Dance for Peace: With every move, a group of dancing enthusiasts try to stomp out the ‘violent image’ of Pakistan

BodyBeat performers show their moves at The Forum.

KARACHI:

A group of dancing enthusiasts decided to stomp out the “violent image” of Pakistan with their dance moves. They gathered at The Forum shopping mall on June 25 to “dance for peace”. BodyBeat Recreation Centre and CityFM89 joined hands to bring together the event that managed to attract quite a crowd. People cheered as BodyBeat’s programme director Neil Uchong danced with his brother, Vernin Uchong, in the lobby.

“I have a passion for dancing,” Neil told The Express Tribune. He shared that he was more into “break dancing, a little bit of hip hop with a local Bollywood flavour” — a style created by BodyBeat. He believed that everyone should focus on “being original when it comes to dancing”.

What do foreigners feel about Pakistan? “Basically, that Pakistan is all about bombings, terrorist activities,” he said. “Since Karachi is the hub of it all, we would like to tell them [foreigners] that we are using our talent in a positive manner, without causing our own people any trouble.”

Khalid Malik, a radio show host, gathered several people who volunteered to dance to different beats. “It was a lot of fun to entertain people, to give them a good time and to make them smile,” he said, later.

BodyBeat owner Hasan Rizvi said he came up with this initiative just to say “Go Pakistan!” Explaining the ideology, he said that, “the idea was to promote dance. As I speak, somebody in the west would be thinking who we are and what we have? Through this activity, I want to tell them that we are not terrorists and that we too have a beautiful culture.”

The event may not have reached the global effect it hoped for but it surely cheered up the shoppers at the mall.

A young woman, Maliha Hasan, brought her daughter to The Forum only to see the dance. “I wanted my daughter, who is just five years old, to experience it and see how people are enjoying dancing. It’s great fun here.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2011.