Inner West’s Bollywood stars

Darshana Shah’s Bollywood classes at Strathfield North Primary School are growing in popularity

BY USHA RAMANUJAM ARVIND

He swayed his hips and twirled his duppatta quite like the Badshah of Bollywood as he danced to the catchy tunes of Mahi Ve. Eight-year-old William looked every inch like the King Khan himself, only a diminutive version.

The Year Two student of Strathfield North Primary in Sydney’s inner west is the latest to join the Bollywood bandwagon. Offering a gateway of sorts to the Indian experience, Bollywood has become quite the rage down under with more mainstream audiences lapping up its vibrant colours and textures.

Strathfield North has been offering Bollywood dance classes for the past two years thanks to the initiative of classroom teacher Darshana Shah, who volunteers her time for the program.

“With a 100% turnout at all lessons, it has been so popular, I have had to turn away more than half of children for want of space,” she told Indian Link

Shah now runs the extracurricular activity thrice a week before school and during the lunch hour, in two groups catering to differing age brackets. While the students get to show off their newly acquired skills through a range of events, they have been rehearsing particularly hard this semester in the lead up to a big performance for Public Education Week.

This year’s performance turned out to be extra-special as the school invited some of its treasured alumni, the Kirby brothers, as guests of honour. The retired justice Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, Hon David Kirby QC and Donald Kirby started their academic pathway at Strathfield North back in the forties.

The Bollywood segment, featuring two hits Dolna and Mahi Ve, was one of the highlights of a huge multicultural showcase organized on the occasion.

A professional singer and choreographer, Shah comes from a musically inclined family and has trained in Mumbai’s Sangeetha Mahabharathi, as well as with Pandit Dhruba Ghosh.

Back in 2008, Shah trained a small group at Westmead Primary to perform at presentation day. Inspired by its success, she started regular Bollywood classes.

When she was transferred to Strathfield North, the school principal was only too happy to encourage this novel initiative and tap into the cultural diversity.

“Obviously it is a whole new experience for the predominantly Catholic community,” Shah explained. “In no time, its popularity has grown and I am glad to bring the colours of India to our multicultural society. They love the moves and the beats, as well as the bindis and the bangles.

Parents have been very welcoming and supportive too. In fact the staff at SNPS now wants me to run a dance workshop for them as well!”

In addition to the sheer joy of creative movement, Shah believes the classes offer a great opportunity for the children to experiment with new concepts and develop their self-esteem and confidence in the process. She believes that a strong focus on cross-curricular activities strengthens core literacy and numeracy programs.

“Initially, it is difficult for young inexperienced students to pick up the dance moves,” Shah admitted.

“Remember that 90% of these students have never done any kind of dance. However, I encourage students to be themselves and you will see that they put their own charm and character in their dances. I have seen them evolve in the last few months. They have become more confident, self assured and expressive”.

A lot of thought and planning goes not only into the choreography, but also the structure of the dance lessons. “As there is a lot of stop and start, I make sure the sessions don’t get either tedious or monotonous. It is important to enjoy the journey as much as the outcome,” she noted.

“I have to plan what dance moves are suitable for the music and the lyrics, and make sure they feel the beat and get the timing right. When a large group moves together to the tunes of Bollywood, the effect is simply breathtaking,” said Shah enthusiastically.

Another exciting aspect of the experience this year has been the colourful costumes, designed and sourced locally by Shah and Yasmin of Parramatta Fashions.

While Shah cannot be more pleased with the huge success of the group, her eyes light up at the mention of William.

“He is an absolute jewel. To dance among all other girls as the solo male dancer requires guts and courage, but he stole everyone’s heart and he never missed a beat! I think if Shahrukh were to see him he would be impressed. Bring on Bollywood Stars 2013! We have some super stars right here,” she quipped.

Spurred by the positive outcome, Shah is already looking for new avenues to showcase her school’s potential.

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