Aaja Nachle, one of the most prominent and biggest Bollywood dance school based in Auckland hosted its annual event last weekend bringing a number of dance performances and a musical production.
Three shows were held over December 12 & 13th weekend that brought Aaja Nachle’s 105 students, 13 groups and ten teachers together to exhibit a spectacle of dance and musical event for the public.
Aaja Nachle has been known as one of the most prolific names in the Bollywood and Indian dance space. It has three branches across Auckland and has hundreds of students in different age groups who learn and perform at several major events around New Zealand.
Besides showing different groups dance on Bollywood numbers, the event also had a new element, a 45-minute production ‘Akira & Bollywood Gang’ scripted by acclaimed and award-winning theatre director Ahi Karunaharan, and choreographed by dancers Angelika, Tanima, Jaydess and Karishma.
The production revolved around Akira, a girl who struggles with self-doubt regarding her abilities and deals with imposter syndrome. However, when a Bollywood dance group is searching for a new member - they come across Akira as she dances on her own for fun!
They make her feel like she belongs to their family and that they will always be there for each other as they are a family united by their love for dance, for the arts and their culture.
The message of the production was to believe in oneself, do what one loves- and be courageous when feeling low or questioning their abilities and true friendship can do wonders.
The guests present at each show were welcomed by Jaspal Singh Kanth and Lavisha Gopaldasani from the Aaja Nachle team and Nagaveena Rama from Arogya Mantra, a charitable trust for senior citizens of South Asian community looking after the operations of Aaja Nachle dance school.
Nagaveena is an engineer by education and trained in Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam. She has been actively involved in supporting SOS children’s village and joined Aaja Nachle six years ago as a dance mum. She supported the staff and teachers with the children’s costumes, make-up and helping the students with their practice.
The annual end of the year show provided a platform for Aaja Nachle’s young and new dancers to showcase their dancing talents, and what they had learnt in the last year.