About

Punchali has been extremely fortunate to train with prominent teachers across 3 continents, each renowned for their expertise in a particular dance form. Punchali’s gurus have truly been a great source of inspiration for her over the years. Her training began at the age of four in Nairobi, Kenya where she learned Kathak from Uma Devi. After moving to the USA, she shifted focus and began her journey into the world of Bharatanatyam, Folk and Bollywood dance. Punchali completed her Bharatanatyam Arangetram under the guidance of Guru Ambika Sukumaran in Central New Jersey. While continuing her classical training she also trained with Smita Miki Patel at India Performing Arts Center (IPAC) in folk and Bollywood and continued to dance and perform with IPAC post college. Smita Aunty continues to be her mentor even today.

After graduating from college, Punchali worked in advertising and publishing in NYC for 10 years. During this time, she continued her study of dance by training in Kathak with Parul Shah and Odissi with Myna Mukherji and Sonali Mishra. Punchali’s interest in the classical art form of Odissi grew deeper and she decided to leave the corporate world and move to Mumbai, India. Here, she trained with Guru Jhelum Paranjape of Smitalay, and completed her Manch Pravesh after a rigorous intense training program. While training in Odissi, she also worked with Saroj Khan (Bollywood and Kathak) and Terence Lewis (Indo-Contemporary) to extend her knowledge of dance with the celebrity gurus she admired for years.

Today, Punchali resides in Northern Virginia with her husband and two young daughters and dedicates her time to spreading the love of Indian Dance to our youth. She teaches and manages Moksha Arts but also continues her study of bharatanatyam with Guru Sheela Ramanath in Herndon, VA.

Punchali is thankful for the extensive training all her gurus provided over the years and aspires to instill the same grace and ethic in her own students. While she appreciates the complexity and purity of each individual dance form she has trained in, Punchali and her team enjoy fusing them to create their own eclectic style, which creates the essence of Moksha Arts.

Raashi Desai has been trained in folk Bollywood dance at Nupur School of Dance since 1999. As a kid, Raashi performed in competitions in New Jersey and was a part of a tour of shows in Mumbai called “My Marathi”. She went on to join a competitive dance team in college which lead to her introduction to Moksha Arts. Raashi has taught children from age 2-18 at Moksha Arts since early 2014. Her passion for storytelling continues at Moksha whether on the stage or on the film screen. Her mission is to not only inspire future dancers but also be a support system for the incredible, crazy, and talented individuals who come to class every week!

Pooja has been a part of the Moksha Arts family since 2014. At 7 years old, she fell for dance and storytelling when she began her training in the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam under Smt. Chandrakala Raghvan, and completed her Aragentram at age 17. Her ardor for dance led her to explore and train in other styles, including Bollywood, Contemporary, and Kathak. Pooja’s love of teaching is a full time passion: while she may be teaching dance in the evenings, she shares her love of math as a Mathematics Specialist at Trinity School during the day. Pooja is so deeply grateful for the superpower, community, and joy that dance continues to gift her, and hopes to abundantly share that with the Moksha Arts family always.

Harmeet Kamboj has over 15 years of dance experience and over 10 years of dance teaching experience. They are formally trained in Kathak, Bhangra, semi-classical, and Indo-Western fusion. Harmeet received Kathak training under the guidance of Guru Arpita Roy at the Jhanak Dance Academy for three years before attending college and continuing their dance journey independently. Harmeet continues to cultivate their years-long relationship with Guru Arpita through occasional private tutelage. Harmeet is also an alum of the DC Metro Punjabi Arts Academy, where they spent four years learning and teaching the foundations of Bhangra and Giddha. They have served on the judging panel at the 2018 Taste of India Bhangra competition and the 2018 Circle City Bhangra competition. Harmeet has been teaching Bhangra and Bollywood with Moksha Arts since 2018 and Kathak since 2020.

Ashlesha was first introduced to dance when she was 6 years old, and trained in the Pandanallur style of Bharat Natyam. She fell in love with the art, and completed her arangetram when she was 16. She performed with a college dance team at NYU and has been teaching with us at Moksha Arts since 2014! Ashlesha works full time as a psychotherapist and is currently a clinical director at a counseling agency. However, she attributes teaching dance as a major part of her self care and loves being in a studio with kids multiple times a week. Ashlesha regularly teaches Bharat Natyam, Bollywood, and Contemporary classes at Moksha.

Sonali fell in love with Bollywood when she was 5 years old and has been dancing for the past 18+ years. Her extensive training in Bollywood and Bharatanatyam landed her a spot in the University of Maryland’s competitive fusion dance team. She now loves teaching kids and cultivating a passion for dance in our younger generation!