilities of possessing a thriving career in the field of art.

Tarini Tripathi
Kathak rep

Tarini Tripathi

I’m a third-generation Kathak dancer who has trained under my Grandmother, Guru Padma Sharma, and mother, Gauri Sharma Tripathi. Hailing from a strong female lineage of Kathak dancers, my base allows me to explore different aspects of the art without losing the formal vocabulary. As a former athlete and fitness professional, I see a synergy between movement and energy. With the experience of performing in the UK, USA and India, I experience the art form through the global lens and as a vibrant, dynamic dance form. For me, dance is a dynamic extension of one’s being, where we express what we are afraid to do in routine life.

Eden Dolreich Pereira

Eden Dolreich Pereira

Eden Dolreich Pereira joined The Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company (TLCDC) in 2007-2010. Apart from studying full-time at The TLCDC, Eden also trained himself further at The Danceworx Performing Arts Academy in Mumbai. He is trained in Jazz, Contemporary and Classical Ballet. He has also done training workshops in Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Martial arts and Kalaripayattu to name a few. He has also further trained in countries like New York and Israel.

Shruti Maria Datar
Performer, Teacher & Choreographer

Shruti Maria Datar

Shruti Maria Datar is a Mumbai based performer, teacher and choreographer. She has completed her Professional Training in Contemporary Dance from Danscentrumjette, Belgium and holds a Diploma in Movement Arts from ‘Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts’, Bangalore.

She trained for 10 years as a Bharatanatyam dancer and since 2014 has been a freelance dance artist. Her choreographic work-in-progress ‘Phi’ was showcased at The Prakriti Excellence in Contemporary Dance awards 2016. She was featured in the Dance films series “Moving Cities Brussels”.

She has trained a number of Dance schools and Professional dance training programs in Flying Low and Floorwork techniques and continues in her practice of the form. She is the festival coordinator for Sanskar International Dance festival, India. Additionally, she has taught several workshops as a guest faculty at various Dance schools in Europe and in India. She is currently based in Mumbai and working in the field of Dance Education.