Brown Girl Inspiration: Shivani Thakkar

by Aditi Mehta

Recently, BG had the privilege of interviewing Shivani Thakkar, a talented artist in the field of dance and artistic performance. Many can say they have a passion for dance, but Thakkar has taken that passion and turned it into a full fledged career.

Thakkar was born and raised in Calgary, Canada and began learning classical dance from her mother.  Thakkar’s mother, Sudha Thakkar, is a Bharata Natyam dancer and teacher and has had her dance academy Manu Kala Mandir in Calgary since 1980. Thakkar  grew up learning Bharata Natyam from her mother and was also introduced to jazz, tap, and ballet as a child.

“During my high school years, I took leaves of absence from my academic school to go to Mumbai where I trained with my mother’s guru, Kalamamani Guru Kalyanasundaram Pillai of Sri Rajarajeswari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir. I completed a full new repertoire  of compositions under his direction,” said Thakkar.

When she was eighteen, Thakkar moved out to Los Angeles to attend University of Southern California. She graduated cum laude from USC in 2005, with a B.A. in Theatre and a minor in Film/TV production. Even with all of her accomplishments in her young life, Thakkar continued to keep dance at the forefront of her life.

The years of quality training and her dedication to the art form paid off. Thakkar recently won the National US Online Bollywood Video Dance Competition “Bollypop” which won her an appearance in the recent Hindi film Chance Pe Dance.

“Working in Bollywood was so much fun. The days were long and schedules in Bollywood are much more fluid, changing, and flexible than in Hollywood,” said Thakkar.

Thakkar shot for two songs in the movie. For each song she had about 4 to 5 days of rehearsal and 4 to 5 days of shooting. There were about 50 dancers in one of the songs, from all over the world.

“The second number we shot was “One More Dance” and is the song that takes place early on in the movie, at a disco club where Sameer (Shahid’s Character) gets noticed for by the Big-time Director. Our set was incredible as they had practically built a whole club for the scene. It was gorgeous and very, very cool,” said Thakkar.

Thakkar learned quite a bit in her experience with Bollywood. At the same time she has had the privilege bringing her talent to Hollywood. Thakkar recently had the opportunity to shoot a scene for Step Up 3-D, a Disney/Buena Vista Pictures production, due out August 2010.

“This is the first time in the history of Disney films that Bharata Natyam is featured and I’m excited that as per the shooting script I’m the opening shot of the film. The choreography is pure Bharata Natyam,” said Thakkar.

According to Thakkar, this is the first time Classical Bharata Natyam will be seen in a Disney film or even a Hollywood feature film production. Indian dance, both classical and Bollywood, is slowly making its way through the ranks for Hollywood. Thakkar hopes to be a part of this change.

“I feel fortunate that I’ve trained in both Western and Indian dance and had the opportunity to work in both Bollywood and Hollywood. I hope that this strong background will continue to open doors for me as the field grows and evolves. I also hope that I can bring something new and unique to the playing field,” said Thakkar.

In addition to performing, Thakkar has an extensive list of Masterclasses and workshops she has taught around the US and Canada in both Bharata Natyam and Bollywood. She uses her classes as a way to introduce relevant concepts, exercises and moves from a variety of dance styles.

“Bollywood is becoming a style of it’s own definition, a true fusion between cultures and is quite probably going to be as powerful and recognizable as hip hop as a genre if it continues to have passionate people contributing to it’s development and creative expansion,” Thakkar said.

Thakkar’s busy schedule as a free-lance artist is constantly changing. Her dance work requires her to travel frequently, rehearse, work on different projects simultaneously, go on auditions, and continue training in dance whenever possible.

“During my down time between classes and rehearsals, I also try to squeeze in my hobbies like going to the beach or hiking, cooking, watching and analyzing great films and reading,” said Thakkar.

Thakkar has dedicated a large portion of her life to dance and performance arts. Many young women may have danced much more when they were younger, but as life’s obligations creep up, dancing is put off. Thakkar believes that every girl can keep dance her life, even when she is older, as long as she enjoys it.

“With dance you have to do it as long as you enjoy it. The moment you don’t find joy in it anymore, stop. Dance is about feeling the joy in your soul,” said Thakkar.

Even if you can not take formal classes, Thakkar emphasizes that taking time out of your busy schedule to dance might be well worth it.

“Kick back and have fun with dance. This can be in anyway you find yourself and your soul having fun with dance. For some, this means going to salsa clubs with friends, for others this means putting on your iPod and choreographing various moves. I personally like to free-style in the studio or have crazy dance parties in my bedroom!” said Thakkar.

For more information on Thakkar and her future endeavors visit her website at www.shivanithakkar.com.