Ok - One word ---- A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!
Sometimes I've got to...run away...I've got to...get away...
Tainted Love!
Love the song and love the choreo we are learning in class right now. Only Shaira can train us to the point where we like contestants from SYTYCD!! We really looked amazing today with our clean, long lines...great job, class! And Shaira, thanks for being an amazing teacher! Thank you thank you thank you...

For all you people who are reading this blog and are not in the class, you should just stop by one day and watch us do our choreo, then you'll know what I'm talking about :)

Exactly a year ago on March 10th 2009 is when Dance Identity had it's first class ever. Tuesday 8-9pm 20 students dancing and singing "Bachna Ae Haseeno". From that day DI has come a long way not only in terms of number of students, classes or locations but as a company we are creating "Artists".

After 2 years of gearing up for motherhood and then experiencing it for the first time, I needed to get back to dance. It was more for my daughter than myself - I was her role model..even if she didn't know it then :). My criteria for a class was something that would be close to my home and something that would not be boring. Well, I was in for a real surprise after I joined Shaira's class..! One class that is not boring? Yeah right. 

From 1 class a week, I went to 2. From 2 classes a week, I went to dancing almost every day, and performing at the PAN IIT Diwali Dhamaka 2009 show! I had never imagined I would do that..That is the magic of Shaira. She inspires and supports. Most importantly, she believes in her students and team. She always told me - if you want to do this, we'll make it happen. Having a full time job and a 1.5 year old did not leave me much time, but it happened. I was there, I felt beautiful, I danced, and my daughter loved the show! After the show, my daughter actually started moving her legs as opposed to just hands, when we "danced" at home.. The most amazing part was that she could actually recognize me in all the performances from a distance :)

What I love about DI is that there is something for everyone. If you just want to unwind, you can do that, though I doubt that after one class, you will not want to do more! If you want grow in different areas, you can do that too! There is so much to learn and so much scope to grow. Bollywood, Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop... every class is different. Bodies and souls start moving to the music in a beautiful way given the time..

DI is a family first and then a company, and for many, it's love at first sight :)

Right before moving to the Bay Area I got a call from Ashley Lobo asking me to come and assist him with this new film. My immediate reaction was NO as I had so much to do. All the paperwork, Visa, packing I wasn't leaving for a Holiday I was leaving to take one of the biggest decisions of my life of getting married :) Then he said these two words, "Amitabh Bachchan"....All of a sudden I stopped doing what I was doing and asked the question. "Will I be choreographing the Big B?" The answer, "YES" and within hours I was packing my bags not for the US but to Mumbai!!

The next day we met the 4 new comers in the film. Dhruv, Vaibhav, Siddharth and Shraddha. We started working on the song with them. We had dancers from Russia for this song. A chair routine, puppet sequence and hours of rehearsal and we were half way through the song.

What followed were dance and theatre workshops to get them to really understand and connect with their characters in the film. Roysten Able was doing the theatre workshops while Ashley and I worked on the dance. Roy was the lighting director for the first ever musical/dance theatre production I did in New Delhi called "That's Dancing". So working with familiar people always adds the element of fun to the set.