Soumya
Gogula
Growing up in America, Soumya enjoyed dancing at family and community events and found that it was a way to connect with her Indian culture. She continued to dance throughout her schooling and danced competitively as part of her collegiate Garba/Raas and Bollywood Fusion teams. After joining the workforce, Soumya deliberately found opportunities to continue to include dance in her life - she couldn’t let it go!
When Soumya moved to the Pacific Northwest for work and family, she joined BollyWorks (a Bollywood dance school in Redmond, WA) as a student and quickly grew to become an instructor and was an integral part of Project Bollywood (the annual student showcase). Not only was she an advanced dancer with the BollyWorks Troupe, she was an instructor and choreographer, audio/video editor, backend show manager, and more. Soumya was involved with all things backend and frontend for BollyWorks for a number of years before moving out of Washington.
In addition to Bollywood dance choreography, Soumya is passionate about fitness and was a co-founder of BollyWorks Fitness (a Bollywood Fitness format). The program was created as a way for people to get fit while dancing to popular Bollywood tunes. As a BollyWorks Fitness Master Instructor, Soumya taught fitness classes at local gyms, fitness stores, university events, private events, and more. Soumya also led BollyWorks Fitness instructor trainings to train aspiring instructors to teach the BollyWorks Fitness format. Soumya moved to Denver in 2022 with a wealth of experience in Bollywood dance and fitness. She was looking for other passionate Bollywood dancers to dance with. Late in 2022, she founded Denver Dhadak with a group of friends as a way to share the love of Bollywood dance with each other. Today, Denver Dhadak has grown into a Bollywood Dance Company that aspires to share the love of Bollywood dance with the Colorado community.
Tarang Hundiwala
While Tarang can occasionally shake a leg, he reserves his moves for Denver Dhadak afterparties. A transplant from the East Coast, he moved to Colorado during the 2020 pandemic and now calls Aurora home. As Denver Dhadak’s Team Manager, you might see Tarang running around at dance performances or competitions, keeping the team aligned on the backend and handling marketing/outreach for private events.
Yashdeep Padey
Experienced as a Bollywood, Jazz, Contemporary, Bhangra, and Hip-Hop dance instructor and choreographer, Yashdeep has always loved to dance. He has performed in a number of events in Pune, conducted workshops on the streets, and danced competitively in the collegiate Bhangra circuit. While not dancing, he loves cooking and is a huge adventure junkie always chasing that adrenaline rush!
Sophia Maharana
A passionate Bollywood dancer since a young age, Sophia’s interests revolve around fitness, traveling, cooking, a new-found love for shuffling and creating trending Instagram reels/challenges. Sophia is a key choreographer for Denver Dhadak's competitive performances at events like World of Dance and Colorado State Dance Championship, and also the unofficial leader for all our Instagram challenges!
RIA
MITTAL
Ria has been dancing ever since she was a toddler. In high school, she attended the Shiamak Davar Institute and performed multiple shows with them along with building a base in Kathak. After taking a break from dancing during her undergrad, Ria jumped right back into it and performed competitively with Team D'versity at Northeastern University in Boston. After moving to Denver in 2018, Ria continued her passion with Desi Caliente and found a new family with Denver Dhadak. When she is not making reels or choreographing and preparing dance numbers for her friends' weddings, Ria loves traveling, playing with puppies, trying new baking/cooking recipes and enjoys a wide variety of arts and crafts.
Pooja Bhalekar
Born and raised in the birthplace of Bollywood- Mumbai, Pooja started with classical Bharatnatyam training in her childhood and eventually gravitated towards Bollywood. She moved to the Mile High City in 2020 and like many of its residents, enjoys outdoor activities as well as traveling and exploring new cuisines and cultures. Pooja joined Denver Dhadak at its inception in 2022 and assists in choreographing team performances.
