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At the Living Arts Centre, a community performing arts center, I performed dances choreographed to popular Bollywood songs including ‘Kangana Tera Ni,’ ‘Le Gayi, Le Gayi,’ ‘Nach Baliye,’ and ‘Dhoom Machale’ under the instruction of Krishna and Aliya, who teach at the Shiamak School of Dancing at Toronto. For these performances, which happened in the year 2021, I trained for approximately two months, dedicating three hours a week.

A large part of Bollywood dancing combines elements within folk dance forms such as bhangra, hip hop, jazz, funk and even belly dancing in order to create a fusion in choreography – keeping in mind that with every movement, the foundation is to present your own personality and style as a dancer. To me, Bollywood not only connects me back to my roots within India, but also gives me the space to find my own style as a dancer – with a space for spontaneity that allows me to experience joy as well as freedom.

Full dance videos are available on Shiamak's YouTube channel.