Bindis, Henna, Bangles, and a little Bombay Kiss. Welcome to my past weekend in Quebec City as part of the Montreal based Bollywood Blast professional dance troupe. Bollywood Blast is a group of professional dancers who band together to enhance corporate events, presentations and events – Bollywood style of course.
This past weekend, my role was to help the behind the scenes of the event – helping the dancers make sure they were ready for each set, organizing costumes and even helping to set up and run a “bangle bazaar” in which guests could purchase not only bangles and bindis, but authentic clothing and even turbans for the men!
To begin the event, guests were greeted (by myself), and given an exclusive drink appropriately named a Bombay Kiss. Then, they were able to mingle, have a henna tattoo done, or purchase a new Bollywood wardrobe. Following this, they enjoyed an Indian meal of Tandoori chicken, a la Concorde hotel; and then the party started. Mixing classical with trendy Bollywood styles, 6 girls took the stage clothed in lenghas and jewelry. Dancing to popular tracks such as “Jai Ho” (from Slumdog Millionaire), we entertained the night away. The crowd LOVED it, and even had the chance to take part in a small lesson at the end, where they were truly transported to Bollyland.
From an event planning perspective – I realized how much people loved the cheese factor! Everything was gold, bright and extreme!!! I realized that this type of décor creates amazing photo opps, and is something I can take with me going forward. Also, although nothing major went wrong, there were minor hiccups along the way. From an event planning standpoint, it was great experience for me to see the hiccups (ie: when we lost the music cd, and had to improvise by using our practice copy and explaining the order to play it in to the DJ). These types of hiccups will allow me to gain confidence and know-how of how to think critically on my feet in high pressure situations where time is of the essence.
All in all, what an amazing event – I will post pictures soon!
This past weekend, my role was to help the behind the scenes of the event – helping the dancers make sure they were ready for each set, organizing costumes and even helping to set up and run a “bangle bazaar” in which guests could purchase not only bangles and bindis, but authentic clothing and even turbans for the men!
To begin the event, guests were greeted (by myself), and given an exclusive drink appropriately named a Bombay Kiss. Then, they were able to mingle, have a henna tattoo done, or purchase a new Bollywood wardrobe. Following this, they enjoyed an Indian meal of Tandoori chicken, a la Concorde hotel; and then the party started. Mixing classical with trendy Bollywood styles, 6 girls took the stage clothed in lenghas and jewelry. Dancing to popular tracks such as “Jai Ho” (from Slumdog Millionaire), we entertained the night away. The crowd LOVED it, and even had the chance to take part in a small lesson at the end, where they were truly transported to Bollyland.
From an event planning perspective – I realized how much people loved the cheese factor! Everything was gold, bright and extreme!!! I realized that this type of décor creates amazing photo opps, and is something I can take with me going forward. Also, although nothing major went wrong, there were minor hiccups along the way. From an event planning standpoint, it was great experience for me to see the hiccups (ie: when we lost the music cd, and had to improvise by using our practice copy and explaining the order to play it in to the DJ). These types of hiccups will allow me to gain confidence and know-how of how to think critically on my feet in high pressure situations where time is of the essence.
All in all, what an amazing event – I will post pictures soon!
(Bollywood Bangles image taken from:
http://www.worldbeatbremen.de/wbb/wbb_events,termin-10-3.php)
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