Bollywood Dance in Bermuda
Youngsters from Heron Bay Primary School of Bermuda are taking the island by storm with their Bollywood style dancing performances. The Indian film industry known as Bollywood, has originated this style of dancing. The hand, body and finger movements have their unique style and requires enormous amount of concentration, practice and confidence.
Teacher Allison Figureido introduced Bollywood dancing in the school only in January 2010. In just few months, the dancing style has become so popular in the island and continuing to snowball so fast that the school now has to refuse many dancing performance requests that are coming in from many places in the island.
Allison thought an introduction of Bollywood dancing would be a nice variation to the school's charter and will enable the little dancers to do something different from the usual boring choreography classes. She being a PE and health teacher, also felt that this could be a good way to substitute usual fitness exercise.
Also, there was another idea. The school has students from various Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and so on. This would also give an opportunity to all to learn about different cultures. But the students knew nothing about Bollywood dancing. They knew about Hollywood, but never even heard of the Indian film industry called Bollywood.
Allison gathered a group of eleven young girls of age between 7 and 11. She herself was not a dance teacher, but was a keen learner of dancing. She watched Bollywood music videos for a long time and downloaded them into her iPod.
She paid the expenses for the costumes of the girls and received help from the parents to get them stitched. Allison also does the make up of the dancers. Heron Bay is now the only school in Bermuda that offers Bollywood dancing in the island. The 11 member team of young girls have now learned all the intricate moves of a few Indian songs including the extremely popular number Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.
By the way, introduction of this dance also nicely coincides with the first ever Indian film Veera being planned to be shot in the island.
The dance team has already performed at the
Annual Exhibition,
Harbor Nights and Majorette Shows at
Shelly Bay and Somerset Cricket Club. They are also scheduled to perform at the St. George’s Community Fair. The dancers usually get together during the lunch break or after the school hours for practice. Micah Pond, a 11 year old dancer said: “I didn’t know much about Bollywood dancing, I just knew it was from India. Now I know how much fun it is, you move your hips and it’s important to put your fingers correctly.”
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 By Raj Bhattacharya
Raj, a seasoned travel writer and Bermuda destination expert, has extensive global travel experience. This website reflects his profound insights, garnered over nearly two decades of dedicated findings and research on the island. Raj has assisted countless Bermuda-bound visitors by providing direct, personalized responses to their queries and imparting his wealth of knowledge through this platform. This site serves as an indispensable guide for those seeking informed and reliable insights into Bermuda's treasures.
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