Lamhe- SMU Arts Festival 2009

This article appeared in the SMU magazine..
Click on the photo to read the article!

Lamhe at Re:Present, SMU Arts Festival 2009

This coming Monday I will be dancing with 5 other dancers from the SMU Indian Cultural Society. Our performance will be part of the ongoing SMU Arts Festival, Re:Present. In line with the theme of time our performance, Lamhe, will showcase the transition Indian art has made over the years. Using a song from a 1958 Hindi movie and its 21st centuary remix, our dance showcases the difference in music, costumes, dance steps and socital attitude. Come down and watch us dance to the beats of Ek Pardesi, old and new, at Singapore Mangement University T-Junction at 12.30pm on 19th Jan totally free of cost!!

My Solo Dance

Illuminate Beats- Dance medley

Dance to the medley of 3 songs by Roger, Ritin, Urmila, Talisa, Nirali and me for the SMU Indian Cultural Society's Diwali celebration 2008..

Vote for me

I got an interesting message in my youtube account inbox. The following is the message..

Hey there!

I watched the video you uploaded and wanted to let you know about the Bollypop competition that Verizon and Saavn are putting on. It's your chance to be in a Bollywood movie!

You can enter the Bollypop competition by uploading your video to http://www.bollypoptv.com and clicking ‘join now’. Better yet, we can upload your video for you. Let me know if you would like us to do that. You can e-mail me directly at bollypop@saavn.com.

The entry with the highest rating will fly to India and get a role in a major Bollywood movie, so tell your friends to vote for you!

Here's a link to the contest's promo on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qhnzLAvDRw

Please feel free to forward this to friends and shoot me any questions you might have. Thanks and good luck!

Priya Patel
bollypop@saavn.com

So basically I decided to try my luck and have entered the contest. Now I need yor votes to hopefully get me closer to my life dream of walking in the path of my passion of dance. This is the link for my profile at BollyPop.com http://affiliate.kickapps.com/38708/madancer

My Dance Videos

If you want to enjoy my dance video you can check out the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/icharuamadancer

Feel free to comment and rate the videos

“We are so much better at and happier doing non academic stuff”

“We are so much better at and happier doing non academic stuff” said one of my friends. She was referring to how we manage the SMU Indian Cultural Society (a club so Indian in its ways that even the Indians would be ashamed at its Indianess. More of that in another post).

There is so much truth in this statement. Yet the fact that this statement came from a student pursing her Bachelor’s degree it is very disturbing. Or is it?

I wish I could stop studying something I have no interest in and pursue my dream of becoming a dance choreographer..

I simply love to dance. As I say, I love to dance and dance to live. What is left in life without dance, music or rhythm? Dance has passion, expression and freedom. Dance is empowering, dance is exhilarating, dance is humbling, dance is embracing yourself and letting the world see through your eyes.

SMU BOLLYWOOD AND BHANGRA BASH

After the successful SMU Bollywood and Bhangra Bash '06, Club Masti is proud to bring back SMU Bollywood and Bhangra Bash '07

Featuring Singapore's top DJs, DJ G2, DJ Haresh and DJ Ravs with guest top Malaysian DJ, DJ Simran

Special performance by Asia's Finest Bhangra Troupe, Kohinoor Bhangra

So what are you waiting for? Mark your calenders and get your tickets!

Date: 1st September 2007
Venue: Harry's @ Millenia Walk
9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-75A,
Millenia Walk
Time: 9pm till late
Tickets: $18 for SMU students (with 1 drink inclusive)
$20 for everyone else (with 1 drink inclusive)

The most happening Bhangra Bash awaits you!! Join in the fun & party all night long!!

Bus service provided from SMU to Harry's from 9.30pm to 10.30pm

For ticket enquiries contact,
Charu 91810614
Ravi 90888942
G2 93872837
or drop an email at clubmasti@gmail.com

Dance with me baby

So i finally had my dance performance in SMU on Friday for Vivace 2006!! Boy were the 5 of us excited...haha we were so full of nervous energy and full of excitement. As usual we got late getting ready and were running from SESS to the space outside OCBC Bank. But once we reached the excitement rose through the roof. At least for me. Looking at the people, audience, and the atmosphere...for me it is like the sweetest thrill. The love of performing in front of a crowed. Flaunting your talent. I love it!! The emotions running inside me in that moment before i step center stage is not explainable. I’m full of confidence, excitement, nervousness and pride. I become such an attention seeker when I’m performing. The more eyes on me the better i feel. No stage fright what so ever.

Yup so there i was standing on my spot, waiting for the music.......as the music flooded the surrounding, i lit up, became Charu the madancer. Nothing mattered at that moment other than my dance. If i may say so myself, I’m a fairly good dancer and a highly passionate one. I personally feel that i did a great job on Friday. I just had one glitch, i forgot one step. Now at this moment i would like to add that to get the true review of the performance go ask my friends and my sister. *grin*

Other than the dance itself, i enjoyed wearing the costume. It was too cool!! We had gotten the alladin pants and cool hip belts. Both articles magnified the joy of doing the hip and ass movements *grin* i am a very open and experimental dancer. So I’m cool with all stuff. As long as it doesn't get too vulgar. *stern look*

I’ll end this post with some photos from the performance. Enjoy and if i look bad.....don't tell me!!!

Before the performace..I love the costume

The final pose

Radhika, Priyanka, Richa, Me and Zahabia

Power of dance

As we all know dance is a very old and revered form of fine art. It is an avenue of expression and a universal language transcending material things such as boundaries, castes, race and creed. The history of dance can be said to be as old as mankind itself. We will never know as the origins of dance have been lost in the folds of history. However what we do know is that dance in its most basic and simple form is a powerful thing.

Due to the sheer variety of dances in the world and the vast rich history of each and every one of them, I will focus on Asian dance. This is because I am trained in Kathak, one of the six major classical dances of India, and have more knowledge of Asian dance forms.
So what exactly is dance? To me, dance in its simplest form is expressing ourselves through the medium of movements. Be it classical, folk or modern, dance in every form is used to express emotions or stories. Applying this definition of dance, if you feel happy and start to jump you are, according to me, using dance to express your emotions. Of course the complexities in dances are never ending with the numerous different dance forms available world wide.

If we analyze the origin of dance from its history it can be seen that Asian dances were mostly performed in places of worship or in religious contexts. These included narrating religious stories and worshiping God. The Chinese, Indian and Japanese are some of the Asian countries where dance was used for ceremonial purposes. From being performed in the temples, the performances were moved into the courts of the royal and the influential.

Over the years dance has been performed and used in many contexts. These range from being used as entertainment, social bonding, expressing sexuality, self enjoyment and to tease the audiences in places such as the Moulin Rouge and nearer to home, at the Crazy Horse Cabaret. Dance has certainly come a long way from its humble and religious roots.

However, regardless of the form and purpose of dancing, the fundamental underlying reason for dance has not changed. Dance is a form of communication, an avenue of expressing oneself. Be it a person performing a classically acclaimed dance ballet or a person doing erotic dancing in a club, each dancer communicates through the art form. For the person doing erotic dancing in a club is expressing their sexuality and is in a way attracting the person of the opposite sex. They are also expressing the self confidence they feel. In any form or situation, the art of dance is a powerful medium of communication.

I also believe that dance cleanses the soul, the body and the mind. Personally when I feel stressed or burdened by the fast- paced life, I like to lose myself in dance. I feel at peace, being with the rhythms and the movements. I feel free and in charge of myself. This is a sharp contrast to feeling like a mere rat in the never ending rat race of life. As I dance my soul, body and mind get cleansed. The mind get cleansed as while dancing I concentrate on my movements, on the music and my mind gets diverted and cleansed. Also I mentally exert myself by concentrating on the elements of dance. The soul gets cleansed as I let myself be free of my surroundings, by concentrating on my breathing and in some ways engaging in a different form of yoga. The body gets cleansed in the more fundamental sense. As I dance, I physically exert myself and eventually sweat. This experience can be compared to that of the traditional sweat lodges of the Native Americans.

One need not be a trained dancer or have vast knowledge of dance to enjoy this wonderful experience that dance is capable of providing. Only dance is so powerful that it can affect a dancer on such deep levels. Personally I feel that this makes dance the best from of performing art around. No matter how technologically advanced we have become, people still jump when they get excited. They still dance when they worship God. They still engage in dance in social events.

Dance has come a long way from its origins to present day. It has carried through its journey its immense power. Its power to allow the dancer to cleanse his body, soul and mind, and its power as a medium of communication and expression. I believe that the future of dance is bright. As an art it will survive as long as people will.

Dance has given us the many pleasures in life and bestowed its power on us without us expecting these results. There is a sloka in the Bhāgavad Gītā that says “You have the right to work, but none to its results. Therefore, act not with the expectation of reward for your actions. Again, let not your mind develop the propensity of forsaking work and be idle.” Applying this in my life, my motto has always been, “live to dance and dance to live”.

I have pursued my love for dance without the expectation of reward. I hope I can continue and grow my passion for the powerful art of dance. Personally I feel everyone should understand the power of dance and embrace it without expectation of reward.