The Team

Sudeep Kumar

Artistic Director, Instructor

He thanks God for giving him the “Art of Dance”. He strongly believes in two words- Stay Inspired. He continues to do that by pushing the boundaries of his artistic vision by giving birth to new ideas that depict real life characters and stories through his choreography.

Trained in styles such as Hip Hop, Locking, Popping, Contemporary/Jazz styles, he believes “Sky is the limit” .

He has trained in locking with Dennis Infante (DS Players/Groomekanex), Grand Master Tony GoGo, OG Scooby Doo. He looks up to all of them for their superb execution and technical skills. He is also training himself in Popping, Breaking and Contemporary/Jazz styles.

Classes Teaching: Cupertino Kids Break-Dance

Smita Basak

Youth Program Director, Instructor, Choreographer

Professionally trained in many dance styles including Bharata Natyam, Jazz, Ballet and Hip Hop, Smita has over 20+ years of dance experience and has performed extensively across the US, Canada and Europe. Her unique style encourages students to challenge themselves while cultivating creativity and expression. Leading the after-school Stratford program and Kids program in Project Pulse, Smita will have your little stars walking away with a love for dance and music!

Classes Teaching: Competition Kids and Sunnyvale Kids Bollywood

Mary Ines

Instructor

From a very young age, Ines trained in ballet, jazz, modern and tap. Loving various forms of dance, including Bollywood, she continued her training over the years. When she was 12 years old, she began training at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Gloria Govrin. She also trained, on scholarship, at the Ballet San Jose School under the direction of Lise La Cour.

As a student at San Francisco Ballet School, Ines performed in the school’s Student Showcases and in the company’s productions of Nutcracker and the 70th Anniversary Gala. While with the Ballet San Jose School, Ines performed in ballets both with the company and school with roles in Swan Lake, Serenade, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmina Burana, and The Nutcracker.

She currently teaches 3-8 yr olds Ballet at Western Ballet, and is very excited to bring her knowledge of dance to Bollywood with Project Pulse.

Classes Teaching: Sunnyvale Kids Bollywood

Richa Khandelwal

Instructor


Richa has been dancing ever since she can remember. 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, choreographing Indian weddings end to end and managing all aspects of costumes and props in addition to giving professional classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced level dancers in Bollywood. She believes in versatility and has trained in different styles including jazz, ballet, hip-hop, kathak.

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 in "Tathastu" and numerous showcases. Richa has been training under Sudeep for the past three years. s a journey leading to a deeper understanding of the self like what meditation does. A person who is deeply immersed in such an art form is one who cannot be blinded from seeing the truth. One becomes a true artist when the art form teaches himself/herself to be humble and respects others."

Classes Teaching: Sunnyvale Adults Bollywood

Swapnil Mehta

Instructor

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.

Classes Teaching: Sunnyvale Adults Bollywood

Neesha Sridhar

Instructor


Neesha has been dancing ever since she first learned how to walk. For Neesha, dance is everything. She loves learning new styles of dance, and challenging herself.

Neesha was a part of different dance companies like Naach, and Tattva. Now she has found her true home at Project Pulse. Through the company, she is training in hip hop, jazz, and contemporary dance forms.

In college, Neesha minored in dance. She was trained in ballet, jazz, and modern/ contemporary styles of dance.

Neesha's famous phrase is: "Just be hot"! She gives this advice to anyone who wants it before going on stage. It is a great confidence builder.

Neesha's fun and hyper personality makes everyday a Fabulous dance day!

Classes Teaching: Sunnyvale Kids Bollywood

Prathima Venkatesan

Founder, Creative Designer, Instructor

Prathima has been dancing since the age of 7. Being a huge fan of Michael Jackson and Madonna and many of the current New Generation musicians and artists, she can perform to any beat and rhythm. She has been trained in Hip-Hop and Belly Dancing but can pick up any style with ease.

Her first solo choreography was in 8000 Miles Away. She mixed Contemporary and Lyrical Dance and got great reviews for the emotion brought out by the piece.

Having received a Masters Degree in Computer Engineering, doesn't mean she couldn't continue with her passion of teaching and dance! Prathima has taught Kids classes in Fremont and Adults/Teen Classes in Mountain View and San Jose since 2006. She continues to do so and loves every minute of spreading the knowledge of dance she has received through the years!

Koussalya Balasubramaniam

Instructor, Choreographer

Koussalya started her dancing career at the age of 3 with Bharathanatyam, the south Indian cultural dance. She learnt Bharathanatyam from Chevalier Kutralam M. Selvam for 11 years. She has performed nation wide and have won medals in National competitions as well. She learnt "Fluid Flow" a form of dance emphasizing on flow of body with music at Stanford.

She has also performed with Zingaris.

She was always interested in trying new dance forms - she started her training in hiphop under Meet Aghera and Sudeep Kumar. She also started learning jazz from Smita and Swapnil Mehta.

Giri Jayavelu

Choreographer

Giridhar believes his dance skills are hereditary from his mom. He was always interested in imitating dance moves shown on TV.

Prabhu deva is one of his biggest inspiration. Even though Giri performed in school and college cultural programs, his professional training in dance started only with Project Pulse in early 2008.

Since then he has been training himself in Hip-Hop and locking. As a follower of Prabhu Deva, he always tries to add some fun routines in his choreography! We call him the Koothu Master!

Sabesan Pachai

Choreographer

He started dancing at the age of 11, inspired by Michael Jackson's moves. Being self-trained for about 15 years, he still felt there was scope for improvement.

After joining Project Pulse, he has gained a deeper artistic vision with an understanding of the true essence of dance and who a true artist is.

Since the MJ style draws elements from different dance styles like jazz, tap, popping and locking he has developed a sense of appreciation of various styles and can pick up styles with ease.

His initial training in Hip Hop started under Sudeep Kumar and later attended several locking workshops conducted by the original lockers like Tony Go go, Richie Rich, Antony Thomas and Jimmy Scooby Doo Foster. He is being trained in breaking by RJ Kool Raul Navalta and also attends old school hip hop classes with Dennis Infante. He also conducts MJ style/hip hop workshops with Project Pulse.

Here is a definition of dance in his own words : "Dance is a journey leading to a deeper understanding of the self like what meditation does. A person who is deeply immersed in such an art form is one who cannot be blinded from seeing the truth. One becomes a true artist when the art form teaches himself/herself to be humble and respects others."

Classes Teaching: Mountain View Adults Hip-Hop

Vinitha Rangarajan

Instructor

Vinitha started learnign Bharatnatyam at age 4 under Vidhya Subramanian of the Lasya Dance Company. In the summer of 2003, Vinitha received intensive bharatnatyam training under the guidance of Sri. V.P. Dhananjayan & Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan. She completed her arangetram (solo debut) in 2006 in the bay area.

Throughout her childhood, Vinitha explored Bollywood and modern dance with a local competitive team. She went on to recieve training in jazz, hip-hop and contemporary dance at UC San Diego and competed with the award-winning UCSD hindi film dance team.

Vinitha believes that dancing gives you much more than just a party talent. People who experience the joy of being on stage become more confident, energetic, and happy people in general.

Classes Teaching: Sunnyvale Kids Bollywood