"Pedro Alvarez is a South American artist whose works sizzle with the heat of the dramatic dances he depicts. An artist whose work largely focuses on dance themes, such as the tango, he was originally employed in electrical circuitry until his all-consuming passion for dancing compelled him to express it in painting. A prolific artist, Alvarez worked at a blazing pace, expressed in swift, sweeping brushstrokes, which has become more leisurely following a move to rural Spain two years ago."
To be contd. while i learn the moves!..
The original intent of this post was to delve into the intricacies of street dancing! I won't shift from the theme but would like to talk about it the way ITIS* wants to say it!
So..
For our ALtus Dance Extreme we came up with the theme "street dance". Originally Anurag just meant it to be a dance to show a fight between two teams on the street. A la "hum bhi hai josh mein,batein kar hosh mein "style thingy!
In between multiple brainstorming sessions, emails,chats and you tube videos we hit upon the idea of paying a tribute to the spirit of street dance. Initially we assumed that we would just have some hip hop numbers, because thats the most common dance form everyone associates with street dancing.
But then we decided (typical ITIS "cant freeze on theme" syndrome!) that we would dance to the meaning of street dance. The ethos of which is an expression of emotions right out there on the street. And such is the movement and music that it attracts an entire crowd of people to move with you right then and there!
Some more googling convinced us that street dance indeed encompasses a variety of dance forms! Of course the most popular being hip hop. So in went a popular Bollywood "nearly" hip hop number! We wanted to get the crowd to groove with us!
Then we realised that most Indian folk dances evolved out in the open. For example the garba or the dandiya which lay more importance on the expression of joy rather than the techincality of dance. Then again we have entire crowds of people dancing away to glory while Ganpatti Bappa or Durga Ma go back to their heavenly abodes! And who wouldnt call the Matki Fodna at Janmashtami a street dance, where hordes get together to let that one body get to the top! In celebration of this we put in our second number, a Madhuri stunner! The look was folk , inviting and pure fun!
The next flash of street brilliance was of course.."dirty dancing:havanna nights"! One of the most endearing scenes in the movie is young Katey looking at Javier and his pals moving to cuban beats on the market square! She longs for their gay abandon and in that one moment wants to leave propriety aside and just share their sensous bonhomie!
We also realised that Street Salsa was a concept popular in many countries! I think its just glorious fun to break out to some sizzling dance right out there in the open! Freedom of expression at its best! In the same vein is the Argentenian tango. I found youtube replete with the Argentenian Street tango dancers! And so in went a Salsa number..sensous,stirring and totally simulating!
For the stage props we decided to set up some paper cut traffic lights! We already had a zazzy slide show , featuring our interpretation of street dances! Also Niki said, lets use a multi faceted drummer... Let him play the same drum to the hip hop beats, play it as a dhol for the Indian number and as a bongo for the salsa! Voila.. you have a street mix!
The final bow song was of course a tie between Bappi lahiris Famous "I am a street dancer" and the Atomic Kitten version of "Dancing in the street**". We chose bappi da's foot tapping retro beat and the rest as they say is history!
This is an invitation
Across the nation
A chance for the folks to meet
There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin'
And dancin' in the streets
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And dancin' in the street, yeah
Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on, every guy grasp a girl
Everywhere around the world
There'll be dancin'
They're dancin' in the streets
*My company has six teams as a part of our employee engagement program. My team is called ITIS. We often hold intra office competitions!
** "Dancing in the Street" is a 1964 song first recorded by Martha and Vandellas.The song highlighted the concept of having a good time in whatever city the listener lived. The idea for dancing came from watching people on the streets of Detroit cool off in the summer in water from opened fire hydrants!
To be contd. while i learn the moves!..
The original intent of this post was to delve into the intricacies of street dancing! I won't shift from the theme but would like to talk about it the way ITIS* wants to say it!
So..
For our ALtus Dance Extreme we came up with the theme "street dance". Originally Anurag just meant it to be a dance to show a fight between two teams on the street. A la "hum bhi hai josh mein,batein kar hosh mein "style thingy!
In between multiple brainstorming sessions, emails,chats and you tube videos we hit upon the idea of paying a tribute to the spirit of street dance. Initially we assumed that we would just have some hip hop numbers, because thats the most common dance form everyone associates with street dancing.
But then we decided (typical ITIS "cant freeze on theme" syndrome!) that we would dance to the meaning of street dance. The ethos of which is an expression of emotions right out there on the street. And such is the movement and music that it attracts an entire crowd of people to move with you right then and there!
Some more googling convinced us that street dance indeed encompasses a variety of dance forms! Of course the most popular being hip hop. So in went a popular Bollywood "nearly" hip hop number! We wanted to get the crowd to groove with us!
Then we realised that most Indian folk dances evolved out in the open. For example the garba or the dandiya which lay more importance on the expression of joy rather than the techincality of dance. Then again we have entire crowds of people dancing away to glory while Ganpatti Bappa or Durga Ma go back to their heavenly abodes! And who wouldnt call the Matki Fodna at Janmashtami a street dance, where hordes get together to let that one body get to the top! In celebration of this we put in our second number, a Madhuri stunner! The look was folk , inviting and pure fun!
The next flash of street brilliance was of course.."dirty dancing:havanna nights"! One of the most endearing scenes in the movie is young Katey looking at Javier and his pals moving to cuban beats on the market square! She longs for their gay abandon and in that one moment wants to leave propriety aside and just share their sensous bonhomie!
We also realised that Street Salsa was a concept popular in many countries! I think its just glorious fun to break out to some sizzling dance right out there in the open! Freedom of expression at its best! In the same vein is the Argentenian tango. I found youtube replete with the Argentenian Street tango dancers! And so in went a Salsa number..sensous,stirring and totally simulating!
For the stage props we decided to set up some paper cut traffic lights! We already had a zazzy slide show , featuring our interpretation of street dances! Also Niki said, lets use a multi faceted drummer... Let him play the same drum to the hip hop beats, play it as a dhol for the Indian number and as a bongo for the salsa! Voila.. you have a street mix!
The final bow song was of course a tie between Bappi lahiris Famous "I am a street dancer" and the Atomic Kitten version of "Dancing in the street**". We chose bappi da's foot tapping retro beat and the rest as they say is history!
This is an invitation
Across the nation
A chance for the folks to meet
There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin'
And dancin' in the streets
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And dancin' in the street, yeah
Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on, every guy grasp a girl
Everywhere around the world
There'll be dancin'
They're dancin' in the streets
*My company has six teams as a part of our employee engagement program. My team is called ITIS. We often hold intra office competitions!
** "Dancing in the Street" is a 1964 song first recorded by Martha and Vandellas.The song highlighted the concept of having a good time in whatever city the listener lived. The idea for dancing came from watching people on the streets of Detroit cool off in the summer in water from opened fire hydrants!
