A swirl of artsy froth in Devika Pande’s coffee on a recent morning in downtown Columbus seemed creatively appropriate.
The 33-year-old native of India is known for a few swooping swirls and more in her choreography as the leader of the all-volunteer and all-energetic local arts and cultural troupe known as Bollywood Unlimited. At this weekend’s annual Ethnic Expo international festival, the 18-member, two-year-old group is slated to lead a Bollywood dance workshop for all at 1 p.m. Saturday and perform, along with its children’s group, at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the City Hall plaza.
India is the host country for the event that attracts some 25,000 people, according to estimates. In the troupe’s brief existence, the dancers have been thoroughly in step with exuberance — so much so that the team earned a standing ovation at the 2018 Dancing With the Stars Columbus Style event at The Commons.
“That’s the thing,” Pande said. “I think the excitement comes from the pure joy of performing for people.
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“Really, we’re here to spread joy. We want to be able to put people on the edge of their seat so maybe they can look at each other and say ‘Did you just see that?’”
Moreover, some of the group’s moves, combining everything from folk dance from India to American hip hop, shimmers as much as its colorful costumes, regularly part of the pageantry of Bollywood.
“We always think that we could do so much better,” she said. “It’s just a matter of practice. We even rehearse the costume changes.”
The calm and reserved Pande, sitting at a table outside a local downtown coffee shop and talking about dance, becomes a different person on stage when she literally embodies dance.
“There’s a certain switch that turns on when the music turns on,” she said with a laugh.
At a recent rehearsal with the adult Bollywood group on the City Hall Plaza, Pande was ultra-focused, urging her dancers to hustle between numbers as they will on the day of the performance.
“We should all look like clones,” she has said of their synchronization that has won praise from others.
Interestingly and sweetly, the young woman who works extensively with her children’s Bollywood group refers to those even in her adult group as “boys and girls” during their practices at Tipton Lakes Athletic Club.
She understands that what drives them is a passion for the art form.
“We are all here just out of love,” she said.
Most of the dancers, like Pande, are natives of India — people she met since she and husband Abhinav moved here in 2012 so he could work for Cummins Inc. A few others are just passionate about the style. Originally, Pande began meeting with people simply to dance for fun several years ago. Then, as Bollywood Unlimited formed, came more of a focus and public performances.
Pande became the natural leader since she taught Bollywood classes in Pune, India.
Troupe member Kelly Chadha, whose husband is a native of India, discovered the genre in college.
“I thought, ‘Where has this been my whole life?’” Chadha said. “I just fell in love with it.”
When she met her husband, she said she considered him “a bonus — because at that point, I was going to be Indian with or without him.”
Hattie Cable, another troupe member, began Bollywood dancing a few years ago with a team during law school in Michigan. She always has loved Indian food, and her dad instilled an interest “in that part of the world,” as she put it.
“Then I was shocked to learn there was a Bollywood community right here in a small town in Indiana,” Cable said of her move here in 2017.
Dancer/choreographer Ronda Byers became friends with Pande after Pande enrolled in a class at Byers’ Dance Street studio.
“Devika is awesome,” Byers said. “She is a bundle of dance energy with a passion to teach others.”
That energy surfaces even in conversation in which she politely answered questions for nearly 90 minutes, including one about her effervescent, extroverted personality. The topic made her laugh.
“When I was a child,” she said, “I was very, very shy — an introverted person. I can’t imagine that anymore.”
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Friday
Performances, activities
4:30 – 5 p.m.: Raices Folklore – City Hall Plaza
5:30 – 6 p.m.: Kids Yoga Class – City Hall Plaza
6:15- 7 p.m.: Adult Yoga Class – City Hall Plaza
8 – 10 p.m.: Indy Annies – Biergarten
8 – 9:30 p.m.: Kiran Ahluwalia – City Hall Plaza
Children’s activities
5:30 – 6 p.m.: Children’s Yoga Class – City Hall Plaza
Saturday
Parade
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Washington Street to Third Street to Brown Street.
Entertainment
Noon – 12:30 p.m: Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums – City Hall Steps
1 – 1:45 p.m.: Bollywood Dance Workshop – City Hall Plaza
2:15 – 3:15 p.m.: CAMEO Columbus Got Talent Winners – City Hall Plaza
3:45 – 4:15 p.m.: Southern Indiana Taiko – City Hall Plaza
4:30 – 5:15 p.m.: Taiko Workshop – City Hall Plaza
5:45 – 6 p.m.: Bollywood Unlimited – City Hall Plaza
6:15 – 7 p.m.: Cummins Diversity Choir- City Hall Plaza
7 – 9 p.m.: Black Tie Optional – Biergarten
8 – 10 p.m.: Tiptonians – City Hall Plaza
Children’s Activities
2:00 – 4 p.m.: kidscommons – Children’s Tent
4:30 – 5:15 p.m. – Taiko Workshop – City Hall Plaza
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Though the troupe began with natives of India, organizers are regularly open to new dancers of any background.
Information: Facebook page for Bollywood Unlimited or email to [email protected].
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