A very special Bollywood flashmob performance

May 31, 2012 / 6 Comments

Hi Everyone, Joanna here, reporting on a very special Bollywood flashmob performance.  On May 29 a few staff from NBS were invited to Sunny View Public School to watch their Asian Heritage Month celebratory assembly. Sunny View Public School is designed for students with high physical and health needs, and many of their students rely on wheelchairs, walkers or other devices to assist them in being mobile.  In addition to some of NBS’ Associate Program students performing the Bollywood flashmob dance, students at Sunny View had been taught a variation of the choreography in order that they too might be able to participate in the assembly. A year ago, Sunnyview students learnt a version of the Crabbuckit choreography, and performed it with students from Church Street PS and NBS’ Associate Program students but this year’s performance was a bigger production, and grown from three schools involvement to four!

In addition to the Sunny View students, we saw participation from Seneca Public School as well as Owen Public School.  The Owen students partnered with the Seneca and Sunny View students to create a wonderful version of DJ Turn the Music Up. Credit must be given to the key staff at Sunny View and Seneca, Tamara McEwen and Claire Cram and to Lopa Sarkar, the choreographer, who adapted her routine so that those students with students with high physical and health needs could enjoy and share in the experience of a flashmob.

What inspired me was seeing the commitment to creating this celebration and how through this experience we saw the benefits of sharing and enjoying dance with several communities. Walking away from the morning’s assembly I couldn’t help but think how this experience embraced the ideals of sharingdance.ca and how excited I am to see how it will develop and grow even further for next year’s flashmob!