Diving into a magic-infused evening, the Raack Academy Spotlight Finale was a nostalgic dream come true. The show that took place at the Kamaraj Memorial Hall, was a rendition of the all-time Julie Andrews classic, Mary Poppins . Directed and choreographed by Ramana Balaji, director of the Academy, the show was performed before an audience that included proud parents of the performers and dance enthusiasts.
“Our adaptation of the show uses all kinds of music — be it Tamil, Bollywood or original tracks. Art cannot be limited by language,” says Balaji (popularly known as Ramash), who started Raack Academy 16 years ago, and has conducted workshops in countries such as the US and France. With this message in mind, Balaji, along with his team of dance trainers, set out on a mission to allow children along with adults to travel with them into the euphoric world of a magical nanny. He conducted a 21-day workshop wherein the participants were also exposed to what went into a complete production. The show that was put up at the end of the workshop, left the audience awestruck.
Before the entire musical unfolded in front of an eager audience, they were presented with an interactive session of Zumba and a soulful recreation of the Lake of Fire, a dance choreographed by Balaji himself. As the choreographer states, “Dance is something that comes from within, it is a form of self-expression”.
The dance performance did complete justice to the movie, and the message that Mary Poppins taught the world more than 50 years ago — which was to enjoy all the delights of life while still being strict — was conveyed. It almost felt like a roller-coaster ride as the show dived in and out of scenes from the movie that were re-enacted with appropriate multilingual songs and dances. The performances used a clever combination of VFX, lighting and props, as performers across different age groups danced to songs such as the popular ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ and other Bollywood and Tamil tracks.
“This was a huge production for the children to bring to stage and I could not be happier seeing my own daughter (Moksha Karini) up there,” exclaimed Monish Karini, who was among the audience. The show drew to a close with a Bob Marley gem ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’, even as parents rejoiced at a a successful performance.
