Dubai-based team jointly release video to spread message of peace ahead of Independence Day
A Dubai-based teacher-student duo have collaborated over a dance to promote peace among Indians and Pakistanis across the globe. The artists, along with their team, are urging people to celebrate the unity in diversity between both nations and calling for netizens to be kind in their choice of words when dealing with members of the neighbouring country.
Conceptualized by Desiree’ Francis, a former radio presenter and marketer from Pakistan currently based In Dubai, Dance for Peace 2020 is being released ahead of India and Pakistan’s 74th Independence Day celebrations. Dance for peace is the second-of-its-type creative move in Dubai by Francis, who has been closely related to Indo-Pak peace projects since 2008.
The first, also released on Independence Day of both countries, was titled the Aman Ki Asha peace song, 2016.
Peace platforms Aman Ki Asha, Aaghaz-e- Dosti and others are also supporting the creative endeavour.
Aman Ki Asha is a campaign jointly launched in 2010 by two leading media houses in Pakistan and India respectively, the Jang Group and The Times of India. The campaign aims for improved mutual peace and dialogue and diplomatic and cultural relations between the two nations in South Asia.
Aaghaz-e-Dosti, started in 2012, encourages volunteers to work for peace, particularly through peace education in both countries.
“Due to the Covid-19 scenario, I was a little apprehensive about the idea, however, when I approached my dance teacher Akshay for this, he was all for the idea and took it up whole heartedly. He creatively suggested ways to do it limiting the number of people and keeping safe distancing and protocols in mind,” she said.
Akshay Dhoke is the co-founder and head choreographer of The Buzz Dance Studio (TBDS) in Dubai. He and his partner Preeti Gadkary enthusiastically took up the cause of Dance for Peace when it was discussed with them.
“We welcome children and adults of all nationalities at our dance school. Music and dance for us is about an emotional connection that we aim to build in our students with the art. We don’t support any form of discrimination,” said Preeti.
“We work to inculcate values of kindness and tolerance, which I believe is a must for any artist”, she added.
Other team members comprise editors Rocky Panesar and Sohail Khan of Super Dancer and The Kapil Sharma Show fame from Mumbai, India along with Majo Joy (performer) , Abul Basar (vlogger), Jasmine Saroia (makeup) , Ishan Modi and Sarfaraz Ahmed (support team) and Lenu Thomas (digital artist).
Sohail says, “I joined hands with Desiree aka Dj Dez on this because as an Indian, I am very loyal to my country but that in no way means that I should be unpleasant in my dealing with people of any other country. Respect for other human beings is important.”
All social distancing precautions have been kept in mind while shooting for this video. The video will be released on 13th August 2020 for the public.
