Nidhi Mehta is the founder of BollyBeatz in Singapore and is a Professional Dancer/Performer/Teacher & Choreographer with over 10 years experience in the dance industry. Nidhi Mehta is an irresistibly energetic fitness personality and choreographer who has pioneered the introduction of BollyArobix dance to the forefront of fitness with her series of unique and intense workout’s. She has also successfully created dance routines for music videos, cultural festivals, corporate workshops, and concerts utilizing her knowledge of Bollywood, Indian classical dance, salsa, hip-hop, and other dance forms.
1. Please share about Bollybeatz?
Nidhi: BollyBeatz is a Bollywood Dance Instruction school. I started it in 2002 in Bay Area, California, USA. There I ran operations in the name of Stepz! The dance was always a passion since school days. But as most of us, I completed my MBA and got a job with McKinsey and started working in a corporate. It’s only after I got married, I quit my job and then Dance happened to me. It was not planned or even a remote thought in my mind. It was all by chance and accident! I guess some things are just meant to be!
2. Please share your various performances and performances by your students. How many years you have spent in Singapore and how you feel about it? What are the main challenges you faced while opening your school?
Nidhi: I started the dance school in the USA, sold it in 2005 and moved to India. I started BollyBeatz in Chennai, India and it did very well till I moved to Singapore in November 2007. Since then I have been here. I don’t know where my next stop is – but I am looking forward to it! I love Singapore – the people are very health conscious and fitness freaks. They enjoy my style of teaching and are quite dedicated. We have performed at the Ms. India-America Pageant in the USA, at Stanford University, various competitive shows show for non-profits.. in Singapore we have been a part of the Dans Festival at Esplanade.
I have been fortunate that things worked out quite smoothly when I started my company. There have been hiccups like coming across some people you have trusted to be your instructor and who have copied your routines and tried to use it as their own. They put a bad taste in your mouth – but I personally feel – there are enough good people out there.
3. Do you think you can dance for the sake of movement without any meaning or emotion in it?
Nidhi: Yes – dance is about music and rhythm. You don’t have to understand the language of the music or its meaning to enjoy and dance to it.
4. How would your life be if you weren’t a dancer?
Nidhi: I would be in a corporate – probably a management consultant or in marketing.
5. If you had to choose one kind of dance, what would it be?
Nidhi: Bollywood coz it blends various forms of dance styles into it. What I do and teach is a fusion is a Latin Dance, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Belly dance!
6. What did you sacrifice to get where you are today? What do you think got you this far?(source of motivation)
Nidhi: I didn’t sacrifice anything for what I have achieved. Yes, maybe my fulltime job in McKinsey, but I am happy about it! I am happy that I quit my job and recognized this opportunity that came my way and grabbed it. I also feel it was destined for me to do what I am doing today. I believe a lot of Karma, Destiny, and Luck!
My work has helped me create the perfect work-personal life balance. I do all my admin work from home so I am around when kids need me.
What has got me so far is my perseverance, my husband’s support, and my survival skills – coz I have moved 3 countries in 10 years and replicated the same model with success, franchised it and moved on! I don’t get afraid of change. I embrace it as a new opportunity for me to grow!
7. How do you feel teaching dancing to students? Do you want to share something about your students or any other incidence related to Bollybeatz?
Nidhi: I love teaching dance. It’s a very satisfying experience to see people who have very low confidence in their dancing skills come to me to learn and then I see them open up, absorb and their stamina increases, steps and flexibility improve and they become great movers & shakers.
Someone in the USA had wanted to join my classes and had been on the waitlist for 4 months. Suddenly, one day a spot opened up and I called her to see if she wanted to join and she did! Later when we became good friends she wrote me a note saying that she had got laid off from her job after 10 years of working in that company. That’s the day I called her to join the class and she contemplated if she should join or not coz it was an expense she could avoid at this point. But she nevertheless said yes and signed up for the class and she said to me that it was the best decision she took. It helped her to stay out of depression and from being sad. It helped her find a new circle of friends whom she could connect with and dance made her happy!
8. How do you dance: with your mind, with your soul, with your body or with your heart?
Nidhi:I dance with my heart, body, and soul. There are times I have danced with a muscle pull and once the music comes I get so carried away that I forget the pain and dance and of course after class I am dying in pain! I have never missed a class. Even with 100 fever I have taken a painkiller and done my class coz it’s a commitment!
9. What are your future plans and vision for Bollybeatz?
Nidhi: I plan to start various other forms of dance fitness modules under BollyBeatz and concentrate strongly on the dance fitness element that we provide. We plan to start partnerships and open franchises in various other cities to empower others who love to dance and enjoy teaching take this opportunity to do and create something big with their passion.
10. Message for Womenlines readers and other women.
We are blessed that we are women. We have the capability fo multitasking. Some of us do have the luxury of staying home and pursuing our passion and make a career out of it. If that’s an option that you have been given and you are just staying at home. Take a look inside. Look at what you see yourself doing and try and start somewhere. Believe in yourself! I have recently launched a website www.supermompreneurs.com read some of the profiles – they are truly motivating and awe-inspiring!
Visit http://www.bollybeatz.com to know more about Nidhi and Bollybeatz!
Charu Mehrotra
Promoting Excellence in Women!
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