Tapas Das in Blogs

Letter From the Editor: Next Up and Into the New Year

The dancers are ready, the costumes are done, and the sets are loaded. But have you given any thought to the people on the other side of the curtain? This month, we’re sharing some production tweaks that can excite your audience and elevate your presentations not just during Nutcracker season, but also during recitals and beyond.

We’re also offering tips for helping your students increase their turning “sweet spot” while maintaining control, placement, and consistency, in this month’s Technique & Artistry column; Daniel Duell passes along Balanchine’s lessons on musicality in our Playlist column, and former Batsheva dancer and Gaga educator Billy Barry shares what he has learnt on his dance and teaching journey in our Teacher Tools column.

Before the year is up, please take a moment to consider who you’d like to nominate for a 2026 Dance Teacher Award. You may submit your nomination via this form by Monday, March 30, 2026.

From us all at Dance Teacher, wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season!

With gratitude,
Reanne Rodrigues
rrodrigues@dancemedia.com

Tapas Das: Tapas Das, a young entrepreneur of our times started TWIST N TURNS in 2005. A person who is kind, generous, creative and down to earth wanted to start his own one of a kind dance academy. According to him, Dance is a language of movements that involves space, time and the human body. He was born and grew up in Kolkata, the cultural hub of India. Being appreciated in the field of dance all his life, he is extremely talented. He has been dancing since the age of four. Once he finished his high school, he learned jazz/modern and contemporary dance. His horizons were broadened even more when he started dancing Bollywood with Beat Busters for 4 years, which then was the most upcoming dance crew in Kolkata. After that exposure, he studied how to be a dance teacher, which later started helping him impart his knowledge about dance. Thus, in 2005, with the help of family and friends, he started TWIST N TURNS. Starting with a mere number of 40 students, today TWIST N TURNS currently has over 500 students. Over the time Tapas has taught and performed all over the country. He has performed in cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Jhansi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur etc. He has been an active participant in the Salsa India Congress in the cities of Bangalore and Bombay, and he has also visited various International Salsa Congresses in Europe, namely in Berlin ,Singapore, Hong Kong,Dubai. He is been also trained recently at Broadway Dance Center (New York), Alvin Alley (New York) and Steps on Broadway (New York). He is not only a dancer or teacher. He is a successful choreographer and has coordinated various shows without difficulty in our country. His leadership skills are exceptional, thus he is where he stands today. His aim in life would be to become a dance educator. He wants to share his tremendous knowledge in the right way to the right people. He is also, simultaneously running other brands like Zumba Kolkata, Bollywood Studio ArtistWala.com and India International Dance Institute.