Sudeep Kumar
Sudeep Kumar is an accomplished and a versatile choreographer with an extensive training in Hip Hop and Jazz. He incorporates Hip Hop and Jazz elements to his choreography in a very unorthodox way.
Sudeep has been dancing since the age of 7 and choreographing from last ten years. He has been formally trained in Jazz from Ashley Lobo, the official choreographer of the song “Dhoom Machale” from the movie Dhoom. http://www.thedanceworx.com.
His Hip Hop training is a good mix from acclaimed choreographers such as Allan Frais, the San Francisco based Hip Hop star who made it to the final 12 of the TV show “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE” and Micaya who has been organizing the San Francisco Hip Hop festival since five years. http://www.sfhiphopdancefest.com/.
He recently choreographed NRI Global pageant and a dance song in the pageant that was used as filler. You can find details at http://www.nriglobal.org/ Also, Sudeep has professional training from ACT, American Conservatory Theatre San Francisco.
Prathima Venkatesan
Prathima has been dancing to all kinds of music from all over the world since she was a kid. Being a fan of Michael Jackson and Madonna and many of the new generation musicians and artists, she performs to any beat and rhythm. She has been trained in Hip-Hop, Belly Dancing, Break-dancing and Locking but can pick up any style with ease.
Prathima has been performing at talent shows, music shows, and for many non-profit organizations like Udavum Karangal and Zingaris.
Her love for teaching and helping others feel the rhythm of dance is what drives her to be an instructor.
Prathima has been trained under Sudeep Kumar for the last 6 yrs.
Smita Basak
Smita’s love of dance began when she was just 2 years old and began her dance training in Ballet, Tap and Jazz. She started Bharatnatyam at the age of 5 and was the youngest dancer in her hometown to perform her Arangetram at the age of 10. By the age of 13, she joined a professional dance company and took on dance styles such as Break Dancing, Modern, Lyrical and HipHop.
It was not uncommon to see Smita dance in many local festivals, fundraisers, musicals and theatre productions. In high school, she taught classes in ballet, jazz and tap and, in college, was an active member of both South Asian and American dance groups where she choreographed, produced and performed in many shows at her university and within the area. It was there where she began experimenting with blending East-West dance styles.
Smita has performed in over 200 performances in parts of the US, Canada and Europe. Smita is proud to join the Project Pulse team and is looking forward to contributing her many artistic talents to Project Pulse.
Khyati Sheth
Her interest in dance began at age of 8 when she first started Kathak. Later it developed into her greatest passion and then there was no stopping. She learnt Bollywood, Jazz, Contemporary, Ball-room dancing, and more. She has choreographed and performed in many cultural events in the past. She has also been performing with Project Pulse since past 3 years. Versatility is what she believes has been incepted in her dancing-style ever since she joined Project Pulse.
Khyati has been trained under Sudeep kumar for the last 2 years.
Meet Aghera
Meet recognized his passion for dancing at the age of 11 when a friend of him forced him to take part in a school cultural festival where they ended up winning the first prize. Since then he has been performing at various events and platforms. He worked hard to improve on his dancing skills and to learn various styles of dancing.
After stepping into Bay Area, his hunger for dance took him into Project Pulse. In two years of his time with Project Pulse he has excelled in Hip-hop, Contemporary, Jazz, and Bollywood style dancing. His passion for dance earned him a title of 'Choreographer' in such a short period of time with Project Pulse. He is very much near to the Project Pulse family and hence he is willing to contribute to Project Pulse in any possible way.
Meet has been trained under Sudeep kumar for the last 2 years.
Swapnil Mehta
A versatile dancer with skills in Western, Bollywood, Jazz, Hip Hop and Contemporary dance styles. Swapnil can easily pick up any new dance style in a short period of time. With a passion for dance and having started dancing at the age of 9, and choreography at the age of 17, he brought the trend of Western dance in school.
With many awards in his name and having participated in many open competitions his choreography has gained appreciation from: Bollywood Taandav and the fusion dance in Little stars show, Kalyanji and Anandji. He has represented SVNIT University in the National Dance Competition in 2003 and performed in various professional Dance shows. He has attracted many audiences and dance schools in the Bay Area, but strives with the passion that makes him an integral part of Project Pulse.
Swapnil has been trained under Sudeep kumar for the last 2 years.
Anjali Shah
Anjali's passion for dance began at the age of 8 when she joined the Chhandam School of Kathak Dance, studying directly under her Guruji, Chitresh Das. During the 13 years she studied Kathak, she also trained in bhangra, bollywood, raas-garba, and experimented with other dance styles. Anjali believes dance is one of the purest forms of expression & creativity, and is excited to join the Project Pulse team to share her enthusiasm through teaching!
As a Project Pulse instructor, Anjali brings her experience choreographing and coordinating Bhangra, Kathak and Bollywood dances for Indus's annual culture shows (UC Berkeley's South Asian Student organization). She was also a member of UC Berkeley's award winning Bhangra team in 2002, Raas-Garba team in 2003, and Hindi Film Dance team in 2004.
When Anjali is not dancing, you will find her working as an associate in corporate strategy at an internet company.
Shereen Khanuja
Shereen started dancing at the age of 7, beginning her training in competitive ballet, tap, jazz, and lyric then transitioned into Bollywood and Bhangra. As a student at the University of Michigan, Shereen was an active participant then choreographer for one of the largest student run Indian productions in the US. She began a fusion team, Taal, to blend all styles of dance while maintaining a South Asian flare and placed in national competitions. After moving to California, Shereen became a member of Bhangra Empire and performed in competitions all around North America, securing multiple first place finishes with the team. On the team she has also performed at the Unforgettables Bollywood concert tour. Her passion lies in exploring new styles of movement and creativity with dance.
Parinaz Mehta
A new addition to the Project Pulse instructor family, Parinaz instructs the Bollywood Fitness class. With prior experience in Jazzercise, Pilates and Bikram Yoga, Parinaz integrates Bollywood and Hip Hop dance moves in her fitness regime along with cardio and strength workouts which makes it challenging, fun and unique. Currently training with Sudeep Kumar, Parinaz believes that life cannot be fully lived without attention to health and wellness and exemplifies this with her students at each class.Preethi Chandrasekhar
Preethi is no stranger to dance and fitness. Her love of dancing started at the age of 5 when she began learning Bharathnatyam. She later learnt jazz and salsa while in college and performed at cultural events. She has been with Project Pulse for the past 2.5 years during which time she has learnt hip hop and contemporary styles. She believes passionately in fitness as a way of healthy living.
Jaimy Philip
Jaimy dabbled in dancing in high school and then onto her Undergrads because of her interest in music, dancing and meeting people. On taking her first classes with Project Pulse after moving to the bay area, she knew this was where she wanted to be. Project Pulse blends different styles of dance to versatile music and this separated them from the rest and got her interested more and more! Her interest lies in hip hop dancing and is currently training with Project Pulse to improve on her skills in this style. In the past year, she has been trained under Sudeep Kumar, Swapnil Mehta and Khyati Sheth in the styles of HipHop and Contemporary dance.
Richa Khandelwal
Dancing has been as natural to her as breathing. After winning lots of prizes at numerous events she started her own venture in dancing lessons at a young age of 15. She choreographed Indian weddings end to end and managed all aspects of costumes and props apart from giving professional classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced level dancers, independently.
She extended her passion for dancing into her college life where she was the choreographer for a group called "Nrityanjali" along with 7 dancers. The group won prizes in various intra and inter collegiate events all over India, including Nitrutsav'07 where her group was adjudged a winner by Rahul Saxena, renowned Salsa,Jazz and Hip Hop Dancer and Choreographer from Mumbai, India.
Richa had also put together various prize-winning performances while she was working for Microsoft in Hyderabad, India. She had choreographed and performed at Microsoft's renowned Annual Giving Campaign to raise over Rs.30,000 for charity in a single performance and her group had won the first prize at the renowned Utsaah 2008, an inter-corporate dance competition held in Hyderabad. She is trained in ballet and modern dance. In August 2008 she danced with Project Pulse for the first time in "8000 Miles Away" and has been working closely with Project Pulse ever since.
Richa has been training under Sudeep for the past one year.
Shamik Patel
Born, in India, Shamik always had a passion for the arts. Studying at a young age in a boarding school, Shamik learnt classical music, as well as Bharatnatyam for three years. Once in college, he joined the Dance team, to improve himself in Bollywood dancing. He moved to the Bay area, in 2008 and joined Project Pulse. Once given the opportunity, he expanded his dancing skills to Hip Hop, B-Boying, and some Contemporary. He loves acrobatics, and is always ready to try out new stunts. Having a true passions for dance, he is always willing to learn new dance styles, and experiment with any moves thrown at him.
Shamik has trained under Sudeep Kumar, Swapnil Mehta, and Meet Aghera in his one year with Project Pulse.