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taged in 2009 by Durban producer and choreographer - Shivani Kara, and colleague - Bhavnesh Narotam, the original production of ‘Dance with Me Baby’ was a sell-out success.
This time around the 150-minute production charts the highs and lows of human emotion and love over four distinct show segments: Love, Sorrow, Party and Marriage. It is a bigger, flashier production with 56 dance routines, compared to its predecessor’s 30. Audiences will be taken on a splendid rollercoaster as the cast of 62 perform to musical interludes ranging from 60’s Indian favourites to up-to-the-minute pop songs.
The main body of the show is made up of a whopping 28 dance items, says Kara. “The Love (Sayaa) segment features heart-wrenching melodies and captures the feelings of first love. It’s about feeling every emotion, the heart’s first flutter, the first touch and first kiss,” she says.
Sorrow, on the other hand, sums up the conflicting emotions of unrequited love and the experiences of lovers who are torn apart from each other.
Shivani then takes this up a notch with the Party segment, which features the energetic, feel-good music popular among youngsters today (for those in the know, think Love Mera Hit Hit, Twist and Kambakth Ishq). This is followed by the Marriage segment celebrating traditional customs such as the Henna Day and the pre-wedding Sanjee party.
The show concludes with a grand finale sequence comprising a medley of 23 different songs, from the likes of Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna of the 1960s to the present.
For those not familiar with the Bollywood genre or Indian music, there is an energetic,12-minute dance tribute to Michael Jackson, which Kara says reproduces the late singer’s most popular music videos to perfection on-stage. Expect the ever-popular ‘Thriller’, ‘Beat It’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’, ‘Smooth Criminal’ and more.
Kara is well-known to local audiences, having staged the popular ‘East Meets West’ Fashion Fusion Dance Spectacular in both Durban and Johannesburg recently, as well as the sell-out debut of Dance with me Baby in both cities in 2009. The self-confessed “slave driver” has since late October 2009 been whipping her cast of 62 dancers into shape, with rehearsals held daily at the Playhouse studios in Mayville for between four and 15 hours a day.
Added to the show’s total package is a special guest dance slot by popular Lotus FM jock Varshan Sookhun, whom Kara has been grooming for nearly two months in preparation for his first on-stage dance performance.
Sookhun will be joined by Kara herself in a rare return to the stage. She’s had little time to perform for the past six years in between all her producing, teaching and directing.
But the hard work has certainly paid off as ‘Dance with Me Baby…Again’ has caught the attention of Sony Entertainment Television Asia. This channel will be airing this event internationally.
The show runs for two-and-a-half hours in a fully air-conditioned marquee at Suncoast with a 20 minute interval. Seating is reserved, with tickets now available at Computicket and the Suncoast box office. Prices are R120pp for the first five rows or R100pp for other seats. |
