Grace And Grooves Group – Student Of The Year – Leadership Awards
This section of Blog is exclusively dedicated to all our students’ achievements with Grace And Grooves LLC. These are the students who take every opportunity to excel not only as part of team work but also as part of their individual growth and performances in their respective dance forms or types (if Bollywood-Movie Dances!). These students take regular classes just like all the other students but the only thing they do differently is identify the opportunities given to them by their teachers and make the best use of it. We also like to call them swans.
These students of Grace And Grooves are the examples of achieving balance in life, elegance, and beautiful results that you get with proper training at the right time from all the right people! There is no short-cuts to learning any dance forms/types. If you want to do it then you will do it, no matter what life throws at you! Times when they had lemons around, these students have made a lemonade and nailed it! All pictures below are subject to change if parents send us more pictures 🙂 But until then, enjoy what is posted.
It is not only the straight background that works with everything but also right time, right people, balance & right attitude that builds something that stays FOREVER…You do not have to come from generations of family to do it right.
2020 – 2021 : Aahana :
Aahana is a student of Hetal Nagaraj Dance, Hetal Nagaraj from 2012 (she was almost 5 years old) for half dozen Indian Folk dances(100+ hours) & Bollywood(250+hr) & has taken several courses with Grace And Grooves Group of Dance Companies (350 +) hours with us in general. Aahana is a vivacious 11 year old from Frisco Texas. She’s a 6th grader in Frisco, Texas, USA. She is currently taking advance training of Kalaripayattu & Contemporary (surpassed 30+ hr NEW each) with Ms.Hetal(in-person) & Manoj Sir(online). She has won several city & state level non-voting competitions under Hetal Nagaraj nominating her for several state level participations and competitions. ALL of which were non-voting. Her other dance accomplishments include, city and state level bollywood, indian folk and semi-classical winning streaks with Hetal Nagaraj as part of company performances and submissions. Nominated several times for state level programs as well to come and perform but due to exam times, she could not go.- Aahana’s other accomplishments include several sports, educational, arts/drawing awards by grade and she won a honorary mention for her reflections art work at Ani Hols elementary school. Current Student at School of rock training in Vocals ( rock music ) Age 6 to 10. Her Facebook page was established in 2020 under the leadership & training of Hetal Nagaraj with Reachh Mediaa Reachh Since 2013.
- Under Hetal Nagaraj, she also earned her first international award from Mumbai, India. See here.
- She receives 300$ worth of prizes from our friends and participating companies. Yet another example set here!
2019-2020 : Sindhu Jampala :
Sindhu Jampala comes with package, 2019-2020! Congratulations!!!
- Ms. Sindhu started her trainings in August 2014 for recreational Bollywood classes in Irving, Texas under Hetal Nagaraj when she was mother of 1. Later, she was trained with Ms. Deepthi & Hetal together.
- She started her journey with her full time IT job, at times on-call and all the other family commitments. Performing and then graduating after being “a mother of 2” NOW. She has participated in lot of our recitals, dance productions and has been part of our growing family! From Sarvaa 2019, she has been contributing towards company shows by being choreographer for her own kids team with full responsibility from start to finish under the leadership of Hetal Nagaraj.
- Lot of her dances were selected for form/Bharatanatyam/folk category even when submitted in open category only because we had used Bollywood song but organizers moved us!! While others were pure bollyhop and fun dances that she continues to do today with her teams. With their Irving & Carrollton teams, they made it to several local non-voting competitions for Bollywood categories & a few reality dance competitions across cities for bollywood traditional to bollyhop.
- Read about her trainings at Grace And Grooves.
- She receives gift hampers and services worth of 250$ from our friends and participating companies. Sindhu has set an example for lot of our full time working young mommies with extended families that there will be a year that’s going to be mine from start to finish :). She finally took it in 2019-2020 with family. #respect.
2018-2019 : Aanya Kocchar :
- Ms. Aanya Kocchar joined Grace And Grooves as an exclusive Bharatnatyam Student in 2015 when we started teaching structured Bharatnatyam Program at Lewisville, Texas under the guru-shishya parampara with Mrs. Hetal Nagaraj exclusively.
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When it comes to balancing life with education, performing arts and all the other activities that kids have to take up today just to achieve normal expectancy as per school curriculum, it has never been easy!
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As per our Student of the year criteria, she has been an excellent role model to all our younger Bharatanatyam dancers who will look upon her an example going forward. Never Give Up because learning an art-form is never easy and there are NO SHORT-CUTS.
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Aanya has performed with Grace And Grooves in several in-house dance productions with her exclusive Bharatnatyam Dances without forsaking fundamentals of her own art-form Bharatanatyam for all our recitals, community events as well as exclusively Hetal Nagaraj’s dance productions.
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Her notable dances are Bharatnatyam Nruthyam-Gujarati Sahitya Dance Duet (Literature) and Hetal Nagaraj’s Master Degree university level work of exclusive Bharatnatyam-Pushpanjali, and Allaripu(main margam items). She continues to learn her next level in Bharatnatyam at Lewisville, Texas with Mrs. Hetal Nagaraj and is now a 5th Grader. We are so proud of you!
- Nominated twice for International Gujarati Culture Awards as well as community awards and earned her place in gifted folk programs at Nruthyakala Folk Dance Academy.
- She receives $200 worth of services from our partners and friend-businesses to excel in her interest in the journey of Bharatanatyam. One Step At A Time, Nice And Easy. Updated : Jan 11, 2019.
- Aanya was student from March 2015 to November 1, 2019.
- During Jatiswaram Level from Mid-August 2019 onwards, she started coming once a month only which was slowing down entire batch. Student was unable to attend minimum 4 classes a month/do any other make-up classes/take any other private classes to catch up to her class-mates or atleast take other parallel classes;all of which was given well-ahead of time as per convinience of all parents. Parents were contacted regularly every month about the absences via emails/phones-sms and calls. Parents were regularly requested to move to slower pace class or lower level class (just to keep it going until she is ready for her batch) which did not happen either.
- Later, in November 1, 2019 when their payment plan ended and it was time to renew, parents were requested to renew their payment plan only when student is able to attend classes regularly or choose any of options above or do private classes for good. This schedule expectation of regularly attending the class for this accelerated-level is excluding holiday schedules or extra practice schedules or makeup class schedules. All of these instructions are given well-ahead of time at the beginning of year itself. It is our policy from past 15 years!
- Updated : December 26, 2020. Aanya was in accelerated class of year-round lessons with full holiday schedule and dates provided well ahead of time as per full time – working – parents – holiday schedule. We are year round dance school.
2017-2018 : Samarth Setty
- His first dance was a valentine dance with girl at the age of 3.5 where he showed his ability to act, dance & make people laugh/smile by showing his natural dance skills, dance etiquettes that were taught to him by his Montessori teachers.
- Stage presence was natural to him just like his sister.
- Our little macho man had his struggles of taking breaks in learning dance because of his birth weight, body type but he never gave up.
- From a husky body type to making his body a lean-mean fat-burning machine, he has amazed us of what he could do with proper training, discipline and diet plans that his mom prepares for him.
- His official journey of dance training in Indian Folk Dances started at the age of 6, Bharatnatyam at the age of 7, Bollywood at the age of 7 and then he never looked back! Prior to these years, he would appear on stage as side/back stage-dancer.
- Amongst all our girls, at times he is the only Krishna, Shiva, captain, our Rahul who comes to save the day for lot of our group dances even when he is not dancing for full song. At times he is not instructed of what he needs to do except for dance steps if they were to match with group..it comes out naturally to him, without training and knowledge of dance forms/styles.(Environment)
- From group dance dramas to Solo(s) in Bharatnatyam, Indian Folk Dances and Bollywood/Movie Dances, he has done it all. He has successfully performed, competed and won competitions as solo artist from 2nd place to 3rd place with only 1 hour a week of dance lessons.
- His training teachers are : Buvaneshwari Murugan(Jatiswaram, Ganesh Kavtuvam) & Hetal Nagaraj (Pushpanjali, Allaripu, Jatiswaram, Thillana, Shabhdam, Bho-Shamboo and several dance dramas from Gujarati Literature to Telugu Literature) for Bharatanatyam, Indian Folk Dances-Hetal Nagaraj, Bollywood-Hetal Nagaraj and Mansi Chauhan.
- His workshops include : Intermediate-Advance Workshop with Shakti Mohan-2015.
- He is a perfect example of perseverance, inherited natural talent, stage presence and a best example for kids who feel like giving up, only because of body-type.
- He receives photo-shoots worth $250, competition discounts and several other perks from our participating businesses.
- His Facebook page was established in 2019 under the leadership & training of Hetal Nagaraj with Reachh Mediaa Reachh Since 2013. Read More About Samarth Setty.
- Updated-Feb 13-2018, Sept 1-2021.
Ashna Pethe – 2016-2017
- From recreational dancer(Age-10) to now our elite team dancer and this years’ 1st
Congratulations! Student of The Year 2016!!
prize winner in Non-Classical-Category(Bollywood). Lewisville-Texas. Now 13.
- Locations of Workshops, Performances & Competitions : Southlake-Texas, Irving-Texas, Dallas-Texas, Lewisville-Texas, Frisco-Texas, Plano-Texas, Carrollton-Texas.
- Ashna won A $200 gift hamper that includes a photo-shoot and a FREE professional profiling and several free perks from Grace And Grooves LLC.
- A perfect example of no short-cuts to success and yet balancing it beautifully with unbeatable graceful performances.
- She has bagged 1st place in non-classical category and has cleared several competitions in state of Texas. (Update-September 29, 2017).
- Ashna dances 1-2 hours a week Bollywood at Elite Level w/Elite Team for Grace And Grooves, paid and unpaid performances.
- She has taken advance workshops with Hetal Nagaraj, Mansi Chauhan And Shakti Mohan for Indian Folk Dances, Professional Bharatnatyam, Professional Kathak and Contemporary.
- Her Facebook page was established in 2019 under the leadership & training of Hetal Nagaraj with Reachh Mediaa Reachh Since 2013. Coming Soon About Ashna Pethe.
- Updated Sept 1-2021.
Congratulations! Student of the year 2015!!
Diya Kadiyala, 2015-2016.
- First Indian Folk Dance Solo Artist under the age of 5 (under official company name Grace And Grooves other than Nirja Setty) successfully performed 3.2 minute of Indian Folk Dance. Twice!!
- Audience : 100 People. Selected/Cleared Auditions for 2 different competitions in 2015. Irving-Texas. Age 4.5. Now 6.
- Locations of Performances : Irving-Texas, Dallas-Texas, Frisco-Texas.
- You are a perfect example of following directions just as taught at such a young age that too in Indian Folk Dances.
- Diya took Free private classes(2) worth $50 during the regular classes. A Free costume rental on our elite line of costumes and a waive off on registration fees for second year. ($30).
Congratulations!! Student of the year 2014
Nirja Setty, 2014-2015.
- Winner of 6 (now 6) technique focused Indian Dance Competitions in Indian Folk Dances, Fusion and Bharatnatyam(2016).
- Nirja won Free Costumes and Jewelry from one of our friend-sponsors worth $100. Free Tickets to concert-$30.
- A girl known to challenge judges’ knowledge in competitions as compared to her age group. Irving, Lewisville-Texas. Age 9. NOW 11.
- You are a perfect example of perfect expressions/looks in Indian Performing arts-anytime a picture is taken and yet it just as graceful and beautiful. All of this with a beautiful balance in life!
- Her average competition prize money amounted to $200-$300 by 2015 in various school competitions for Bharatnatyam and Indian Folk Dances. Her audience is not less than 1000 people for the dances she has performed.
- Nirja regularly dances 1-hour a week in : Bharatnatyam(in 2 styles), Bollywood and Indian Folk Dances with Hetal Nagaraj and Alpana Jacob (outside Grace And Grooves LLC).
- Locations of Workshops, Performances & Competitions : Southlake-Texas, Irving-Texas, Dallas-Texas, Lewisville-Texas, Frisco-Texas, Plano-Texas, Carrollton-Texas, Allen-Texas, Coppell-Texas, Grapevine-Texas, Flowermound-Texas, Arlington-Texas.
- She has taken advance workshops with Mansi Chauhan, Hetal Nagaraj and Shakti Mohan for Professional Kathak and Contemporary. She has also danced National Level Competition Fogana 2013 w/Indu Mangrola-Sursangam Dance Company.
- Her Facebook page was established in 2019 under the leadership & training of Hetal Nagaraj with Reachh Mediaa Reachh Since 2013. Read More About Nirja Setty.
- Updated-Sept 1-2021.
Congratulations!! Student of the year 2013!!
Srinija Burra, 2013-2014 :
- Outstanding Recreational Indian Folk Dance Artist – (Solo) Recreational Folk Program.
- Audiences from 100 to 500 People. Irving-Texas. Age 6. NOW 11.
- Srinija won Free Customized Costumes from our elite line of costumes and Free Tickets to performances worth $75.
- Won competitions with Grace And Grooves LLC as in group for Indian Folk Dances held Dallas-Texas at Coppell-Texas, Plano-Texas, Allen-Texas.
- Locations of Performances & Competitions : Southlake-Texas, Irving-Texas, Dallas-Texas, Lewisville-Texas, Frisco-Texas, Plano-Texas, Carrollton-Texas, Allen-Texas, Coppell-Texas, Grapevine-Texas, Flowermound-Texas, Arlington-Texas.
- Selected in several auditions and competitions for Solos. Selected by several media and top-notch family/event/corporate-dance and professional photographers for individual profiling/close-ups during our community performances without our telling them or informing them. She was also part of Fusion team being an avid gymnasts student. Click here :
- You are a perfect example of perfect expressions/looks anytime a picture is taken and yet it just as graceful and beautiful.
Congratulations to ALL our students of the year!
Thank you for working hard with us…
This post will be updated once a year. Our academic year goes from August To May.
Post Updated History : This Post was First Published on this Blog on September 25, 2017.
Pictures posted above are either past or present students of Grace and Grooves & their pictures are shared based on their exclusive photo sharing rights and approved by parents when shared/transferred to Grace And Grooves for the purpose of Grace and Grooves ONLY.
Website : www.graceandgrooves.com
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Youtube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSbZYIr0EPzrfPNzH_0FcVw
Grace And Grooves by Hetal Nagaraj (hetaln.com) 
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