“Sewa Dancing Stars” Dazzle Houston with their Scintillating Performances

HOUSTON: Sewa International’s power packed dance competition based fundraiser “Sewa Dancing Stars” captivated the Houston dance landscape on Sunday, April 2, at Houston Durgabari. 3 Genres, 4 age groups, 15 dance schools, 20 sponsors, 30 volunteers, 49 performances, 204 participants, 600 attendees and over $25,000 raised by the end of the 7 hour program tell you the magical story of an event which drew unparalleled support from Houstonians.

This fundraiser was organized to raise funds exclusively for “ASPIRE Tutorials”, an education initiative undertaken by Sewa International for close to 100 kids from refugee / low income / under-served community background. These kids are from Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Kenya, Syria, Eritrea, Columbia, Guatemala and Mexico.

The event emcees Mallika Ghei and Amit Pandya kept the audience engaged as performers in 2 different genres – Bollywood and Classical were subjected to scrutiny by an expert panel of 8 judges.

The grand prize winners in different categories were: 2 Teams from Sunanda Nair’s Performing Arts Center in (5-8 yrs) and (9-12 yrs) age categories respectively, Oorjita Vijaykumar and Shivangini Academy of Performing Arts Team in (13 – 17 yrs) age category, and Dance With Dolly team in (18+ yrs) age category. Judges critical acclamation award went to Odissi Dance Academy

Richard Rodriguez, the director of Brays Oaks Management district, who was the Guest of Honor, acknowledged the amazing work Sewa International’s team does and said he has seen the difference ASPIRE tutorials team has made in the lives of the students.. He exhorted the community to step-up and support the ASPIRE tutorials.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni , the illustrious author, educator and speaker, who was the chief guest of the event said she truly enjoyed the show and being an educator herself, of ASPIRE tutorials’ cause is close to her heart. She said “Being an immigrant I and my family were helped by others to settle in this country and I amvery happy that Sewa extends a similar support to the community.”

Nikhil Jain, Houston Chapter Co-coordinator, and Sachin Jain urged the audience to support such initiatives and give back to the Houston community by either volunteering or by funding the projects. Kavita Tewary, Project Coordinator for Sewa International, thanked the patrons for their generous donations and introduced the “Sewa Dream Team” responsible for putting together this spellbinding event. Achalesh Amar, Anuja Deshpande, Hasita Kartick, Noopur Sapatnekar, Sharda Gadiya, Lekha Vasanth, Vaishali Bhalerao, Nisha Mirani and Mariet Coutinho worked tirelessly for last 2 months on this event. They were ably supported by Lynn Arsenault, Laura Fry, Alexandro, Atreya Tewary, Asim Deshpande, Camilla Escobar, Vivek Sharda, Sandeep Bhalerao, Anusha Jain, Hema Venkat, Swagatika Nayak, Sachin Jain, Vidyadhar Jangale, Manisha Jangale, Smita Singh, Rajesh Thatte and 3 volunteers from Senior Citizens of India on the event day.

About Sewa International
Sewa International is a nonprofit charity registered under the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). Mission of Sewa is to serve humanity in distress, aid local communities, and promote volunteerism.

 

Contact: Achalesh Amar (Houston Chapter Coordinator) – achalesh@gmail.com/713-357-8216
http://www.sewausa.org