Martha Graham, an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on the modern visual arts once said “Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion".
But dancing with the feet is one thing, dancing with the belly is quite another. Perhaps if one researched the history of dance, one would find that the first ever dance performed by a woman must have been a belly dance because it is this form that brings out her inner sensuality and highest feminity.
And so it was at the Jashn-e-Banjara festival of dance which showcased the talent of students of the Banjara School of Dance along with that of international artistes.
The festival this year featured Ebony Qualls from the United States and Tamar Bar-gil from Israel. There were over 300 dancers who performed for the weeklong event, which was a medley of hafla, professional shows and workshops.
Started by Meher Malik, an accomplished belly dancer in India, the Banjara team consists of professional dancers who perform Oriental Egyptian; Tribal Fusion with swords/veils, zagat and fan veils. Malik performs solo and in a troupe.
Talking to Metrolife, Malik said, “Three months of the year we completely dedicate our days and nights to this festival. There is a satisfying feeling that the participants and students get to interact with international artistes, who are invited to India by us to take classes and share their experiences, and learn different dance forms at the workshop.”
In keeping with the Banjara tradition, a closing party was organised, where for the first time ‘Battle of the Belly’, an event in which improvised Belly dances based on hip-hop dance in which random participants are pitted against each other, was held.
Accompanied by amazing music and competitive performances, the ‘Battle’ was in two rounds: Round 1 (2 on 2) – Choreography round in a duet; Round 2 (1 on 1) – On the Spot Improvisation. The total time limit was just four minutes.
There was a tie between the final winners, Aakriti Gandhi and Shikha Thakur and the winning amount of a cash prize of Rs 25,000 was divided between them.The competition was performed on music ranging from fusion, Indian, Arabic and even English commercial songs like Rude boy by Rihana, Cry me a river by Justin Timberlake and Indian compositions like Punjab by Karunesh and Kolaveri Di by Dhanush etc.
Malik said “Next year we are taking ‘Jashn-e-Banjara’ to another level as we will be releasing the first full-length production by Banjara School of Dance. Every year we do small acts but this one will be a complete act around belly dancing and will be performed in one of the big auditoriums in Delhi.”
The Banjara Troupe has performed in several dance festivals in India and overseas including Bollywood Production At Berlin Salsa Congress 2013 and Banjara Closing Act At India Fiesta Latina 2014, among others.