Shivani Badgi is an Indian American dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in New Jersey. She began her training in dance at the tender age of five under Guru Padma Khanna, senior disciple of Nataraj Gopi Krishna, at Indianica Academy in Kathak, Lavani, and Bollywood. While learning dance and teaching under Padma Aunty she performed at Alice Tully at Lincoln Center, the London Olympics, and other reputable stages. She furthered her dance education to learn Ballet, Jazz, and Contemporary at Joffrey Ballet School, Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University, and Broadway Dance Center during her college years. Her performance career continued with opportunities at Carnegie Hall, Consulate General of India in New York, United Nations, Theater for the New City, Longwood Gardens, and soon to be performing at Florida’s Disney World.

In 2017 she opened her dance school, The Gurukul Performing Arts, where she currently teaches Kathak, Contemporary, Lavani, and Semi-Classical. Students of The Gurukul Performing Arts have performed at Carnegie Hall, Disney World, the Consulate General events, and complete beautiful ‘Rang Manch Pravesh’ or senior graduating performances, under her able guidance. Shivani is currently receiving advanced training in Kathak with Guru Syed Sallauddin Pasha, senior disciple of Guru Dr. Maya Rao. She has also spent the past 2 years training in the art of Kuchipudi from Guru Aparna Nadendla, senior disciple of Guru Dr. Shobha Naidu.

Shivani has worked as Assistant Choreographer at Indianica Academy for the 50th Anniversary of Lincoln Center performance. After performing with Rutgers premier Bollywood fusion team Rutugers SAPA, Shivani completed a three month long intensive program at Broadway Dance Center learning under choreographers such as Heather Rigg, Debbie Wilson, and Ginger Cox. She was chosen for the 2018 IndianRaga Fellowship In San Diego for Kathak dance.

Notable Projects Include:

Best Solo Performance award at Tamasha NYC, a South Asian Performing Arts Festival, for her Kathak-Contemporary piece "Suffocation"

Role of Paro in the dance ballet version of Devdas produced by Hypokrit Theatre Company and Junoon Performing Arts

Diwali at Times Square in NYC alongside reputable Bollywood choreographer, Terence Lewis

Lead role of the Mother in Beyond Bollywood, a show choreographed by Rajeev Goswami with music created by the respected composers Salim-Sulaiman, at the APAP Conference

Guest artist for Bollywood Boulevard produced by MELA arts, at Wolf Trap and Longwood Gardens

“Sita’s Ramayan”, a take on Ramleela danced through Sita’s point of view, at Philadelphia Museum of Art and NYC Dance Week at FUNKAR

NBA Halftime Show for the 76ers

United Nations with IndianRaga

“The Indian Cabaret” at Tamasha NYC

Lead Choreographer and Lead Dancer for “Celestia” with Anita Kulkarni and Renu Foundation for the Arts

Consulate General of New York as a solo artiste

Artistic Director and choreographer for “Samsara” at Carnegie Hall with Gurukul Performing Arts

“Rakta Devi” at Aangan Dance Salon

“Wajale Ki Bara” at Dazzling Maharashtra in New Jersey

Artistic Director and choreographer at Disney World with Gurukul Performing Arts

Intro to Kathak Series with BFUNK

“Shringarik Lavani” at Erasing Borders Festival curated by the Indo-American Arts Council

Artistic Director and choreographer at Summer Stages in Rome, Italy with Performing Arts Educators in July 2025

Shivani is a versatile dancer and enjoys choreographing and experimenting with dance to pieces ranging from Kathak fusion, Indian contemporary, Indian Folk, Street Stilettos, and of course, Bollywood. She hopes to move across the barriers of dance to create a unique style combining the traditional aspects of Eastern and Western styles of dance. She believes dance is an extremely versatile form of movement and can be used for fitness, art, conditioning the mind, and sending a message. She teaches her students that dance can be beneficial no matter at what point you are in your life.