AIA HOSTS YOUTH DANCE COMPETITION

Surendra Ullal

CHICAGO: The Association of Indians (AIA) in America, Illinois Chapter, conducted its annual youth dance competition on August 26 at Harper College in Palatine, a north side suburb of Chicago

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from 8th Congressional district of Illinois along with members of AIA and 200 plus attendees were at the event. They all observed a minute of silence for Senator John McCain, former Indian Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, shooting victims from Florida and flood victims in Kerala.

Santosh Pandey was the MC and conducted the program keeping the audience busy with lots of humor. Around 85 participants were judged by Mrs. Kiran Chauhan, a Kathak dancer and a senior student of Pt. Birju Maharaj, Ms. Madhura Shane another Kathak dancer and dance instructor along with Monica Kapoor, a Bollywood dance enthusiast and a dance instructor besides being a trained teacher.

MDA pride won the First prize of $750 for powerful portrayal of a tribal dance form from Tamil Nadu. The Second prize of $350 was won by Nache Mayuri’s Dynamites who danced to show the importance of ‘plastic ban’ while Third prize of $100 was won by Dwance group.

Madhura Shane performed a mesmerizing inaugural dance on the occasion and well-known singers from Chicago circuit Pratibha Jairath, Raja Bankapur and their team performed a beautiful Qawwali.

Santosh Pandey, President AIA, Dr. Ghanshaym Pandey Chairman Board of Trustees and AIA members Om D ,Sujata Sharma, Hina Trivedi, Salil Mishra, Dr. Ashis Sen, Manoranjan Mishra, Prem Mehrotra, Nipa Shah and Lucy Pandey and other members helped in making this event a success.

AIA Illinois chapter has always been promoting and encouraging the youth of Illinois with different programs for the last 12 years and has been very successful doing that.