Adil Khan, a dancer and a dreamer

Adil Khan, a dancer, choreographer and dance teacher, looked rejection in the eye and then overcame it through pure determination and passion. A passion for dancing. Today, he is not only the winner of one of the biggest dance shows on Indian television but also runs a very successful dance academy from his home town of Ghaziabad.

"I was passionate about dance since my childhood. When I was a kid, I used to watch Hritik Roshan, Prabhu Deva, and Javed Jeffery dance on television and it was that point that my interest in dance peaked", says Adil. In 2009, when the internet and YouTube were only gaining pace in India, that's when he found someone on the internet who used to sing and dance and had the whole world at his feet, the one and only Michael Jackson, Adil's biggest inspiration and his favourite star.

While talking about how his family grew to support him, Adil says, "I come from a traditional Muslim family. Initially, my family was against me putting so much into dancing. But with time, they saw that I've got something special, a gift perhaps. It was after this that my father started supporting me and so did everyone else."

Dancing, for Adil, was not just a mere hobby. He wanted to do more as a dancer, he wanted to build a life around his passion for dancing. In 2008, Adil auditioned for a dance show, Boogie Woogie and got selected for a round in Mumbai. Taking a look back at his first-ever experience in a dance show, he says, "I still remember when I was going to Mumbai for my auditions. I was so nervous and scared because till that day, I had never performed in front of cameras. The moment I took my position on stage, there were almost eight or nine cameras focusing on me. Maybe the nervousness got better of me and I did not perform that well. I got out from top 40."

Though this came as a blow, Adil did not let it tear him down. He was more dedicated to winning the show now and for two years, he practised day and night. In 2010, he auditioned for different dance shows like DID, Chak Dhoom Dhoom but failed to get through the television round. However, then came the auditions for Boogie Woogie yet again, Adil auditioned and performed with such perfection that people were compelled to stand up and clap for him. Throughout the show, Adil experimented with his style, performed different forms, took up challenges and all the hard work paid off when he later went on to be the winner of the show. The whole nation witnessed this achievement of his.

Winning this title only drove him to do strive for more. He did not stop, he continued to practise and participated in many national and international dance competitions. In 2011, he performed with a team called 'Rangeele Remix' in another dance competition show called Chak Dhoom Dhoom and managed to get into the semi-finals. It was the same year Adil decided to open his own dance academy.

He says, "In 2011, I opened my dance academy in Ghaziabad. We started with almost 40 students and everything was going smooth. The response was so good that I was always occupied.  I had to stop enrolling students because I couldn't manage to teach so many students."

Today, his academy, 'Adil Khan Dance Academy' has students of all age groups who are given training in the area of their interests. Even after Covid hit, he continued to teach dancing through online classes.