Aaja Nachle

Aaja Nachle, meaning "Come, let's dance" is a Hindi film that featured Madhuri Dixit in the lead. Aaja Nachle was a comeback film for Madhuri after 6 years of her wedding. It also features Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal kapoor, Divya Dutta, Akshaye Khanna and many more in the supporting roles. Though the movie was a flop, it was much loved by the die hard fans of Madhuri.



The plot of the movies is a little boring (at least to me). The plot is a blend of dance and drama. Dia (Madhuri) comes back to her native, Shamli, where dance had been an inherent part, when she learns that her dance guru, Makarand is on his death bed. But before she arrives, Makarand dies, leaving the responsibility of reviving his dance theater, 'Ajanta' to Dia. Then, there comes a lot of melodrama in the screenplay. Dia is treated with a taunt by the localites of Shamli as she had eloped with the American photographer, Steve. After going through a lot of thick and thin, Dia succeeds in reviving Ajanta and Shamli.



As always, Madhuri's dance leaves us awestruck. The songs 'O re Piya' leaves us in a trance. Vaibhavi Merchant won the IIFA award for the best choreography for 'O re Piya'. The song 'Aaja Nachle' is a dance number, picturised completely on Madhuri. This song became the most played song in all wedding sangeets and parties. Aaja Nachle received a lot of oppositions before its release from the dalits.

Aaja Nachle song

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Dance and health

Dance, for me it is passion. For my mum, it is entertainment. For my dad, it is just a noisy thing with all the blaring speakers in my home. But in the recent times, people have started considering dance to be one form of workout. Be it a slow beat ballet or a fast beat jazz, people consider it to be a fitness training.  Dance, which is an aerobic loosens the muscles and adds flexibility to the body.

Getting started with dancing

Dance requires interest and not perfection. All that you need to do is open up yourself and enjoy each and every move you make. There has bee a tremendous increase in the no.of dance schools in each locality. Or you can just start off with a "bale bale" in sangeets and mehandi functions. Newbies have to stretch for a few minutes every time they get to dance. Or else, it may lead to severe injuries due to the lack of flexibility.  

Health benefits of dancing

Dancing can be a way to stay fit for people of all ages, shapes and sizes. It has a wide range of physical and mental benefits including:

• improved condition of your heart and lungs
• increased muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness
• increased aerobic fitness
• improved muscle tone and strength
• weight management
• stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis
• better agility and flexibility
• improved balance and spatial awareness
• increased physical confidence
• improved mental functioning
• 
  

Dance for mental relaxation

Personally, I dance when I feel low. Dance is my mood lifter. Not just me, many find dance to be a stress remover. When dance is taken seriously, it immensely improves your concentration and thus takes off your mind from stress. A relaxed mind innovates, recreates and reinvents new ideas. 

"A sound mind is a sound body", and hence it is advisable to take up dance seriously for a healthier life.

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Dare 2 Dance

Dance gets hold of everyone's joy and pleasure. Even people who cannot groove and move love watching the finest dance. Maybe that is why, Nach Baliye had gone upto Season 6, Dance India Dance has recently gone off air with Season 4, Jodi No.1 is coming to the end of Season 7, Manada Mayilada may go upto season "infinity" despite the poor TRP ratings.

All reality shows have 10 jodis or 10 solo participants judged by 3 judges (is it a tradition or what to have 3 judges??). Every week a jodi or a participant gets eliminated and there is a wildcard round to give them a second chance. How boring!! I have been watching Jodi No.1 from 2005 and now its 2014. Nothing has changed. Even me, who can give up anything for dance is irritated.

Thanks to Life OK, I am regaining the interest in dance reality shows. The new theme of "Dare 2 Dance" is something worthy to look forward. The host is Akshay Kumar which is again exciting. The promo showed the dancers dancing under water and on air(on a bar hung from a crane). Dare 2 Dance starts on September 6,2014 which is 2 days from now. There are 10 dancers to take the dare.

To get the full information about the dancers, visit

http://www.pinkvilla.com/tvtags/akshay-kumar/dare-2-dance-check-out-complete-list-participants-who-will-be-dared-who-do-you-t   

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The Loyola Dream Team

Loyola College,one of the oldest colleges and a well known institute down south has a rich cultural history. Loyola brags about producing not only the world class sportsmen like Leander Paes and Vishwanathan Anand but also well known movie technicians like "ILayathalapathy" Vijay, Surya and Anirudh. Being one among the best colleges in South-India to host Cultural Fests. The college hosts an annual inter - collegiate dance competition called Ignite and they top every cultural fest like SAARANG,JIVE etc. Loyola college is also known for its ace dance team, Loyola Dream Team, which is one among the country's best dance teams and one of the crowd pullers for other college culturals. The IITM's 'SAARANG' is the best example. 

THE LOYOLA DREAM TEAM

The Loyola Dream Team comes up with new ideas every time in every culturals. Recently they have started giving their bang on performances in the stage of "India's Dancing Superstar" receiving all praises from Ashley Lobo, Geeta Kapur, and Ritesh Deshmukh. Hope all goes well and they win the title as "India's Dancing SuperstarS".

To vote for THE LOYOLA DREAM TEAM, ring the toll free number 1800-1200-809 or log onto www.starplus.in.

One of the striking performances of the Loyola Dream Team in the face-off round where they conquered the Boyzone Dance team of Mangalore.

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My favourite dance quotes

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” 
                                                                                     - William W.Purkey

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” 
                                                                                                  
                                                                                     - Voltaire  

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.” 
             
                                                                                     - Friedrich Nietzsche

“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.” 

                                                                                    - Rumi

“Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.” 

“People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that, you live all your life. ” 

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul” 


                                                                                   - Martha Graham

“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.” 
           
                                                                                   - Mikhail Baryshnikov

When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. 

                                                                                   - Hans Bos

If I can not dance, I shall die!
                                                              - Anna Pavlova

To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.

                                                                                   - Indian saying

Dance every performance as if it were your last. 
                                                                                   
                                                                                  - Eric Bruhn

The dance is the mother of the arts. Music and poetry exist in time; painting and architecture in space. But the dance lives at once in time and space. 

                                                                                   - Curt Sachs

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ABCD - Anybody Can Dance

Dance, today is not just an entertainment but makes life meaningful for many. For instance, Michael Jackson endured only because of his dance and in our day Prabhu Deva, Birju Maharaj and many others live to tell the tale owing to their dance. Dance, apart from being an element in movies has started becoming the movie itself. STEP UP is a well-known Hollywood dance film which has extended up to five parts. The same recognition has been pulled off by the 2013 Bollywood 3-D dance film "ABCD (Any Body Can Dance)" directed and choreographed by the renowned choreographer Remo D'Souza . This movie, starring Prabhu Deva and Ganesh Acharya (the Chikni Chameli fame) in the key role has also other artists like Kay Kay Menon, Lauren Gottlieb, Dharmesh Yelande, Salman Yusuff Khan and dancers from "Dance India Dance". Along with the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions titled Aadalam Boys Chinnatha Dance, the film was released worldwide on February 8, 2013. 

                                            

THE  PLOT

                   After having a bitter disagreement with his friend and manager Jehangir Khan about the obvious abuse of power and influence to win a dance competition called "Dance Dil Se" for his team JDC (Jehangir Dance Company), the choreographer of the dance company, Vishnu (Prabhu Deva), quits his job. At first he wants to return home to Chennai, but his friend Gopi (Ganesh Acharya) persuades him to stay in Mumbai with him. After witnessing some underprivileged local youths' dancing abilities at a celebration for lord Ganesha, Vishnu decides to start his own dance group with them. The main challenges for Vishnu are the lack of discipline among the dancers and the rivalry between the two factions in the group lead by D (Dharmesh Yelande) and Rocky . There is also Chandu, a drug addict trying to overcome his addiction through dance and Riya, who was JDC's star pupil until Jehangir tries to take advantage of her. Riya later joins Vishnu's team. How they manage to overcome their individual limitations and how they battle it out on India's top dance show "Dance Dil Se" is the rest of the movie.

MUSIC

               The music was composed by Sachin-Jigar and Mayur Puri is the lyric-writer. Every song makes our feet tap, and personally my favorites are "Psycho Re" and "Bezubaan" which can make Anybody Dance!!!! T he last song which is pictured as the finale dance, makes my eyes wet.

Bezubaan

Psycho Re with Prabhu Deva (to the left) and Ganesh Acharya (to the right)

             

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Dance Quotes

 

                 

                                    

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