Tarun Nihalani: The Star Who Danced To The Top

They say dance is the purest form of art and the purest way to express one’s self, and dance is perhaps one of the few mediums which help us connect with our people and culture. In these difficult times, we would like to bring your favourite dancer Tarun Nihalani to your house for you to know him better. Talking exclusively to The Celeb Lyf, catch Tarun being candid about his struggles, life and Shivani.

Early Life

Born on the 16th of November 1990, in Nizamabad near Hyderabad, Tarun tells us that a greater part of his life was spent in migrating from one place to another. Due to this, Tarun had to change a lot of schools which disturbed his academics a bit and the most difficult part was the language barriers that he faced at various places. But as they say, all things get better, things got better for Tarun as well, and his family finally settled in Nashik where his father built everything from scratch and went onto become a successful, self-made man.

Beginnings

“It all started from my school, St. Patrick’s”, Tarun says, having been a popular dancer in his previous school, Tarun changed his school to St. Patricks and he faced some competition from his peers. Having faced rejection in his first dance audition in his new school, Tarun took it to his heart and became determined to become a better dancer, after working hard for almost a year, he reappeared for the audition and was selected as one of the main dancers of the school program. Tarun also joined a dance school to hone his skills as a dancer furthermore. Having faced resistance from his family who wanted Tarun to focus on his studies, he had to drop out of the dance academy. 

Journey & Turning Point

After having had a long break from dancing, Tarun was suddenly met by a young dancer who wished to be trained by him for competition and Tarun happily complied. As a result of the hard work put in by both the dancer and his trainer, the child stood first and his parents, in turn, offered their community hall to Tarun to start his weekly dance classes. This was the place where Tarun started his Academy. Having had a student inflow of around 100 students in a few months, Tarun noticed the kind of monetary appreciation it got for himself and his family, so he decided to try and pursue dancing a little more professionally and established 5 more academies in Nashik. 

Getting inspired by Terence Lewis of Dance India Dance, Tarun decided to join his classes and went to Mumbai. When Terence Lewis and his dance school attempted the world record of the largest number of people dancing at the same time, Tarun took almost a 100 students from his Academy to Mumbai and attempt the record, it was here when Terence noticed him and offered him to become a Principal Dancer in his dance company, this marked a new beginning in Tarun’s life and he moved to Mumbai in 2012 and handed over the reins of his academy to his bright students.

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Tarun saw unprecedented growth after coming to Mumbai, from being a small-town boy, he rose to a level wherein he was teaching Choreography. Tarun was also very instrumental in choreographing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Musical when it was being performed in India. After learning a lot of things from Terence and his company, Tarun left his group in 2015.

World’s Biggest Dance Show and Dance +

Tarun’s life changed for the better when he auditioned for, “So you think you can dance” and eventually rose to become the first runner up in the show. Despite of being the biggest dance reality show in the world, “So you think you can dance” could not garner the appreciation and popularity which Tarun aspired and hence he started assisting his choreographers for various dance reality shows. 

Tarun’s stint in Terence Lewis Dance Company and “So you…..”, had attracted Tarun to try and perform lifts and tricks and move a little further away from his forte which was solo dancing, at this time, “Dance +” was gaining momentum and it became the biggest dance reality show of India and Tarun was asked to audition for it, it was during this time when he was finding a partner for “Dance +”, Tarun got reminded of Shivani whom he met while attempting the World Record back in 2012 and was also a student in Terence’s Dance Company. Tarun knew her potential and contacted Shivani with a proposal to be his dance partner for “Dance +”. This was the start of a new high in Tarun’s life, which he achieved with Shivani. “Dance +” made them a household name in India and abroad, after “Dance +”, they both went on to choreograph shows like “Super Dancer” and “Nach Baliye”. They have also choreographed, “Fakira” in “Student of the Year 2”, apart from this, the couple also has starred in a few movies. 

Special Message  

Tarun says that he is grateful to have his fans and it is their love and support which keeps him going, he would also like to specially request his fans to protect themselves and avoid going outside and too crowded places and to take care of themselves as well as their families and to obey the rules and regulations put in place by the government in this COVID-19 phase. 

We at theceleblyf.com, wish Tarun all the luck for his future endeavours and plans.

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