The Federation of Indian Associations of tri state of NJ,NY and CT celebrated the 67th Republic Day of India with its traditional dance competition, “Dance Pe Chance” at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ Jan. 30. The event also marked FIA’s 46th anniversary. The organization has been celebrating India’s Republic Day for more than 40 years.
Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri was the chief guest. Other notable attendees included Commissioner to the N.J. Board of Public Utilities Upendra Chivukula, FIA Trustee Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of Desi Talk and recipient of India’s Padma Shri award, Ramesh Patel, co-founder and chairman of FIA, Yash Paul Soi, Kanu Chaunhan, Dipak Patel, Jagdish Patel, Paul Parmar, Anil Moga, and India’s Deputy Consul General in New York Manoj Kumar Mohapatra.
Dance Pe Chance has become one of the most coveted dance competitions in the tri state area where second generation youth showcase their talent. Nine schools with more than 500 participants forming 19 groups, competed this year. The chairperson of Dance Pe Chance, Chhavi Dharayan was the main organizer along with her team.
Sparsh Shah and Kritika sang the national anthem of U.S. and India respectively, jumpstarting the event. The master of ceremonies was Deepa Pathak.
During the event, the newly elected Executive Committee for 2016 was sworn in by Mohapatra — Anand Patel, president, Andy Bhatia, executive vice president, Mahesh Bhagia, vice president, Chhavi Dharayan, secretary, Mohin Patel, joint secretary, Mahesh Dubal, treasurer, and Ankur Vaidya who is the immediate past president.
Anand Patel congratulated the talent and energy of youth at the event. “FIA is always moving toward getting the youth involved and take part in showcasing our rich culture and heritage,” he is quoted saying in a press release.
The competition culminated with a prize distribution ceremony.
The participating schools were Arya Dance Academy, Aum Dance Creations, Aatma Performing Arts, Kavi’s School of Dance, Nritya Creations of Dance, Nirmiti School of Dance, India Performing Arts and Prerna School of Dance. The competition was judged in three categories of minor, junior and senior. The judges included actor Sonny Chatrath, filmmaker, actor and restaurateur Trilok Malik, entrepreneur Mani Kamboj, of Roshni Media Group, owner and director of BnB Dance company, Namrata Bajaj, and Sridhar Shanmuham, a trained Bharat Natyam dancer.
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