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It was
simply euphoric. A jam-packed Toronto Centre for the Arts,
on a cold Saturday afternoon, moved to the beat of the "dhol",
crooned popular Bollywood numbers, tapped feet to some great
music and saw some good dancing.
However,
in no way did it feel like a cultural competition. Everyone
from contestants to spectators seemed to be having fun and
enjoying the moment, on or off stage. This partly explains
why the four-hour long treat of song and dance did not appear
that long.
Aatma
- A journey of the soul, was definitely worth the trip.
This unique cultural competition, celebrating its third
year, brings South Asians from both Canada and the United
States to perform and prove their mettle at combining the
best of both cultures - east and west.
Rishma
Malik and Angie Seth took the reins of the show in their
hands and Magic Feet Canada set the stage with a beautiful
interpretation of "Bahon mein chale aao."
The
performances were classified as traditional, fusion and
obviously, "Hollywood/Bollywood." Judging the
performances was a panel of seven judges, including our
very own Manisha Bawa.
Let
me provide you with a glimpse of the show category wise.
"Bhangra" was the main attraction in the traditional
category and delivered some good performances by universities
notably the University of Western Ontario. In the same category,
was the performance by Ryerson University. Although a fine
performance, I'm positive that the fact they went overtime
cost them some crucial marks. However, the performance that
sizzled the whole auditorium came from the absolutely synchronized
girls of University of Pennsylvania. Their interpretation
of "Dhola re" from the movie "Devdas"
was stupendous. The team's excellent costumes, choreography
and élan set them miles away from other competitors.
Fusion
turned out to be the most interesting category to watch
and went beyond just dancing. Loyola University Chicago
staged a powerful yet beautiful performance that raised
the question of domestic violence. Another piece was the
heartfelt rendition of "Vande Matram" by University
of Pennsylvania. Finally, it came down to the single man
and Anix Vyas - The Human Beat Boxer- undoubtedly stole
the show. From belting out hits like "Aap jaisa koi"
to the Justin Timberlake hit "Cry me a river"
he got the awed audience involved. However, it was his take
on the typical bollywood "damsel in distress"
fighting scene that had people rolling in their seats.
continued
(page 2) >>>
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