WASHINGTON, (DC New Now) — Traditional Indian dances taught in the heart of the Tenleytown neighborhood moves students in the studio, and in their hearts — bringing the Bollywood culture to the Beltway.

At Taal Dance Academy, yearslong course studies and techniques have been taught to thousands of students since 2015, according to Suchi Buch, the academy’s executive director.

“Dance is like an ocean, right? Once you go inside, you will find so many things in dance,” she told DC News Now.

It’s been a long road, and a long way from where Buch’s artistic roots were settled in India, and calls the creation of the academy, “just like dreams come true.”

Buch now passes on that same encouragement her grandmother instilled in her as a child, by coaching the meticulous mixture of movements involved in classical and traditional dance with those in the DMV.

“It’s not that just Indian are learning in our academy, all of the community members are coming here and they feel so happy, and this dance is not just a body movement,” she said, adding, “Where our hands go our eyes goes? Where our eyes go, our mind goes. And where our mind goes, our heart will go. And emotions and sentiments are there.”

Asian and Pacific Islanders account for nearly 5 percent of District residents, according to US Census estimates for 2022.

The same percentage was accounted for during the 2010 census, though DC’s population has increased by 70,000 since that year.

The diversity in her community is part of the reason why Buch says, “Everyone should dance, I feel like that. Everyone should dance.”

“These types of different dances we are doing so community should come and learn these dances, and they should spread this message to everyone,” she said.