Shiamak Davar

Shiamak Davar
Shiamak Davar in 2010
Background information
Born	(1961-10-19) 19 October 1961
Occupation(s)	Choreographer
Years active	1996 – present
Website	www.shiamak.com

Shiamak Davar (born 19 October 1961) is an Indian choreographer, noted as one of the first to bring contemporary jazz and western forms of dances to India.^[1] He is known as the Guru of Contemporary dance in India. He is responsible for modernizing India’s dance scene especially in the film and theatre industry, and is respected for his ever evolving and very popular “Shiamak Style” of dance.^[2] He was also the Director of Choreography for the Commonwealth Games, Melbourne, and Commonwealth Games, Delhi.^[3] He recently choreographed the dance sequences for the movie Mission Impossible 4.

Davar has choreographed several Indian actors and celebrities for film and stage for events like the IIFA Awards and the Filmfare Awards. Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Sushant Singh Rajput were members of the Shiamak Davar Dance Company.^[4][5] Upcoming Indian actors Ruslan Mumtaz, Shubh and child actor Darsheel Safary were also a part of the Shiamak Davar Dance Company.

Davar won the 1997 National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in the film Dil to Pagal Hai,^[6] as well as the Lycra (R) MTV Style Awards 2007 for 'Most Stylish Song in a Film', for the song "Dhoom Again" in the Indian film Dhoom 2.^[7] In July 2011, Davar received an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University in recognition of his contribution to entertainment in India and throughout the world.^[8]

Davar is a Gujarati-speaking Zoroastrian.^[9]

Choreography

Davar began his career in choreography for Hindi cinema with the film Dil To Pagal Hai, for which he won the President's National Award. Having changed the way dance was perceived in Indian films, Davar went on to choreograph for several Hindi films such as Taal, Kisna, Bunty Aur Babli, Dhoom 2, I See You, Taare Zameen Par, Yuvvraaj, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Aladdin. He also trained Sumer Gill in 2014. Shiamak has shared the stage with artists such as Sting, Bryan Adams and Eddie Grant.^[10] He acted and choreographed in the movie Little Ziziou...^[11] He released a hit pop album, Shabop, for which he composed and sang songs with other Indian artists such as Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan and Shweta Pandit as well as songs mixed and assorted by DJ Aqeel. Shiamak has also served as the performance and entertainment designer for shows such as the Sahara Sangeet Awards, the Shiamak Davar China Tour, the Seventh Cairo International Song Festival,^[12] IIFA Awards,^[13] Shiamak: The Spirit of Song and Dance South Africa,^[14] I Believe — A Shiamak Davar Spectacular^[15][16] and The Unforgettable World Tour.^[17]

Shiamak has directed, designed and performed at global events like the Closing Ceremony of The Commonwealth Games (Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010), The World Economic Forum, Davos (2006), entertained world leaders including Bill Clinton who stated Shiamak "The World Must See You",^[18] Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and has interacted and / or worked with international stars like Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, Will Smith, Michael Douglas, Stevie Wonder and legendary American choreographer Debbie Allen for various projects.Shiamak has directed, designed and choreographed entertainment acts for international star Jermaine Jackson, world-renowned music composer A. R. Rahman and almost every Bollywood super star for various projects across the world, including ‘The Unforgettable Tour’ - the biggest Bollywood show to tour America, Canada and the UK performed by superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and others.Davar also runs his dance school,S.D.I.P.A(Shiamak Davar's institute for the performing arts) now Shiamak Davar International across India, Canada, UK and USA ^[19]

Charity

As a philanthropist, he runs the VAF (Victory Arts Foundation) that teaches dance to underprivileged children and children with mental and physical disabilities to help them experience the pleasure of expression through “dance as therapy”. His dedication to his art, unfaltering faith in God and belief in the power of prayer makes him a true role model.^[20][21]

Recent Work

Davar has been associated for choreographing the Bollywood oscars called the IIFA awards for over a decade. At the recent IIFA Florida Tampa Bay 2014, Davar has choreographed Hollywood stars like John Travolta and Kevin Spacey. His choreography for Hrihtik Roshan made Travolta look surprised and his jaw was hanging open.Travolta stated "He’s really brilliant as a dancer. And I’m most impressed by Shiamak Davar’s team. They’re as good as any of the dancers at the Tonys. That was actually a performance worth watching. Two thumbs up from me".^[22] Davar has been receiving a lot of appreciation for his work.

References

External links

• Shiamak Davar's Homepage
• Shiamak Davar at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.google.co.in/music/album?n=Dil-Chahe-Shiamak&id=20100520190954_2d1d03si4m47m
• http://www.google.co.in/music/album?n=Mohabbat-Kar-Le-Shiamak&id=20100520134546_lj2mmwol474i