I.D.E.A is about giving Excellence back to the community
Endorsed by the area’s best recreational establishments, you can safely assume you are getting a quality-stamped service when you enroll in one of our programs. Accredited by certification from stalwart institutes of source country India, licensed by top-notch fitness organizations in the U.S.A (AFAA & AAAI), and endorsed by international press and media, our legacy goes back over 25 years to the first dance school opened by veteran founder Priya Chellani in Bombay, India in 1986 and the global communities served since then. Read more below on the founder.
Priya Chellani – Founder
Priya is an international dance tutor for 25+ years, as well as a choreographer, performer, and producer. As a former dance finalist of India in her teens, Priya Chellani is the driving force at Indigo.
Priya hails from the birthplace city of Bollywood cinema: Mumbai, India, India’s financial and entertainment capital, where she directed a thriving academy of pupils for a decade and a half, choreographed for upcoming Bollywood stars, and created prize-winning student entries at reality TV dance shows for talented pupils.
Between India and U.S.A
Migrating offshore to global destination Dubai post-millennium, she served a multitude of cultures, collaborating with the international event and educational organizations, for international fashion brands such as Reebok, Splash, Giordano, Esprit, and presented events for government entities such as UAE Chambers of Commerce, Dubai Shopping Festival, UAE Airports Authorities, and the esteemed Royal Family of UAE, along with fashion stores such as Splash Iconic & food corporate chains such as KFC Americana.
As a teaching artist later in New Zealand, she represented Bollywood Dance with students at public shows, at migrant and diversity workshops, served on the judging panel for university Indian dance competitions, cultural festivals & live theatre, and interfaced closely with retail, hospitality, fitness & education industries within the Indian diaspora as well as mainstream New Zealand audiences. One of these included performing in honor of the then Prime Minister Helen Clark in Parliament
Now in the Research Triangle Park
Since making her home in the United States, Priya certified as a Group Fitness Professional with nationally accredited institutions AAAI-ISMA and AFAA USA and developed a Bollywood group fitness workout style. In mid-2013, Priya moved to the Triangle and started Indigo Dance Evolution, offering regular coaching round the year in dance and fitness to Bollywood and Indian culture lovers, with outreaches at the City of Raleigh, Towns of Morrisville and Cary, as well as corporate employee fitness centers such as Cisco & Lenovo. Since then, she has led over 150 showcases in the Triangle area including guest workshops at schools/colleges in the area and other counties of NC for a wide client base in hospitality, retail, public recreation, corporate, health & education.
Rich knowledge + Vast Experience Priya brings a rich knowledge base as an international artist in the Indian performing art industry to North Carolina. Trained in a gamut of Bollywood styles and a lifetime experience of 30,000 hours teaching, creating, and performing, her versatile expertise is unique to the realm of Bollywood Dance in the Triangle. She specializes in providing core dance training to everyday people from all walks of life, helping them achieve their goals, whether it be winning competitions, refining their performance skills, contributing their talent to charitable /multicultural community causes, getting fit, or just surprising their friends and family at weddings/social events. Learners of all levels and diverse nationalities feel comfortable with her methodology, inspired by her teaching style. Kids especially, learn volumes through her fun-based techniques for young children. She has satisfactorily met the needs of countless students and event clients, both locally and globally. Follow her prolific Youtube Student Dance Channel with more than 4000 global subscribers & over 350 original dance videos – just from North Carolina!
Recent Awards:
Priya’s efforts in popularizing the Bollywood genre to a diverse American society has seen a growing awareness of Bollywood Dance in the region.
Some “firsts” in Raleigh-Durham:
Awarded 6 times in a row, Top 15 Dance Teachers in Raleigh-Durhan by Expertise.com
She introduced Bollywood Dance Fitness as a regular weekly program to employee-members of Fortune 500 corporates in the RTP such as Cisco, Lenovo, and NetApp.
Priya brought live-wire, entertaining & engaging Bollywood Interactive fare to the Triangle in 2013
Within just a year, her Adult Students’ Group Entry won silver at the International Dance Contest, Raleigh International Festival 2014, her group “Bollywood Bevy” comprised of just everyday local women and newbies to dance. This was an unprecedented recognition for the Bollywood genre in an international dance setting.
Introduced structured Bollywood workshops & assemblies at Wake County Public School System, 2014
Introduced Bollywood Dance to Senior Citizens through City of Raleigh programs, 2013
See Recent Events in Raleigh-Durham, or browse our Facebook page.
When she gets time out of dancing, Priya pursues her hobby of acting. She has dabbled in theatre and on-screen appearances during her spare time from dance and appeared in powerful protagonist Theatrical roles overseas.
See: U.S & International Testimonials
Read more on the number of testimonials from happy students and clients globally or visit her page on Google – your trusted resource for local businesses, and/or our Facebook Page
Click here for all Press & Media reviews
Read more on the Local & International press & media / TV coverage about Priya’s work.
Certifications
-
- Certified in Aerobics Personal Fitness Training, from AAAI-ISMA, U.S.A, and Certified in Group Fitness, AFAA, U.S.A
- CPR, First Aid, and AED certified
- Certified in Katthak Classical and Indian Folk Dances, Nateshwar Institute Guru Gopikrishna Bombay, India.
- Certified teacher of Yoga to Young Adults from The Yoga Institute, Bombay India.
- Awarded Top Four Dance Finalists in Bombay, India and award-winning Bollywood choreographer at several Inter-Collegiate Competitions in Fusion Dance, Mumbai, India.
- Multi-lingual [Native fluent speaker of Hindi]
- HIPAA – trained in health/fitness industry principles in USA
HISTORICAL ACCOLADES in INDIA
Priya was among very first pioneer teachers to introduce Fusion Dance as a PE activity in western Bombay’s academic schools, and one of the fore-running industry leaders to recognize and put gifted children in the spotlight at public events in the city, on TV, in theatre and competitions. Priya’s students often featured in prominent media, including children’s & youth theatre, they featured on satellite TV reality dance shows and national Indian TV, also represented their school or college at highly popular festivals of culture and art competitions at high profile auditoria in Mumbai such as Sophia Bhabha, Prithvi, Bhaidas, Rangsharda. See one of their videos from her YouTube archives
Training to Bollywood’s rising stars
Priya also provided core foundational training to some of Bollywood’s rising stars today:
Among them are Adah Sharma – upcoming Bollywood-Tollywood actor, and Shehnaz Treasury- gifted TV Actor on Netflix & New York’s acting circuit.
Priya has been on dance competition panels in India which included co-judges such as directors of other famous dance schools Shiamak Davar Institute of Arts, Mumbai.
Priya’s Early Training
Dance Finalist twice in a row at all-India Fusion Dance Championships, she placed alongside her peers (now-famous) Bollywood movie industry choreographers Farah Khan (Director of blockbuster Bollywood films), Longines Fernandes (choreographer of film “Slumdog Millionaire”), Ravi Behl – Naved Jaffrey (producers of “Boogie Woogie” India’s original & longest running TV dance reality show), Ken Ghosh (Bollywood movie director/producer) & DJ Akbar Sami (world-class Bollywood DJ) Priya went on to perform at several hi-profile events in Mumbai along with above artists. Those became her stomping grounds where she avidly also pursued research and study of other foreign dance forms such as American jazz, break-dance, and Latin dance forms. She also scripted & directed Bollywood musical sketches for youth and children. Bollywood Dance theatre was a new phenomena then in Mumbai, and Priya was at the forefront of it.
Whilst simultaneously completing her Bachelor’s in Economics, Priya led her college’s Dance and Drama Program at the University of Mumbai, winning several awards each year by representing her group at major inter-college annual competitions such as Malhar, Mood Indigo, Sofiesta etc.
Priya has trained in traditional forms, Indian folk & classical Indian dance Kathak under Padmashri Guru Gopikrishna, India, a maestro choreographer whose stalwart school coaches some of the best talents in India, including Bollywood actors and Indian TV’s dance stars.
For more such News Articles see Press & Media
Three Decades in Service presently. Check out the chronicle below from our archives!