Quick Info→
Hometown: Umri, Satna Age: 22 Years Religion: Hinduism
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | • Shiv [1]Instagram – Shivanshu Soni • The Fusionist [2]Instagram – Shivanshu Soni |
| Profession(s) | • Dancer • Choreographer |
| Known For | Second Runner up of the reality dance show India’s Best Dancer 2023 |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters– 172 cm in meters– 1.7 m in feet & inches– 5’8” |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms– 60 kg in pounds– 132 lbs |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Career | |
| Reality Dance Shows | • Jam Ke Naach 2018 • Dance+ 6 (2021-2022) • India’s Best Dancer 2023 (season 3) |
| Awards, Honours, Achievements | • Won Evolution 2 National Dance Competition Goa 2018 • Runner-up in Evolution National Dance Competition Goa 2019 • Honoured by CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan in January 2023 |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 23 June 2001 (Saturday) |
| Age (as of 2023) | 22 Years |
| Birthplace | Umri, Satna, Madhya Pradesh |
| Zodiac sign | Cancer |
| Signature | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Umri, Satna |
| School | St. Michael’s Higher Secondary School Satna, MP [3]Facebook – Shivanshu Soni |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Hobbies | Travelling, Drawing |
| Relationships & More | |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Family | |
| Parents | Father– Ram Siromani Soni
Mother– Neeta Soni (BJP Politician) |
| Siblings | Brother(s)– 2 • Nikhil Soni (Entrepreneur) • Akhil Soni (studying at IIT Guwahati) Sister(s)– 2 |
| Favourites | |
| Actor | Ayushmann Khurana, Mithun Chakraborty |
| Singer | Hariharan, Hardy Sandhu, A.R. Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal |
| Choreographer(s) | Prabhu Deva, Remo D’Souza, Shantanu Maheshwari |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Shivanshu Soni
- Shivanshu Soni is an Indian dancer and choreographer. He is widely known for his fusion style of dance.
- Shivanshu was five years old when he first danced on stage in his school. He found it interesting, so he joined the dance class and started learning Kathak from his teacher in Satna.
- He faced criticism during his childhood as being a boy it was not acceptable in his society to learn a classical dance form. Classical dance styles like Kathak were believed to be exclusively for girls. Nevertheless, his family consistently supported him financially and emotionally, which pushed him to achieve his goal. [4]India Today
- He took Kathak training in Satna, however, there was a lack of resources for him to explore other dance forms in his hometown. Consequently, he started travelling to different cities, such as Gujarat and Mumbai, to participate in dance workshops, with the goal of mastering various dance forms within a shorter period. Subsequently, upon completing his 12th grade, he relocated to Mumbai.
- After learning different dance forms he started fusion of them with Kathak. He added animation, cutting, waving, and popping moves with Kathak hence Fusion became his main dance forte and he is known as the Fusionist.
- He started participating in various intra-state and inter-state dance competitions and won many of them. He represented his school in many dance competitions.
- In 2016, he won the Dance Vindhaya Dance competition which became a major breakthrough in his dancing career
Shivanshu Soni receiving the trophy after winning the Dance Vindhya Dance Competition 2016
- In January 2018, he was selected for Gujarat’s dance reality show Jam Ke Naach; he reached the Top 10 finalists of the show which was judged by Terence Lewis, and other celebrities. He ended up in the Top 3 at the grand finale of the show.
Shivanshu Soni with his trophy and cash prize after getting a place in the Top 3 contestants
- In March 2018, he attended the dance workshop of Eric John Campros, an American choreographer, who was impressed with the performance of Shivnashu. He offered him a scholarship to learn the dance free of cost at his dance academy, Broadway Dance Centre New York.
Shivanshu Soni with Eric John Campros
- In November 2018, he won the EVOLUTION 2 GOA – All India Dance Championship whereas, in 2019, he became the second runner-up in this dance competition.
Shivanshu Soni (third from the right) won the Evolution 2 National Dance Competition held in Goa
- In May 2022, he participated in a contest, Entertainer No. 1, organised by Flipkart. He made his place in the Top 25 contestants out of the 25000. He made his place in the Top 3 out of 25 contestants in the grand finale round of the contest.
A Dainik Bhaskar news article mentioning Shivanshu Soni’s position in the Top 25 contestants
- He participated in the World of Dance Championship 2021, an American reality competition television series. He was the second runner-up in the qualifier round but couldn’t make it to further rounds.
Shivanshu Soni at the stage of World of Dance 2021
- In 2021, he auditioned for the reality dance show Dance+ 6. He mesmerized the judge, Remo D’Souza through his performance at the time of audition and he directly put Shivanshu into the Top 12 contestants of the show; Shivanshu became the first contestant to directly qualify for the Top 12. He got eliminated in the race to the Top 6.
Shivanshu Soni got the Green trophy of Dance+6 after getting selected into the Top 12 of the show
- In January 2023, CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan honoured him for making his city and state proud in the field of Dancing on the day of Satna Gaurav Divas.
- In 2023, Shivanshu auditioned for the reality dance show India’s Best Dancer Season 3 which was aired on SonyLIV. With his fusion of popping, animation, cutting, and waving with Kathak, he impressed all the judges including Sonali Bendre and Terence Lewis. Another judge Geeta Kapur put a black dot behind his ear to protect him from the evil eye and compared him with the legendary classical dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj.
- Terence Lewis, a famous choreographer, shared a back story during the performance of Shivanshu Soni, he said,
“A while back, I discovered him on Instagram and texted him, saying, ‘I want to learn dance from you because I’ve never trained in Indian Classical dance but was always fascinated by it. After that, we collaborated to create a few Instagram reels. I must also mention what a performer he is. I can’t wait to see every one of your acts this season.” [5]Instagram – Terence Lewis
Shivanshu Soni dancing with Terence Lewis
- During an episode of India’s Best Dancer, through his dance, he gave tribute to Srushti Sudhir Jagtap, a 16-year-old prodigy who achieved a world record by dancing for 127 hours, and her maternal grandfather who was her dance Guru. Mesmerized with the performance, Judge Terence Lewis while appreciating and offering Shivanshu for international dance collaboration said,
“Shivanshu has beautifully depicted the journey of an ordinary individual accomplishing something extraordinary. He possesses the power to take any song and transform it into an extraordinary performance. This is the power of your dance, and it deserves both recognition and applause.” [6]Outlook.
- The Norwegian dance group, Quickstyle, the first international dance group to appear in any Indian reality dance show, praised Shivanshu and his unique blend of classical and contemporary dance forms.
- On 30 September 2023, the grand finale of the show took place in which Bollywood actors such as Govinda and Tiger Shroff appeared. Shivanshu got the second runner-up position after Anjali Mamgai.
- After returning home, Shivanshu was invited by the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2023 as a speaker where he performed his fusion form of dance and shared his journey of dance. He said people used to make fun of me earlier but they don’t anymore. A couple was so impressed with Shivanshu that they named their newborn baby after him.
Shivanshu Soni at India Today Conclave
- Shivanshu endorses various brands on his social media platforms including the PokerBaazi app.
Shivanshu Soni promoting the PokerBaazi app
- He conducts dance workshops in different cities in which he teaches the classical and contemporary fusion skill of dance.
Ad of Shivanshu Soni’s dance workshop
- He has a YouTube channel with the name Shivanshu Soni where he uploads his vlogs and dance videos to be in touch with his fans. [7]YouTube – Shivanshu Soni
References/Sources:[+]
| ↑1 | Instagram – Shivanshu Soni |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Instagram – Shivanshu Soni |
| ↑3 | Facebook – Shivanshu Soni |
| ↑4 | India Today |
| ↑5 | Instagram – Terence Lewis |
| ↑6 | Outlook |
| ↑7 | YouTube – Shivanshu Soni |