Jose Ruiz and Kathryn McCormick in"Marjaani"
Why oh WHY oh WHY are all these reality dance competition shows all stuck on representing "Bollywood" dance as only CLASSICAL INDIAN DANCE in traditional costumes? Someone at SYTYCD needs to be schooled, seriously. Now, dont get me wrong; I LOVE the fact that anything "Bollywood" related is getting respect on national U.S. television...but to ONLY represent the traditional side of Indian dance forms, and to package it all as "Bollywood Dance", and to only represent THAT as "Bollywood", or indicative as Indian culture as a whole, is dare I say, ignorant and "miseducational", if thats even a word....also, we must look at the fact that choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan is obviously trained in classical Indian dance forms and that is his forte...but, that is what he sticks to in the show...unfortunately, that fact is also in essence ignoring a whole spectrum of contemporary dance from being presented in the "Bollywood" segments on the show (urban, hip hop)...and these days, most "Bollywood" films are full of VERY contemporary, urban, east-meets-west choreography, and fashion in general....and the severe deficiency of both, in my opinion, is consequently skewing the general viewing public's perspective on what actually is "Bollywood Dance". In fact, thats a great question! "Bollywood" being an umbrella term for the popular Hindi film industry, is SYTYCD and ABDC's classification of nearly ALL forms of Indian dance as "Bollywood" a help or hindrance to the further understanding, respect and recognition of these art forms as a whole? What do YOU Think? Post your Comments...
I WILL say that THANK GOD that SYTYCD is using actual Hindi music from actual Bollywood Films..whereas ABDC has been stuck on using largely Hip Hop music, with absolutely minimal amounts of Bhangra music, mixed into the fray, totalling IGNORING the Hindi element, and labeling it as "Bollywood". Again...Bollywood is the popular HINDI film industry. Yes, there are many forms of dance that are represented nowadays in Bollywood films, and thats GREAT...but for the most part, most of the dialogue and almost ALL the lyrics are sung in HINDI...for the specific reason that these are films made in INDIA for the general Hindi-speaking public....Until I see some Hritik Roshan or Shahid Kapoor-inspired dance tunes, costumes and choreo on these shows, I will continue to rant and rave...until the FULL spectrum of "Bollywood" is truly represented. Word.
Here's a quick re-cap of the two recent SYTYCD "Bollywood" segments:
Adéchiké Torbert & Mala Tejwani's performance of “Mourya Re” (song from Don):
http://www.whogoteliminated.com/adechike-torbert-bollywood-video/237/Jose Ruiz and Kathryn McCormick's funky phat performace of "Marjaani" (song from Billu Barber):
http://www.whogoteliminated.com/jose-ruiz-bollywood-video/126/
I have to say, I preferred watching Jose Ruiz and Kathryn McCormick. The costumes, energy and technique outshone those of their counterparts, and to quote The Examiner.com, Ruiz, "had a joyful magical quality on stage".
Furthermore, Hostess with the Mostest Cat Deeley brought up that Jose Ruiz’s Bollywood performance had a 'funk factor' and the judges loved it...uh, well, YEAH, it had a funky element, and it SHOULD have, because FUNK is very much a part of today's contemporary Bollywood choreography! Of course, I am biased in that opinion, for obvious reasons, but is is true. Until my next rant and rave on the subject, enjoy!
*Fellow 'Seinfeld' geeks like me will appreciate this week's blog title, as a nod to the classic "George, the ocean called, and they're running out of shrimp" line ;)
