Founder- AAKANSHA MAHESHWARI

Choreographer | Instructor | Performer
bollypopla@gmail.com @bollypop _la

Born and raised in Delhi, Aakansha Maheshwari spent over a decade training in Indian classical Bharatanatyam under Guru Geeta Chandran and has performed across India.

In 2012 Aakansha moved to Los Angeles and founded BollyPop. Her desire was to bring Indian dance to all in a fun and approachable way.

Currently she teaches multiple children’s classes reaching over 100 children weekly. She also helps adults get moving through her dance fitness classes.

Aakansha recently worked on Disney’s Freakier Friday as one of the choreographers. She is also known for performing and leading big crowds at color festivals across the US and Canada, as well as being invited to conduct Diwali workshops in companies like Google, Warner Bros, JPL and Snap.

In 2020, Aakansha co-founded Kalbeliya World, an online dance platform to support folk artists from Rajasthan. She also works regularly with Manav Sadhna NGO in Gujarat, teaching dance to children in slum communities.

Weekly CLASSES

SCHEDULE FOR ADULTS

SANTA MONICA
Mondays 6-7 PM
Dance Fitness at Adrian’s Place, 1806 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica
On Zoom/in-person hybrid class. Sign up here
Instructor- Madhavi Narayanan

WEST LA
Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM
Dance Fitness at LA DanceFit Studio, 10936 Santa Monica Blvd #4539, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Instructor- Madhavi Narayanan

HERMOSA BEACH
Once a week- check schedule for dates
Hermosa Beach Community Center- 710 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach
Instructor- Aakansha Maheshwari

PASADENA
Fridays 6:30-7:30 PM
Peachy Strong- 514 N Lake Ave #B, Pasadena
Instructor- Nivedita Mahesh

SALT LAKE CITY
Mondays 7:30-8:30 PM
BollyPop Beginner Choreography for Adults at Ladu Dance Studio, Sandy
Instructor- Sarika Nayak

Thursday 6:30-7:20 PM
BollyPop Dance Fitness for Adults at Ladu Dance Studio, Sandy
Instructor- Isha Patel

Sign up for Salt Lake city Classes

schedule FOR KIDS

Email us- bollypopla@gmail.com

SANTA MONICA
on MONDAYS
Adrian’s Place Studio
1806 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica
3:30-4:30 PM (5-7 yrs with Aakansha)
4:30-5:30 PM (7-11yrs with Aakansha and Madhavi)
6:00-7:00 PM (11-16 yrs with Aakansha)

HERMOSA BEACH
on TUESDAYS
Hermosa Beach Community Center
710 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach
4-5 PM (8-12 yrs with Aakansha)
5-6 PM (9-14 yrs with Aakansha- Intermediate)

SHERMAN OAKS
on WEDNESDAYS
Soho Dance Studio, Tower Room
14261 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks
3:40-4:30 PM (4-6 yrs with Madhavi)
4:40-5:30 PM (7-9 yrs with Madhavi) Spots Open

HERMOSA BEACH
on THURSDAYS
Hermosa Beach Community Center
710 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach

3:20-3:40 PM (2.5-4 yrs with Madhavi) Spots Open
3:40-4:30 PM (5-7 yrs with Aakansha)
4:00-4:50 PM (4-5 yrs with Madhavi)
4:40-5:30 PM (6-8 yrs with Aakansha)
5:00- 5:50 PM (5-7 yrs with Madhavi) Spots Open
5:30-6:30 PM (7-10 yrs with Aakansha)

BEVERLY GROVE
on FRIDAYS
Dance Space
8250 W 3rd St Suite 206, Los Angeles
4:50-5:50 PM (6-9 yrs with Aakansha)

Dance Space Studio C
848 N La Cienega blvd, Suite 206, West Hollywood
5-5:50 PM (4-6 yrs with Madhavi) Spots Open

SALT LAKE CITY (SANDY)
on THURSDAYS
Ladu Dance Studio
57 W 10600 S, Sandy, UT 84070

5:30-6:30 PM (4-6 yrs with Isha) Open Spots
6:30-7:30 PM (9-12 yrs with Isha) Open Spots

on FRIDAYS
5:00-6:00 PM (6-8 yrs with Sarika)
6:00-7:00 PM (9-12 yrs with Sarika)

services

Group & Private Lessons

ADULT CLASSES

DANCE FITNESS AND CHOREOGRAPHY

BollyPop Dance Fitness is a 60 min high energy cardio workout with easy to follow moves and choreography. The class enables one to build overall strength and extends one's dancing style and skills. The playlist comprises of the top Bollywood hits and also Latin, Hip Hop and Egyptian music. Get ready to shake, swerve, move and groove across various continents in this multicultural, adventurous wonderland of dance fun!

BollyPop Choreography Class has a new exciting routine that you can learn in 60 mins every week. The choreography is beginner friendly and the repetitions help you perfect your movements. If you have a desire to be a performer, this is the class for you!

KIDS CLASSES

KIDS CHOREOGRAPHY AND MOMMY & ME

Kids BollyPop is a culmination of fun dance movements and joyful Indian music that leads to an incredibly enjoyable and stimulating environment for kids. The kids learn and understand the culture of India through the art form and also grow into strong dancers with good posture, technique, grace and confidence. Our Mommy & Me class brings together generations to celebrate culture. Both these classes are conducted using Indian film, classical and folk music. We work on gaining flexibility by practicing yoga at the beginning of each class. It is like being at a Bollywood Dance Party which leads to an incredible multicultural experience!

WEDDING CHOREOGRAPHY

FIRST DANCE & SANGEET

We work with couples to choreograph a first dance that is unique to each individual’s style and ability. We make sure that we leave you stress free with ample training for the biggest day of your life. We work with all ages and levels in-person, on zoom and also send pre-recorded instruction videos to family members and friends of the couple.

Madhavi Narayanan
Instructor- Los Angeles

Madhavi's dancing career began as a toddler when her mother would dress her up along with her two sisters to dance to popular Tamil tunes like "Uppu Karavadu." Starting at age 3, Madhavi trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical at All That Dance in Seattle, WA. When she was a teenager Madhavi was thrilled to find a Bharatanatyam guru in Seattle and went on to complete her Arangetram in 2013. Madhavi's love of Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan encouraged her to start teaching and dancing Bollywood dance in college where she co- directed Harvard Ghungroo, the largest-student run show on campus. Madhavi has taught dance around the world including India, Morocco and South Africa.

Instagram- @madhavionthemove
Facebook- @Madhavi Narayanan

Sarika Nayak
Instructor- Salt Lake City

Born and raised in Odisha in India, Sarika spent around 12 years training in the Indian classical dance form called Odissi under Guru Shri Niranjan Rout.

After moving to the US, Sarika brought Indian dance to – Festival of Colors USA, Annual Polynesian Event, ISA- Annual Indian Students Association Event and many more. She has conducted workshops at Repertory dance theatre, Salt Lake community college, Birmingham University, UVU – Salt Lake and Granite school district.

Instagram- @sarikabollypoputah
Facebook - @BollyPop Utah

Isha Patel
Instructor- Salt Lake City

Isha hails from the city of Bollywood cinema: Mumbai, India, where she spent around 10 years training in the Indian classical Bharatanatyam and folk dance. Being a full-time Urban Designer working towards the betterment of the communities and cities, PEOPLE and DANCE have always been a huge part of her life. She choreographed Indian folk dances for NMIMS University and for several non-profits in India and also conducted Bollywood dance workshops for kids in New York City.

Instagram- @isha.bollypop
Facebook- @Isha Patel

Nivedita Mahesh
Instructor- Los Angeles

Nivedita’s training is in Bharatanatyam, Hip Hop and BharataNrityam. From UCLA classical dance team Tara to ASU Andaaz, she continued performing, training in different styles and building community. At ASU, Nivedita realized that there was no classical dance team so she created one called Swarajathi.
Currently pursuing her postdoc at Caltech in Astrophysics and choreographing for the classical and Bollywood team at University, Nivedita will be teaching as a volunteer with BollyPop.

Instagram- *@dr.niveditamahesh*
Facebook- *@nivedita.mahesh*

Ishika Muchhal
Instructor- New York City

Ishika Muchhal is a NYC and LA-based Indian American actor, singer, dancer, and writer. She holds a BFA in Acting from CalArts and has trained in many styles of classical and contemporary dance and singing. Her art and work live at the intersection of advocacy, decolonization, storytelling, and mixing media. She is a California Arts Council ‘Individual Artist Fellow’ for her interview series A QISSAA with Ishika. Rep: Rothman/Andres Entertainment, CESD Talent, Media Artists Group

Instagram- *@ishika.muchhal*
Facebook- @*Ishika Muchhal*

Bringing Indian Dance to Schools and Universities

Our Offerings

Special Assembly Performance + Follow-Along Workshop to celebrate AAPI month, Diwali, Holi, Eid and many other South Asian Festivals
Artist-in-residence Program for a class (8-10 weeks) that concludes with a Showcase by the students.
Choreography for school events
After School Program