ARZAN GONDA - Artistic Director & Founder

Rhythm India was founded by Arzan Gonda in 2005. Since then she & her dancers have captivated audiences throughout Houston!

Classical Dance Background

Arzan started her training in Bharata Natyam (a style of Indian Classical Dance) at the prestigious Nateshwar Nritya Kala Mandir in Mumbai, India at the age of 5. With the guidance of her beloved Guru Smt. Chhaya Khanvate in Mumbai India, in 1989, at a very young age, she completed her Arangetram at age 11. The Arangetram is a dancer’s debut performance, marking the graduation of the trainee into a full fledged dance exponent. The Arangetram requires years of commitment and rigorous training. The dedication, sincerity, and humility that is required for the training process prior to the arangetram has to be sustained for many years to attain the elusive perfection of this art form.

Receiving the All-India Sharda Sangeet Vidyalaya Award from the Indian Minister of Cultural Affairs

Guru Smt. Chhaya Khanvate

Arzan is eternally grateful to her Guruji of 30+ years Smt. Chhaya Khanvate of the Nateshwar Nritya Kala Mandir in Mumbai, India. Her Guruji is her inspiration and will always hold a special place of honor and reverence in her heart. Her Guruji has been an exemplary performer, teacher and mentor. 

"I hope I can be the same kind of example to my students. Dance has always had relevance with every pursuit in my life, it is something by which I measure everything else in life. It has been the basis of my true education, my teacher of perseverance and dedication" - Arzan Gonda

National Awards and Recognition

Since the age of 10, Arzan competed in several State & National-level dance competitions representing her school and eventually her university. While competing at the National level, Arzan was awarded the Gold Medal at the 2000 Swar Sadhna Samiti All-India Dance Competition. She was also a senior instructor at her Guru’s dance academy in Mumbai, India.

More recently, Arzan received the 2014 Fezana Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts in Los Angeles on December 30th 2014

Acting and Theater

Apart from dance Arzan is also an actress. She was a part of "SPEED" a Children's Theatre Company in Mumbai, India. And has been performing since she was 8 years of age. She is now a part of Shunya Theatre, a Houston-based non-profit theatre troupe, which is dedicated to providing a voice to the South Asian American experience through the visual and performing arts. Arzan has also performed numerous times as a lead actress and dancer at several venues in Houston including The Miller Outdoor Theater, Stages Repertory Theater and Tatham Fine Arts Center.

Awards, Performances, & Credits:

• 2009 | Evening with Gov. Rick Perry India House, Bharat Natyam dancer
  
• 2008 | Dance For Life ZAH Center director, choreographer & dancer
  
• 2008 | DIL: Developments in Literacy Marriot Westchase choreographer & lead dancer
  
• 2007 | American Brat Stages Repertory Theatre, lead actress
  
• 2007 | Nagamandala Stages Repertory Theatre, dancer and lead actress
  
• 2005 | Bricks and Lyrics Stages Repertory Theatre, lead actress
  
• 2003 | Feroza among the Farangees - play reading Stages Repertory Theatre, lead actress
  
• 2003 | Reincarnation Bienvenue Theater, choreographer & dancer
  
• 2003 | Dance Houston Tatham Fine Arts Center guest performer - repertory featuring Houston’s premier dance troupes
  
• 2001 | Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale NCPA Mumbai, India, dancer
  
• 2000 | Swar Sadhna Samiti All-India Dance Competition, Mumbai, India First Place (Gold Medal)
  
• 96-99 | Swar Sadhna Samiti All-India Dance Competition, Mumbai India Second Place (Silver Medal)
  
• 96-99 | Various Music Videos India, dancer
  
• 96-99 | Tele-Housie, TV game-show India co-host
  
• 1996 | Mercedes-Benz India, brand ambassador
  
• 1995 | Sharda Sangeet Vidyalay All India Dance Competition, Mumbai, India Second Place (Silver Medal)
  

Education and Community Service Background

• Holds a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology
  
• Taught dance and drama to children with special needs at hospitals and schools in India.
  
• Conducted drama therapy workshops for physically and differently abled poplations
  
• Involved in all aspects of production of children’s plays including directing, script-writing, set-construction, costume-design for the Spastics School of India
  
• Performed at fund-raising events benefiting the Indian Cancer Society and Mother Teresa’s Ashram
  
• Diagnosed and counseled children at St. Anthony’s High School Counseled AIDS patients at various hospitals, research facilities, and control centers
  
• Directed group therapy sessions at Alcoholics Anonymous Organized & Conducted drama therapy workshops for the National Association for the Blind and Spastics School of India
  
• Arzan is CPR and First-Aid Certified