I have never been to a fashion show in my entire life. And, being a woman of the twenty first century who has some moderate ideas about the latest fashions, I feel appalled to admit that. However, my no-fashion-show-experience changed on Saturday, February 27^th, when I attended University of Toronto’s Rock the Runway 2010.

It was not your average run-of-the-mill university fashion show (I know, I know. I haven’t been to a show before, so how do I know?). For one, the show was held at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), and the settings and design surpassed anything York University has ever seen (source: overheard conversation at the show). Being a York student myself, I should stand to contradict this, but I was blown away with the professionalism in their display. And, they were running on time!!! In my experience, that’s a rarity for York shows.

The show started off with eye candy MC Brendan Beamish whose quirky humour set the tempo of the evening. The show included top brand names like Club Monaco, Bedo and French Connection, with the endorsement of a fantastic jewellery line by Gay Isber (who is also the officially jeweler for ROM). We were also treated to J(two) unisex shirts and Juju shoes, as well as AllieOop bags. The headliner designer was ‘Mis. James’, whose clothes, in my opinion, were made for ultra thin anorexic models, and which also made me wonder how she made it to the headliner slot. Oh well, I did say my sense of fashion was moderate. However, what stayed on in my mind long after the show was over was the musical performance by two jazz musicians that came right after the intermission: a jugalbandi of trumpets.

So, how did the show come about? In 2007, some UofT students (Fatima Yusuf, Juliana White, Heather McCann and Randy Alexander) from Woodsworth College had a vision. They wanted to raise money for War Child Canada, in a fun and engaging way that would bring the student community in Toronto together in the effort. And, it worked! Being their third consecutive year organizing the show, they have managed to move to a 600 attendee event (from just 100 students in their first year), consisting of fashion aficionados from UofT, York and Ryerson, raising over $20,000 in the past two years. As the story goes, the show gained so much popularity over the past two years that this year they had to move the location from Bata Museum to the ROM. It was a first for both Rock the Runway and ROM, because this was ROM’s first fashion show.

But fashion show aside, the cause behind the show is what is compelling. War Child Canada is a “Canadian charity dedicated to providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance to war-affected children around the world. War Child Canada helps generate awareness, support and advocacy for children’s rights everywhere”. The organization has a major role in providing assistance and generating awareness for the support of children in places like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Darfur. Overall, it is a cause that needs more attention, and Rock the Runway does precisely that through an approach that is both appealing and important to our current sensibilities. This is one show that I definitely won’t be missing next year, as fashion for a good cause is a far better excuse than any.

Author: Sanchari Sur

South Asian Studies Students Association, organized a music and dance exhibition with live performances, displaying the history of the Kathak and Odissi dance traditions, featuring Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations and Joanna De Souza. This event was a part of the Language Series, which is, inspired by the Bangladeshi nationalist language movements marked by the Feb 21 Language Martyrs’ Day (now International Mother Language Day).

Ritesh Das, founder of Toronto Tabla Ensemble, and disciple of Pt. Swapan Chowdhuri plays a tabla solo, accompanied by Kathak dancer Joanna de Souza. De Souza, a student of Pt. Chitresh Das, demonstrated bol, the spoken language of rhythm in South Asian music traditions| Photo Credit: Naushad Ali Husein

Joanna de Souza and Ritesh Das shared their 20 year old passion and vast experience in north Indian dance and music with audience and students at the Robert Gill Theatre on Friday, Feb 26. .

Joanna de Souza who is perhaps the only Canadian born artist to achieve a Master’s Degree in kathak dance through Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad, India, enchanted the audience. Her study of kathak, which began in 1978, continued under Pandit Chitresh Das. Since her return to Toronto, she has gained reputation as an excellent kathak dancer, teacher and choreographer. Her traditional and collaborative works have earned her a variety of nominations and awards.

Ankita Sarker, student at Chitraleka Odissi Dance Creations demonstrated *abhinaya*, the art of expression and story-telling in the ancient East Indian dance form of Odissi.|Photo Credit: Sanjid Anik

Ritesh Das, composer and musician, has studied tabla with gurus Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Ustad Zakir Hussain and most extensively with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. He has toured throughout the US, Canada and India, and performed with many of India’s great music and dance innovators. Since moving to Canada, he has established himself as an extraordinary teacher of tabla and founded the Toronto Tabla Ensemble in 1991. His tabla beats inspired the audience and every listener praised his talent.

The event was a great success full of entertainment and social networking. The performances were indeed enchanting and praise-worthy as Globe and Mail described:

“Odissi is considered the most lyrical and sensual of the South Asian dance styles. The art form brings to life temple dance sculptures in a series of beautiful poses linked by intricate footwork and hand movements. Devraj’s clever spin on this living sculpture is to elaborate on traditional Odissi movements-in other words, to make the dance more complicated and ornate, a concept embraced in the word “pallavi”. The “science” part is anchored in the complex mathematics of the musical structure of the raaga, or specific number of beats of the music. The resulting dance is like watching Odissi in fast-forward. Traditional poses flash by like telephone poles from a passing car, while the siblings execute Devraj’s demanding physicality with awesome speed.”

Thaevening the audience experienced their magical performance and later networked with others who share their interest.

By staff writer

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