Amit Shaw – a man whose propensity for dance has bestowed on him a vibrancy of spirit that is contagious – is not merely a co-founder of DNA Danceworks: he is so much more than that. Since his very birth, dancing has been an indispensable part of his identity; it did not take him long to show this talent to the world. He publicly performed for the first time when he was only in the first grade, after which his teachers and friends heartened him to slowly build his ability.
Amit grew up watching musicals performed in the West, and was always inclined towards those particular styles of dance. Having been brought up in Calcutta, however, it was no easy feat to gain expertise in forms that were not usually taught by studios in the city. Despite the countless obstacles his path, fate eventually brought him to a Bacardi Night Party that proved to be vital to his dancing career. He was approached by a man on the dance floor, and was invited by him to his studio in 1999: this is when he first embarked on his journey as an official dancer.
In 2003, Amit decided to quit the company and he started working as a freelance choreographer. In fact, he choreographed a piece that won him first place in nine different competitions; needless to say, this series of triumphs gave him a stupendous amount of self-belief – self-belief that not only granted him the confidence to reach unfathomable heights, but also vested in his character the desire to do so. Since then, he has done precisely that: his numerous achievements – his participation in reality shows like Dance Dance and Boogie Woogie, his phenomenal choreography for Dance on Skates, his training at Broadway Dance Center in NYC – have singularly contributed to DNA as a whole, and have inspired each student on whom he has left a mark.
To say that Dorothy Majumdar Shaw is a woman of indomitable spirit would be an understatement; needless to say, this spirit inadvertently becomes the exuberance, the buoyancy, the vivacity of every class that she conducts. She has, quite literally, been born a dancer – she choreographed her first oringial piece when she was only in the fifth grade – and the ease with which she makes every movement proves that dancing, for her, is inherent. Because her very first attempt at choreography was stupendously successful, she was fondly called by the name ‘Lover Girl’, after the song to which she performed, by everybody at her school.
In 2006, Dorothy attended her first Salsa festival, after which she was inspired to begin to train in that form; in 2011, she became one of India’s first licensed Zumba instructors; in the following years, she trained with numerous illustrious figures in the dance community. Today, she is both trained and certified in various styles such as Aqua Zumba, Booiaka, Piloxing, and Afro; she is also certified by The Aerobics and Fitness Association of India; lastly, she shouldered the study of Nutrition, a subject whose knowledge is an asset to the aspect of her adherence to fitness in general. In short, she has accomplished many of the feats that she had once aspired to accomplish, and will indisputably continue to do so in the years to come.
