Our Team

DHIRAJ BAKSHI

Mr. Dhiraj Bakshi, Founder and Director of SSDA began his career in dance in the year 2000 under the guidance of Ashley Lobo at The Danceworx (Delhi). He has acquired professional training in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Jazz Funk choreography along with Latin Ballroom from teachers and choreographers of international repute. Among his several achievements, Dhiraj's memorable innings on Dance India Dance, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and So You Think You Can Dance, won hearts of people all over the world. With the help of his team at SSDA, Dhiraj teaches the importance of technique and quality movement in dance to his students in Mumbai. His craft has inspired many across the country.

The following are the bodies of work Dhiraj has been a part:

  • JHALAK DIKHLAA JAA (2015)
  • Channel - COLORS TV Choreographed season 8 for Scarlett Wilson

  • SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, INDIA (2016)
  • Channel - &TV Choreographed for Team Street as a Choreography mentor in season 1

  • DANCE INDIA DANCE (2013 & 2017)
  • Season 4 and 6 - Channel - ZEE TV

  • PROJECT FOR A. R. REHMAN (2017)
  • Assisted Lauren Gottlieb to choreograph a movie song for A. R. Rehman

  • DID LI'L MASTERS (2018) Channel - ZEE TV
  • Choreographed season 4 for Team Kruti Mahesh

  • NAWABZAADE (2018)
  • Assisted Jayesh Pradhan choreograph, produced by Remo D'souza, starring Dharmesh, Punit, Raghav of the Dance + fame

  • POWER (2018)
  • Assisted Jayesh Pradhan choreograph, starring Shruti Hasan and VIdyut Jambhwal

  • PRITHVIRAJ (2019)
  • Assisted Vaibhavi Merchant choreograph, starring Akshay Kumar

  • BUNTY AUR BABLI 2 (2019)
  • Assisted Vaibhavi Merchant choreograph, starring Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari.

  • CHOREOGRAPHY FOR: Disney, India (2018), Pepe Jeans (2018), Zodi (2018), Raymond (2017), Mtv Splitsvilla (2014), Terrence Lewis Academy (2009), Dance with Madhuri (2017), Camp Big Dance (2018), Siyaram Ad with Ranveer Singh (2021)

HARSHAD GOHIL

Known for his innovative and super sleek and sophisticated choreographies and movement, Harshad Gohil is the Creative Director at SSDA. Harshad has professionally trained in numerous dance styles since 2010, namely, Jazz Funk, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop and Contemporary. Apart from teaching at SSDA, Harshad has taken many workshops across the country at different studios and dance convention projects. He also holds the reputation of a guest faculty at Big Dance Centre, one of the biggest commercial dance studios in India. He holds a degree in the graduate program at Terence Lewis Dance Company and has further had the privilege to learn from various teachers abroad like Brian Friedman, Nika Kjun, Kyle Hanagami, Yanis Marshall, AYO Hollywood, Zacc Milne.

AFIA MODAK

Afia is the Manager/Managing Director at SSDA. She began her career at Split Sole Dance Academy itself, in 2010. To educate herself further in the field of dance, she attended a whole lot of workshops and trained under reputed choreographers and dancers across the country and globe. She trained formally in styles like Modern Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz Funk, Contemporary and very briefly in Afro & Dancehall and that in return has helped her find her own movement. Having said that, learning never stops and she's still exploring her artistry and finding a new version of herself every now and then. And what better way to celebrate that, than to share it with people. She has also done a lot of freelance work in the industry as a dancer and assistant choreographer and worked for several known choreographers.

JASON D'LIMA

Jason D'lima is a Junior Dance Company Member and a Studio Manager at Split Sole Dance Academy. He has been training, working and teaching at SSDA since 2019. Jason has also had the opportunity to train under reputed teachers in the country like of Tanuj Nair, Svetana Kanwar and Chow En Lai amongst certain others. Jason specialises in teaching the Junior batches at the company and at schools via the Dance in Education programme initiated through SSDA. His motive towards training children is to build discipline in Dance at a young age so that they have the passion and respect for it as they grow.