Part of an international series, this movement was created a decade ago by the visionary choreographer Dr. Sandip Soparrkar to help raise awareness about important social issues around the globe. This year’s chosen topic was Substance Abuse and Drug Addiction. With the help of the inspirational Varsha Naik and her Navrang Dance Academy, a transcendent evening of performance, community education and empowerment was arranged. The event was held at J.P.Stevens High School, in Edison, New Jersey
The Event started with a beautiful musical rendition of the US national anthem and recital of the Indian National Anthem too.
The opening performance choreographed and written by Dr. Sandip Soparrkar was one of the most powerful and effective anti-drug messages. The audience was captivated by the narrative of the piece — the performers from Navrang Dance Academy including Varsha Naik helped bring the story to life in a way that made Dr. Soparrkar’s work easily accessible to all in attendance.
Later on, there were 11 beautiful dance performances from various talented artists. Multicultural and International Dance forms like – Bharatnatyam, Mohiniyattam, Colombian Salsa, Paraguay folk, Tap dance, Bachata, Indian folk, Tollywood, Ballroom, Bellydancing and Zumba fitness dance entertained the audience that evening. All encouraging the slogan Be high on dance not on drugs.
Dancers of many traditions came together for an evening of jaw-dropping performances and helped raise awareness about the dangers of Drug Addiction. Life was celebrated and honored through choreographed movement that uplifted the souls of all in attendance.
The Cheif guest and Keynote speaker for this years USA Dance Day was Lion Daniel M. Elkins. Mr Elkins is a professional drug prevention specialist and community mobilizer for the Delaware Prevention Coalition. He is also the charter president of Bellefonte Lions Club. Lion Daniel has dedicated himself to helping communities fight the rising drug epidemic in this nation.
Mr. Elkins said ” I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Soparrkar, Varsha Naik, and Navrang Dance Academy for hosting such a wonderfully positive event and for inviting me to participate. The outpouring of support from corporate sponsors, news media outlets, local government, and members of the community for this event is awe-inspiring. Everyone who helped Varsha Naik and Dr. Soparrkar make this incredible community event possible should be truly proud of their accomplishments.” He stressed on the importance on community support and education regarding the sensitive topic of drug abuse among teens and young adults.
Special guests of honor was councilmen of edison township Ajay Patil ,
Upendra J. Chivukula from State of New Jersey, Lion Armando Gurra were also present at the event.
Dr. Sandip Soparrkar was thrilled to see the community attendance and said “For me Dance is not just a medium to entertain but even a way to educate and create awareness and I and overwhelmed with the way Varsha Naik has brought people to together celebrating dance.”
As a closing note Varsha Naik said, ‘Navrang Dance Academy promises to continue Dance for a Social Cause every year and we promise that each year we will try and bring to light various causes that are prevalent in the society.’
Many Dance group from and around New Jersey Area performed in International Concert like: Sowparnika Dance Academy Malini Nayar, Step up Dance Jesse Yip, Kala Aradhana Dance and music Academy Smt. Lavanya Mahadevan, Nirmiti Dance school Seema Chandane & Aarushi Chandane, NJ dance and shows Carolina Baez, Chaitanya Dance school Sneha Reddy, Al RITMO de cali Mariana Dussan, Anne Hitchcock, Jonathan Ronen. The Event supported by Pyar.com, Seema and Col Virendra Tavathia , Komal Dangi, Prajakti Gupte, Poonam Singh , Sudendra and AnuKumari , Stephany Kim – Chohan,Sumathy Iyer,
Kaushal Kathwadia, Jyothi Bhuvanraj ,Pradeep Gupta , Raj and shilpa Pandya .
Message : Be high on Dance not on Drugs .
————Pigeon Media- (Abhishek Dubey)