WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS FEATURE

         If you think balancing a Monday through Thursday class schedule with your social life is stressful, maybe you should take some pointers from Pavan Thimmaiah.

        With his schedule—six days per week, 10 hours per day--you would think the 25-year old New York University graduate should teach a class on time management instead of hip hop dance. Then again, Thimmaiah has enough credentials packed into his resume to knock the Office of Career Services off its feet. (And, perhaps, onto the dance floor.)

         In addition to teaching three hip hop dance classes at Coles Sports Center, Thimmaiah operates his own dance studio and teaches a dance class Monday nights at Peridance, a Union Square dance studio. He has choreographed commercials for Miss USA pageant models and Ebony magazine models, as well as for videos for Sunset Records recording artists. He starred as the focus of a film documentary called “Dancer”, and is currently working on a movie awards show in Atlanta. Phew.

        Teaching everyday of the week except Fridays, his one day “off” means still having to deal with staff meetings and budgets for his business, PMT Dance Studio. The studio, which opened in lower Manhattan nearly two years ago, puts on shows three to four times a year and includes 500 to 600 people on stage, far surpassing the average dance studio numbers of 50 to 100 students.

        Is he overwhelmed?

        “All the time,” he laughs, taking a sip of his sports drink, “but not to the point where I want to quit or give up.”

        He also realizes that choreography can often be quite the frustrating task.

        “Sometimes hours will go by and you don’t think of anything. Then there will be a five-minute spurt where you’ll come up with a whole dance routine.”

        With his cool and collected attitude, clad in Adidas sweatpants and a dark bandana around his head to complete the image, you would never suspect he feels the least hint of stress. The secret is his passion for dance.

        “As a performer, there is no better feeling than to get the crowd up and get them cheering,” he says. “As a choreographer, to see your piece coming alive onstage is very rewarding.”

        Surprisingly, Thimmaiah attended NYU as an undergraduate pre-med and psychology student. Although he had done some breakdancing in high school, he never thought anything of building dance into a career, “until I came to a slow realization that I could do it on a professional level,” he says.       

        The current Clinton Hill, Brooklyn resident landed a job at Coles teaching recreation classes after graduation, and then began to consider dance more realistically.

        “I didn’t want to grow old thinking I couldn’t do this and couldn’t do that,” he says. “I was enjoying what I was doing and figured I’m only young once.”

        Though his parents, who hail from India, always encouraged Thimmaiah to pursue a medical career, he thanks them for never once denying him help when he needed it. His mother, he says, brings food and flowers to his shows while his father, tool kit in hand, assisted him in building a set for one of his performances.

        Aside from contributing to his lightly bronzed complexion, Thimmaiah’s Indian background has also played a role in shaping his dance style. But while growing up in a primarily Italian section of Staten Island, he says, “Run DMC wasn’t exactly the biggest thing,” alluding to the fact that rock, alternative, new wave and 80’s music have been influences as well.

        “I didn’t realize the magnitude of dance itself;” he says, adding that he has performed tap, jazz and modern styles. “In order to appreciate it, you have to understand it fully. I do more of fusion type stuff to make things interesting, but hip hop is my main thing.”

        And hip hop it is that moves NYU students to the beat in a new Video Hip Hop Dance class at Coles. As opposed to his beginner and intermediate hip hop classes, where Thimmaiah creates his own moves, it is here that video choreography is taught straight from music videos. Input from students as to what music videos will be included in the class is always considered, as long as it is appropriate.

        With the exception of some basic movements, Thimmaiah’s lessons are taught on a professional level so that students can apply the moves that they learn in more complex routines.

        “There’s no point in learning something you can’t use,” he says.

        He adds that there is no technique to hip hop dancing, as some male students perceive it as club dancing and want to sharpen their moves.

        “You just have a groove and you kind of go with it,” Thimmaiah says of dancing at clubs. “I just dance normally. I don't do breakdance steps or any steps that would attract too much attention. I'm on show all the time, so when I go out I just like to kick back and dance freely without the pressures of performing. However, every now and then I'll bust it out, if I'm in the mood.”

        Though his groove has inspired student and professional performers, he would ideally love to work with Michael Jackson, who he says as his strongest influence, or Janet Jackson. His ultimate goal, however, is to have his individual dance style, self-described as a mix of hip hop, funk, street styles of dance like break dance, pop and lock and also inspired by contemporary choreographers like Tina Landon, recognized by people everywhere.

        “I also incorporate some modern and jazz dance movements along with the occasional Indian dance steps,” he says. “I want to put my style out and have it impact everyone.”