Put on your dancing shoes

BCDC to relaunch soon

The Bosco and Caesar Dance Company (BCDC), whose Dubai operations have been put on hold since November 2008, will be back in action soon this year, XPRESS has learnt.

"We are relaunching soon in Dubai and are currently sorting out issues with regard to our licence," said Kadambari Shetty, Creative Director of the company, from Mumbai.

BCDC, which first came to Dubai in 2007, is run by Bosco (pictured far right) and Caesar (right), two celebrated talents who have choreographed such hit songs as Mauja Hi Mauja, Do You Want a Partner and Dus Bahane. The duo launched a new school, the Bosco Caesar Dance Academy, in Mumbai on December 12, Shetty added.

Dubai At first it was Bosco and Caesar, then came Shiamak Davar and now it's Saroj Khan.

As the biggies of Bollywood choreography make a mark with their schools in the UAE, the song-and-dance appeal of Hindi cinema, it appears, is increasingly catching on with Indian expatriates and others alike, keen to come under their sway.

"Nearly 40 per cent of the 229 applications we have received so far are from non-Indians, mainly Arabs and a few Westerners," said Saroj Khan, the pioneering Bollywood choreographer while on a recent visit here.

Talent hunt

The Dancing Star Institute (DSI), which she launched at Al Qusais on November 30, 2009, is open to all nationalities and age groups and will cover all types of dance forms from Bollywood, she said. "India is a running market but I am still establishing myself here," said Khan, adding that her aim in the long term is to identify talent for rewarding careers in Hindi cinema.

Similarly, the Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts (SDIPA), which was launched in Dubai in 2007, teaches Bollywood jazz, hip hop, salsa, contemporary and rock'n'roll. It has five centres in the UAE today with at least 500 students registering for each of its workshops. On offer are six courses, including a Special Potential Batch where students selected by Shiamak Davar get advanced training.

"Much of our success has to do with the Shiamak Davar brand," said Rohan Kapur, Marketing Manager of MarkGulf Events which has brought the school here. "It's all about combining dance with health, fitness and fun," he said.

This past year, the school had two Funks and five workshops during which students got to learn a complete dance routine and were trained in various stage disciplines, he said, explaining how the Funks combined the workshops with a final show where each student got to experience costume trials, professional discipline, teamwork and a live performance.

He said the institute, which is looking to expand in the UAE, is also in talks with schools and corporates to conduct workshops on their premises for the convenience of students and executives.

While Saroj's DSI charges Dh80 per class, Shiamak's SDIPA takes Dh790 for 15 classes spanning five-six weeks.