The world is abuzz with the news of Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton. The international media is in a frenzy on what all will be happening at the “wedding of the decade”.
Apart from the 80s theme party with Abba songs, world famous performers are being approached to perform for different royal functions that will take place during the celebration. Jesse Randhawa and I too have received an invite to perform at the occasion. Since it is a royal wedding, it is an honour for anyone to be approached to be part of the grand celebration.
The invite came from the assistant private secretary to HRH Prince of Wales, James Kidner, asking us to perform a “Bollywood Waltz Dance” as the closing dance at the Royal Wedding Reception dinner. As a person who has never had a brush with royalty, it feels great to be invited to showcase our talent on a platform so huge and prestigious.
The last time I got a letter from the Royal Family was way back in 2004, when the Ballroom Dancing Association head office based in the UK, recommended my name to the Royal family to promote Ballroom dancing culture in India. I still remember the appreciation and the kind words of praise from the Queen, which even today encourages me to strive for the best.
This year began on a very high note for us. Screen nominated me for the 17th annual screen award for best choreography in the film Kites. Two of the films, in which I had choreographed dance sequences — Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji and Saat Khoon Maaf — released almost back to back. And now we will be dancing at the “Royal Wedding Reception.”
We all know by now that The Royal wedding will be held at the Westminister Abbey. As part of the royal protocol, around 200 political figures and 100 foreign royals and dignitaries will grace the wedding.
Our Bollywood Waltz dance will be a five-minute long performance and will comprise four tracks of Bollywood waltz music. We have already sent 15 tracks to the Royal Family and are waiting for their response. Once the songs are short listed, we will begin with our dance preparations. I just hope we can perform well and make India proud on this platform.