About

Artistic Director - Shivani Thakkar

Mission

An internationally recognized artist, Shivani’s specialties include Bharata Natyam (Indian classical), Bollywood, Tap, Jazz, and Ballet. Balancing a commitment to artistry and commercial dance, Shivani choreographs with an eye to creating quality work that was constantly unique and at the forefront of the field. She is the Founder & Artistic Director of MKM Bollystars Dance Company.

Shivani has performed in India, Japan, USA, and Canada, including prestigious tours where she has performed as both lead and soloist. Credits include TV/Film work for Disney, CW, Fox, Nickelodeon, Omni Television (Canada), Intel, and UTV Motion Pictures (India). She has presented work at numerous dance festivals including IAAC’s Erasing Borders: Festival of Indian Dance (New York, NY), Battery Dance Company’s Downtown Dance Days (New York, NY), DC Dance Festival at Dance Place (Washington, DC), Indian Film Festival Los Angeles (IFFLA 2013, 2014, 2015), USC’s Visions and Voices (Los Angeles, CA), the SoCal Dance Invitational, San Pedro Dance Festival, Mix Match Dance Festival (Los Angeles, CA), Pasadena Dance Festival, Club Jete (Los Angeles, CA), Feats Festival of Dance (Edmonton, AB), multiple performances in the Chennai Dance Season (India), and at museums including Smithsonian, LACMA, Skirball Cultural Center, Glenbow Museum (Calgary, AB). Her tours have included lead performances with Bellydance Superstars, Bellytwins Dance Company, and the National Canada tour of her original work Dvaya: A Confluence of Male Female Spirits. She is also currently a principal dancer with Ovation Award Winning company Navarasa Dance Theatre under the direction of Aparna Sindhoor. Shivani has been engaged on various choreography projects which have included work for Girish Karnad’s Naga Mandala (University of Southern California), A Dream Play (University of Southern California), Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphosis (Occidental College), Rise and Shine (Anil Kumar Bharadwaj Solo Show), Dance Montage (University of Calgary), and numerous dance companies across the US, Canada, and India. Most recently, her dance company, MKM Bollystars, has been in residency at A Noise Within Theatre as part of their Noise Now program, in which they have been engaged in a variety of programming in both live and streaming formats.

Shivani has served as a Peer Assessor for national federal arts grants for Canada Council for the Arts, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, at a state level for California Arts Council, and at a local level for Calgary Arts Development and Los Angeles County Arts Commission. She has judged numerous dance competitions, both across the US and in India. In 2011, she was a panelist at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Festival for the discussion Women in the Arts Breaking through the Glass Ceiling. She has had articles published in Dance Current Magazine (Canada) and Buzzine Magazine (On-line). Shivani has served as guest lecturer and artist at University of Southern California School of Theatre (annually), University of Southern California Kaufman School of Dance, University of Calgary, and Howard Community College (Maryland), Occidental College(Los Angeles). She is currently a faculty member at American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) Los Angeles and Occidental College.

As a teacher, Shivani has had the opportunity to work with studios and companies across the USA, Canada, New Zealand, & India. She enjoys working with all ages, and is currently obtaining her child development credentials through UCLA Extensions to further enhance her work with children. She is a recognized artist listed with the LA County Arts Commission for their Arts for All in school programming. Shivani has developed and successfully presented children’s shows for the Skirball center, presented her dance company in LA Philharmonic’s Summer Sounds program at the Hollywood Bowl, and for presented original work at 24th Street Theatre. Shivani has also been engaged to choreograph the production Bucket for Blessings for the Theatre for the Very Young program at Alliance Theatre, Atlanta. Shivani is a teaching artist with Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. She has been an artist in Residence for spring and fall of 2021 at California Creative Learning Academy.

In addition to dance, Shivani has trained extensively in theatre. She holds a BA cum laude in Theatre (minor tv/film production) from University of Southern California, has classical training from Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, Viewpoints/Scene Study/ Improv with Steppenwolf Theatre, and Foundational technique under the tutelage of Howard Fine. Credits include assistant director on the production of Anna Christie (Odyssey Theatre), directed by Kim Rubenstein and starring Jeff Perry, Kevin McKidd, and Zoe Perry; the West Coast premiere of Omnium Gatherum (Theatricum Botanicum), Antony and Cleopatra (Theatricum Botanicum), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Blue Sphere Alliance), Raincoat (Blue Sphere Alliance), Cinders (Blue Sphere Alliance). Most recently Shivani acted as Belinda in the Motion Picture Institute Independent Short “Melons” and is currently engaged as both an actor and choreographer on the Feature Film “Four Samosas” directed by Ravi Kapoor.

Awards:

She was Genesis Artist of the Year “Artistic Visionary” 2012 at the South Asian Xcellence Awards, the 2008 Winner of Verizon Wireless and Saavn Bollypop US National Dance Competition, 2010 Nominee for the Enbridge Emerging Artist Award (Office of Calgary Mayor, Dave Bronconnier), and is a recipient of grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Calgary 2012 - Cultural Capital of Canada, and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and most recently the India Center Foundation South Asian Artist Resiliency Fund 2020 for development of her new solo show “Goddess: The Eternal and Everyday Woman”. She is also currently a diversity scholarship recipient at The Groundlings Improv school in Los Angeles where she has been fortunate to receive the award three times so far. 

Degrees, Studies, and Affiliations:

BA Theatre cum Laude, Minor Film/Television University of Southern California, Steppenwolf Classes West Intensive, Interrarium Contemporary Arts Intensive (Springboard Dance Company), TapMotif (Greece), Howard Fine Acting Studios, Manu Kala Mandir Dance Academy (Canada), Rajarajeswari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir (India)

MKM Bollystars’ Select Credits

• Hulu

• Paramount

• Citibank

• Macy’s

• 24th STreet Theater

• A Noise Within Theater

• Hollywood Bowl/LA Philharmonic

• Indian Film Festival Los Angeles (IFFLA)

• Skirball Cultural Center

• Independent Shakespeare Company

• Pratham Foundation

• San Pedro Dance Festival

• Mix Match Dance Festival

• Pasadena Dance Festival

• Club Jete

• Wedding Store 24

• Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen

• Commonality Dance Festival

• Indian Tribune Magazine

• American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)

• Calgary 2012 Opening Ceremonies

• Canadian Home Builders Association Excellence Awards

• South Asian Bridal Expo

• AIPHA Chicago

• City TV Breakfast Show

• Omini Top Ten Show Opener

• Golder Associates

• Arts for All Program

• LAUSD

• Girl Scouts of America

• Burbank USD

MKM Bollystars’ mission is to authentically present traditional dance forms while respectfully and innovatively creating hybrid contemporary work. We are committed to artistry that entertains, inspires, educates, and engages audiences of all ages. Our values and commitment to amplifying and embracing diverse perspectives while celebrating our culturally diverse roots is upheld within our organization through the artists we engage and the breadth of work we do.

Who We Are