Jhalak Dance & Fitness Studio
D-5, Jal Vayu Vihar Rd, D Block, Pocket D, Sector 20, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India
Jhalak Dance & Fitness Studio pulses at the heart of Edison’s thriving Oak Tree Road corridor, a bright, lavender-accented storefront on 1622 Oak Tree Road that feels part gym, part performance hall, part cultural living room. Open since 2015, the 4,200-square-foot space was designed by studio-founder and three-time Filmfare-nominated choreographer Nina Thakkar, who stripped away the typical mirrored rectangle and rebuilt in sweeping curves. A spring-maple floor floats over neoprene cushioning to protect knees during kathak chakkars or hip-hop drops; overhead, programmable LED rings cycle through sunrise-to-midnight palettes that mimic the mood of each routine.
Monday–Thursday Jhalak operates on an academic rhythm: 4:30 p.m. kids’ Bollywood batches, 6:00 teen hip-hop, 7:30 adults-only Bolly-cardio, followed at 9:00 by the prized Semi-Classical Choreography Lab where Thakkar dissects ghungroo patterns on slow-motion 4K projectors. Weekends flip to an open studio model. The center of the room retracts into three, creating two smaller rehearsal zones and one 25’x25’ showcase square framed by acoustic curtains. Local DJs host Beat-the-Bhangra silent-disco nights (wireless headsets tuned to dhol, EDM, and old-school Punjabi folk), while visiting NYU ethnomusicologists curate Sunday Raga & Reels that pair live tabla with FX-motion capture for interactive projections.
Membership is hybrid and refreshingly a la carte. Drop-ins get a neon RFID wristband at the reclaimed-wood reception desk; it syncs to floor sensors so instructors can track footwork accuracy in real time on wall-mounted tablets. A ₹9,000 ($108) quarterly “Fit & Flair Pass” adds unlimited open gym sessions on TRX rigs hidden behind gold silk drapes, plus priority booking for pop-up masterclasses from visiting Mumbai film-set choreographers like Terence Lewis and Sneha Kapoor. The lobby café serves rose-lychee electrolyte coolers and 100-calorie samosa cones—Thakkar calls it “guilt-free langar.”
Bathrooms are mini-oases: cobalt tiles hand-painted with truck-art peacocks, rain showers stocked with ayurvedic mogra shampoo, and lockers pre-installed with phone-charging coils. Above it all hangs a tangle of vintage film-projector reels arranged into a chandelier that still flickers faintly—rescued from a single-screen cinema that once stood three blocks away.
Community seeps in at every angle. Annual Diwali Tamasha sells out 400 folding seats in the adjacent banquet hall, while April’s Garba-thon funnels proceeds to Bayard Rustin Center LGBTQ programs. Out-of-town dancers can book the studio’s two Airbnb-style bunkie lofts—converted furniture-showroom warehouses next door, decorated with original Raja Ravi Varma murals and Bluetooth-smart banna-banni puppets that narrate local history in Shah Rukh Khan sound bites. Even if you walk in knowing zero Punjabi two-steps, by the end of a class you’ve counted eight strangers as “yaar,” tasted gulkand espresso at the cashless juice bar, and learned the names of your own wrists through the rhythmic slam of a dholki.
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- Published: August 2, 2025
