Monday, April 27, 2009

'Slumdog Millionaire' choreographer to attend May Queen Ball

Gulf Times: 16/04/2009
Slumdog choreographer to attend May Queen Ball

By Ramesh Mathew



Longines Fernandes, a widely acclaimed Bollywood choreographer, will attend this year’s May Queen Ball celebrations to be held at The Diplomatic Club on May 7.
Simon D’ Silva, president of the Goan Welfare Association which is organising the event, said Fernandes, who was the choreographer of the Slumdog Millionaire will present the popular dance sequence of Jai Ho from the Oscar winning film at the ninth edition of May Queen Ball.


Fernandes, popularly known as “Longi” will also perform the Pappu Can’t Dance Saala song from the Bollywood film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.
The choreographer has his roots in Asolna, in southern Goa and this is what prompted the organisation to invite him for this year’s function, said D’Silva.
The organisers said the winner of the May Queen contest will get an opportunity to dance with “Longi” after the crowning ceremony.
At the 81st Academy Awards ceremony, Slumdog Millionaire’s director Danny Boyle recalled the contributions of Longi in making his film appealing to the audiences.
Longi recently won the best choreographer award at the 54th annual Filmfare Awards for his work in the film Jaane tu ya jaane na.
He has been choreographing and dancing for nearly two decades and has won several dance titles. His repertoire includes freestyle, western, salsa, jive, jazz, street, hip-hop and Bollywood style.
He said the organisation is also working out plans to rope in a couple of Bollywood stars, including a comedian.
D’Silva said people of any nationality living in Qatar can participate in the May Queen Ball adding that non-Indians had been among the winners of the competitions in recent years.
Karishma Fernandez, a news producer and presenter who worked for Bombay World Space Satellite and who is now with Arabian Radio Network in Dubai will compere the show along with veteran Updesh Swar from Goa .
Those interested can contact 5550491, 5218480, 5807019 and 5504801 until May 3, D’Silva said.




FORERONT: Let to Right.
Agnelo Mascarenhas, Savio Fernandes, Joaquim D'Souza, Agatha Jilugu, Seby Pinto (Band Leader) and Melvin Rosario.

Music has a special place in the lives of Indians from the western state of Goa and to keep the musically inclined in high spirits the Goan Welfare Association (GWA), Qatar every year organise their May Queen Ball.

The dinner dance which is into its ninth year has struck a special chord with Goans in Qatar, for been the most colourful social annual gathering and is also patronize by other nationals from different countries.

This year’s event on May 7 at the Diplomatic Club from 8.30 pm onwards promises to be ‘fun filled event’, says GWA President Simon D’Silva.

With every passing year the May Ball event has been growing in stature. This year the organizers have line up India’s most celebrated and Goa’s number one band ‘Forefront’ for the event.

The Goa-based band is renowned for rendering exhilarating performances over the last few years.

The band has blazed the music world with their sensational blend of vocals, instruments, rhythm, visual technique in trend and showmanship. The musical history of Forefront reveals amazing performances in India and abroad with several award winning live concerts that have virtually cornered them at the vertex of billboard graphs. Forefront was featured on the ace popular MTV channel and they also had the unique honour of being the fast group to perform unplugged.

Forefront are the best for pop and equally dazzling to rock, rap, reggae, bhangra, including Goa’s ethnic, dekhnni, mandos and dulpods, etc. Their first album titled “Always By Your Side” turned out to be a super hit.

Forefront has rendered scintillating performances in the Gulf countries, Europe including most of the States in India.
To keep the people in good spirits for the night are two comperes one from Dubai and the other from Goa. Karishma Fernandez, a news producer and presenter who worked for Bombay World Space Satellite and currently with Arabian Radio Network Dubai will compere the show along with seasoned Updesh Swar from Goa.

Every year the quality of the event has been rated high and improved tremendously with the support of sponsors and participants. The Goan Welfare Association endeavours to be on the forefront to organize major events keeping in mind the traditional hospitality, cultural heritage and music.

The highlight of the event will be Crowning of May Queen by the renowned Bollywood Stars.

The May Ball has been successful in getting worldwide coverage for the event and is one of the eagerly awaited event among the Indian community in the State of Qatar. Like past years this year too the event will cater all the nationalities and specially Indians in general. Participants to the contest should contact the organizers as early as possible. Tickets will be priced reasonable. More details can be had by phoning on 5550491, 5218480, 5807019 and 5504801.

No comments:

Post a Comment