Artistic props, dashing costumes, sprightly moves and oodles of energy. College teams participating in ‘Ignite 2010', an inter-college dance competition organised on Friday by the Students' Union of Loyola College, showed that nothing can deter their spirit when it comes to dance and any number of competitions. Nine college teams competed for the coveted title, which was judged by dance masters Gautham and Kalyan.
Mavens — the all-girls dance team of Loyola College — set the ball rolling with its debut performance for ‘Ignite', though they performed only as a host team. Western dance styles such as hip hop, jazz and salsa dominated the evening where the performers somersaulted, popped, glided and shook.
The team from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi was perhaps the only one which brought in a theme to their performance, which was well supported with props. Over 20 girls and boys danced blind-folded with their well-coordinated and agile moves, with a royal kingdom as the backdrop. Through the dance they sent across the message that looks are deceptive.
There were two teams from Women's Christian College (day and evening batch). One team claimed that its highlight was step dance, where the members stomped and clapped to create different sounds, while the other team gave a splendid performance with a smile.
New College team displayed energetic moves with the members dressed in ‘Superman' t-shirts, while the teams from Jeepiar College of Engineering and Anna University brought in different styles. St. Joseph's Engineering College, SSN College of Engineering, D.G. Vaishnav College of Arts and Science and Annai Vellankanni College of Arts and Science were other colleges that participated in the competition.
The five-hour-long event was interspersed with guests from tinsel town, playback singers and former students of Loyola College, now in the entertainment industry, taking the stage.
However, it was playback singers, including Naresh Iyer, Ranjith, Haricharan, Shwetha Mohan and Ajeesh, who added energy to the show with their peppy numbers. Actors Parthiban, Sampath and Aravind were others who added colour to the evening.
Annai Vellankanni College of Arts took the first place, while New College came second. NIT, Tiruchi and both the teams from WCC received special mention from the judges. “It was only hip hop that Annai Vellankanni team performed with a few acrobatic moves but they did it in coordination. Their energy level was too good,” said dance master Gautham.
