Bollyburn: Bhangra meets Beyoncé
The bizarre love triangles, the over the top costumes, the brilliant colours; I love Bollywood movies! After watching one of those three-hour extravaganzas I feel like anything is possible. My favorite part has to be the amazing dance segments; a dazzling mix of classical Indian dance styles and the latest Western pop moves. I get so excited when I see 50 dancers break into a super sexy Beyonce move in the middle of a Bhangra* dance routine!
But Bollywood also has a growing influence on Western pop culture. I first became aware of it during the beginning of the 2000s, when Basement Jaxx’s groovy Bollywood-esque ‘Romeo’ was the hit du jour and Baz Luhrman came out with his mind blowing ‘Moulin Rouge!’, which he admitted was his attempt to create a Western version of a ‘high comedy, high tragedy’ Bollywood film.
In a way, this is exactly the kind of masala -the Hindi word for a spice mixture- I had in mind when I designed my Mirabai collection: my personal remix of India’s glamorous sensuality. A wearable ode to Bollywood.
But back to the Bollywood dancing segments. When I watch them, I find it impossible to sit still. Yet I know that many of the gestures and footwork have symbolic meanings, and that it takes years of practice to master them. So I usually sit there and tap my feet, too awestruck to actually get up and dance.
Then I discovered the incredibly fun Bollywood Dance YouTube tutorials by Ria Rele. There are plenty of similar videos out there, but Ria is my favorite choreographer by far. This feisty Indian lady has a no-nonsense, thorough approach, breaking down the routines in comprehensive steps, making you feel like you could, perhaps, be a Bollywood star in your next life. Check them out and enjoy. But be warned; they make you sweat! They don’t call it Bollyburn for nothing…
Bollywood dance workshops in Amsterdam
*Bhangra: a type of high-energy music and folk dance from the Punjab region.
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MD Friends
Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
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More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
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Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
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Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.
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