Bollywood & Bollyfolk
Film-dance joy with folk flavour — thumkas, mudras, and a room that forgets to be shy.
Open level · advanced masterclass possibleWorkshops & teaching · for schools, festivals, teams & anyone with a floor
Invite me to teach.
I am Swapnil Dagliya — an Indian folk dancer, choreographer and teacher based in Ghent. I travel to teach: a taster for a school, a masterclass for trained dancers, a festival slot, a session for a team, or two to five days that build technique into choreography and end in a showcase. You bring the room and the people; I bring the dance, the music and the reason it exists.
Who is standing in front of your room
Two decades,
four cities.
Pune gave me my first counts. New York and Florence sharpened them. Back home I ran my own studio for ten years and directed a festival for six editions. Ghent has been home since 2015 — folk first these days, and still wearing every hat that fits.
I hold a ten-form Indian folk diploma, have been in Kathak training since 2020, and am a certified yoga teacher.
- 2005–07Shiamak Davar’s Institute, Punefirst training, twice medalled
- 2009–12Broadway Dance Center, NYC & Opus Ballet, Florenceon scholarship
- 2008–18SPACE, Punemy studio; started with seven students, ran a decade
- 2011–15University of Pune & FLAME Universitytaught contemporary dance
- 2012–17Avayava, Punefounder & artistic director, six international editions
- 2017Shoonya Dance Centre, Ghentco-founder & artistic director
- 2017ABC — a bollywood companyfounder & artistic director
What I bring
Six things I can
teach your room.
Pick one, or tell me the room and let me suggest. Every one of them works as a one-off taster and as the spine of a longer residency.
Semi-classical
Kathak vocabulary: footwork, hands, rhythm and chakkars, pulled along by irresistible music.
Best with some Indian dance experienceBhangra
Punjab folk energy — shoulders, stamina, bounce, and a very direct route to happiness.
Open level · kids 9+ possibleGarba & folk dances
Garba, Ghoomar, Kalbeliya, Lavani, Khoriya, Dalkhai, Ghantu — with lecture-demos when the room wants the story too.
Culture, rhythm, community, contextIndian contemporary
Floorwork and flow meeting Indian rhythms, gesture, Kathak patterns and phrase work.
For trained dancersYoga & flow
Hatha, vinyasa, breath and pranayama — with enough kindness for every nervous system in the room.
Open levelHow long
it can run.
60 / 90 / 120 mintasters · classes · festival slots
180 minmasterclass energy
2–5 daystechnique, choreography, showcase
Where this has already happened
A public square,
not a studio. Same job.
Twelve cities, six countries, since 2024. Amsterdam · Antwerp · Berlin · Brussels · Eindhoven · Frankfurt · Ghent · Lille · Montpellier · Paris · Prague · Rome
Festivals I’ve taught at
- Montpellier · 8–9 November 2024Diwali Dance FestivalGarba and folk fusion workshop, and a performance.
- Rome · 23 March 2025Bollywood Espresso FestivalLavani workshop.
- Prague · 1 November 2025Bollywood Fiesta PragueBollywood Dhamaka workshop at the Indian Film and Dance Festival, and a performance on the festival stage.
- Toulouse · 2–4 October 2026Bollywood Vibes FestivalLavani and Garba workshops, and the Friday show.
Workshops abroad
- Berlin · 2 August 2025Duo Folk FiestaGarba and Lavani workshops with Shampa Gopikrishna at La Caminada Tanzstudio.
- Frankfurt · 3 August 2025Garba workshopTran Taali, Dodhiyu and Garba combinations, at Sportzentrum Eschborn.
- Paris · 4 October 2025Garba Foundations & ChoreographyAn afternoon of core steps, spins and turns, and an authentic Garba choreography.
Three doors that are not this one
If you actually
want something else.
Choreography
A piece made for your dancers, your cast or your occasion — from a wedding entrance to a full stage work. Commissioned from me personally, not from a company package.
Commission a pieceOne-to-one coaching
Private sessions, online or in Ghent — for a performance, a wedding, technique, or confidence on a stage you are about to walk onto.
Ask about coachingA weekly class in Ghent
Weekly classes are not mine to sell — they run at Shoonya Dance Centre, which keeps the timetable, the prices and the registration. Go straight there:
The only thing left
Tell me about
the room.
The city, roughly when, how many people and what level they are. A date is welcome but not required — plenty of good things start as “sometime next spring”.
Start an invitation →It opens the enquiry form with Invite already chosen, so you only fill in what is useful.