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Hip hop and happiness

Pinto's Dance Academy proved that charity could be fun as its members danced away the evening to bring smiles on to the faces of the underprivileged, writes K. Jeshi

PHOTOS: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

`90 MINUTES' Of music and dance

Even four-year-old Sana was decked up and she played the perfect host. She welcomed guests from the dais with a warm smile and handed over bouquets. It was a proud moment to be part of `90 minutes' — a show, which was not just about non-stop high adrenaline dancing but also about bringing smiles to the faces of a number of under-privileged children in the city.

Presented by Pinto's Dance Academy for the ninth consecutive year, the annual fundraiser saw every member of the academy and little Sana, the youngest, setting the crowd on fire with their hip hop dancing and rock n' roll movements at PSG IMSR auditorium.

Foot-tapping dances

Other tiny tots of the team joined the celebrations with their advanced funky dance moves for the popular Bollywood number Zara jhoom jhoom ... followed by adults wanting to rebel, inspired from Rang De Basanti. The youth also wanted to perfect the western style dance moves of Hrithik Roshan. Dressed in black and green leather jackets and trousers, they danced to a medley of dance numbers from his movies beginning with Mein aisa kyun hoon from Lakshya to the recent It's magic from Krissh and achieved the feat.

The trendsetters of the evening were clearly the kids— designer clothes, matching jewellery, cool hairdos and oodles of energy.

If the theme was black for a Tamil pop number, it was pink and pastel hues for the club song, Where's the party tonight from the movie Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.

The performance by the adults for Chaand sifarish... from Fanaa was graceful. Men dressed in ethnic kurtas and jeans matched steps with women, who wore embellished black salwars to enhance the mood of the song. More hip hop numbers followed but the best part of the evening was a dance number by the physically challenged children. They might not have been able to shake a leg, but they more than made up for it with their excitement. They laughed and waved to the crowd right through their performance. Members of Pinto's academy joined them in cheering the proceedings on.

Funds for a cause

The fund collected to the tune of Rs.50,000 was shared by Families for Children, an orphanage at Podanur; Presentation Convent Rehabilitation Centre in Kinathukadavu and the Upahar centre for the blind. G.S. Prabhudas, founder and chairman of G.S Educational Trust, Chennai, donated Rs.10,000 for Pinto's Trust to be utilised for such causes.

Next was a transition dance — Bharatanatyam followed by folk and everyone had a role to play.

If the adults kick-started the dance with traditional movements, kids in long embroidered silk skirts and shirts continued with folk numbers.

Later, everyone joined in the fun and danced to a mass number. Girls dressed in vibrant georgette skirts in oranges, blacks, pinks and reds and matching tops in mirror and sequin work danced gracefully to the fast beats. The choreography for songs from Ghajini also stood out. In the end, the kids once again stole the show with their dance number from the Hindi movie 36 China Town, dressed as warriors in black and red leather costumes.

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