Youth Certificate Program

PIA SUTARIA
(India,UK)
Founder/ Director

A graduate of the “Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma” at the Royal Academy of Dance ,London, Pia has trained in classical ballet for 18 years as well as jazz, contemporary and modern dance. She has performed with India’s premier Dance Theatre Company “Navdhara” in New York,LA,San Francisco, Turkey, Israel, Canada, Japan and the UK.As a dancer/ singer she has performed on various occasions as a soloist at the National Centre For Performing Arts and Royal Opera House in Mumbai. As a teacher, mentor and choreographer she has taught students of all age groups in India, the UK and Bhutan. During her study at the R.A.D in London, Pia realised the deep void that existed in vocational training for ballet in India. As a result, Pia’s vision is to make vocational training in dance accessible to young artists with exceptional potential who strive to create a self-sustaining career in dance. Moreover, to make Ballet, an otherwise elitist art form, to be within the grasp of anyone who wants to pursue it.

DAVID BLAKE
(UK)
MODERN
(LESTER HORTON TECHNIQUE)

An international performer (currently performing the lead role ‘Banzai‘ in The Lion King On West End), instructor and choreographer with more than 15 years’ experience, David teaches the Lester Horton technique which provides the fundamental tools needed in dance training for both professional and pre professional dancers. David is a certified Lester Horton Technique Instructor, a fellow of the International Dance Teachers’ Association (IDTA) and holds a MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from the University of London, Goldsmiths. He received his performing arts training through the Cathy Levy Performing Arts Academy, California State University and the Alvin Ailey American Dance School

AVANTIKA BAHL
(India, UK)
Contemporary / Creative practice

Avantika Bahl is a dance practitioner based in Mumbai where she makes her own choreographic work and teaches. She studied at the London Contemporary Dance School and has previously choreographed and toured with full- length works {wonkot}, Say, What? and Look Left, Turn Right alongwith solo works- 11048,M81, Here, and Meandering. She recently toured as a performer with The Lost Wax Project and Whirlpool.

She is faculty at Future School of Performing Arts where she teaches Contemporary Dance Technique and Anatomy to the diploma students. She has also been visiting faculty at Terence Lewis Dance Company, SNDA, SEA, The MA Performance Practise Program at Ambedkar University and the Duende School. She has a Masters degree in English literature.

JESSICA NICHOLAS
(Australia)
Jazz / Calisthenics

Jessica Nicholas is a professional dancer, choreographer and movement specialist from Melbourne, Australia. She has over twenty years experience in performing and choreographing a variety of Jazz dance styles including Classical, Lyrical & Theatre Jazz. As co-founder of Melbourne based children’s theatre company SilverJay Productions, Jessica also has extensive experience in developing, instructing and directing movement for the stage.

Jessica currently freelances in Mumbai as a choreographer and movement specialist for children, recreational dancers, professional performers & dance companies. She has been a visiting faculty member for the last 11 years at the Terence Lewis Professional Training Institute teaching Jazz technique and is a core faculty member at the Institute of Classical & Modern Dance (ICMD).

VAIDEHI PATEL
(India, UK)
Ballet (R.A.D)

Studying classical ballet from The School of Classical Ballet and Western Dance, Vaidehi has completed multiple grade and vocational examinations conducted by the RAD, UK and The International Society of Teachers of Dance, UK. She is currently a core faculty member of the Dance Education Program at FSPA, India and is working toward completing her teacher with the RAD.

MANISH CHAUHAN
Ballet

Manish Chauhan has returned to Mumbai after training at the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Israel and Oregon Ballet Theatre, USA. Manish started ballet at the age of 21, and is one of the first Indian applicants to pursue ballet on a full scholarship internationally. He plays a fictionalised version of himself, called Nishu, in the recent Netflix film “Yeh Ballet”, which is based on his life story, highlighting the lives of two ballet dancers, Manish Chauhan and Amiruddin Shah,and their struggle in mastering a dance form that is unique to India.

RAHUL CHAUDHARY
Tap

Rahul Chaudhary is a member of the Indian Film Dance Directors Association (IFDDA). He had the privilege to assist the legendary choreographer Saroj khan in the recent past. He has trained in Tap Dance from Oscar Unger (India) & Mina Liccione (Dubai), Popping & Locking from Twilight Players and Bharatnatyam from Madhuparna Kumar. He follows the Al Gilbert tap syllabus to deliver a structured tap education to the students. His vision is to spread awareness about Tap Dance in India.

SHIV D’MELLO
(USA, India)
Inside the mind of a dancer

Shiv holds a Master’s degree in Positive Psychology and Organizational Development and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Anthropology from Case Western Reserve University, USA. He has studied the Science of Coaching Psychology at Harvard University, is certified in Appreciative Inquiry, and is an Advanced Practitioner of the Polarity Approach to Continuity & Transformation. Collaborating with individuals to create thriving and mindful experiences, Shiv’s work is dedicated to facilitating this realisation of wellbeing while meeting individual and collective needs

JOANNA MICHELLE
(USA ,India)
Yoga, Strength and Flexibility

Joanna has completed her Ashtanga Yoga Teacher training in Mysore as well as various yoga intensive workshops with many advanced teachers and has been teaching yoga for the past two years. Additionally, Joanna has completed the Body & Pole NYC Pre Professional Intensive Program (Pole, silks, hoops, flexibility and inversions) and has also completed her teacher training in Pole Fitness & Flexibility. A company member with the Danceworx Mumbai for three years, Joanna has trained in classical ballet, jazz and contemporary dance and has taught extesively at the Danceworx Mumbai.

ARJUN MENON
(India)
Jazz (Guest Faculty)

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.

MALIKKA ADVANI
NYU Tisch

My name is Malikka Advani, I’m 19 years old. I’m a sophomore at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I’m a drama major, but I’m also minoring in Dance and Digital Art and Design because I have always been someone who has a large array of interests. That is the reason Prodance was very helpful for me. I not only got rigorous training in dance, but I acquired many more skills. For example I learned about anatomy in relation with movement, we  did a lot of breath connection and yoga work, we learned about choreography, rhythm and much more.  That, I think is what helped me in my journey and lead me to successfully enroll in the school of my dreams!

DIPESH VARMA
Paris Marais Dance School
(full scholarship)

I’m Dipesh! I am 19 years old and thanks to the training I received at ICMD, I was able to obtain a scholarship to study in Paris, the City of Lights, at Paris Marais Dance School, in the heart of Paris, in its historic centre. It’s a school that teaches contemporary and ballet, that teaches both through a global training and that also prepares students to become professional dancers and to join a company.

Obtaining this scholarship required a lot of work and personal self-sacrifice, but nothing would have been possible on my own. I met Pia in Mumbai. She could see me in a ballet class;we had a talk and after knowing my financial situation and my desire to dance she offered me a full scholarship. Training with ICMD really changed my life, it was a game-changer and I had some unforgettable moments. ICMD helped me to grow as a dancer of course, but also as a human being by teaching me how to become a more independent, more mature, more responsible person. Pia has been a great teacher since I met her. She helped me to live in Mumbai, in a big city that I didn’t know, she helped me to put me on the road to success, she helped me to find schools, to record videos for auditions. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thanks to Pia, I was able to get scholarships from many ballet schools in the United States.

So it is thanks to the help of ICMD that I was able to get this scholarship and be on my way to realizing my dream. First of all, it is the best academic and technical training for young dancers who aspire to perfect their technique and realize their aspirations. Secondly, this training not only helps them with technology, but also with confidence, morale, mental, nutrition, physical condition: because dancing is about having a healthy mind in a healthy body! And thirdly, the program is very effective, organized, coherent, structured, complete thanks to the structured syllabus coming from a very famous school, Royal Academy of Dance. The school has various teaching styles that you learn: tap, jazz, dance, modern, character dance. I really enjoyed the school’s workshops, with so many different teachers. Moreover, all the teachers are really attentive, are ready all the time to help and support the students, they support you from the beginning to the end. The student community helps you a lot. We are all a family, in solidarity, and each student is very inspiring and learning from each other, caring, each one helps each other with a lot of fraternity and unity. ICMD was always the studio where I wanted to spend the most time!

This training as a whole really helped me when I arrived in Paris because I was able to face a great diversity of situations. Without ICMD, I would have been in a more difficult situation, even much more difficult, because I had to learn a lot of different character dance and modern techniques as well and ICMD gave me the tools to adapt quickly to the demands of the teaching. I am truly honored and grateful to Pia for her all the work she did not just with me me make the ICDM the best.

ALYA DORMEN
ArtsEd London

ICMD is a vocational school where passionate and ambitious dancers train to ‘move beyond the ordinary’. I can’t stress enough the friendly and welcoming environment that has always made me look forward to coming to dance. Throughout my years, the faculty has constantly guided me and without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am currently training in a performing arts school in London, and with the help of Pia, Jessica and Raull, my audition process was made so much easier. I will always be thankful for the experiences, the knowledge, the professionalism, the memories, the friends, the teachers and more.