Click this link to Read more about Indigo’s Bollywood Dance & Fitness Xtravaganza in the News and Observer July 10, 2016!
Area’s first Bollywood LED FX dance 🙂 with my B-Fit Team…..yesterday’s show. Enjoy! 🙂
Posted by Priya Chellani on Sunday, July 10, 2016
Produced and directed by the Academy’s founder, Priya Chellani, it was a full house even a few days before, with all seats being taken up!
The performers represented groups of various classes taught by the faculty, both in Bollywood Performance and the Bollywood Fitness classes at Cisco and Lenovo Employee Fitness Centers, Morrisville, as well as the Brier Creek Center, City of Raleigh Parks & Recreation.
What was different about this show was it was not just a passive observance, but interspersed with many interactive segments, where the audience got up to join in with the performers on stage!
The entire event was a meeting of dance, fitness, technology & happiness- as heady beats from the latest Bollywood blockbusters belted out from the theatre’s superior acoustics. Projection of stunning visuals and theatrical lighting made viewing and participating both irresistible. On more than one occasion, a few people had to be turned away too…as the stage filled up fast!
And why would this not be the case; when music from 2016’s biggest Bollywood blockbuster trending hits such as “Ki and Ka”, “Kapoor & Sons”, “Dilwale”, “Bajirao Mastani”, “Airlift”, “Jabra Fan”, “Bajrangi Bhaijan”, “Phantom” and more, regaled the Bollywood lovers!
Cute little kids just 4-6 years old, Tweens and Teens, and adult participants male and female, all showcased their skills, dressed in coordinated Bollywood attire.
Sparkly, elegant or colorful, each costume ensemble had been put together painstakingly by the Academy founder for her students, based on the various themes of the dances.
The endeavor of adult beginners first time on stage, or those ladies of American /non-Indian origin, lip-syncing complex classical songs such as “Deewani Mastani” as they danced, was not lost on the appreciative audience either!
Priya Chellani, founder -director, herself led many fitness segments. Her own dazzling performance with special LED apparel – a first in the area in the context of a Bollywood song – showed her futuristic ideas for the school while simultaneously portraying her love of traditional dances as there were plenty of showcases keeping up the Indian heritage too!
As an ex-Mumbai teacher, she showcased a mix of all the styles she favors and educates people in the RTP in.
The event was presided over by special Guests of Honor, who inaugurated and heartily encouraged the participants in their addresses. Chairperson of the Raleigh International Festival and Directors from City of Raleigh Museum and Town of Durham Council Libraries graced the occasions. There was jubilation and loud cheering at the end as they danced a jig with the participants & gave away Awards to them.
In her opening speech and the closing note of thanks, Priya lauded the efforts of her students, and the family of student volunteers who had come together to make it all happen.
The afternoon ended on a high note with even the Honorable Guests joining in to shake a leg! Everyone left the theatre that day with the promise of greater things to come from the promising young school!