This would become one of the biggest events in my Bollywood calendar each year – initially for Bollycise, and later for my professional Bollywood Dance troupe, SARI.
Celebrated on 15 August each year, our very first event was in 2010 at QUT Gardens Point, Brisbane. Organised by the Cultural Society of India-Brisbane, I was not only asked to perform, but to also organise a celebration of India’s 63 years of Independence. I chose to do this by featuring a fashion parade – showcasing a popular song from each decade, where one of my SARI dancers, or Bollycise students, would be dressed as the item performer from each song. They walked down the ‘runway’ (aisle) to the main stage in costume, and would then perform the number. We also performed a couple of other numbers for the event as well.
Everyone was impressed and delighted with the celebration – I had even created a powerpoint slide showing each song / film info and image. I remember starting with Gore Gore O Banke Chore, and having my SARI Dancer, Alex, dance to the song. Over the years I seem to have lost the powerpoint slide, and even though the event was filmed, I never managed to get a copy – despite my requests. I do have a couple of videos and photos from the day, and we did get a lovely write up in the local paper as well.
The great outcome of this event was that it put both Bollycise & SARI Bollywood Dance in great standing with the Brisbane Indian Community – especially considering myself, and my SARI Dancers (Alex & Laura) were all of non-Indian descent. We had been accepted and we made them proud!