Dance, where every posture is an opportunity for the dancer to look up to Heaven, is one of the purest forms of divine art. Being an art which fathoms and reflects an array of human emotions, dance also portrays the cultural aspects of any civilization. ‘GIIS Jhankaar 2010 – Dancing like Stars’, was a golden platform given to the students of GIIS to showcase their passion and talent for dance.

The final and mega finals of this competition was held at Balestier Campus on the 15th of October 2010.

The three categories in the event were -

Junior: Classes 1 – 4
Sub Senior: Classes 5 – 8
Senior: Classes 9 - 12

Primary Coordinator Ms Rekha
Varghese compereing the event

Participants performed in the solo and group. For the solo performances we had dances for classical, contemporary and folk, whereas for group performances there was folk and contemporary.

Each performance was unique indeed. The grandeur of the traditional classical performances like Bharat Natyam, Odissi, Kathak, beholding diverse cultures of India was soul-touching. The energetic folk dances like Bhangra, Garba and Koli projecting the essence of Indian traditional community life were equally appealing. And finally invigorating dances like Hip – Hop, Jazz, Salsa, Pop under Contemporary category set everyone’s feet tapping and hands clapping. Ravishing costumes were perfect matches to the respective performances. Each performance, marked with confidence, grace and perfect synchrony demanded a thunderous applause.

Ms. Jayanthi, Mr. Ajit Baskaran Das and Ms. Chitra Shankar, eminent figures in the world of dance, were the honorable judges for the event. Winners were declared by Ms. Rekha Varghese, Coordinator-Primary. Honours for the different categories were done by Ms. Aparna Temurnikar, GOH for the evening , Dr. Anju Aditya, Dean of Academics, Ms. Melissa Maria, Principal of GIIS Balestier, Mr. Ramesh Mudgal, Principal of GIIS East Coast and the 3 judges.

Ms. Melissa Maria (Principal, BL) and Ms. Aparna Temurnikar(Guest of Honour) awarding the Trophy	The Winners at Mega Finals

Winners and runners up for the Finals were:

Finals followed to find the most versatile dancer among the winners from the 3 sub categories of the solo competition. The criterion for this section was dancing to the tune of a medley of the 3 genres of music, classical, contemporary and folk. Once again, displaying perfect synchrony and grace, each performer danced to perfection.

Songs by the finalists at Global Indian Idol - Kokilanarayani (Balestier), Aastha Chouhan, (Queenstown) and by the Global Indian Idol winner Shreya Tripati (East Coast) during the course of the event, require special mention.

The chief guest Ms Aparna Temurnikar did the honours of giving away the prizes to the winners of the mega final round.

The most versatile dancers and winners of the mega final round were:

Junior - Subiksha Ganesan (QT)
Sub Senior - Malvika Nair (QT)
Senior - Akshara Maran (QT)

Thus, rhythm resonated across the entire auditorium all day long. It was heavenly indeed. It was an experience and testimony that music does indeed open the doors to Heaven.