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Vibe 2017 : Dancing for a Noble Cause
by: Suneeta Mishra
Pics: Bytegraph Productions
Atlanta recently witnessed a unique event - an eclectic group of people dancing
for the Vibha fundraiser called "Vibe 2017 - Dancing for a cause". Vibha is a
non-profit organization, which since its inception in 1991, has raised $13
million and supported more than 250 projects in India and 10 projects in the US.
With a vision to ensure that every under privileged child attains his/her right
to health, education and opportunity, it has touched over 300,000
underprivileged children. It has a volunteer network of 2,200 volunteers spread
across 18 action centers in cities across America and India. Vibha has several
fundraising events throughout the year like the DreamMile and Vibha Cricket
event that most are familiar with. This was the first time Vibha hosted a
cultural fundraising event that involved the local leaders, with an intent to
create more visibility for Vibha and having the patrons form a personal
connection with the cause and celebrate the joy of giving with their family and
friends. The event was sponsored by Basuree, Yupp TV, Futurewave and S3 catering
and supported by Maison D Puranique, Meraki Makeup, CountOnUs, Bytegraph
Productions, Bhushan Karnik Photography, BeTheYou and Prem's Dance Studio.
Modeled loosely on the popular TV show "Dancing with the Stars", this black-tie
dinner event aimed at raising funds for underprivileged children with the active
participation of Atlanta’s community leaders and local celebrities. A team of 10
dedicated Vibha volunteers worked tirelessly over the past couple of months to
conceptualize, plan and organize this event. An additional 18-member event day
volunteer team executed this event to perfection.
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Vibha Volunteers
From Left Standing: Ujjwala Brahme, Tanuja Kadam, Vaishali Adi, Vishali
Karnik, Shriya Diskalkar, Vindali Vartak, Prerna Gupta, Neha Negandhi,
Shikha Valsalan, Rosie Das, Ruchi Dave, Rekha Sawant, Tripura Vadlamani,
Madhavi Korapati, Prasoona Kota, Priti Sarda, Renuka Krishnan
From Left Sitting: Vijay Vemulapalli, Pravin Chavda, Nishikant Kadam,
Kannan Udayarajan, Durgesh Das, Prabir Das, Shailesh Sarda, Kishore
Krishnan, Sravan Chivukula, Srinivas Vemulapalli, Bhushan Karnik
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The format was simple: 11 distinguished couples, "Stars" from the Atlanta
area were paired with a choreographer of their choice, to compete in a dance
face-off in front of a sold out crowd. The Stars were chosen based on
nominations from the Vibha Atlanta’s volunteer team. These stars represented
various professions and communities in Atlanta ranging from founders of
successful companies, executives at global firms, community association leaders
to trailblazers at non-profits. They were also entrusted with the task of
raising funds for Vibha by influencing their friends and family to contribute
for the cause. The entire experience was a culmination of over two months of
intensive practice and coordination where the stars, not just rehearsed for
their performances and generated funds, but they also learned about Vibha’s work
through involvement in projects of their choice. While two couples actually
visited the projects and met the beneficiaries in India in person during this
time, others used technology like Skype and FaceTime to chat and get to know the
beneficiaries and project volunteers. Social media particularly Facebook was
used to make the message go viral as the participants posted preparation videos
and shared messages about this unique event.
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From Left: Pramod Sajja’s at Devnaar Foundation
for the Blind, Alpa Amin’s at Alamb in Delhi, & Henna Bakshi’s videochat
with Alamb beneficiaries in Delhi.
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The evening started with the Basuree sponsored fashion show choreographed by
Shaveta Jain of "BeTheYou", where models sashayed on the ramp wearing
contemporary Indian outfits. The display included floor length evening gowns
with an Indian twist as well as contemporary stitched sarees. Emcee Neha
Negandhi kept the show running smoothly introducing participants, making key
announcements and facilitating the events.
Amit Malik and Alpa Amin set the dance competition rolling with a foot tapping
medley of bollywood numbers that included "Aati Kya khandala" and "Balam
Pichkari" with the able guidance of their choreographer Gayatri Menon of
ExpressTheBeat. The next stars of the evening were Aparna Bhattacharyya and her
choreographer Maria Martynova who danced to a contemporary number called "Man Ke
Manjire". A very apt choice, the dance was an inspirational ode to women. The
use of bright silk fans during the dance added an element of drama to the
nuanced performance. Sporting snazzy matching ice blue ensembles, Pramod &
Pratima Sajja who partnered with choreographer Neeti Mehta came right after,
starting with the soft and dreamy "Khuda Jaane" song and ending with the more
contemporary "Nashe si Chad Gayi". Priya & Sonica Sahetiya were up next and
performed semi-classical bollywood numbers. The mother-daughter duo danced to "Deewani
Mastani and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" with the steps choreographed by Sonica
herself. Graceful and in tandem with flowing ghagras, this was a real treat to
watch. The fifth performance of the evening to the unexpected delight of the
audience was a waltz! Gracefully performed by Sulabha, dressed in a beautiful
wine red evening gown, and Abhay Paranjape to the music of Olivia Newton-John’s
"Instrument of Peace", this evoked the charm of fluid dancers in perfect sync.
This piece was choreographed by Brian Dixon of Planet Ballroom. Sudhir and Payal
Agarwal were the sixth dancing stars in the lineup with a bollywood remix of "Dil
Kya Kare", "Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan" and "High Heels". Choreographed by Udita Menon
of ExpressTheBeat, the performance was interspersed with some storytelling,
ending with a plea for donating to Vibha. Chandrika Narayan came next, supported
by her choreographers Meghna and Movina. They started with "Aja Nachle", which
saw Chandrika displaying some nimble footwork. The song swiftly melded into a
Michael Jackson classic - "Black and White" where the dancers gave a fitting
dance tribute to the King of Pop. Neha and Nish Parikh performed the next number
with a medley that included "Banno", "Breakup Song" and "Gerua". Their
performance had a dramatic climax with both the dancers going up on a platform
and her changing into huge a bellowing orange skirt providing a stunning visual
for the "Gerua" song. Their dances were choreographed by Shilpa Jadwani. Andy
Leverett and Henna Bakshi’s modern number, choreographed by Amit Pawar, had
oodles of funk with the couple wearing matching LED outfits that glowed in the
dark. Cute and peppy, they danced to "Dil To Bachha Hai Ji", "Mehendi Lagake
Rakhna" and "Abhi To Party Shuru Hui Hai". Kavitha Palani and Arul Murugan’s
performance was marked by his spectacular entry to the dance floor on a hover
board! He swiftly stepped off the board to match Kavita’s steps to "Cham Cham
Cham" and "Kala Chashma". Quite innovative and modern, the choreography was done
by Shiva Turlapati. The last performers of the evening were Shaveta and Anuj
Jain who wore matching red and black outfits and danced to "Kar Gayi Chul", "Jabse
Mere Dil Ko", "Dilliwali Girlfriend" and "Badri ki Dulhaniya". Fast paced and
playful, the dances choreographed by Uma Muralidharan were a befitting finale to
the wonderful evening.
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| From Left : Alpa Amin & Amit Malik, Aparna
Bhattacharya & Maria Martynova, Pratima & Pramod Sajja, Sonica & Priya
Sahetiya, |
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| Sulabha & Abhay Paranjape, Sudhir & Payal Agrawal,
Chandrika Lakshminarayan, Nish & Neha Parikh, Arul Murugan & Kavitha
Palani |
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| Andy Leverett & Henna Bakshi, Anuj & Shaveta Jain |
After the star dances were done, the choreographers stepped in to showcase their
performances and kept the rhythm going for the rest of the evening.
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| Bryan Dixon of Planet Ballroom, Movina &
Meghana of MeMo School of Performing Arts, Udita & Gayatri Menon of
Express The Beats; |
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| Amit Pawar & Shilpa Jadwani, Anusha Hussaini of
Shiv’s Institute of Dance, Maria Martynova |
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| Prem Rehman of Prem’s Dance Studio, Shama
Lightwala; Neeti Mehta, Uma Murlidhar of Planet U Performing Arts |
To decide on the winners, the audience texted their favorite performer codes and
the votes were counted in real time to arrive at the award winners. Pramod and
Pratima Sajja won the award for the couple raising maximum funds for the event.
They also won the first place for the audience choice award. The runners up
award for audience choice went to Alpa Amin and Amit Malik.
Representative Brenda Lopez gave away prizes to the winners.
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| From Left: Stars raising most funds - Pratima & Pramod Sajja,
Audience Choice First Place Award Winner Pratima & Pramod Sajja with
Choreographer Neeti Mehta & Chief Guest Representative Brenda Lopez,
Audience Choice Second Place Award winner Amit Mailk & Alpa Amin with
choreographer Gayatri Menon |
The evening also saw the release of the official Vibha song video called "One
More Star". Composed by Chandan Gokhale, and conceptualized by Vibha volunteers
Vindali Vartak & Kannan Udayarajan, the heartwarming video features beautiful
and poignant vignettes and underlines the value of education, truly capturing
the essence of Vibha.
A silent auction of items donated by patrons to generate additional funds for
Vibha rounded off the pleasant evening. What resonated with the audience was
watching a group of enthusiastic people who did not really have any formal
training, getting out of their comfort zone and dancing for a great cause. This
event alone generated close to $80,000 and will support annual education cost of
educating about 3000 children in need. Hope this inspires a lot more people to
sign up next year and keep the celebration going. Kudos to the organizers for a
well organized, fun event that helped generate funds for a noble cause. Wishing
Vibha all the best and looking forward to more such exciting fundraising events
in future.
More information on Vibha can be found at
www.vibha.org .
Full coverage of the event can be accessed at
http://events.vibha.org/atlanta/vibe/dancingstars
Suneeta Mishra is a learning and development consultant based in Atlanta. An
avid blogger, she recently co authored a cookbook called "Cooking up a storm:
The Misra family way". You can follow her blogs at diehardfoodies.blogspot.com
and linoodiaries.blogspot.com.