Bright, loud and brash dance and music entertained the enthusiastic audience at the final of Short+Sweet Bollywood Sydney 2015, held at The Factory at Marrickville on Sunday, 22nd March.
Each act had to perform dance to ten minutes of Bollywood music. The finalists all chose Indian dance in various styles seen in Bollywood films over the years. There were individual performances, duos and larger groups and while most chose modern popular styles there were some taken from earlier decades and even as far back as vintage films. Quite a few of the acts were miming the words to the song that they were dancing, as is typically done in the films they were referencing. This added to the night’s joy and atmosphere.
Monsuun Dance opened the show with a clever routine where a group of girls at an international cricket match ostensibly decide to dance. Whatever the pretext, their routine was energetic and entertaining and one of the highlights of the evening.
A number of the other performers were from the Swastik Institute of Music & Dance and they brought a very high level of expertise and flair to the extravaganza. The final Swastik entry captured the intensity and vibrancy of a modern Bollywood film. Any group that includes Disco Diwali in their routine gets this reviewer’s nod of approval.
The crowd was also entertained by some crossover gangsta/robot/desi dancing, an almost classical and balletic solo and a very sentimental golden age routine. There was a diverse range of dance in the completion.
The Fusebox theatre at The Factory was an excellent and intimate venue for the inaugural Short+Sweet Bollywood competition but I suspect in the future a larger venue will be required. Bollywood entertainment is reaching out to a wider audience than those born in India or of Indian heritage.