Nina started training in Bharatanatyam in Maryland at the age of 6, starting her passion for dance as a whole. Throughout high school and college, she began teaching and choreographing for local Indian community events. Though her Arangetram plans got shelved for a bit while she pursued her Pharmacy degree at St. Johns University Queens, NY, dance remained close to her heart.
In college, she was part of SJU Raaz, the all-female South Asian dance team for 6 years. After graduation, she reunited with her Guru and finally completed her Arangetram in October 2013. Eight months later, on June 21, 2014, she proudly launched ZIND Performing Academy (formerly NinaKshi, LLC), a Bollywood dance studio targeting the DC, MD & Va area.
ZIND is short for the Urdu word Zindagi meaning “life”. Life is meant to be lived and celebrated. We do this for all ages - kids to adults - through dance.
She still works as a Pharmacist, but dance has always and will always be her gift, her outlet, her blessing and her calling. She knew from an adolescent age that she wanted to open up a dance studio to create dance routines, teach dance lovers, perform on stages and build confidence through the art of Indian Dance.