Our Teachers
Bollywood Australia is the creation, vision, heart and soul of Kamala Shakti,
Principal Choreographer and Shanti Gowans, Artistic Director.
Kamala Shakti
Bollywood Australia’s leading choreographer Kamala Shakti has been
conducting schools of Indian Dance in Sydney, Melbourne and for the past
fourteen years in Brisbane. Currently running extremely successful
Bollywood dance courses on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, Kamala is
delighted with the growing number of people coming to her classes, as
the popularity of this unique dance form continues to grow. "Every term
sees more dancers from our classes joining our performance group. They
love the dance style, they stay with the dance and then can't wait to
perform it. This is the way dance should be. It makes me happy" says
Kamala.
Having trained in the traditional dance styles from an early age under
the most famous dance gurus in India, Kamala extended her skills and
repertoire to include Bollywood dance with western hip hop beats, funk,
latin and jazz. This cross-over music and dance has resulted in an
energetic and vibrant dance form that appeals to composers,
choreographers and dancers, excited by and attracted to newly evolving
dance and music styles beyond their traditional experience.
Don’t miss
this unique and intimate opportunity to learn a Bollywood dance with
Kamala. Click here for class details on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane.
Shanti Gowans
Shanti Gowans embarked on a journey of dance and yoga from early
childhood in India, unlocking their mysteries and discovering their
common origins. Having moved to Melbourne Australia, in 1974, she
continued teaching the disciplines alongside each other, creating a
powerful, experiential lifelong learning process. Since moving to the
Gold Coast in 1995, Shantiji’s Bollywood Australia students were
fascinated and absorbed by the intercultural communication of Bollywood
Dance and Yoga. These two traditions are very complimentary and
essential to one another. The exacting hand gestures, foot work,
postures and movements of Indian dance are best achieved through yogic
concentration. And now through the popularity of Bollywood in Australia,
Shanti and the students are learning and growing together enjoying the
love of dance and yoga bringing about a healthy yoga and glamorous dance
lifestyle for all.
Our School
Bollywood Australia is the leading private provider for Bollywood and
Classical Indian dance training in Queensland. As a fee for service
school, receiving no funding from government, Bollywood Australia has
survived and grown solely on the basis of student fees. The fact that
our tuition fees represent a lower dollar per training hour rate than
our competitors, underpins the philosophy of the school to provide
quality training, accessible to all. Research from our students indicate
that their reasons for choosing the school were the reputation for
quality training, direct referral from industry, individual development,
numbers and the non-institutional environment. The school stands by
it's commitment to quality over quantity through maintaining the best
training and support available.
Bollywood Australia has been producing events and programs bridging
traditional and contemporary cultures, providing opportunities for
established and emerging artists to collaborate on performances, audio
and video recordings as well as creating the opportunity for
cross-generational dialogue. Bollywood Australia is particularly
interested in encouraging projects that converge artists and performers
working in new media and emergent technologies with the traditional
arts. It is the intent of Bollywood Australia to reach a large number of
audiences in order to expose the public to the rich legacy of world
cultures and their relevance to modern artists and performers.
