SDA Winter Recital 2018 Production a SuperHit!
/Our Winter Recital 2018 was nothing short of a full fledged Bollywood Movie on a 70mm screen with lights, camera, action and over a 100 tiny actors and actresses bringing their fabulous moves and charisma to the stage. Performing to an audience of about 250, our students shone bright and raised the bar for all our events.
Our show started with a tribute to one of the Legendary Actresses of Indian Cinema, Sridevi, who left us all too soon in 2018. A medley of her foot tapping numbers, created exclusively for SDA was performed by our beautiful Squad ladies all dressed in the different avatars of Sridevi. The surprise entry of our Jeetendra look-alike brought on deafening applause from our audience.
SDA Ladies - Sridevi medley
SDA SQUAD - Ek Jindari
Our tribute was followed our opening number by our Chosen Squad- Ek Jindari, which depicts spirit and ambitions of the child. A little child dreams of spreading light in the world just like the sun does, dreams of reaching new heights and making a difference in the world. Our young squad kids use their individualistic styles to depict just that through this piece choreographed using the techniques of street jazz.
PAATHSHAALA PLAY
Our next act was a small skit titled Char Dost. Our first venture in drama, the Hindi play was brought to life by our Paathshaala Hindi students. They did a wonderful job enacting the drama, reciting their dialogues in Hindi and perfectly emoting on stage.
cHAR DOST
Winter Recital 2018 was scripted along a true Bollywood film storyline with a love triangle for effect and a wedding celebration at the end. The protagonists met when they were little and danced to the track Koi Ladki Hai which was performed by our youngest students from our BGC I batch. They brought huge smiles to our audience faces with their cute expressions and praise worthy moves.
One by one, the characters of this love triangle were revealed through song and dance. Our Radhas, from Stevens Cooperative created quite a stir in the audience. They couldn’t help but divide their attention between their 2 suitors- one the High Rated Gabrus (Young Lads) that belonged to our PS5 3 pm batch and the other our resident Kanhaiya (Young look alike Krishna) and his Gopis that make up our Squad Junior. All three acts brought the audience to clap along with our dancers and even our emcee, Ms. Aditi Paul couldn’t help but click an impromptu pic with them.
The show showed each boy suitor individually wooing the girl protagonist. To make for great cinema, the girl meets suitor 1 on a cruise, where they dance to the iconic Galla Gooriyan, enacted to perfection by our BGC II students. Suitor 2 then courts her at the carnival where they Twist it out to their hearts content. Our little stars from PS5 4pm, regaled the audience with their moves, energy and charisma.
cutie PIE
When the boys find out that they are both vying for the attention of the same girl, they decide to have a dance-off to prove who is better. Our Primary Prep dancers rocked the stage with their fast paced number Cutie Pie which convinced the girl to select her heart’s choice.
SDA PAW II girls exuded style and attitude which shone through in iconic 90s dance track Le Gayi. They depicted a unique way of the heroine saying yes to her love in our saga. The couple goes out on the town to celebrate their new found romance. The It’s the time to Disco performed by PS37 4pm kids was a foot tapping and fancy free number.
Our Hero decides to seal the deal by introducing his Heroine to his family- starting with his mother who so gladly welcomes her as a part of the family. Lagdi Hai Thain was a perfect track for our PAW I kids to showcase their growth, thumkas and the carefree dance style to the audience. The girl chooses her dad’s birthday party to introduce our hero to her family and our PS37 3pm dancers bhangra it out to the famous Shava Shava track. The unforgettable voice of Mr. Bachchan serves for a perfect track to depict the dad’s disapproval.
‘He isn’t a Doctor or an Engineer? How can I give him your hand in marriage?’ The age old stereotype of the Indian Parents found its way into our story line. Badtameez Dil performed by PS16 3pm students in their high energy style and phenomenal costumes set the stage for rebellion by young love.
As is the climax in most Hindi movies, love triumphs and our couple gets their own wedding celebration with a lot of dhoom dhaam. The heroine’s family prepares for the wedding with Chalka Re, a Mehendi track that is sure to get your hearts welled up. Our PAW II girls, took on the onus of performing 2 tracks at this recital and did so with grace and determination. They passed with flying colors despite the fact that both their dance pieces had 2 completely different styles of dance involved.
Our grand finale for this movie was a combination of Bhangra and BollyHop. Our PS16 4pm kids worked tirelessly to bring to the right mix of restraint and energy that Bhangra needs highlighting their talent and grace. Finishing up the song with the latest Bollywood trend BollyHop was our Junior Squad. Their flawless act ended with roaring applause from the audience.
End credits were our teacher’s act, a perfect blend of two different dance styles. Natalia Basava, who is renowned for her Flamenco classes in Jersey City, joined hands with SDA teachers to produce a fantastic amalgamation of Flamenco, Kathak and Bharatnatyam choreography set to the Tap beats of Dhoom 3 title track.
We couldn’t be more proud of each and every student that musters up the courage to get on the stage in front of such a huge audience and delivers an amazing performance. We are thankful to our wonderful audience that encouraged our performers with their enthusiasm and thunderous applause.
A special thank you to JC Council President Rolando R. Lavarro, Jr. for gracing our event with his presence. We would not be where we are without the support of our community and local businesses like Vibgyor and Prompt MD who supported us as sponsors at our Winter Recital 2018. We are extremely thankful to our wonderful business sponsor Zawper for generously providing treats to celebrate our performers.
A big thank you to our wonderful photographer Beauty Captured and our videographer Sunshine Shotz for their beautiful captures. Our emcee Ms. Aditi Paul brought her charm and wit to the stage and kept the audience engaged throughout the show with her friendly banter. The costumes by Sketchboard4Kids added the extra flair to all the acts and allowed our students to shine brightly on stage. We want to recognize and thank our schools PS5, PS16 and PS37, Stevens Cooperative and Primary Prep for making us a part of their school families. A special thank you to Performing Arts Workshop and the Jersey City Board of Education for all their support.
We attribute the success of our Winter Recital 2018 to Team SDA and our hardworking backstage helpers- they made all the moving pieces fit seamlessly to provide the audience a visual treat. We are extremely grateful for the support and encouragement of our SDA families and patrons. Looking forward to seeing you all at our Spring 2019 Recital!