Category: Latest News

Watch them at ‘DANCE GOA DANCE’
Published on: November 4, 2011 – 10:44

Planet J Team
Some of the Café Coffee Days, on certain weekends, from end August to end September had a lot happening and you could not only hear thumping music but also crowds in and outside these cafes. What was happening? A lot, let me tell you.

About 400 children were participating in the All Goa Solo Dance competition organized by the Snaden Shawn Dance Academy.
The air was filled with excitement and tension and was so intense, you could actually touch it. Along with the children were parents, uncles, aunts, grandpas and other members of the family. This event was welcomed by all, children and adults alike. There were two categories, seniors, 15 years and above, and juniors, 8 to 14 years. It was also open to adults who were young at heart and wanted to dance to their heart’s content. This was a first of its kind of event in Goa and the response was mind blowing.
We Goans have always been known as good dancers but to see the passion and love for this form of art amongst us Goenkars, only leaves you speechless.
The event was open to all and was not exclusive to the students of the Snaden Shawn academy which gave those who participated a platform to showcase their talent which otherwise is not always possible.
Just four years old, this academy has grown in strength, talent and as a family due to the keen interest shown by us. Of course the young and dynamic founder of the academy has a lot to do with this response. He says, “Our aim is to make dance a fun & meaningful experience to help students express themselves, nurture the art, harness their talent and find their true potential. We not only teach dance but also discipline, ability to take criticism, creative analysis and innovative thinking.
From the 400 odd participants, 40 were chosen from each taluka and in the second round 8 semi-finalists were picked. The semi-finalist will be contesting for the title of Juniour Superstar Dancer 2011 and Senior Superstar 2011, in the Dance Goa Dance competition to be held on November 5 and 6, at Kala Academy.This title will remain for a year until the next superstars are chosen. This title also includes gifts worth Rs 30000 and trophies and certificates as well.The judges for the semi-finals and finals are celebrities from Goa and Mumbai.
Planet J caught up with some of the semi-finalists to find out how they are preparing.
Saish Nipanikar, standard VII, GS Amonkar School, Mapusa, is all agog. He has been dancing since he was very little and is into hip-hop, western, classical, Bollywood etc. “I am very excited and just can’t wait for the semi-finals. I have been taking part in competitions often and so feel very confident. I practice one hour daily and am performing a western dance for the semi-finals,” says Saish. He adds, “I will be very happy if I win but I am more interested in taking part, and that is what matters to me.”
17 year old Ashish Nakate of RMS College, Margao, practices for five hours daily as he has a group and they do private shows as well. Ashish is very excited to have reached the semi-finals. He says, “This contest allows everyone to show their talent and since all can participate it is bigger and better. However I did not like the story concept that was part of the contest. Every dance had to have a story behind it and some of the participants were not aware of this.” His forte is hip-hop and he is performing a fusion of hip-hop and contemporary for the semi-finals.I don’t know if I wil win but my chances are good,” he says hopefully.
Sanshika Shirodkar, astudent of standard VII, Gyan Vikas School, Porvorim, has been dancing since she was 4 and has been learning at Kala Academy and at the Snaden Shawn Academy. She is 12 and all rearing to go, she says, “I have taken part in many competitions and hence feel no stress, in fact I find it exciting. I practice an hour a day and am working hard on both my pieces. For the semi-finals, I am doing an item number which is really nice and I hope I win. I had earlier taken part in the Dance India Dance competition and reached the first round. Hope I am lucky this time.”
Hard work, a lot of time and effort is the norm with all the semi-finalists and I know for sure that all of them are sure winners. How can it be other wise, when all of them are having a blast and doing what they love doing.
So all you out there who love to dance, why don’t you join at Kala academy on November 5 and 6 and cheer all our semi-finalists?

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

As you read this, there’s a buzz in the air at a hotel in Bambolim. The coffee has been served and the brains are clicking into high gear. THINKfest, a three-day conclave of ideas, conversations, debates and artistic expression begins today, with a host of high profile speakers, including Nobel laureates, award winning economists, writers, artistes and then some.

This weekend will see names like V S Naipaul, Hari Kunzru, Shlomo Ben Ami, Shashi Tharoor, Omar Abdullah, William Dalrymple, Maajid Nawaz and many more, take the stage to present, discuss and depict theories, strategies and unconventional ideas. Madhvi Parekh, Nayanaa Kanodia, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Subodh Kerkar and others will let their artistic and creative juices flow, creating live art. This conclave hopes to bring a little sanity into a world that many perceive to be slowly losing its grip on reality, one that is forgetting it roots and descending into a materialistic and plastic void.

The sessions will cover various theories and ideas – the need for a greener economy, how writing can improve the world, the dilemmas of development and democracy, design philosophies, genetic engineering and others. There will also be insights into an anti-terror project, bringing down a dictator, Bollywood provocateurs and many other interesting windows into the complexities of life, including a conversation on how Indian schools are failing the country’s children.

Shoma Chaudhury, Managing Editor, Tehelka, talks of how the concept of THINKfest came about. “All healthy societies are founded on ideas; increasingly, our focus has shifted towards entertainment and consumerism — thought has lost its support. While Bollywood and cricket seem to get all the attention in India, we wanted to bring back the entertainment and glamour, which the pure process of thought can catalyse.”

THINKfest is just the beginning, it’s where the seed of a new world will be planted. The concept and collaborations that stem from here have the potential to create a new wave of thinkers, create ideas that can break past the lines that divide people. Let the ideas flow.

(Do check out THINKfest special in today’s international supplement, which features some of the big names who grace the THINKfest stage)

BY ABDUL RAUF BEIG | NT
PANAJI: The tourism sector has turned out to be a major employment and revenue generating industry in the state over the years, but a large number of young Goans trained in the hospitality sector prefer to migrate overseas for regular employment, secure future and higher salaries despite the industry thriving here due to higher tourist inflow.

The main reason for the outward migration of the Goan youth is job security as most hotel managements prefer to engage people only during the season and Goans would rather prefer a job security along with high salaries, which they get while working in the hospitality sector abroad (Gulf, Europe, Australia and New Zealand) and on cruise liners, where they are preferred over others.
According to the industry officials, Goans take up jobs to gain experience and then resign to go overseas and as such there was a shortfall in supply of trained manpower in the state and the industry was now importing trained people from different parts of the country by tying up with hotel management institutes.
“We have no option but to import staff from elsewhere to man the jobs,” said a top executive of a hotel adding that seasonal employment helps the managements to save a lot of funds. Besides, there were people from other states who were ready to take up seasonal jobs. He said that such employees return to their homes during off-season and take up other seasonal activities like agriculture in their states.
Besides, a number of hotels particularly in the five-star category have tie-ups with hotel management institutes wherein the students undergo compulsory six-month training at such hotels where the hotel managements have to just pay them stipends and no regular salaries, which allow them to cut costs.
According to the president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, Mr Gaurish Dhond, there were very few Goans holding top positions in the local hotel industry. He said that given the shortage of trained and experienced top executives, the industry managements had to import top executive from elsewhere.
The director of Tourism, Mr Swapnil Naik said that his trips abroad to promote Goa as a tourist destination has brought him in contact with a large number of Goans working abroad in the hotel industry where they were preferred because of their skills. He said that in many hotels in Australia Goans accounted for 4-5 per cent of hotel employees.
Mr Naik further said that with the government making efforts to turn Goa into a round-the-year tourist destination, the trend of seasonal employment could be stopped and that employers would prefer to have regular employees in days ahead. The state also has a proposal to take the tourism into hinterland which could make tourism more vibrant, he added.
Till about two years ago, Goa was mainly a winter and summer season tourist destination with tourists coming here during these two seasons and there was a lull during the monsoon season, when the occupancy in the hotels used to go down as low as 10 per cent, said a senior manager of a hotel. This trend has been changing over the last two years and in the years ahead Goa could be a true round-the-year tourist destination, he added. The senior hotel manager further said that the seasonal inflow of tourists prompted many hotel managements to retain only the essential staff and lay-off others.
The state was now also receiving high-end tourists during monsoon which might change the employment scenario over the years. Since the industry managements found Goans well suited to man the jobs, they recruited the locals but given the constraints they faced they also had to give them break, a decision that did not go well with the local youth who decided to look for greener pastures that fetched them better salaries and security and hence, they started migrating.