Well known contemporary dance choreographer Shiamak Davar and dance maestro Marzi Pestonji were present in the Capital recently to welcome the Hollywood movie Street Dance 2 to India with a premiere at DT Cinemas, DLF Place Saket. They also announced the four lucky winners of the “Street Dance 2” contest organised by the marketing team of the movie, to lend a bit of zing to the occasion.
Shiamak Davar, taking time off from the proceedings, talked about “his passion and life” — dance. The man, who brought Contemporary dance to India a few decades ago, wistfully noted, “I started off with theatre and the journey has not been that easy so far. I’ve seen many ups and downs. But at the same time, these challenges have made me stronger and better.”
Although he agreed that the level of dancing had come down from the times of Helen and Madhuri Dixit, he said he was trying to do his bit by helping new dance forms evolve.
His dance schools have mushroomed all over the country and are immensely popular. “I feel that there is so much beauty in our traditional folk dances that it’s a challenge to blend it into Contemporary and Modern movement. You can consider it Shiamak style — blending the old with the new,” he laughed.
“When I brought western Jazz and Contemporary dance to India, I didn’t know whether it would be accepted. But people were keen to know more about it,” notes Shiamak. “A couple of the most popular dance forms these days are Bollywood and Shapop (Shiamak-style Hip Hop). I have students coming back to learn the latest dance styles like Jive and Rock ‘n’ Roll,” he added.
Talking about his next project, Shiamak said, “I am looking forward to my new album Shapop which is coming out in two or three weeks. Moreover, I have also been approached by the producers of Dhoom-3 .”
Leading socialites like Ramola Bachchan, Nikita Tandon, Chandni Singh and Rachna Kapoor were also present at the premiere. The crowd also got a glimpse of Deep Money of Dope Shope fame and Lovely Singh.
