Kuwait's Young Talents Dance Away to Glory at Woogie Woogie 2011
Report and Pics: Wilson Saldanha, Shirthady/Kuwait
Daijiworld Media Network - Kuwait
Kuwait, May 9: After the auditions on April 16 and 23, Karma Entertainment organized the much-awaited dance show "Woogie Woogie 2011", an intense dance competition on Friday May 6 at American International School Auditorium, Maidan Hawally. The show was well-organized and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the excellent sound, glittering lightings and the top quality dances which ensured that the judges had a tough time deciding on the winner.
The competition was judged by professionals from India - actor-dancer and India’s 'Wonder Girl’, the `Dancing Peacock’ (Natya Mayuri), Sudha Chandran and choreographer and winner of TV reality show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa Marischa Fernandes. Without any formalities, the judges were formally welcomed by comperes of the evening Neetha and Shakier. The audience was entertained with non-stop dances by competitors of different age groups.
Perhaps due to the many dance reality shows on televisions, the competitors were a class apart and competition itself was way above other ordinary dance contests. All the dances were packed with superb costumes, stunts, excellent backdrops and individual stage settings which gave a unique flavour to the competition. At one stage Sudha Chandran expressed that this competition was a test to the judges more than to the competitors.
Dr Sneh Lata Goel, a dynamic, intuitive, seasoned professional, who is immensely experienced in the field of psychology and counselling and who is also a well-wisher of Karma Entertainment gave some advice to the children and parents. The sponsors of the event were honoured with mementos. During intervals, the audience were asked quiz questions on the sponsors and winners were awarded with attractive gift hampers.
Karma Entertainment was founded by as an experienced event manager, choreographer Chanda Sharma who has worked with a variety of entertainment shows, including Woogie Woogie and Beat the Heat. She has proven her vision, that is, 'hearts and minds, united through music and dance, cross all traditional boundaries'. She continues to spread this vision all over Kuwait, leaving audiences breathless and clamoring for more.
Her husband Sonu Sharma is the backbone of all her adventures in the field of entertainment. His interest in music and creative art brought him to Karma entertainment in 2003 and since then he has been associated with the group. Today, he sees a big potential in the dance competition as it is growing year by year and is liked immensely by the participants. He has plans to take Woogie Woogie from stage to television in the near future and bring celebrity choreographers and actors to the show to take it to the level it deserves. Another name highly talked about in the Karma Entertainment is that of Melissa Fernandes. Starting with the company in early 2005, she has since proven herself to be Karma’s right hand woman and go-to-girl.
The winners of the competition received shields, medals and certificates from the celebrity judges. The marks of every individual/team were entered into the computer by judges after every performance and a custom-made software calculated the marks and announced the winner without any human interference to avoid errors. The following were the winners of the competition.
Winners of the grand finale: Solo dances
Age 5 to 8 years
1. Jorell Patrao
2. Priyanka P. Thashnath
3. Sania Shabbir Sheikh
Classical
1. Parvathy Nair
2. Nayan Thara
3. Jismol Rajan
Age 9 to 11 years
1. Shreya Nair
2. Leona R Sequeira
3. Akhila Santhi
Age 12 to 13 years
1. Janet Dsouza
2. Avarna Rajan
3. Vanessa Castelino
Age 14 to 15 years
1. Nikitha Fernando
2. Anusha Fernandes
2. Mikhaya Seby
3. Tiara Dsouza
Age 16 and above
1. Ambili Babu
2. Bivin K S.
3. Melanie Janet
Winners of the grand finale: Group dances
Group dance (juniors)
1. Dancing Divas Juniors
2. Ballerine's Twinkles
3. Dance Benefits Twinkling Stars
Group dance (seniors)
1. Ballerine's Kittens
2. Daze Kuwait A
3. Dance Benefits Small Wonders
Group dance (super seniors)
1. Heart Beats Kuwait
2. Ground Zero
3. Wockeez United