True passion for dance

The Jyoti Nivas College auditorium was full of life and cheer at the recent showcase of Shiamak Davar’s ‘Winter Funk’, performed by students of Shiamak Davar International (SDI). Beautiful choreography and colourful montages mesmerised the audience, as dancers from the age of four to senior citizens of 84 came out of their shells and danced with passion.

The magic of music was brought out by tracing its various genres, legends and trends through dance movement — while sticking to Shiamak’s motto of ‘Have Feet, Will Dance’.
The show started with a modern invocation dance, Devashree Ganesha, a high-paced song to which some guys and girls were jumping and dancing in perfect synchronisation. The aisles had girls holding diyas and dancing, while the guys on stage banged plates and jumped around, creating the feel of a Bollywood song set.

This was followed by a performance by the ‘Show Kids’, in which they recreated the heartwarming and funny cinematic brilliance of the title song from Barfi!. Another delightful performance was the toddlers’ rock ‘n’ roll medley, with children between ages four and six dancing to songs like ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and the Pink Panther theme. It was a really cute attempt, especially since they were all suited up or wearing dresses that took you back to good old 60s.

“It’s been a really good experience for my entire family. My wife was really shy before joining the classes. But doing this has changed her life,” shares Sachin Shenoy, who has been part of SDI for the last two years.

“Shows like this give me a platform to perform in front of an audience and has helped me make new friends,” he adds. One of the highlights was the enjoyable ‘ShaBop’ – Shiamak’s interpretation of hip hop and street funk. But the clear favourite of the night was a performance by Shiamak’s Victory Arts foundation, a non-profit organisation that uses dance as therapy and spreads the joy of dance to people with special needs.

“My son has been a part of Shiamak’s classes for quite a while and is a huge fan. It’s great to see him grow as a dancer and more so, as a person,” says Rajendra, a parent.
 “I have always seen performances by Shiamak’s dance company on television. The training these students get is excellent and all of them, even the little ones, seem like true professionals,” he adds.