DANCE REVIEW: JHOOMTI SHAAM 2010
Indian Dance Teams Competitively Jam at Glendale's Historic Alex Theater
(Glendale, California) As day turned to darkness and the streets of downtown Glendale were soaked with a winter storm, several college students took cover under the bright lights of the historic Alex Theater on the eve of the 82nd Academy Awards.
With ten university dance teams competing in one of Southern California’s most renowned Hindi Film and Fusion dance events, the eighth edition of Jhoomti Shaam presented its annual Bollywood-themed Where Stars Are Born program.
The three-hour dance competition on March 6 featured the most spectacular in Hindi film and Indian fusion dance this side of the Pacific, each team arriving here in Glendale with an arsenal of dance moves and a series of Bollywood’s greatest rhythmic beats to knock the socks off the judges and stay true to the show’s theme.
Defending its 2009 crown, the overall winner of Jhoomti Shaam 2010 was UC-Berkeley, despite a change in how the winners are announced – instead of just naming the top three winners, there were two categories with two winners each and one overall winner.
While its “Ishaara” team claimed top honors last year, Berkeley’s “Azaad” took first prize last weekend with its love story of two star-crossed lovers caught in a generational feud between North and South Indian households – Romeo & Juliet-style.
Azaad was also first place in the Hindi Film Dance category; with the first-place finish, the team also earned an invitational bid to the Filmi-Fusion Championships in Boston on April 17th.
Berkeley edged UC San Diego’s “Zor,” a fusion dance team bringing to life the story of a robbery of a precious necklace worth millions and several artifacts from the famed Getty Museum. A “Mission: Impossible” tale of mystery, crime, action and love told through modern dance, Zor claimed top honors in the Fusion dance category and settled for second place overall behind Berkeley’s Azaad.
Last year, UCSD’s KYA claimed third place overall.
Claiming second place in the Hindi Film category was Northwestern University’s A-Nu-Bhav, while New York University’s Pandemonium, a crossover Hip-Hop/Bhangra dance team, claimed the No. 2 spot in fusion.
Other schools participating included USC’s Anjaane, UC Davis’s Toofan, UC Berkeley’s Zahanat, Stanford’s Dil Se, UC Irvine’s Zamana and Texas’s Mohini.
Also awarded by Desi Dance Team were UC Davis’s Joya Nandi Kazi for Best Female Dancer and UC Irvine’s Aamir Dhala for Best Male Dancer; Zamana was also adjudicated Most Creative Team.
Hosted by Nashaa, UCLA’s official Hindi Film Dance Team, Jhoomti Shaam also featured an opening performance by students of NDM Dance Studio, a dance performance by the host school, and a grand finale put on by UCLA’s Indian a cappella group, Naya Zamaana.
While The Bruins were not eligible to compete due to UCLA’s status as host school, Nashaa opened the second-half of the program with a complimentary performance themed around a high school prom.
The dance competition was scored by five judges, including blue13 Dance Company member Kory Keith, award-winning dancer Shivani Thakkar, multi-talented artist Rahul Nath, collaborative dance duo Sapna Rao and Kavita Rohra, and former Superstars of Dance judge Shirish Dayal.
For more information about Jhoomti Shaam and UCLA’s Hindi Film Dance Team, please visit them on the web.
(Editor’s Note: Special thanks to freelance photographer Beren Shah and UCLA Nashaa’s Akanksha Garg.)
