Dozens of dancers will take the stage Saturday having spent a week learning Indian dance styles.
Participants in the annual BodyTalk workshop, hosted by Crimson Coast Dance Society, will perform with Panj Bangra, a Vancouver-based Bollywood and bangra dance group which has led the free workshops all week.
“It’s been wildly successful this year,” said Holly Bright, artistic director.
Bangra is a traditional north Indian folk dance, while Bollywood was made popular through the country’s proliferation of movies.
The week-long free series of workshops also includes hip hop classes. Registration for this year is closed.
The event is organized by Crimson Coast with the help of the BodyTalk Cru, a group of young people who help choose the theme and instructors while promoting the event to the community.
“It’s been rewarding to see the Cru really take over,” Bright said.
Panj Bangra has been performing the traditional Indian style of dance professionally since 2006. The group recently won a spot in the national competition.
The week wraps up Saturday (March 26) with a show featuring Panj Bangra and participants from the week-long workshops.
The participants – broken into two streams which includes families and teens – will perform a hip hop number, a bangra number and a Bollywood number. The show will feature Panj Bangra in their award-winning dance performance.
The show is set for Malaspina Theatre unless the strike between Vancouver Island University and its faculty continues. In that event, the show will be moved to Nanaimo Centre Stage at 25 Victoria Rd.
An announcement on the show’s location will be made on Crimson Coast’s website at www.crimsoncoastdance.org.
Tickets $15; $5/16 and under and available through the website. Show begins at 7:30 p.m.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com