Bhawanipur Dance Championship: A Groovy Inter-College Competition

“Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion.” – Martha Graham

Kolkata, a city famous for being the aesthetic cauldron of the East is also widely known for the various dance forms the city has nurtured in it. The Bhawanipur Education Society College is a widely acclaimed academic institution that has been providing great platforms to students who want to excel in different art forms.

This time, the Flames collective of BESC brought the best amateur and young dancers from different colleges around the city under the same roof and organized “The Bhawanipur Dance Championship” on 7^th November 2022 at the college campus. The event flagged off on a celebratory note around 9:00 am. Prof Dilip Shah, the Dean of Student Affairs, inaugurated the battle of dance with an inspiring poem. The event theme this year for BDC was “Cosplay” (the practice of dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game). The chief guest of the day was Mr. Bishamber Newar, chairman & chief editor of Taaza TV.

The Bhawanipur Dance Championship is an inter-college dance competition that aims to provide a professional platform to talented youths of the city where they can showcase and challenge the beats and rhythms of the music through their dance. The Bhawanipur College has made an attempt and brought all the cultural dance forms at par. The aim behind this was to make dance culture popular and accessible to everyone. BDC has further worked to educate the students with information and opportunities from different established and experienced dancers and Gurus of the city. Some of them are stalwarts of the Odissi dance form, and Garba dance form and choreographers like Ms.Debamitra Sen Gupta, Mr. Dharmesh Bhimani, Mr. Gaurav Bindra, Ms.Bhramori Roy, Ms. Puja Kabra, Ms.Ayushi Singh, Dr. Shelly Paul, and Mr. Sanju Paswan were some for the judges of the day.

The sponsors of the event were - Food Sponsors: Opening Bell Café, SaddaHaqCafé, Pardesi Cafe kitchen, Tyre Patty, Rolli ki toli, Makeup, and Styling Partner: Lakme Academy Camac Street, Apparel Partner: Skatters World Club, Shares Recovery, Media Partner: Edugraph, Other sponsors: Edu Aims

The Events included:

EASTERN DUET

In this event each group had 2 participants, they performed in pairs and they had to present a duet dance choreography in eastern music in front of the judges. The participants showcased beautiful dance numbers & each made it a challenge for the judges to make a decision. The first position was secured by BES College followed by Sivnath Sastri College as 1^st runners up and St, Xaviers University as 2^nd runners up.

EASTERN GROUP DANCE

In this event, each college had to put up a group dance performance on eastern music where they were judged on the basis of choreography, synchronization, dancing capability, expressions, and portrayal of the dance form. Each of the groups had put up beautiful dance choreographies. The first position was secured by BES College followed by Jadavpur University as 1^st runners up and Sivanath Sastri College as 2^nd runners up.

BOLLYWOOD DUO / TRIO

In this event, each group had 2 or 3 participants, and they had to perform choreography in duos or in trios. The groups showcased beautiful and energetic Bollywood dance numbers, each of them making the judge’s decision quite hard to make. The first position was secured by BES College followed by Sivnath Sastri College as 1^st runners up and Women’s Christian College as 2^nd runners up.

BOLLYWOOD GROUP DANCE

In this event, each college had to put up a group dance performance on Bollywood music. The first position was secured by BES College followed by Shri Shikshayatan College as 1^st runners up and St. Xaviers College as 2^nd runners up.

CULTURAL GROUP FOLK DANCE

In this event, each college had to put up a group dance performance on folk music where they had to showcase any cultural dance form. Each of the groups had put up beautiful dance choreographies. The first position was secured by BES College's main team followed by BES College (OTSE team) as 1^st runners up and St. Xavier’s University as 2^nd runners up.

WESTERN GROUP DANCE

In this event, each college had to put up a group dance performance on western music. Each of the groups had put up power pact dance performances making the event go to another level. The first position was secured by BES College followed by St. Xavier’s University as 1^st runners up and IIHM College as 2^nd runners up.

STREET BATTLE

A totally new concept borrowed from the street dancers, this event had one on one dancers facing off against each other in various dance forms from the street. The crowd was amazed by the dance showcases raw from the street showcased by students. The winner of this battle was Ritick Rajwar from Shyama Prasad College.

The event then came to its final chapter for the day with the closing ceremony where the audience cheered for their college teams. After some inspiring closing speeches from the judges, the winner was announced. The overall winners of BDC’22 were The Bhawanipur Education Society College and the 1^st runner-up was Sivnath Sastri College

The event was still not over yet as there was a surprise guest band performance by Intakhab The Band, for the students where everybody grooved to the soulful music played by the band. BDC was all in all a huge success and a memorable event. The students are eagerly waiting for BDC’s new chapter next year.