SDA Spring Showcase 2022 - The night when all our little stars descended on stage!

SDA’s Spring Showcase 2022 was a huge success! Our theme Mixtape fit in perfectly with our sentiments this year- a year filled with Mixed feelings, Mixed emotions and Mixed views. Boy what a journey the past 2 years have been. When we had our last recital in December 2019,  never in our wildest imagination did we think that we would have to wait 2 years to get back to a theater packed with an audience and to witness our superstars performing on stage- let alone conduct 3 successful back to back shows on the same day. We are so proud to have conducted 3 sold out back to back shows with the right balance of cuteness, charm, style, energy and heart warming performances by each and every performer that got onto the stage this year.

Our hearts are filled with immense gratitude. SDA is indebted to each and every one of our student families for their belief in us, for trusting us with their beautiful and talented children. We want to take this opportunity to thank some of our ad sponsors, schools, studios and local businesses, without whose support we would not be here. Thank you to all our locations- Nimbus Arts Center, Boys and Girls Club, Stevens Cooperative School, PS16 School, Waldo School, Urban Jungle Play Hoboken, The Village Edgewater, Park View Academy and Ivy Primary Prep for giving SDA multiple homes and the smiling faces of countless students to brighten our days.

Our theme for this semester, MixTape, provided a blend of songs from various genres ranging from modern to classical, folk to fusion, Bollywood to Tollywood to Punjabi.

Our Squad Juniors - SDA’s first students ever opened all 3 shows setting the precedent for other groups to come. SDA’s Squad Junior kickstarted our Showcase with the pandemic’s most popular crossover hit Jalebi Baby. Up next, our talented group of Bharatanatyam dancers led by their teacher Ms. Aditi, wowed the audience with their grace and beauty. Our lil ladies mastered this beautiful routine to the East meets West version of the track Shape of You composed by Indian Raga. Our Bharatnatyam dancers looked ethereal in their white pattu lehengas complete with traditional mangtikas and white gajras.
After that graceful rendition set to classical beats, our lil Edgewater Divas brought the house down with their thumkas to perfect mix of Bole Chudiyaan and Sajan Ji Ghar Aaye. Their cute smiles, pink fluffy skirts, perfectly coiffed hair and adorable Bollywood moves, won many hearts.

Bringing to the stage a total transformation from the old gold era of Bollywood with their futuristic Badshah- Diljit Vibes were our Nimbus Bollywood II rockstars with their teacher Mr Ravi. This BollyHop style choreography was no easy feat and we are so proud of our lil rockstars in checked suits for giving this routine their all.
Our Hip Hop I group brought their stylized moves and undeniable swag to the stage with a Ranveer Singh mix curated especially for this performance. The fashionable bowties and hats of these teams had everyone oohing and aahing much after their performance. Led by Mr Bhaskar, our Hip Hop I got everyone’s feet tapping to the beat.  

Doing a complete 360, Stevens Newport II ladies created magic on stage with belnd of classical and folk dance genres through their routine on Chalka re mixed with Barso re. In their Pattu Pavadai with big gajras and even bigger smiles our beautiful dolls won everyone’s heart with their grace and charm.

Our Stevens Newport I students brought the house down with their energy showing everyone what a true Holi celebration looks like. Breathing color into our Tuesday evenings and bringing their masti to the stage were Ms Anushya’s Stevens Newport I dancing to a foot tapping Holi Mix. We absolutely loved the girls’ cute halter cholis with dhotis and the boys’ kurta pajama combo.
Our Stevens Hoboken girls brought their adorable smiles, red and black lehengas and bhangra moves to the stage. It was a treat to watch their energy, sharp moves and nahkras. These girls trained by Ms. Shen surely proved that desi girls are worth the hype.

Our lil Nimbus Bollywood I Radhas and Krishna had our audience smiling ear to ear under their masks. Janmashtami is all about the color yellow and bringing the right amount of yellow sunshine in their dhoti kurtas, Ms Anushya’s tiny 4 year olds brought the right amount of cheer into our dim theatre. Their footwork was impeccable and made us very proud.
Bringing the Contemporary dance style to the SDA for the very first time was Ms. Vaishnavi and her team of lil ladies. Our group of Contemporary dancers, our lil ladies, showed us how love, longing and strength can be portrayed through this beautiful dance form. They looked nothing short of ethereal in their their dresses and buns and created beautiful lines and magical twirls to wow the audience.

Bringing back the love for disco, our lil BGC Bollywood Beginners in their pink outfits and their undeniable charm brought the audience so much joy. This disco choreography taught to our 3 year olds by Ms Anushya is one for the books. 
Switching gears from Disco to Rock and Roll, Ms Vaishnavi’s adorable UJP Hoboken girls who looked like Bollywood royalty in their dhoti sarees and headgear. Their cuteness knew no bounds and their smiles had everyone going AWWWW.

Continuing with the cuteness quotient, our World of ABC Cutie Pies, despite their nervousness, shone bright on stage. In their cute lehengas and red roses in their hair, they made their teacher Ms. Vaishnavi very proud.
Taking everyone back all the way to Indian Cinema in the 70s were Ms. Shen’s PS16 Bollywood II kids with their fabulous 70s moves and expressions performed to perfection. Their retro outfits and hair and that red vintage car in the backdrop looked straight out of a 70s movie. We are so proud of what these students achieved in their short 8 week semester.

A dance show is incomplete without some Madhuri Magic. Bringing this to our stage and so much more in their shimmering outfits and coy smiles are our Virtual Bollywood students dancing to a Madhuri medley. How talented are these girls to be able to showcase what they learnt on zoom to you all in person with such perfection.
Next, our PS16 Bollywood I students trained by Ms. Anushya in mere 8 weeks recreated a fun Bollywood Hritik medley to make our audience miss the sails and the seas. Their casual jumpsuits and 2 high ponytails made for the perfect beachy track.  

Making way for Ms. Shen’s Badris and their Dulhaniya’s our Newport Bollywood students burned the stage with their energy and fun filled dance moves. They totally brought their Bollywood magic to the Nimbus Stage.
Keeping in theme with the Bollywood wedding magic our BGC Bollywood I students and their cute blue and pink Punjabi outfits stole the show with their Bhangra moves and Wakhra Swag. Our lil gabrus and soni kudis from Ms. Anushya’s BGC Bollywood I class made sure there wasn’t a quiet person in the house. 

When the North is rocking the stage how can the South stay far behind. Ms. Vaishnavi’s BGC Bollywood II students brought you some Kuthu masala to rock the stage. Our 5-6 year old rockstars completely blew everyone’s minds with thumkas, Bollywood jhatkas and Kuthu style moves.
Our Hip Hop II students performed in all 3 shows, closing each and every show with the energy and sharpness of a professional dance troupe. Mr. Ravi’s Hip Hop II crew blended of various cultures, styles, music and a ton of Hip Hop moves with to end the shows on a high with their hard hitting routine. We were amazed to see the magic they created on stage.

To close out all 3 shows, our SDA company dancers brought the house down with a blend routines catering to various dance genres including Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Folk, Hip Hop, KuthuHop and of course Bollywood to make sure we left our SDA families with a smile on their faces and memories of dancing at their favorite night club with their closest friends. We could not be more proud of the team we have put together. Each and every one of our company dancers brought their own energy, flavor, grace and dedication to our routine. Our audience was floored and that’s just how we wanted to leave them.

Thank you Nimbus Arts Center for giving our Spring Showcase 2022 a home. Huge shoutout to Nimbus Tech Manager Daniel and our teammate Mr. Chinmay for managing the tech portion of our Spring Showcase. Thank you to Amrita Ghosh for running for putting as much effort as she does into making sure every shot is perfect. Thank you to BuzyBugs for providing trophy kits to all our students. Huge applause for the entire SDA Team for showing up and giving this showcase their all. We would not be here without Anjuli Garg and Laxmi Tandra for their unending support to SDA and to Nisha Patel for giving us her expertise and precious time. We would not have been able to have a seamless run of the show without our trusted teammate Krupa Jani. A special and warm mention to Kavita Babaria, Anjali Kulkarni and Rucha Gohil for their help backstage. Thank you to all our program sponsors- British Swim School, The Village Edgewater, Alphaminds and Park View Academy. A show is incomplete without song appropriate costumes that are comfortable, stylish and in with the times. Thank you to Sartorial by Suraiya for her vision and for getting us each and every outfit exactly as we visualized them. Last but definitely not the least, thank you to our Director of Operations Anushya Mamtora for breathing life into this showcase. This would not have been possible without your constant encouragement and support.

Our heart is filled with immense gratitude for your love and trust in us. SDA is indebted to our SDA families for their belief in us. Thank you for trusting us with your beautiful and talented children. We can’t wait to see you in our Fall Semester 2022!