Ajanta Chakraborty

Co-Founder, President

Ajanta Chakraborty

Ajanta co-founded Bollywood Groove in 2008 in California. Her biggest passion in life is to provide a cultural exposure to Bollywood and other Indian dances in a way that it can be enjoyed by all individuals irrespective of their dance skills and prior knowledge to Indian culture/dance.

Ajanta has a Senior Diploma in BharatNatyam and has years of experience teaching and performing dance. With a Masters in Computer Science from University of British Columbia, Ajanta has also spent years in the corporate world as a Professional Services Consultant and has worked in dynamic and fast paced environments.

Since summer of 2011, she has made Bollywood Groove her primary focus and enjoys every moment of it. Ajanta oversees the day to day operations of the company and is the primary instructor at Bollywood Groove.

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Vivek Kumar

Co-Founder, Strategy & Mobile Design

Vivek Kumar

Vivek uses his business skills from his work at McKinsey & Company and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) to oversee the strategy and operations of the company.

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Monica Kapoor

BollyGroove Kids! Program Director

Monica Kapoor

Monica has an extensive background in education. Her teaching philosophy allows children of various abilities to learn and master skills with confidence. Having worked 10 years with children with developmental delays widened her knowledge of teaching methods.

Today, she uses this philosophy to develop classes of students where the appreciation of music becomes an innovative tool in structuring dance. Furthermore, Monica’s training in Montessori philosophy enhances the classes by challenging the children to identify and create their own dance steps to a piece of music. Monica also has a MS in Psychology.

Monica is the business development lead for the Northwest suburbs.

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Shalini Ravindran

BollyGroove Cardio Instructor

Shalini Ravindran

Shalini Ravindran has learned the classical art of BharataNatyam since the age of 5. Shalini is a scholarship holder for dance from the Indian government and has represented India through this beautiful art form in International festivals in France, London and Amsterdam. Shalini has performed extensively throughout India and also taught both beginners and seasoned dancers.

Shalini’s passion is dance in any form. She has choreographed bollywood dance routines for varoius occassions and enjoys dancing herself!! She truly believes that “Dance is liberating, it is the most beautiful release, an expression of life and art at its highest form”.

Shalini is proud and happy to be part of the Bollygroove family, and to share her passion and love for dance with so many.

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Angika Basant

BollyGroove Cardio Instructor

Angika Basant

Angika is a cell biologist working towards her PhD at the University of Chicago, but is in reality a Bollywood addict at heart.

Much like the eclectic nature of Bollywood dance itself, she has over the years assimilated flavours from multiple dance forms, varying from Indian classical Bharatnatyam and folk Garba, to Salsa, Cha-cha and Belly Dance.

She has choreographed and performed dance sequences on Bollywood numbers back in Bombay and is thrilled to share the same energy and euphoria with fitness enthusiasts in Chicago.

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Shuchi Kumar

BollyGroove Dance Troupe Lead

Shuchi Kumar

Shuchi has had a passion for dance since she was little! While growing up, she has learned all forms of dance including tap, jazz, ballet, kathak, and bharatnatyam.

She recently earned her diploma in Bharatnatyam, as she completed her Arangetram, a 2 hour solo debut performance amongst family & friends. In college, UW-Madison, Shuchi continued her love for dance while participating in giddha/bhangra performances, as well as starting a brand new fusion competitive dance team, Wisconsin Surma.

Shuchi is now working in Finance in Chicago, and is very excited to be part of Bollywood Groove and to continue dancing!

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Alia Dalal

BollyGroove Dance Troupe Lead

Alia Dalal

Alia Dalal is a chef specializing in health-promoting and Ayurvedic cuisine. She’s loved dancing her whole life, and in addition to tearing up the dance floor at family functions and other inappropriate occasions, she has also studied numerous kinds of dance like Bellydance and Afro-Jazz. Alia is also a Western classically-trained musician and studied Karnatak music in Kerala, India.

Although half-Gujarati and half-German, Alia is a hard-core Punjabi wannabe and Bollywood Groove’s resident Bhangra enthusiast. You can find her around the city hunting down the best dosa, struggling to learn the Hindi lyrics to BG’s dance numbers, or rocking out to Qawwali in the car with her Dad.

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Rubina Mander

BollyGroove Kids! Instructor

Rubina is currently completing her M.Ed. and teaching certification at DePaul University. She has always had a strong passion for working with children, and continues to volunteer and teach in school environments. She believes Bollywood dance can be an exciting, healthy activity for children, and can also teach them self-confidence, discipline and poise.

Rubina has been participating in bhangra dance since she was just five years old, and began teaching dance at the age of fifteen. She has performed in various dance competitions as well as cultural shows, and was a choreographer for UIC’s Bhangra Team.