A dance company's tribute to Bollywood's glitz and glamour. Bollywood Dance Company (BDC) operates in Australia and centres its creative stance between Melbourne and Sydney. 

Their motto is "Celebrating Dance, Arts, and Culture", and they have an expert faculty. BDC's Founder, Directors, and Principal Instructors 

 Vihang Nikalje, Darshan Pawar and Sohini Banerjee started their careers in Mumbai and have worked In Bollywood, giving their academy an edge over our contemporaries.

In the first few months of starting their new venture, they had the privilege of choreographing the Oscar-winning song “Naatu Naatu”, which was performed at the reception of Indian PM Narendra Modi in Australia. 

Not many get the privilege of hosting master class workshops with the acclaimed Vartika Jha and Tushar Shetty, well-known for their dance style and choreography in Indian Reality shows. 

But their recent venture, choreographing and staging a dance show called 'Dream Girls of Bollywood', which premiered in Melbourne and Sydney last month in November; a show ode to the grace and glamour of Bollywood actresses from Madhubala to Kiara Advani.

 It also marks the end-of-year performances of their five hundred students.

Bollywood Dance Company have been in the industry and working in Australia for over seventeen years in performing arts; their values and philosophy in teaching exemplify students, especially in the exchange of knowledge of dance. They have tried to connect to younger kids for years, tying them to their roots. 

It's rich, heart-warming and inspiring to know that all their hard work created here is not only connecting the Australian Indian community back to their roots but through their work, they are able to promote Indian culture and dance forms.

It is a conscious decision to keep the vibrancy of our culture alive so far away from India. It's their simple goal to inspire and establish their studio so they can fly their dream of connecting the two cultures to the next level in their stride.

The company's essence is to bring Indian culture and heritage to all dance lovers in Australia by delivering and incorporating the best training methods for its students. 

The big picture is for a more excellent representation of South Asian culture, language, diversity, racial equity, and intersectional inclusion—a mission to share Indian culture with the Australian community through Indian performing arts and dance. 

Bollywood Dance Company creates a positive community to empower and motivate students to get fit through dance and enthrall the audience through performances.

The next five years are prominent for the company to become a one-stop shop, especially for Bollywood dance music, movies, and weddings. 

An umbrella that would take in each one who aspires to learn Bollywood dance, perhaps even take it as a career. An embodiment of arts and cultural exchange that could get the best of India to Australia and vice versa.

Bollywood Dance Company is also breaking cultural barriers. They have always wanted to bring the best of Indian performing arts to Australia and get the upcoming Australian talent exposure or a platform to showcase their talent. 

They are connecting and visible to the Indian artist and performing within the art circle. Calls for tenacity. They are trying, to be able to bridge that gap between the two cultures through this dance company. 

Catering to Bollywood style or performance, the art form is a vast umbrella embracing global dance styles such as hip-hop, contemporary, Indian folk, semi-classical, Latin American styles, Rock and Roll, you name it. 

It's all an infusion and emulsion of Bollywood songs and dances. In fact,   the academy gives that versatility to the students as they don't cater to seasonal dancers; they are open to all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and orientations. 

Again, the big picture is for them to showcase their performers and create that engagement with the audiences, a complete Bollywood experience full of glitz and glamour. 

Like the ones we see in award shows and dance reality shows back in India.

It gives their academy an edge over their contemporaries. 

We look forward to many more of their glamorous extravaganzas and more power to the artists and their performances.

By Nandita Chakraborty