Based in East London, D-Style Dance is an award-winning dance school run by Angelique Parvez. Her company offers Bollywood dance and fitness classes in addition to entertainment services by her phenomenal group of professional performers.
Laughing, Angelique immediately reveals her passion for dance as she reminisces about her first dance-memories: ‘I started dancing when I was really little, probably about five or six. My mum spotted me in my room dancing away to Saturday Night Fever.’ Initially she learnt Kathak, which is one of the main genres of Indian Classical dance and is traditionally believed to have originated from the travelling bards of North India known as Kathakars or storytellers.
However, unable to find any Indian dance classes when she moved from Bombay to the UK, Angelique was forced to give up dancing, and focused on her career instead. "Although I often organised dance parties, there was a huge gap in my life where I wasn’t dancing.’ During this time, Angelique completed her MBA and then worked as a management consultant for several blue-chip companies. After having children, she decided to consult smaller, charitable organisations before making a career transition to become a university professor. Luckily for Angelique, her love for dance would be reignited when a friend invited her to attend a Ladies Bollywood dance class. "Looking back, I find it shocking that I didn’t dance for fifteen years but the minute I started those classes my passion came flooding back." Angelique was also surprised to find that the classes helped her destress and even lose weight: "I went to the gym for three years and I didn’t even lose a pound, but the minute I started dance classes I lost weight straight away." When the classes were shut down in 2012, Angelique worried that she would again be forced to give up dancing but having realised how successful dance had been in helping her lose weight and gain confidence, she became determined to start her own class so that she could share the benefits of dancing with other mums. Outlining her ‘fit for life’ initiative, Angelique explains how she created a healthy living programme based around dance: "The thing with fitness that people don’t realise is that it’s not just exercise or just eating healthy- you have to merge the two." The health package that she now provides combines dance, nutrition and mental health and is focused on being ‘fit for life’ rather than short-term weight loss. Since 2012, D-Style Dance has grown rapidly. Angelique’s students now have the opportunity to perform at dance shows at the Barking Broadway and other prestigious events. "Initially my dance classes were very focused on improving women’s health through dance fitness and Zumba. I then introduced kids and teenager classes and we grew from there. Now, in my teenager classes I have kids who joined with me probably five or six years ago." D-Style stole the show and claimed first prize in the 2016 ‘Barking and Dagenham’s Got Talent’ competition. In 2019, Angelique’s efforts to promote healthy living through dance were recognised by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who invited her to help with a Creative Art Project for Barking, Dagenham and Redbridge. They discussed the importance of arts and strategies to promote the arts in East London. However, Angelique’s proudest moment was later that year, when D-Style Dance were selected to be the finale act of the Mayor of London’s Diwali Show at Trafalgar Square. For Angelique, the event was "momentous and one of her favourite moments of her dancing career." As part of an International Dance Body, D-Style Dance is one of the few companies in the UK that have been licensed to do Bollywood Grade Exams. Angelique emphasises the importance of a curriculum in her dance studio and explains how she regularly brings in professionals who specialise in a range of dance styles from street-dance to Jazz, before incorporating these genres to her choreography. "In effect they’re learning international dance styles within Bollywood." As for the future of her business, Angelique says, "I hope we keep growing and using dance to add value to people's lives; whether it is to inspire them to be fit and healthy or to help women and girls build their self-esteem and to connect people by sharing our dance cultures."
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