Song and dance feature in this celebration of the vibrant festival of Holi.
Song and dance feature in this celebration of the vibrant festival of Holi which marks the arrival of spring and welcomes the colour and vitality of the new season.
Come along and enjoy an afternoon of lively entertainment featuring some of the finest talent in the region, including:
- popular, all-female, Punjabi folk dance group Giddha Sansaar
- students from Bollywood Dreams Dance Academy
- students from RSA Academy Tipton dancing to a Sufi-inspired piece choreographed by Subhash Viman Gorania
- three of the finalists from last season’s SARGAM South Asian Singing Contest: Rajesh Padhiar, Hemant Patel and Raj Patel
- Bollywood-Classical dance fusion solo from Krupali Parmar
Presented by Sampad in partnership with The Drum
Read more about Giddha Sansaar
Read more about Bollywood Dreams Dance Academy
About Raj Patel
In 2008, Raj won at the Indian Idol 4 UK auditions and was invited participate in the theatre audition round of the competition held in Mumbai, India.
He also came third in SaReGaMaPa’s Online Singing Superstar in 2011 and was a semi-finalist in the Brit Asia Super Star competition in 2009. In 2014, Raj was a finalist in Sampad’s Sargam South Indian Singing Contest
Raj had an ear for music from a very young age and was a keen tabla player before nurturing his vocal cords to perform his first stage show in 2005, while at University.
He is a gifted, versatile and soulful singer with a powerful voice that has a unique texture. His influences include Mohammed Rafi, Sonu Nigam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Kishore Kumar, Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan and of course his father.
About Hemant Patel
Hemant has been performing for more than 10 years and in 2014, he was also a finalist in Sampad’s Sargam South Indian Singing Contest
He was also a runner-up in Birmingham’s very own Bollywood’s Got Talent competition in 2013, a semi-finalist in the Brit Asia Super Star competition in 2009 and Asian StarSearch competition in 2002 organised by music producer Kuljit Bhamra and he came first in the SaReGaMaPa Online Singing Superstar in 2011.
As a child, watching his father perform and being an avid fan of Sonu Nigam, Hemant developed a compulsion to perform in front of an audience. He got his first chance to sing on stage during a student show at University in 2000.
Hemant’s fun-loving personality shines through his performances and he has a great ability to set a mood by interacting with the audience as he performs.
As with his brother Raj, his inspiration stems from his father along with the likes of Mohammed Rafi, Udit Narayan, Kishore Kumar, Hari-haran and S.P. Balasubramanium.
About Rajesh Padhiar
Rajesh was the runner up in Sampad’s Sargam South Asian Singing Contest in Autumn 2014 and he was the winner of Sampad’s ‘Bollywood’s Got Talent’ competition at mac birmingham in June 2013.
His repertoire covers a range of Bollywood favourites, from classic hits of the 1950s, 60s and 70s to contemporary hits. Singing has been his passion for the past 20 years and he says that it helps to keep him going through all the ups and downs of life!
About Krupali Parmar
22 year-old Krupali is a UK-based dance artist, classically trained in Kathak and Bharatanatyam and self-taught in Bollywood dance.
Krupali has been training since the age of 5 and has performed professionally all around Britain and Europe during the past 6 years.