About
Nearly 30 years ago, Bhavna Joshipura and Heena Desai had a vision to keep our Gujarati culture alive through teaching garba, raas and Gujarati folk dances to the next generations in the Bay Area. Sangeet by Bhavna Joshipura and Sahiyar by Heena Desai were born. Children as young as 4 years old all the way through to passionate adults longing to stay connected to the culture, joined the troupes, and learned under Sangeet and Sahiyar. Along the way, as young teens, we joined our moms in teaching and continuing the traditions.
Both Sangeet and Sahiyar uniquely run in a completely non-profit manner, where we don’t charge for any of our teachings. We volunteer our time purely for the love of garba and folk and are driven by passion towards a mission of upholding our culture and spreading this to as many as we can reach. The true profit of these groups lies in the strong bonds and sisterhoods created over the last three decades. Dancers in each group grow to be each other’s family and, in many cases, even closer. We have watched dancers grow up together spending weekends in practices, head off to college while still keeping up with these life-long friendships. Sangeet and Sahiyar have proved to be a constant through various phases of life, shaping and grounding dancers.
For years, we would share in a longing for a proper platform to showcase our Gujarati arts. The perfect venue for our dances just didn’t exist. Thus, taking a leap of faith, we are creating a show of our own - Sakhi Sangam. Sakhi meaning friendship and Sangam meaning a gathering through music and dance makes its debut today. Our show represents the generational friendship, passion and the truly vibrant Gujarati culture that our mothers worked so hard to instill in us. We are grateful for your support in our endeavor and we hope you walk away from this show sharing in our passion.
- Heeral Kota & Reena Shah
Sahiyar
Heena Desai began teaching Gujarati Garba, Raas and Folk dances with a vision to spread Gujarat's vibrant culture to the next generations through dance in the US in the 1980's. Her daughter, Reena Desai Shah, began learning from her at a young age, and joined her in teaching in the late 1990's. Since then, Heena and Reena have worked 100% non-profit and 100% for-passion to continue teaching traditional Gujarati garba/folk dances through their troupe, Sahiyar (since 1994). Sahiyar has been blessed with platforms to showcase their art such as the SF Ethnic Dance Festival, Oakland Museum of California, Garba 360 at the Yerba Buena Gardens, FOGANA and various community festivals. Sahiyar represents the strong sisterhood working toward one goal to bring about awareness of the Gujarati culture through performing arts.
Sangeet
Sangeet Dance Group is dedicated to spreading Gujarati/Indian culture through the art of dance. Since its inception in 1994, Sangeet has specialized in Raas, Garba, Folk, and Film and has earned a reputation for excellence and originality. Started by Bhavna Joshipura, Sangeet was founded on the principle that dance is for everyone, and provides performance opportunities for those as young as 4 to 50+. Sangeet has cultivated a culture of family, with dancers spanning multiple generations. Since its founding to present, Sangeet has been honored every year in various competitions and charity programs, performing in premier competitions such as FOGANA and Charitable Care Foundation (CCF).
Sangeet is now run by Bhavna and her daughter, Heeral Kota, and together they continue to spread the Gujarati/Indian culture by dedicating and volunteering their time. Sangeet is still going strong today, after almost 30 years, driven by the passion and love for the art by Bhavna, Heeral and the entire Sangeet family.
