Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Bose-Kumar.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tina. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I always dreamed of owning my own dance school and when I met my husband Kiron Kumar, who is also an amazing dancer & magician I knew we could really redefine the term Bollywood. We took a chance when we got engaged and started a dance school not knowing if it would be a success or not. We only had about 10 students when we started and hoped we would someday gain more.
Our turning point came when we were hired for Nurses National Conference in Houston. I had an idea to showcase our Dance Company in a different way amongst all the other Indian dance schools asked to perform. Since Kiron had studied magic for several years and had even won numerous awards I thought we should somehow incorporate a magic illusion into our dance. When we performed our Mailbag Illusion, the entire audience went wild. That’s when I knew this is how we stay unique.
Magic Illusions cost a lot of money so most of our money went into buying one illusion a year. We were then featured on several news channels like ABC13, CW39, & FOX26 as the only company in the world to combine Magic & Bollywood Dance. We have been able to perform large-scale productions & shows at Miller Outdoor Theatre, Rockets Halftime Show, & Skeeters Stadium during the last seven years.
We now have a professional dance company featuring Indians & Non-Indian dancers, belly dancers, & fire dancers. We also have about 150 students, with more than half of the dancers are boys, which is the dance world you hardly see. Kiron and I still teach & choreograph for every dance class & performance and have locations in Stafford, Pearland, & Dallas.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a very rough road. We started the company when we first got engaged, we had little to no money & not much support from the community since there are over 50 dance Indian dance schools in Houston. We still have not taken a salary from the school, we put all the money we get into buying costumes, props, & magic illusions.
We strive to make a better show every year, and unfortunately, that costs a lot of money. We had to audition and prove ourselves for many local shows when we first started. We had to hear a lot of negativity till we became established.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Infused Performing Arts – what should we know?
I am the Artistic Director & Co-Choreographer for the company. We are known for our hard-hitting choreography, mixing western dance styles with Indian classical dance, stunts, and our magic illusions.
I am most proud of our company because we follow ethics in everything we do, we have had many opportunities to play into politics and take favors to get ahead faster, but we have always made sure we did everything ethically. Doing this, our sponsors and people who we work with always trust us and know our word is golden & will strive to do more than what they ask of us.
What sets us apart is how many strong male dancers we have not only in our Dance Co. but also in our dance school, having Kiron as our male dance instructor really gives us an edge because he really knows how to showcase and build up the male dancers best qualities and talents. Also, being the only company in the world to perform Magic & Bollywood dance really sets us apart.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Qualities to our success has been creativity to keep creating something new every year, determination to keep going even when the future didn’t look good, ethics in dealing with everyone, and hustle to stay up late nights and be away from family to get things done.
Pricing:
- Dance Classes Monthly Rate: $60 (4 classes)
- Fitness Classes Monthly Unlimited: $60
- Fitness Class Drop-In: $10
Contact Info:
- Address: 12220 Murphy Rd, Ste. K, Stafford, Tx 77477
- Website: www.infusedperformingarts.com
- Phone: 7246387338
- Email: info@infusedperformingarts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infusedperformingarts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfusedPerformingArts/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/InfusedDance
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/infused-performing-arts-stafford-3?utm_campaign=www_biz_share_page_share_business&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/InfusedDance
Image Credit:
Murali Santhana
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