Gujarati Folk
Garba & Dandiya
Garba classes in London are taught by Gujarati folk and Indian dance schools in Wembley, Kingsbury, Hayes and West Drayton, with workshops that build up to the Navratri season every autumn.
Garba classes in London are taught by Gujarati folk and Indian dance schools in Wembley, Kingsbury, Hayes and West Drayton, with workshops that build up to the Navratri season every autumn.
Garba is a circular folk dance from Gujarat, in western India. Dancers move around a central lamp or an image of the goddess, clapping and turning in a ring that keeps growing as more people join. Dance n' Beats explains that the name comes from the Sanskrit garbha (womb) and deep (a small earthenware lamp), the garbo that stands at the centre of the circle.
Looking for film-style Indian dance? See our Bollywood guide.
Garba is danced above all during Navratri, the "nine nights" festival in honour of the goddess Durga, which falls in September or October. Dandiya raas is its partner dance, performed with pairs of decorated sticks that dancers strike together in time with a partner. Most London classes teach both. In 2023 UNESCO added the Garba of Gujarat to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The basic steps are simple clapping patterns that anyone can join in a few minutes. Classes build on them with faster footwork, spins, formations and regional variations such as tippani and raas.
Garba and Bollywood are often taught at the same schools, and Bollywood choreography sometimes borrows garba steps. They are different kinds of dance.
Use the map below to find studios near you, or filter by area and audience to jump straight to our curated list of the best-rated Garba & Dandiya studios in London further down the page.
Garba, Bollywood, Bhangra
Garba, Bhangra, Contemporary & 4 more styles
Trial Available
Garba, Bharatanatyam, Contemporary
Garba, Bollywood, Contemporary & 2 more styles
Garba, Bollywood, Kathak & 1 more style
Trial Available
Garba, Contemporary, Bollywood & 4 more styles
Classes and workshops tend to start in late summer, so you arrive at the Navratri nights confident with the steps instead of watching from the edge of the circle.
A night of garba means hours of continuous clapping, stepping and turning, and classes build the stamina to keep up with a fast dhol beat.
Navya School of Dance describes its classes as a way to "celebrate Gujarati culture", and teachers such as Neha Patel of Sarjan Nartan Academy work with temples and community groups across London.
Most classes cover both garba and dandiya raas, so you learn the circle dance and the stick dance played at the same events.
Classes are open to children, teens and adults, and families often dance together at the same Navratri events.
Navya School of Dance gives students the chance to perform at Navratri events and cultural showcases.
Navya School of Dance says its garba classes need no prior dance experience, and Absolute Bollywood runs garba and dandiya workshops that require none either.
Navya opens its garba classes to children, teens and adults, and Monali's Dance Studio has run a kids' garba workshop in Wallington and Hounslow.
For families who want to keep the tradition alive, teachers trained in Gujarat, such as Neelima Ahirwal at Navya and Neha Patel at Sarjan Nartan Academy, teach authentic regional steps.
Navya welcomes "someone who's danced through many Navratris" as well as beginners, and its classes are co-taught by Kushal Patel, a multiple garba award winner.
Schools such as Dance n' Beats and Bollywood Dance Company teach garba alongside Bollywood, bhangra and classical forms, so students can add a folk style.
Absolute Bollywood offers interactive garba and dandiya workshops for team building, schools and festivals, with optional live dhol players.
North-west London is the centre of garba teaching. Navya School of Dance runs weekly garba and dandiya raas classes at the Brent Indian Association, 116 Ealing Road, near Wembley Central. In Kingsbury, Sarjan Nartan Academy is led by Neha Patel, who teaches Gujarati folk dances, among them garba, tippani and raas, and runs workshops in schools, community halls and temples. Bollywood Dance Company in Wembley also teaches ras-garba.
Further west, Dance n' Beats includes garba among its styles at its West Drayton and Hayes classes. In the south-west, Monali's Dance Studio has run adult and kids' garba workshops in Carshalton, Wallington and Hounslow ahead of Navratri. See the West London guide for more studios.
For events, Absolute Bollywood provides garba performances and interactive garba and dandiya workshops for corporate Diwali celebrations, weddings, schools and Navratri community nights, with optional live dhol players and folk musicians.
Garba is seasonal. Weekly classes and one-off workshops cluster in the weeks before Navratri, in September and October, and some schools then pause or switch to other styles. Navya, for example, launched its garba classes in August, "just in time for the Navratri season". If you are searching outside that window, ask whether the next course has a start date.
Prices were not published on the pages we checked, so contact each school for current rates. If you also want to learn Indian dance for the rest of the year, most of these schools teach Bollywood, bhangra or Bharatanatyam too.
For class, wear comfortable clothes that let you turn and step freely, and bring water. Ask your teacher about footwear: many people dance garba barefoot or in soft flat shoes. For dandiya raas, the school usually tells you whether to bring your own pair of sticks.
At Navratri events, women traditionally wear a chaniya choli, a full flared skirt with an embroidered or mirror-work blouse and a dupatta. Men wear a kediyu, a short pleated jacket, with dhoti or churidar trousers. Neither is needed for class.
Next Step
Explore our curated guide to London's best dance studios — filtered by style, area and level.
Browse Dance Studios in London
Bollywood Dance 
Bhangra 
Kathak 
Bharatanatyam