I opened the Bollywood Grooves Canada office when I moved back to Toronto in December 2005 and we gave our first of many performances for Besharam on December 31. BG's one year anniversary was celebrated in November 2006 with a performance for The Canadian Hairstylist of the Year Awards (The 18th Contessa Awards) at the Metro Convention Centre. It was a vibrant performance for the media and members of Canada’s fashion and beauty industry.
Over the next three years, my dance company took part in film, video, television, and stage performances, including performing in concert with Raghav and Malkit Singh. I had the pleasure of going to New York City to choreograph and act for award winning film director Pavitra Chalam whose film was screened in 2006 at the South Asian Film Festival in NYC, and at the 2007 Filmi Film Festival in Toronto. I then moved to the Bahamas to work as a choreographer for Club Med Resorts. Upon returning to Toronto, I had the privilege of being one of the acts in The Spiegel Show at The Harbourfront Centre which, due to popularity, extended its original Luminato Festival run. I then returned to London to perform with the UK division of Bollywood Grooves for the Mayor of London’s India Now celebrations.
The BG dancers and I celebrated our two year anniversary in November 2007 with a performance for an audience of 17 377 people at the Air Canada Centre. We took over the ACC court for the half time show for the NBA Toronto Raptors!
In April of 2008, I had the pleasure of being a guest perfomer and teacher at the International Bellydance Conference of Canada. In June, we again took part in The Luminato Festival and performed for the "Luminato Lumineries" gala. We were also honoured to offer a BollymeetsBelly spectacular for the festival opening Armani Luminato Party at the ROM, and a closing performance for the festival at Luminat'eau at Harbourfront.
In 2009 I changed the name of my company to Divine Heritage Artistry (DHA). Since then my company has taken part in many fabulous events including Gilda Club’s It’s Always Something where we were the opening act at the Princess of Wales Theatre for a sold out crowd. I was also invited by Lulu Lemon to be a company ambassador and released my instructional dance DVD set which I have shipped all over the world. In 2010, I had the pleasure of being invited to teach and perform at Raqs Britannia with The Bellydance Superstars. And while in the UK, I interviewed Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachan at the red carpet premier of their film Raavan at the British Film Institute for American and UK television.
Bollywood dance is not defined by any boundaries and it has been a delight traveling the world and bringing my artistic vision to life. A big thank you goes to the dancers and dhol players who bring so much passion and talent to this company. It continues to be a fabulous journey. Thank you to everyone who has supported our work and enjoyed our interpretation of modern Indian dance.
- Lopa Sarkar, Director, Divine Heritage Artistry
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