Shiamak Davar Dancer and choreographer

“Have feet, will dance”

Choreographer of movies like Bunty Aur Babli, Dhoom 2, and Taare Zameen Par, Shiamak Davar shares his views on the correlation between dance and fitness......

Dancing and prayer are the primary ways with which I stay healthy. Dance is a cardiovascular activity, thus it keeps my heart healthy. The warm up and strength training required to be a dancer also ensure that you build and maintain muscle. Prayer, for me, means visualizing and offering thanks for all the positive things in your life.

The benefits of dance are four-fold: Your body stays healthy because you are exerting your muscles as well as increasing stamina, endurance and energy levels through dance.

Dance is one of the rare activities which activates both sides of the brain. While performing this athletic activity, you must also be able to communicate a mood, emotion, thought or abstract idea to your audience. So you make your mind dance too!

Along with the mental and physical benefits, your body releases hormones called endorphins, which give you a feeling of lightness and happiness. The positive energy released helps people deal with the normal pressures of life too.

Most importantly, dance provides a connection to the ‘self’.

I like to eat fruits and eggs for breakfast. For lunch, I eat a vegetable dish and two chapattis, or some chicken. Dinner is usually light, unless I am going out with friends. If I feel like a snack during the day, I like to munch on popcorn or water chestnuts.

I love to listening to music, and spending time with friends. If you laugh and keep your spirit light, it is easier to relax through the day. I also enjoy playing with my dog, Elsa.

Spirituality to me is not about ritual or religion. It is about belief in a higher power, and through this belief, a sincere surrender of the ego. Most importantly, spirituality is about consistency. Guidance came to me through my spiritual guides, the Bhavnagris, and I believe that we are all instruments of a loving and just God.

My motto in life is ‘Have feet, will dance’, which means that it does not matter who you are, which language you speak, how old you are or how much money you make. Just put on your dancing shoes, and let God guide your feet.

Our happiness is our own responsibility. So the next time you are unhappy or low, don’t blame the world, but look within and tap your inner power.


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Shiamak Davar's Profile:


Shiamak Davar is an Indian choreographer.

He was born on October 19, 1961 into a Parsi family.
He started his career as a chorus dancer.

He was trained at the Pineapple Dance Center and Guilford School of Acting and Dance in London and has also attended master classes at Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre and The Broadway Dance Center in New York and Third Wave Dance House in San Francisco.

In 1989, he organized a group of potential dancers and formed the Shiamak Davar Dance Company who would perform with him for the live shows.

In 1992, he established his own school of dancing called Shiamak Davar Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA). The institute offers training mainly in western dance forms like Jazz, HipHop, Rock’n Roll, Salsa and others.

He has choreographed various stage shows, Indian Movie Awards Nights and Bollywood movies like Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Taal (1999), Kisna (2005), Bunty Aur Babli (2005), I See You (2006), Dhoom 2 (2006) and others.

He has also represented India at various world events including the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (2006), Indo-Japan Friendship Year 2007 innaugural event in Tokyo and Indian Economic Forum (2007) in Rome, Italy.

Shiamak is also a gifted singer and has performed with the legendary singer and song writer ‘Sting’. He has also launched pop albums of his own like Mohabbat Karle Le (1997) and Dil Chahe (1999). He won the best music video award for album Dil Chahe (1999) which he directed, designed and choreographed. He was one of the three judges of Jhalak dikhlaaja2 on Sony Entertainment Television channel.