Nikhil Gosavi makes India proud, 1st Tap Dancer To Represent In World Tap Dance Championship In Germany
Nikhil Gosavi makes India proud, 1st Tap Dancer To Represent In World Tap Dance Championship In Germany
Nikhil Gosavi, the first Indian Tap Dancer ever selected to represent India at the World Tap Dance Championship in Riesa, Germany last year in 2023, has been chosen to represent the country yet again at the upcoming World Tap Dance Championship in Prague, Czech Republic, organised by the International Dance Organisation (IDO).
20 April 2024
By Ishika Kumar
Nikhil is a talent dedicated to representing his niche art form on a global platform and promoting tap dance amongst performers and people passionate about dance all over India. He hails from Nashik and has done his degree in engineering from Pune University. His wife is currently pursuing a PhD in aerospace engineering. The couple is driven by passion and goals.
He has pursued several dance styles like hip-hop and contemporary, for which he had gone to train, but the noises of shoes tap dancing in the distance caught his attention, and from then on he never looked back. He even enjoys playing instruments like the keyboard, mouth organ, harmonium and flute.
It is challenging for an Indian to move to New York City and pursue Tap Dancing or several other art forms that are not stereotypically considered a professional career, but everyone recommended he go there for training. In 2014, with encouragement from all his well-wishers and supporters, he decided to go to the Broadway Dance Center in NYC and secured himself into the International Student Visa Program (ISVP). The plan was to stay for 3 months, but he received an outstanding student award, along with sponsorship from various companies related to performing arts.
He returned to USA in 2021. He is self-trained; though Tap Dance is nearly the least popular dance form. Assistance is needed after a point to upscale. He is an intermediate-level performer but to hone his skills, he returned to NYC 2 months ago. After multiple efforts to promote the art, he realised Tap Dance is not trending in India. Very few people gave it a shot. Some workshops worked wonders whereas there are hardly 10 to 12 tap dancers who participate in such championships or competitions.
He created art in collaboration, by blending styles like beatboxing, bhangda, and kathak with tap dancing. He has always wanted to share his skills and promote dance, whilst he performed with Bollywood stars, won many competitions, choreographed mixed-style performances and ventured into fitness as well. His journey in the World Tap Dance Championship began through his Asia-level dance championship which was held in South Korea. IDO organised it and selected him. With more and more practice he could perform well on stage, and everyone loved and appreciated his outstanding energy. Some more work on technique would go a long way, and he has garnered immense support from a lot of artists. The upcoming championship has him qualified under the training of Mike Glenney. Almost 40 countries participate in it. He is currently in his training period along with multiple gigs and working full time.
Back in India, he even had a company called ‘Bollywood to Broadway Entertainments’ which taught and performed dance. Most recently, on 16th January this year, a curated patriotic act was performed with Anjali Kukreja in collaboration with the National Defence Academy (NDA) as they completed 75 years.
When asked by Pune Pulse regarding support from the community to encourage and promote Tap Dance as it is not popular with the youth, he said, “People want Maggi made in 2-mins but they don’t prefer Sevaiyaan (a sweet dish resembling vermicelli) — it’s healthy for the body and beneficial but takes 2 hours to make”. Similarly, when they realise it takes time they get in twists about pursuing it. It may not be trending but it sure is authentic.
