International dance day is celebrated to give value to art and act as a wake-up-call to all learners, practitioners, dance instructors, institutions and most importantly for society to realize its potential to showcase the growth of young talents. The main purpose of the Dance Day event was to attract the attention of the wider public to the art of dance. Every year the dancers and the dancing communities in the world celebrate this day. It is an important day for all dancers to get the attention of the world towards the art form.
Amid the Covid-19 lockdown, not being able to step out, the dance day event was organized for dancers from all over the world in order to boost morale, increase fellowship with other clubs, encourage raw talent, show support and most importantly have fun. Colombo Midtown in collaboration with RACC Excellence and Rotaract Club of Pune, Hillside invited their club members/ dancers, choreographers, instructors, dance students and enthusiasts to join us in celebrating World Dance Day 2020. We had over 40 dance covers choreographed by highly enthusiastic performers. The Celebration takes place in a chosen online platform decided on by all three host clubs respectively.
The event featured especially themed dances from all genres including Hip-hop, Traditional, Contemporary/ Lyrical and Freestyle. Each form had its own style, but all of them were united by their common goal of artistic expression and the celebration of the human body and incorporated these improvisational, physical expressions into their own works. Participants had their focus on the expression of inner feelings. It emerged in the dance formations emphasizing creativity in choreography and performance.
Judging a dance competition requires a lot of focus as you need to look at many different parameters in the dance performance; which hardly lasted for 30 – 60 seconds. Therefore, we invited two highly experienced judges; Anidha Ursula – Professional Dancing Instructor, Director and Choreographer with an experience of over 15 years in the industry, who was also selected to be a part of one of India’s famous institutions for the advancement of dancing. Currently the owner of “Dance with Anidha” Dancing Academy, and Thuffail Thasthakeer a passionate Dancer and Choreographer. Choreographed and Won representing the Sri Lankan Team in Monash Cultural Night from year 2014 to 2018.
The dance performances were basically judged on the following criteria; Style & Creativity, Sync & Timing, Choreography, Expression and Energy. And the best 10 performances were selected out of 40+ covers. At the end of deliberations, the Winner overall, 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up were announced on all Social Media Platforms awarding the winners and participants with E-Certificates accordingly.
Furthermore, everyone developed new relationships, built camaraderie, made connections, encouraged mind & body relaxation and most importantly showcased their talents. We were pleasantly surprised to see the overwhelming positive feedback and the appreciation towards the initiative.
By Rtr. Stephanie Von Hagt | Email: Stephanie.vonhagt23@gmail.com
