Our Team
Meet our team of talented instructors and choreographers
Shruti Anand
Founder and Choreographer
Shruti Anand takes her cues from peacocks, which are known for signaling the monsoon season by spreading their feathers and dancing in Indian folklore, or as the adage says, “dancing in the rain.”
Shruti, a professionally-trained Bharatanatyam dancer, started Monsoon Dance in 2012. Read more about her in Austonia. Shruti indulges our students with her energy in our Fitness and Choreography classes.
Kara Hinckley
Studio Director, Ballet Choreographer
Kara has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, and Contemporary dance since she was a young girl.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in dance education at Utah Valley University where she continued to train in Ballet and Modern for 4 years. She also studied Anatomy, Kinesiology, Improvisation, Choreography, Dance History, Dance in Elementary, World Dance Forms, Social Dance, Lighting and Production, and additional Secondary Education courses that included Educational Psychology, Multicultural Education, Classroom Management, and Instructional Media. Kara began her professional career choreographing for competition teams for local studios and for high school dance companies.
Kara has been part of Monsoon for over 2 years now. She loves the sense of community and family that Monsoon offers. Be it pinning her dupatta or helping to learn the lyrics to a song, our Monsoon family has been there for her! Outside of dance, she enjoys rock climbing, pickleball, and spending time with her family!
Aidan DeWitt
Aidan DeWitt
Artistic Choreographer
Aidan started with Monsoon during the Holi festival in 2021! Before Monsoon, Aidan worked and trained as a professional ballet dancer and musical theatre performer. He has performed at several theatres across the Midwest in productions like "Newsies" and "The Little Mermaid." He specializes in jazzy, energetic styles like Bhangra and Garba. Monsoon has been a crucial part of his journey in moving to Austin and he has loved every minute! He is also an avid yogi, an RYT-200 yoga teacher, a certified Flexologist, and a die-hard anime fan. In his free time, you'll likely find him doing handstands, meditating, or playing video games!
Aiden teaches our kids level 1, 2 & 3, and Jazz Foundation classes. He also manages Mayur and Malhaar Dance Teams. Our students learn and improve their skills month over month while having fun in his class.
Shikha Gangwar
Fitness & Dance Choreographer
Shikha has been with Monsoon Dance for the last 4 years but has been associated with dance fitness for almost a decade now. She loves dance fitness because of its 3D effect which works on the mind, body, and soul. Her dance fitness class is a total body workout where Bollywood moves are combined with fitness moves which makes this workout absolutely fun. All you need to do is dance, sweat, and smile. She loves being associated with Monsoon Dance because It keeps her connected with Bollywood dance and people who have the same love for dance and fitness. Apart from dancing her other interests are the gym, karaoke, and movies.
Sarah Pleuthner
Yoga Guru/ Instructor
Hi, I’m Sarah and I’ve been a teacher at Monsoon Dance since January, 2020. As a newly certified yoga instructor, I taught at Monsoon for exactly two months before the pandemic began. As many of you know, our teaching shifted to online and though it was a good experience, I’m so glad to have many of you back in-person!
My prior experience as a teacher includes teaching third and fourth grades in the Round Rock school district. As a teacher and lifelong student myself, I want students to know that the yoga practice is for everyone. We come to the mat to slow down and breathe, reflect, move, observe, maybe discover new pathways, and find where that “edge” might lie on any given day. Our practice is mainly a slower Vinyasa flow.
And so I invite you, if you haven’t already done so, to come join our community!
Tejaswini Ram
Adults & Kids Dance Choreographer
"Dancing and Twirling my life away one beat at a time“.
Trained in Indian classical dance form - Bharatnatyam, Tejaswini loves mixing and incorporating elements from it into her Bollywood fitness routine and also while teaching foundational techniques in her kid's classes. Having been with the Monsoon family since 2018, she mentions, "It has been nothing but a blessing to me right from the start. It has helped me hone my skills as a teacher and bring out so many qualities in me that I never knew existed before. Monsoon has provided me with a home away from home and I’ll always be grateful for it ❤️." She is also passionate and has an inclination toward art and crafts. She spends her weekends creating some art pieces like nameplates for beautiful homes. Check out her page on Instagram and Facebook: @kykrafts.
Arvind Subramanian
Arvind Subramanian
Dance Choreographer
Arvind always loved dancing but started learning, training, and performing formally in 2015. He started teaching in California in 2017 and has taught freestyle Bollywood, Hip hop, and dance fitness classes before moving to Austin in 2019.
He has trained, performed, and taught in Hip-hop, Contemporary, and Jazzfunk styles and tries to combine and integrate elements from all these styles in his choreography classes. He says, "Being part of the Monsoon dance family has been amazing with beautiful souls all around and we create a community of dancers, supporting and motivating each other to keep improving while having a blast."
Other than dancing, he loves playing and watching sports. His ideal weekend would be Saturday by the lake followed by Sunday on the beach, a true Piscean :).
Arvind coaches our Adults - Intermediate class, on Sundays. Ante up your dance skills and be ready for the challenge!