Founder-led performing arts training center in Texas with 25+ years of documented student outcomes across multi-genre cultural, recreational, and competitive programs spanning the USA, India, and Nepal.
Certified Folk Dances of India
India – A country that embraces beauty in form of diverse cultures, religion, traditions, not to mention majestic celebrations of festivities that comes with all this….Grand Gala affairs of good food, entertainment and not to mention comes along folk dances of India that shows you glimpse of all cultures, traditions and has welcomed all with their respect, and good manners. Let’s just keep the royal hospitality for the rich, in our side–we call it : maryada & sanskriti.
One of our elite & trained gymnasts.-We did not train for gymnastics 🙂
Mrs. Swathi Burra, Irving-Texas :
She was volunteering with us for about 2 full years in lieu of her daughter’s dance fees from 2011-2013 and some months post 2013. Rest, we would gift her. A fabulous lady who knows how to treat people, understands queries and at times their concerns regarding costumes, jewelry, to just about anything. She has travelled around world and knew pretty much everything that anybody had queries regarding.
Those 2-3 years when we started off doing regular lessons and filed for company name, we had people from outside US such as newly moved to US due to Green-Card Lottery, some moved to US on business visa or H1 visa from other countries while some like us who were pretty much settled where we were(Irving-Coppell). Times, we needed hand in backstage for costumes, makeup, ticketing, coordinating with organizers, collecting fees, checking the venues-this girl would get it all done. Some of these people had never spoken english or barely knew hindi and were an exclusive Telugu influenced. Swati was our big time help for all our south asian/indian programs for coordinating.
Till date, it is 2019 when we are editing this blog entry and we have received calls from organizers asking if its Swati they are talking to and they would start their talk in Telugu.
Journey with us :
We had just registered our company and formation was still going on with lot of other paper-work during that time and our Indian Folk Dances Program was pretty well established with private groups in Irving, Coppell, Valley Ranch Areas of Dallas and Denton County with over 30 students on an average. Some recreational while some only competitions in Indian Folk Dances and a few work-out groups for moms.
Recreational Folk Dances were only names as such because they would not bother to perform in US or anywhere at all or would perform only in Indian audiences in India which made us even more proud when we received compliments and in some cases, some certificates or awards as they would participate in India for various competitions during their visits to their homeland.
Indian Folk Dancers, Bollywood And Amongst Very First Grace Creations Dancer.
Even after we were registered fully and almost all paper work was done, we were NOT committed to doing any regular community performances as Indian Folk Dances at competition level or even basic performance took us about fairly 10-12 classes for a good choreography to establish for an age group of 6 to 10 years.
It was Ms. Swati’s decision however to prompt us to start Bollywood / Tollywood (Telugu Cinema Dances)/Indian Movie Dances.
And our very first Bollywood Group had its very first official performance in IANT 2013 under the name of Grace Creations-our non-competitive performing fusion company. And we started taking Bollywood students in groups targeting specific performances for community events.
Grace Creation, however, was formed with an inspiration from Indian dance companies in east-coast which Mrs. Nagaraj had been following in various social-media channels or as her idols or via her network of dancers in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Delhi. Our Students were already trained in Non-Indian Dances from Ballet Academy of Texas, and Coppell Dance Center(Now Prestige Dance Center) and we already had required Indian Dance knowledge of Indian Folk and Bharatnatyam that we needed to create fusion category of dances.
But that was it, the group then dissolved as nobody was interested in regular community performances on monthly basis for Bollywood but instead wanted to move to Bharatnatyam when they saw Ms. Hetal Nagaraj teaching some classical work to college students who had come for competition related classes.
Some students moved outside city itself while for others who stayed with us, shaped with us with our newly established structured program for Bollywood Dances. These students were also taking Indian Folk Dance Lessons from us as seperate programs and Bharatanatyam. In total, they would dance 1 hour per week for each program i.e. 3 hours total.
Looking back, if it wasn’t for the push of Ms. Burra, we would NOT have initiated the Bollywood-Tollywood or Indian Movie Dances Program and Grace Creations wouldn’t have existed so early. Initial plan was to launch Grace Creations in 2016, otherwise. Grace Creations is still our non-competing group for Bollywood students where now, most of our Musical Theatre Dances and acts happen in their respective categories and programs based on type/timeline of performance date. However, off-late in 2016 onwards, some of our fusion dances won 1st place non-stop in various competition from local, regional to state and national level.
Ms. Swati’s daughter, Srinija Burra was a fabulous recreational Indian Folk Dancer who was accepted in several competitions as Solo dance artist(Age 6) and was important part of our team. She has also won group Indian Folk Dance Competitions (Pure Folk and with respected judges/organizers with double degrees in fine arts-very proud of this young lady!) with our other 10 Indian Folk Dance Students. Srinija Burra has also been the student of the year and received discounts on our elite line of costumes rentals and several other perks that we offered from our sponsorships of our dances that time.
Srinija & Nirja were often mistaken and switched in their solo performances by the organizers due to similarity in names and back then they would look very same! Best part was, both these girls would steal the show anywhere they would go, be it solo, duet or in group. All photographers, videographers and other parents who did not know us or these girls would take only their pictures and dance-videos with close-ups in-spite of being 10-15 dancers on stage without our informing them.
They were/are known to be the face and honor of Grace And Grooves LLC and often mistaken as Mrs. Hetal’s daughters or Mrs. Swati’s daughters as well. Nobody knew. Fun!
Today as well, till date in 2019, they are asked by various organizers who see our promo videos and pictures going out or in google search for modeling to dance assignments. A childhood friendship that shares some of the most beautiful memories that both the girls will cherish throughout their life! We are very blessed to have these young ladies as part of our family.
Srinija was also the reason why we have student of the year today and was amongst our very first Student Of The Year :).
Thank you Swati for being our best one. We Miss You 🙂 This Blog post is exclusively for you!
Blog Entries: Late 2017, April 3, 2019 with Srinija’s credits.
Copyright Reach Media for Hetal Nagaraj | Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-2019. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Recital 2017: JALSO (Celebrations, Absolute Fun-in Life)-Nritya(Dance) Ki Masti (Fun). Venue: MCL Grand Theater, Lewisville-Texas. April 9, 2017.
Why Jalso, Nritya Ki Masti ?
JALSO: Celebrating the Joy of Indian Festivals Through Dance, Culture, and Community
In 2016, while planning our next annual production, we envisioned creating a performance that celebrated the vibrant spirit of Indian festivals, family traditions, and life’s joyous milestones.
During this creative journey, Hetal Joshi Nagaraj was inspired by “Jalso”—a well-known Gujarati cultural festival held in Mumbai, India, recognized for celebrating Gujarati heritage, arts, music, and community.
The word Jalso (જલસો) itself conveys a sense of celebration, festivity, enjoyment, and coming together, making it a fitting inspiration for a production centered on the colors and traditions of Indian culture.
For many Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and families who have made the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW), Texas region their home for generations, festivals are much more than annual celebrations—they are a meaningful way to preserve cultural identity, strengthen family bonds, and pass traditions from one generation to the next.
Hetal Nagaraj’s vision was to recreate that warmth and vibrancy on stage through dance, music, storytelling, and theatrical presentation.
The production concept explored the many celebrations that define Indian life, including:
Traditional festivals
Wedding celebrations
Family ceremonies
Seasonal festivities
Community gatherings
Cultural customs and life milestones
Through choreography, costumes, music, and storytelling, the audience would experience the richness and diversity of India’s cultural heritage while celebrating the shared values of family, tradition, and community.
From Adi-Shakti to a New Creative Vision, without foresaking fundamentals.
Hetal Joshi Nagaraj’s 2016 production, Adi-Shakti – The Primordial Divine Energy, was designed as a charitable fundraising initiative supporting CRY America Inc.
Through community partnerships, sponsorships, advertising, ticket sales, donations, a fashion showcase, sponsored costumes from premium boutiques, and Grace And Grooves’ own costume collection, the event successfully combined performing arts with community service and philanthropy.
Following the success of Adi-Shakti, Hetal Nagaraj’s original vision for the 2017 recital was to present a fully ticketed production dedicated to Bharatanatyam, Indian Folk Dance under the working title “Nrutya Ni Masti.” And Bollywood was very new program. Students were just learning.
Hetal Nagaraj was not sure if Bollywood will make it to production or recital part of it.
Why “Nrutya Ni Masti”?
The title combines two meaningful concepts:
Nrutya (also spelled Nritya or Nruthya) refers to expressive Indian dance that blends rhythm, movement, storytelling, and emotion.
Masti represents joy, celebration, fun, and the lively spirit of togetherness.
Together, Nrutya Ni Masti may be interpreted as “The Joy of Dance” or “A Celebration Through Dance.”
As part of artistic planning, Hetal Nagaraj also obtained appropriate republication and performance permissions for selected Bharatanatyam literature part of the dance genre. These permissions were to waive off IP and Copyright Policies. This ensured that traditional artistic works were presented with respect for both cultural heritage and intellectual property.
When selecting the title, simply using the technical Sanskrit terms Nritta (pure dance) or Natya (dramatic storytelling) did not fully represent the scope of the production. Hetal Nagaraj’s vision extended beyond a single aspect of Indian classical dance—it embraced both expressive storytelling and celebratory cultural performances.
Therefore, the broader and more inclusive term Nrutya was chosen.
Today, Nrutya is the most commonly accepted transliteration in Gujarati, while Nritya is more frequently used in Hindi and Sanskrit, and Nruthya is commonly seen in South Indian languages. Although all three spellings are correct in different linguistic traditions,
“Nrutya Ni Masti” best reflected the Gujarati cultural inspiration behind the production. While Hetal Nagaraj wanted to keep it Hindi influenced so that national language is respected. Thus, Nritya ki Masti.”Nrutya Ni Masti” best reflected the Gujarati cultural inspiration behind the production.
From bollywood as a possibility within the production to bollywood just made it in!
“Nrutya Ni Masti” best reflected the Gujarati cultural inspiration behind the production. While Hetal Nagaraj wanted to keep it Hindi influenced so that national language is respected. Thus, Nritya ki Masti.
In few months because of several packages and 3-4 times a week of lessons, those students progressed from beginners to straight competitions levels. Performances were about results as parents booked to perform in various local shows, other than once a week class.
Ultimately, those songs took the lead of the dance production theme itself.
On a record, Hetal Joshi Nagaraj was not even supposed to take these kids batches in Irving – Las Colinas areas as Deepthi was to handle it but Deepthi called in 1st month itself that boys were giving her hard time.
So Hetal had to take up all the kids batches. Moms then continued with Deepthi. Moms were brought by Hetal Nagaraj too from IANT role play performances and they loved it so wanted to do lessons.
That’s why Hetal Nagaraj did not want to take additional batches. Her schedule was packed! Nonetheless all students graduated in 2021.
Preserving Culture Through the Performing Arts
At Grace And Grooves, every production is designed with a purpose that extends beyond entertainment. Through performances such as Adi-Shakti, Jalso, and Nrutya Ni Masti, our goal is to preserve Indian cultural traditions, promote intercultural understanding, provide meaningful performance opportunities for students and artists, and strengthen community connections through the universal language of dance.
By celebrating festivals, traditions, and the shared experiences of families across generations, these productions help ensure that India’s rich artistic heritage continues to thrive within multicultural communities in Texas and beyond.
Story Line of the Show –
Story Line moves with a 1st generation of NRI who enters the world of multi-generation NRI from festival to festival, community to community, religion to religion, marriage ceremonies and mehdi nights as special feature within the dance ultimately falling in love with Indian asthetic of celebration of life – through dances.
Thoughout the performances, she is teased by multi-generation NRI about the richness she brings from India or is rather traditional mindset. Scenes of movies, literature books and famous known scriptures were demonstrated on the stage by students of Hetal Joshi Nagaraj introducing students to India’s rich culture and heritage along with US history and environment.
It also reflected lessons of wellness through incidences of heat stroke in DFW, Texas Summers and awareness to US cultures.
The show ends with girl teasing them back with richness of values of rich culture and heritage of India celebrating through Mehdi nights London Thumakda and a multi cultural marriage scene.
Thus, the name. Role Play – Ashna, Akhil, Samarth, Nirja, Mansi and Deepthi.
Community Partnerships That Enhanced the Cultural Experience
An important aspect of the production was the collaboration with local businesses and community partners whose services complemented the cultural themes presented on stage. These partnerships not only strengthened community engagement but also highlighted small businesses serving the Indian and South Asian communities across the Dallas–Fort Worth region.
To support the Mehendi (Henna) Ceremony segment of the production—a celebration inspired by one of India’s most cherished pre-wedding traditions—we welcomed several community sponsors, including Sheetal’s Mehendi Arts, Jazz It Up Inc., and The Grace Effect.
The Mehendi ceremony performances celebrated the joy, music, dance, and family traditions associated with Indian wedding festivities, creating an immersive cultural experience for audiences of all backgrounds.
These collaborations reflected our broader mission of supporting local entrepreneurs, promoting culturally rooted businesses, and creating opportunities where performing arts, traditional craftsmanship, and community organizations could come together under one platform.
By integrating local businesses into our productions, Grace And Grooves not only showcased Indian performing arts but also fostered economic and cultural engagement within the community. These partnerships helped audiences experience Indian traditions beyond the stage, celebrating the artistry, customs, and entrepreneurial spirit that contribute to the richness of South Asian cultural heritage.
Such collaborations continue to align with our commitment to community-based arts programming, cultural preservation, small business engagement, and inclusive multicultural experiences, reinforcing the role of the performing arts as a catalyst for education, community connection, and cultural appreciation.
An important component of Nritya Ki Masti – Jalso (Recital 2017) was the collaboration between artists, faculty, students, volunteers, and community partners who collectively contributed to the success of the production.
Costumes –
Ms. Hetal could not even catch up to costumes as the order of bulk costume was stuck in New York while other bulk pack was stuck in snow storm via London.
Adults – mommy and me program got lucky to find their costumes online on amazon and paid extra shipping to get those early, locally.
Because of sudden inclusion of Bollywood back to back lessons, a need for costumes became unevitable and thus, were ordered on time. But then, logistics in snow storm stalled the shipments.
Hetal Nagaraj ran to bulk fabric wholeseller, got the bulk fabric and had to make sample right away. Hetal Nagaraj cloth pin the cuts by hand which then Deepthi stitched. Deepthi did not know much. Deepthi knew some stitch work by machine. Hetal stitched one sample by hand. Hetal just told her to follow exactly as she showed how to.
In urgency, they made about 15 costumes just to pass by 2 weekends. Ms. Hetal completed the rest to top up fancy accessories.
Costumes arrived much later by then performances were done. It was a list of engagement to marriage and festival songs. Since then, Grace and Grooves uses local tailors to get the costumes. While the shipments since then, have accessories and certain clothing materials only.
Thus, the contributor was Jazz It Up Inc., Grace And Grooves’ in-house costume and dance property (prop) division was created and inventory list was thus created because of these infra. This was to establish a sustainable support system which indirectly maanges the organization’s Elite Competition Teams and Pre-Competition TeamsNeeds.
The division aka Hetal Joshi Nagaraj specializes in designing, sourcing, maintaining, and managing costumes and performance accessories that meet the artistic and technical requirements of Indian performing arts. These few months triggered local manufacturing and local suppliers of bulk materials.
Not only deepthi but Company aka Hetal Joshi Nagaraj uses several local indian and non indian tailors.
In addition to supporting Grace And Grooves productions, costumes are occasionally made available on a rental basis to external students and performers, subject to availability or are sold off when its usages in company fades away. Custom-designed and professionally stitched costumes generally require several weeks of planning and production, reflecting the craftsmanship and preparation involved in creating authentic performance attire.
By maintaining its own costume resources, Grace And Grooves is able to preserve traditional aesthetics, ensure consistency in production quality, and provide students with professionally presented performances while supporting long-term arts education.
Nritya Ki Masti – Jalso (Recital 2017) brought together performances in three major Indian dance disciplines:
Bharatanatyam
Bollywood Dance
Indian Folk Dance
Community and Festival Batches.
The production featured students ranging in age from 5 to 40 years, each performing within the discipline in which they had received formal training. The recital reflected Grace And Grooves’ philosophy of providing age-inclusive arts education while encouraging lifelong participation in the performing arts.
A special highlight of the production was the Choreographer’s Retreat for “Budding choreographers and future leaders“, featuring performances and artistic presentations by:
Hetal Nagaraj
Mansi Chauhan
Deepthi Chandrasekaran
Each choreographer presented unique interpretations and dance styles, demonstrating the diversity and richness of Indian performing arts while inspiring students through professional artistic leadership.
Celebrating Student Milestones’ And 1st of several achievements.
One particularly memorable moment of the recital was the Bharatanatyam presentation by a 10-year-old male student – Samarth Setty, who performed a complete Jatiswaram lasting approximately 5 minutes and 26 seconds under the artistic guidance of Hetal Nagaraj.
The performance represented an important milestone in the student’s classical dance journey and highlighted Grace And Grooves’ commitment to nurturing young artists through structured training, mentorship, and performance opportunities.
Dhamaal Events very first Online Hybrid Class to one student on 10+2 hour of Bharatanatyam workshop from Bhuvaneshwari Murugan across Arkansas, USA was dearly missed. This class was a continuation to Ms. Hetal class but the results were not good thus, student switched back to Ms. Hetal.
Recital 2017 marked an important milestone not only for our students but also for our growing faculty.
The production featured the first independent choreographic works by Mansi Chauhan and Deepthi Chandrasekaran, presented under the artistic mentorship and supervision of Hetal Joshi Nagaraj along with lesson plans that were to adhere to so that students achieve.
While each of them had a roller coaster year with several challenges across the months–they were encouraged to explore own creative voice, every work to remain aligned with Grace And Grooves’ structured curriculum, pedagogical framework, lesson plans, and the technical and artistic standards of the respective dance genre.
Not to mention, achieve latter goals for the students, parents, Hetal Joshi Nagaraj and the company’s upcoming shows, performances, gigs and few other assignments.
This balance between creative independence and educational consistency is a key component of Grace And Grooves’ faculty development philosophy under Hetal Joshi Nagaraj. As a trainer, she makes sure of results (as several parents come for results with specifics to use it for educational purposes) and fun to align with company’s everlasting success ratio with such a magnificent documeted graduate list, revenue part of it as businesses run on revenue and the growth of it.
Emerging interns as future leaders are mentored through a progressive process that enables them to develop choreography, strengthen instructional skills, and build confidence while preserving the authenticity and integrity of each dance form thereby achieve the goals of the company and the students.
The recital therefore represented a significant professional achievement for both choreographers, marking their transition from students and assistants to independent artistic contributors within the Grace And Grooves educational framework.
Students Representing Communities Across North Texas
The recital proudly featured students representing multiple communities, and exclusive students of Hetal Joshi Nagaraj’s locations throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, including:
Las Colinas
Plano 121 Mcdermott Independence
Lewisville
Frisco West, 423
Each student performed within their respective discipline, demonstrating months of dedicated training, rehearsals, and artistic development.
At the conclusion of the production, all participating students received 2017 Participation Medals in recognition of their commitment and accomplishments.
In addition, Ashna Pethe was honored as the Student of the Year, receiving a commemorative trophy and a gift voucher in recognition of her dedication, growth, and achievements.
Grace And Grooves also recognized each Interns for their artistic leadership, while students were introduced to the audience along with highlights of their individual accomplishments and progress throughout the year.
Preserving Memories Through Photography and Videography
Documenting performances has always been an important part of preserving artistic growth and organizational history.
Photography for Nritya Ki Masti – Jalso (Recital 2017) was provided by Bombay Photography, while videography and production documentation were managed by The Grace Effect, Grace And Grooves’ internal photography and videography initiative.
The Grace Effect was established exclusively to document the educational journey of Grace And Grooves students, productions, choreographers, and participating artists. Its purpose has always been archival, educational, promotional, and historical documentation for the organization and its community.
Under the direct supervision of Mrs. Hetal Nagaraj, The Grace Effect has remained dedicated exclusively to Grace And Grooves and its affiliated activities. It has never operated as a commercial photography or videography service for outside organizations, private clients, volunteer assignments, or unrelated events.
This dedicated approach has ensured consistency, quality, privacy, and comprehensive documentation of the organization’s artistic journey. Nagaraj Kunchum thus has an uptight on front end camera, at all times near switch boards, all the way up on the balcony or in the light window. As a husband, he just takes care of master file. All the other is assistant crew.
Looking Ahead
Every recital marks both the culmination of one artistic season and the beginning of another.
As the curtains closed on Nritya Ki Masti – Jalso (Recital 2017), planning for the next production was already well underway. The creative team had already selected the theme and title for Recital 2018, continuing Grace And Grooves’ tradition of innovation, cultural storytelling, and artistic excellence.
After all, every ending is simply the opening act of the next performance.
Picture Gallery –
Every Production, or Recital Is a Graduation Milestone
At Grace And Grooves, each recital and production represents more than a public performance—it serves as an important milestone in a student’s artistic journey.
Students demonstrate the knowledge, technique, discipline, and performance skills they have acquired throughout the year, progressing toward higher levels of learning and responsibility. In many ways, every recital functions as a practical graduation, where students advance not only in technical ability but also in confidence, stage presence, teamwork, leadership, and artistic maturity.
As students grow, so do our faculty. This continuous cycle of learning, mentorship, performance, and leadership development is fundamental to the Grace And Grooves philosophy, ensuring that every production contributes to the long-term growth of both artists and educators.
— Do not copy any word, concept or any ideology, verbiage, picture , any clip or dance, or any wordings of Ms Hetal as it is full trademarked, some copyright received and some ip too, by country – 2012-current
Our Founding Member Hetal Nagaraj performs regularly for Bharatnatyam, Folk Dances of India And Bollywood
Past Performances of Grace And Grooves. List of paid and unpaid public events – 2015 and before in no specific order of occurrences and numbered per event/not by number of performances):
Grace And Grooves performs at Plano Library, at a Diwali Event (Organized by Independent Groups). Ms. Mansi Chauhan offered Bollywood Workshop-Age Group 4 to 8 Years.
Grace And Grooves performs at an invited event organized by DFW-Hindu Temple, Irving-Texas featuring Semi-Classical Bharatnatyam-Bollywood Style , Bollywood-Folk, and Bollywood Performances.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam(Shabdam/Shabhdam), Garba, and Bollywood Dances in a walkathon organized by CRY America Inc in Irving-Texas.
Bollywood, Bharatnatyam and Folk Dances of India at CRY America Inc walkathon in Irving-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam (Art-work), Bollywood and Fusion at Iskon-Dallas at a sponsored event.
Grace And Grooves performs Lavani, Garba, Ghoomar/Ghummar, and Folk tale lyrical in Dallas-Texas for Dallas Catholic Charities in Dallas-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam(as guest artist, Allaripu) in competition where Ms. Hetal Joshi was judge for Non-Classical Category-Dallas, Texas. (2011)
Grace And Grooves performs Garba, Bollywood Dances, and Lavani in May Festival -Fortworth.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam(Pushpanjali-Guru Vandana), Tollywood Dances, Bollywood Dances, Folk Lyrical in Dallas International Festival, Dallas-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Kalbelia, Kshatriya, Tippani and Bollywood Dances in Plano, Texas at an International Festival representing India.
Grace And Grooves showcased art-works (Garba of Smt. Indu Mangrola) and Semi-Classical Kathak in Tarrant County-College, Arlington-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam(Thillana), Bollywood Dances, Rajasthani Folk Tale(with Chirmi) event organized by DFW International in Addison, Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Gidda, Bhangra(Beginners) and Bollywood performances at Ram Mandir-Plano Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Bollywood Folk, Semi-Classical Kathak, Bollywood Hip Hop, and Bhangra at an event organized by Indian Association of North Texas, Dallas-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performs Teratalli, Garba, Ghoomar/Ghummar, and Chirmi in Fortworth Festival-Forworth.
One of our Elite, Trained Gymnasts
Grace And Grooves performs at inaugural function with Bollywood Fusion, Koli, Lavani, KummiAdi, Bihu at a sponsored event in Colleyville, Texas featuring Cultures of India. PAID Performance.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam(Jatiswaram)in Grapevine-Texas for Diwali event organized by Denton Association.
Grace And Grooves performs Raas/Dandiya, Bollywood-Retro, and Fusion Tap w/Bollywood in association with Dance Workshop at Lewisville Grand Theatre(Lewisville). Students were avid Tap/Jazz dancers trained for more than 2 years at Coppell Dance Center(Coppell) and later at Prestige Dance Center (Lewisville), Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed Bollywood-Lyrical, Lezim, Bollywood Bhangra, and Bollywood HipHop at Chinese Festival in Arlington, Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed KumiAdi, Garbi, and Bollywood Dances, organized by DFW International in Addison-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed Lavani, Bollywood Dances, Semi-Classical (Bharatnatyam), and Tollywood in International Travel Show-Global Beatz Stage-Dallas, Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed Chirmi, Bollywood, Rumaal Dance, Bharatnatyam(Lyrical Artwork) at World Fest, Addison-Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed Fusion of Tap, Bollywood Hip Hop, Nepali Folk and Rajasthani Folk Tale in Grapevine Texas by Denton Association.
Grace And Grooves performed Folk-Fusion, Bollywood Dances, in Plano-Texas. Students were avid Tap/Jazz dancers trained for more than 2 years at Coppell Dance Center-Coppell and later at Prestige Dance and Performing Arts Centre(Lewisville), Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed Bharatnatyam-Ballet Fusion in DFW Hindu Temple, Irving-Texas. Students were trained in Ballet from Ballet Academy of Texas-Coppell, Texas.
Grace And Grooves performed Fusion at Indian Association of North Texas, – Dallas Texas: Tap, Jazz, Gymnastics, Salsa, Bollywood and Folk. Students were trained or were avid dancers/gymnasts in Tap, Jazz, and Gymnastics, from Ballet Academy of Texas-Coppell, Coppell Dance Center/ Prestige Dance and Performing Arts Centre (Lewisville), and gymnastics studios respectively. Ms. Joshi took required Salsa Personal Training from a Master Choreographer at Arthur Murray Dance Studio (Plano). Please do not copy our artwork without training. It may harm your child.
Grace And Grooves performs Bharatnatyam/Tap Fusion, Bollywood Dances, Kumari (Indian) Semi-Classical in Addison, Texas event organized by DFW International. . Students were avid Tap/Jazz dancers trained for more than 2 years at Coppell Dance Center-Coppell and later at Prestige Dance and Performing Arts Centre(Lewisville), Texas.
Detailed workshops and performances at American Mensa by our founding member, Hetal Joshi.
Grace And Grooves (Ms. Hetal Joshi) performs for consecutive 3 days in Culture Cowtown Event (National Gathering) organized by American-Mensa at Fort Worth-Texas, for Classical Dances of India, Folk Dances of India and Nepal, and Bollywood Dances. The performances featured Bharatnatyam (Kalashetra/Pandanallur), Fusion, Semi-Classical, Bollywood and various Folk Dances of India with variations in styles and techniques with time-line. Folk Dances of India discussed were – Garba, Raas-Dandiya, Gidda, Garbi, Bhangra, Lavani, Kshtariya, Lezim, Koli, Dumhal, Tribal Dances of India, Chhau, Sambalpuri Folk, Rumali Dance, Tippani, Matki, Bhavaai, and many more were showcased with variations/types, techniques and costumes. An educational workshop was also given after the performance with LIVE participation from audiences to American-Mensa Members on the all of above with and without costumes/jewelry. Over 30 Mensa members participated in the event of which a few were performing arts major.
Grace And Grooves performs and gives workshop at Uplift Education – Summit International Preparatory, Arlington-Texas featuring Bollywood Dances, Choppai-Bollywood Style.
Grace And Grooves performs at Independence Elementary, Lewisville featuring Tollywood Performances-Semi-Classical Style , Bollywood Dance.
Grace And Grooves performs at Harmony School of Innovation, Carrollton featuring creative fusion styles.
Uplift Education-Summit International Preparatory, Arlington-Texas. Workshop and Performances
Grace And Grooves performs at Isaacs Early Childhood School featuring a neo-classical fusion and bollywood dances.
Grace And Grooves performs at Universal Academy, Coppell featuring Bollywood Dances.
Grace And Grooves performs at Castle Hills Elementary, Lewisville featuring various Bollywood Dances such as Medley of creative Modern and Traditional Bollywood Dances and fusion of Ethnic Rajasthani Folk dance styles.
Grace And Grooves holds exclusive rights for all the pictures being posted with permission of organizers for exclusive Grace And Groove use only.
More as we dig in our files…We enjoy performing and doing workshops so that you can enjoy reading/seeing pictures.
Cultural diversity becomes lifestyle when you are brought up in Gujarat where business, commerce, equal rights/safety to women, and acceptable knowledge of regional language attracted educated people from all walks of life, other states of India and across the borders too! It automatically becomes a blessing when you are born and raised in such environment and obviously, dance cannot be ignored for somebody who is a lifelong student of performing arts. With all this migration of quality people, t’was a norm to hear news of some cultural association (at times not even registered) celebrating their festival every month and dance being part of it. Gandhinagar(capital of Gujarat)is place where people migrated for government jobs (strictly via entrance exams or transfers) so obviously more than 90% of population is educated to some decent level of education or had thorough knowledge of performing arts as Govt. of Gujarat had opened its doors to several non-profit organizations and associations to promote art & culture of India along with just nurturing Gujarati culture. Some migrated to Ahmedabad (main business city) for business or professional careers (esp. educated women and young girls) due to equal opportunity and safe environment for working women/college girls.
Recent Release Picture/article (2015-2016) of Annual Show by St.Xaviers School, Gandhinagar. For over 40 years, school has been celebrating focusing to various themes. Trainings are provided by local dance teachers or professional instructors whose students study @ the school.
From small pocket size dance schools, passionate dancers w/dance academies (such as Darpana) to educational schools (such as St.Xaviers & Mt.Carmel Convent Schools), had their own events planned through out the school year such as annual day, sports day,teachers day, their inter-school competitions/Odyssey, Eid, Diwali, or Christmas. At least twice a year, schools supported major city events such as Independence Day, Republic Day or any other extraordinary events happening in city! Whole city along with renowned artists from performing arts and govt. delegates were invited so training had to be given to students. Events would either happen at city hall or helipad so the costume requirement, dance props usage was compulsory pertaining to dance. The entire show was about glimpse of India where in at least 5-8 minutes of stage time was exclusively given for each performance with a detailed description of state/region or culture (at-least one type of) identification and choreographer/trainers name if they permitted to be announced. Participation levels were close to 99% as they were absolute FUN! Schools encouraged students to participate by giving extra marks as in cultural activities. The instructors were invited to offer these classes most of times at very nominal price for schools or was free if your group/classroom chose to do it strictly under school name. The program would then end with some stunts by Indian Air-Force pilots, parades and salute to Indian heroes.
All of that doesn’t happen in day or just 10-12 classes! Folk Dances of India are not like Bollywood dances where you can have somebody dance on song and you got it! None of the techniques of Folk Dances of India has any basic movement that matches in anyway if you were to focus on learning folk dance, even it is for fun! It is not possible. As we(Ms. Joshi) remembers after-school practices 2-3 times a week for at-least an hour or two in corridors of school. That is 6-8 hours per week of commitment, at times non-stop through out the year. It wasn’t about perfection; it was about fundamentals because you were to show that in front of knowledgeable audiences and LIVE telecast by various TV channels. Those were our school years!
The dances during those times for these events were never Bollywood dances as Gujarat had a very well established line-up of events by various organizations/association and government departments that would conduct folk dance competitions and had attractive prizes as in cash prizes plus hotel discounts, household appliances and memberships to family clubs such as YMCA, Rajpath, and Rotary Clubs. We are talking of lakhs of INR rupees and not just a couple thousand rupees or a trophy with a picture! Judges were from various tourism departments to PHD holders or Masters degree holders in performing arts or were dance professors/teachers in college/universities. These events were frequently organized so any group that called for avid dancers was a grab & go opportunity for pretty much any student in college who loved to dance. At times, we planned our choreographies right after we got the win if it was 2nd or 3rd place to not miss on our bigger share of pocket money-as we called it! Creativity was an absolute requirement in choreography, techniques, and costumes along with other factors in such a tight competition without forsaking fundamental basics of dance form.
Obviously Bollywood did not stand a chance in this! Back then; Bollywood was referred as hindi movies with beautiful songs/lyrics and not really about dance due to dominance of above competitions in the field of performing arts. Nobody wanted their daughters to dance like Helen or Bobby as in Dimple Kapadia, or boys to dance like Mithun Chakravarti, Jitendra (no-way) but rather Hemamalini, Sridevi had set examples of Bollywood style of classical dances where Bharatnatyam had gained popularity and for budding artists, singing classes would go in full-thanks to our Kishor Da & Gulzar! Obviously, as we further embraced western cultures, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Sridevi, Meenakshi Sheshadri and such other dancers made their way to introducing modern dance moves successfully in-spite of being trained classical dancers and we can only imagine how much work they must have put in to achieve all of that in lime-light!
None from ALL of the above is a day of work or few classes’ work! It was more than that. You’ll know when you have gone through it just as we know it and so our students learn it, just as well. This is applicable to all recreational programs or private groups as well depending on program you join at Grace And Grooves.
While competition programs such as Grace And Grooves Elite Teams are for those who want to learn how to handle it with pressures and would like to make it as their way of life, like it is ours.
Our elite dancers are trained in least 2 dance forms (Not Bollywood) for at-least a year as a routine, or at professional & competitive level to bring them at our Elite level & ignite their creativity.
After all, dance is all about having fun and we like to keep it that way!
Copyright Reach Media for Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-2017. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Our Story – How, when…. Grace And Grooves Started. And Why us ?
The Beginning of Grace And Grooves: A Journey Toward Authentic Dance Education
Indian dance forms — whether Bharatanatyam, Folk Dances of India, or Bollywood-inspired choreography — were traditionally not considered mainstream career pathways in India, nor were they part of Ms. Hetal Joshi Nagaraj’s family’s professional background.
In 1999, when Hetal Joshi Nagaraj began offering freelance private group choreography focused on Indian Folk Dance competitions, a new journey began. These projects required far more than performance preparation. Competition-level choreography demanded creativity, storytelling, dramatic presentation, technical understanding, and respect for the foundational requirements of each dance form.
Behind every performance was extensive preparation — hours of training, movement development, cultural understanding, and technique-building before choreography could even begin. At that stage, these projects remained limited, seasonal opportunities, typically focused around competitions once or twice a year while balancing other academic and professional commitments.
When Passion Became a Purpose
Grace And Grooves was not created simply because of competition choreography.
The true turning point came when Ms. Hetal’s 3.5-year-old daughter began naturally expressing herself through dance while listening to Krishna Bhajans at the Hare Krishna Temple of Dallas, Texas (ISKCON Dallas).
Her movements captured the attention of those around her, and people began asking about her training and background. Interestingly, many of those early movements came from observing and absorbing folk dance training that Ms. Hetal was providing to competition students.
As a trained artist and mother, Ms. Hetal began teaching her daughter with structured guidance and proper technique. However, she soon realized that there was a need for a more organized, curriculum-based approach to Indian Folk Dance education — a pathway where students could develop skills that could lead to performances, achievements, and broader opportunities in the performing arts.
Identifying the Need for Authentic Curriculum-Based Training
After exploring available dance programs in the Dallas–Fort Worth area through both group and private instruction, Ms. Hetal recognized a significant gap: there were limited opportunities for students seeking structured, authentic, and technique-focused Indian Folk Dance education.
She observed that many programs blended community celebrations, Bollywood-inspired movements, and general cultural performances without necessarily following the foundational elements, regional characteristics, and technical requirements of traditional folk forms.
This highlighted an important need:
Students and families deserved access to authentic, structured, and educationally grounded Indian dance training — not just performance routines.
Building a Foundation for Future Generations
Grace And Grooves was created to help bridge this gap by developing pathways that combine:
Authentic dance foundations
Structured curriculum
Technical training
Cultural understanding
Creative expression
Performance opportunities
Student development
Leadership and mentorship experiences
What began with one child’s love for movement evolved into a larger mission: creating opportunities where Indian dance forms could be learned, respected, preserved, and presented with authenticity for future generations.
Through decades of teaching, documentation, and mentorship, Grace And Grooves continues to build pathways where students can grow not only as dancers, but also as confident, disciplined, and culturally connected individuals.
The journey began with one student’s love for dance and grew into a larger mission: creating opportunities where Indian dance forms could be learned, respected, preserved, and presented with authenticity for future generations.
By 2023 –Hetal Joshi M / Hetal Nagaraj has become a magnet for investors, capitalist, producers, directors, actors, celebrities from all over the world exclusively because of all the transparency, growth, traceability and all the beautiful results.
Ms. Hetal Joshi Nagaraj remains directly involved in the artistic and educational direction of Grace And Grooves. She maintains active oversight across programs, including supervising advanced graduates, mentorship pathways, and Texas All-Star Program interns.
In addition to organizational leadership, Ms. Hetal continues to teach independent training batches under her own artistic direction. These programs include multiple annual productions, typically involving 35–70+ students per production, reflecting her continued commitment to direct student development, choreography, and performance excellence.
Grace And Grooves operates as an organization built around Ms. Hetal’s artistic vision, curriculum, methodologies, and long-term pathways. The company structure supports and expands her work through seasonal choreographers, instructors, interns, and administrative support. Collaborating artists contribute during seasons or projects aligned with their availability and expertise.
The organization’s programs, curriculum frameworks, and artistic pathways have been developed under the direction of Hetal Joshi Nagaraj / Hetal Nagaraj, with operational support systems established to manage scheduling, planning, administration, and program coordination.
Do you know how much Hetal’s Elites are worth ?
Just http://www.thesettys.com-the setty siblings are worth 12million$ each. Value of real knowledge despite everything.
Hetal’s Networth is more than 50 Million$.
Still want to argue, chase cents, do labor work and wonder if anything that we are doing works or not ? See, it just worked (without anybody).
Date update – Dec 7, 2023 with links. AI-inclusions- update – July 23, 2026.
Copyright Reach Media for Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-current. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
1999 marked the year when our founding member Ms. Hetal Nagaraj first stepped into professional competition choreography as freelancer. It was the very first time when she taught students similar to her age, or they did not belong to her affiliated groups/school or college or let’s just say, were complete strangers. For a 20 year old, it was tough call when she was not a performer but a choreographer (Sigh). Through a friend’s friend, this all got started and today we are thankful to both of them.
Biggest challenge was that these students were avid dancers (who could move the way you want them to) but they had no idea of what they were doing. This is in-spite of being natives or participating in various community or school events as they claimed to. But, ready to work hard & first whole week just passed by getting their moves FIXED to folk requirements, which we did daily for 4 hours totaling to up-to 28 hours of training!
After spending all that sponsored funds for the costumes and travel, you cannot afford to do mistakes. The whole week, with pure folk training & listening to audio/video of 30+ folk artist, finally we ended up in a song that was approved by competition board to use and was best fitting our decided folk & theme!
Then the real drill work of choreography had begun!
Folk Dance Competitions in India were/are technique focused (The ones we participated in) considering the important and major elements of folk dances to promote the authenticity and importance of Folk Dances. Other folk dances participated as well due to diverse cultural demographics in Gujarat. Judges either had dual degrees in performing arts, followed by PHDs or double masters in their areas. Ms. Joshi (we were) was worried as it was her very first freelance private group choreography with just some amateur free-move dancers who took training for short period of time! Getting them to NOT do mistake was biggest challenge.
If that was not enough, innovation & creativity was an essential element and to further make it look dramatic, we added the props that required balance.
Pressures…pressures & crazy pressures of around 16 dancers (14+2 setting) and it was all worth taking the pain! Cash prize of 1 Lakh Rupees & gift certificates to various malls & resorts. We did bag 20K INR (from award money as our % other than choreography fees), free tickets to cultural concerts, and gift cards to restaurants and hotels. It was a big amount back then in 1999 for a 20 year old to earn that money for just 3.5 months of work!
The satisfaction, Ms. Joshi (we) got was PRICELESS. Ms. Joshi also received additional perks from group as a thank you note for arranging costumes, jewelry & Props in last moment when board did not approve costumes and jewelry (due to folk costume guidelines) that group had initially decided. This was a kick-starter for us…Our best of all until now!
Copyright Reach Media for Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-2019. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
2014 Winners. Copyright Images Exclusive to Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations, 25$ Costume on the left of this picture & 100$ Costume(handmade-on the right). Choreographer : Hetal Joshi Nagaraj. Picture Courtesy : The Grace Effects.
ELITE: Expensive or Quality?
What makes a DANCE company enjoy “An Elite” status?
Looking at pictures of Grace And Grooves, one might assume the OMG factor is of an expensive costume or is it, that rich families being part of event that company gets impression with the word – Elite?
W…R…O… N…G…! It wasn’t that. Don’t get deceived by the pictures or words!
In 2014, students of Grace And Grooves (Ages 7 & 9years old) won awards against pure Indian Classical Dance by some of the finest teachers in Dallas-Fortworth areas (Indian Dance Competition). The awards were won with pure folk dances of India and participating dance teams were from all over Texas. It wasn’t the first win that Grace And Grooves got it with pure folk in the same competition. 2013 competition wins were still fresh to all who participated again in 2014. They admired pure folk dances of india done by Grace And Grooves amongst the others–one more time because it was something that reminded them of their home. Just the way it is supposed to be! Choreographers addressed the performers of Grace And Grooves as an Elite with respect to choreography. That day, it was an honor for Ms. Joshi when those choreographers gave pat on her back for her 9 year old (with $100-custom handmade costume) stealing the award with a simple pure folk dance of India-Rajasthan-Ghoomar(or Ghummar/Ghumar) & a Lavani (or Laavani)- folk dance of India-Maharashtra by her 7 year old (with a $25 costume) against pure Bharatnatyam & Kuchipudi & other folk dances of india in non-classical dance category. Can’t get that wrong with all that years of knowledge/sweat & yes, constant mentoring. There it was, the company changed their tag line from a Premier Award Winning Folk Dance Company to an Elite Award Winning Folk Dance Company. In 2015, company started offering Bollywood Dance and Fusion Dance in name of Grace Creations for non-classical category of dances and to welcome Indian Movie Dances loved and admired for its peppy beats.
For most Bollywood/Tollywood Dances, Grace Creations costumes range is anywhere from a simple Jeans/legging with a t-shirt of $5-$10 and goes up-to $100 while the Folk Dances of India has costumes with price tag that starts from $25 to $120. Bharatnatyam costumes starts from $30 with shipping & goes up-to $110.
It all depends on how far you want to go with your pocket when it comes to dance.We welcome students to get their own costumes as well.
After all, dance is all about teaching your child look & feel beautiful which often goes with other performing arts factors & BIG yes–plus the COSTUME; if it comes with an affordable price tag.
And that’s how it is supposed to be – Simply Elite or Call it graceful. It’s the same thing. To be straight, no one wants to look beautiful with a hole in pocket or buy a $60 costume that makes your precious child look like a junk!
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.
Copyright Reach Media for Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-2017. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Grace And Grooves by Hetal Nagaraj (hetaln.com) 
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