WA Business Woman of the Year Maitri Patel of Bolly Active, Belmont.
Camera IconWA Business Woman of the Year Maitri Patel of Bolly Active, Belmont. Credit: Supplied/Matt Jelonek www.communitypix.com.au d475732

Belmont’s Maitri Patel dances her way to WA Young Business Woman of the Year award

Aaron CorlettSouthern Gazette

MAITRI Patel has always been enthralled by the colour and fun of Bollywood.

The Belmont resident is the founder of the Bollywood Dance Studio in East Victoria Park, where people are introduced to a new colourful world.

After some globe trekking took her from her hometown of Mumbai to Canada to finish high school, she first moved to Brisbane and then to Perth.

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“I’ve been a dancer all my life and I had a Master of Business Administration so I decided to open up out of my home in Belmont in 2011 and then two years later we moved into the space in East Victoria Park,” she said.

“All Bollywood films are musicals; in each of them there are six or seven dance routines, which are very expressive.

“I’d say that 80 to 90 per cent of people who dance at the studio are Aussies.

“I think it’s the colour and excitement of Bollywood that inspires people to take part.”

Ms Patel received the 2017 Telstra WA Young Business Women’s Award and will compete against the other state winners in Melbourne on November 21.

“I do pinch myself when I think how far we’ve come but I’ve got a strong team of dancers and teachers behind me,” she said.

“My philosophy when I started was to focus on my passion and not the bottom line.”

Ms Patel has also created Bolly Active, a workout program that includes cardio, weights, resistance training, meditation and yoga to Bollywood music.

The workout program has more than 65 instructors in Australia, France, Norway, Finland and Austria, and will launch soon in Taiwan, Dubai and India.

The Bollywood Dance Studio is holding a fundraiser Shree Trust: School for Handicap Children in India at the Morley Recreation Centre on November 11.

Visit www.bollywooddancestudio.com.au for tickets or more information.

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