Over the past weekend, my cast of Roots: A Journey Through India and I traveled to Fredericton for the world premiere of our show, and squeezed in a master class as well.
Thank you to everyone who came out to watch us, and the Fredericton Playhouse theatre & Association for Indo-Canadians in Fredericton for bringing us out! Can't wait to perform in Toronto on Nov 19 at the Aga Khan Museum!
The A-Z of Indian Dance
Hey guys!
I'm finally back with a new video that I did in collaboration with J Raj Music and the YouTube Space in Toronto!
A special thank you to the crew at YouTube for helping us create this, all the dancers for always coming through for my projects, Thushanth for the videography, Lamia for all your help on set and in all the prep work, and Infuzion Artistry for the beautiful costumes.
Enjoy & don't forget to subscribe!
Roots: A Journey Through India
I am so proud to announce my production - Roots: A Journey Through India! I'm doing this show in partnership with Infuzion Artistry led by Deepta Banik, and have the most amazingly talented cast. We are touring in Fredericton on Oct 30 and Toronto November 19!
Get your tickets here if you haven't already! <3
Jubilee Games 2016 in Dubai!
I'm back in Toronto after 2.5 weeks in Dubai, and had a long 14 hour flight to reflect on my experience with the 2016 Jubilee Games. I was blessed with the opportunity to serve as the creative director and choreographer for the Opening Ceremonies (Diversity Dance), Closing Ceremonies (South Asian Performance), and an epic Salim Sulaiman Flashmob! This was absolutely the most trying experience of my life, but also by far the most fulfilling thing I've been able to do with my dance experience thusfar.
Thank you, first, to my amazing team of dancers. Thank you for turning my vision into reality, thank you for your heart and your passion, thank you for bearing with me through 14 hour rehearsals, and thank you for being so hungry to learn. I hope you were able to learn even a little bit from me in comparison to what I learned from you. Welcome to the dancewithSL fam <3
Secondly, thank you to the amazing team behind OC/CC - logistics, costumes, tech, hair & makeup. Thank you for your incredible dedication to my pieces even though you had so many others to work on!
Lastly, thank you to everyone who woke up at all hours to watch this around the world. All your messages meant so much to me.
Till 2020,
S.
Let's Nacho!
It felt SO SO SO good to be back teaching a master class again (even despite my sprained ankle)! It was amazing seeing so many new faces in my class. Hope y'all had a good time and come out to the next Toronto class in the fall!
I can't wait to start teaching in more cities! To book a master class in your city - HIT ME UP: dancewithsl@gmail.com
Enjoy the video & make sure to like, comment, subscribe, and keep dancing!
#MoreForAll
So excited and proud to announce that I am part of the Ford Canada #MoreForAll campaign with posters all over Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver! Ford used social influencers for this campaign (which is awesome in itself) - each representing a different value that Ford stands for. My value is discovery - discovery in my process, in learning to create and innovate, and in building relationships with all of you! This whole YouTube Bollywood dance thing has been a major discovery process for me. I've learned so much about myself in the last year, and have built the most amazing relationships with you guys! I'm so happy that you continue to be inspired and learn from my channel.
The campaign message is something I truly believe in - the idea that we should all be more, do more, and expect more. When my parents first came to Canada, the South Asian community was small and massively underrepresented. I don't think my parents ever pictured the day that they would walk down the streets and see a South Asian person on billboards, let alone their own daughter. I myself never thought that Bollywood dance would take me to the places it did. It's a proud and special moment for my family, and hopefully the community (and Bollywood dancers everywhere) as well! Thank you Ford Canada for letting me be a part of this!
If you see these around your city, take a picture with it and tag me on Instagram/Twitter and use the hashtag #MoreForAll
MASTER CLASS LIVESTREAM!
With my master class coming up on July 9, here's a little video from my last one in Toronto!
Thank you to all my amazing dancers for your pure energy - I love working with so much talent! Sign up for my next master class in Toronto on July 9, and if you're not in Toronto, we'll be doing a LIVESTREAM! RSVP here so you don't miss it https://www.facebook.com/events/286737781665532/
Maafi: Behind the Scenes!
Presenting a little homemade documentary about the process, the rehearsals, the team, and going viral! Thanks for all the endless support you've give us - it means more to us than you'll ever know! A special thank you to my amazing team of dancers, to J Raj Music, and to Ken Fong my amazing photographer! Enjoy! :)
All Maafi footage: Safira Halani (@safirahalani)
Nach Nach Ke -
More about the team here
Jabra Fan Choreo & CONTEST ALERT!
Since you were all requesting some beginner level choreo, I decided to do a little filmy piece to my favourite song at the moment - Jabra Fan! In creating this piece, I imagined that it was about being a fan of someone on a different level than what the movie intended, which was a fan relationship marked by an obsession with a celebrity. This piece was inspired by the King himself, Shahrukh Khan, and dedicated to my 'Jabra Fan' - my mommy :)
Special thank yous: The Jabra Fans - Gowtham Ratnaraj (@gothamphotographyTO), Rahim Printer (@printerror1), and Arnold Wallang (@hey_arnold26). Also shoutouts to Thushanth (@thushanthmanohar) for the videography and Babbu the Painter (@babbuthepainter) for the dope tee I'm wearing!
CONTEST ALERT: Are you Dance With SL's biggest fan? Post a photo or video of you doing one of the moves from my Jabra Fan video on Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #dancewithSL/tag me @shereenladha and you'll be entered to win a Dance With SL gift set including brand new MERCH! Contest closes SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016!
Video & BTS pictures from Snapchat below :) Enjoy y'all!
My Dope new DancewithSL jacket!
Bianca de Zilva of The Jacket Company made this amazing custom piece for me! The jacket is vintage and hand painted and I absolutely LOVE it! Check them out on Instagram (@thejacketcompany_) and on their website.
Bollywood America 2016
I am so honoured to have been one of the judges for the ULTIMATE Bollywood Competition - Bollywood America - in Cleveland this year! I was blown away by the level of talent on the stage and lucky to have witnessed some epic routines. The best part of the weekend was meeting and spending time with my fellow judges. Can't wait to work with you all soon!
Congratulations to all the teams for putting on a dope show!
DancewithSL is hiring!
Shereen Ladha, creative director of DancewithSL, is looking for a media & creative coordinator. This role is ideal for anyone looking to: get into creative production, learn how to build a personal brand, gain experience in the entertainment and digital industry, and/or work on creative video and stage productions.
Responsibilities will include:
- Managing media relations
- Assisting in video and stage production administrative and creative planning
- Sponsorship deal and brand alliance correspondence
- On-set assistance
- Prospecting brand opportunities and assisting in strategic planning
- Other tasks as required
If interested, please send your resume and contact information here
Maafi - The Official Bollywood Remix to Justin Bieber's 'Sorry'
A video project that has been in the works for MONTHS is finally out! The track is produced by the amazingly talented J Raj (@jraj_music on Instagram, and j-raj on Soundcloud), whom I've known and have had the privilege of working with for years. And what's a remixed track without a remixed video? The original video was so dope and inspiring, so I wanted to create what a Bollywood/Indian version of Bieber's would look like. Our outfits are inspired by South Asian street fashion and obviously Bollywood cinema, and I created the choreography to mimic more standard/typical Bollywood moves (you get a cookie if you can spot some signature steps!)
Thank you to all my gorgeous and swaggy dancers, Safira Halani, Phantasia Studios, and of course the one and only J Raj for making this happen!
Enjoy :)
My latest video release - Kar Gayi Chull!
In my latest release, I'm back at it with my dance partner Arnold (@hey_arnold26)! Sometimes I create pieces with a larger vision in mind and sometimes I create thinking about a specific dancer. Arnold is one of those dancers that just completely understands my choreography and art, and executes exactly how I have it envisioned in my mind.
Thank you to Gowtham Ratnaraj of GothamPhotographyTO for the dope videography and concept creation! He found the perfect location and got some amazing shots completely freehand. Check his work out on Instagram @GothamPhotographyTO
Also a special shout out to both of these guys for shooting in FREEZING weather with no rehearsal <3
The Toronto Premiere of 'A Trip To Unicorn Island' #AT2UI
On Tuesday night I got to attend the Toronto premiere of AT2UI! You MUST see this documentary whether you follow Lilly Singh's (aka Superwoman) career or not - it was such an inspirational piece with some stunning visuals. Congrats to my girl Superwoman, and the entire team behind AT2UI! Watch it on YouTube Red now!
My Detroit Dhamaal 2016 Rundown!
Thank you SO much to the Detroit Dhamaal board for asking me to judge this year's Dhamaal competition! I had the most amazing time and saw some DOPE AF routines (I know I said that a lot Saturday night). Congratulations to ALL the teams for slaying just like I asked you to! Keep in touch, and I'm only an email away if y'all want that extra feedback like I promised :)
The Master Class Series is back for one session in Toronto!
These classes have gotten more and more fun every time I teach them so I can't wait for my next session in Toronto! Register here!
Some beginner choreo for this week's video!
I finally did some beginner choreography for everyone who's been asking! This week's video features one of my best friends Pratik Marathe, who is HILARIOUS as you'll see, and made shooting this so fun. Enjoy!
A Special Birthday Video!
I'm a year older today and a ton the wiser. In the last year I got an MBA, started my YouTube channel, performed at the Pan Am Games opening ceremonies, made my Netflix onscreen debut, appeared in the Real Sports ad campaign, and danced a WHOLE lot! Thank you to everyone who has been alongside me and supporting me on my journey - I can not thank you enough for making every year more exciting.
Now on to the good stuff! You guys have been requesting this song FOREVER and the only reason I took my time with it is because I decided I wanted to do my first SOLO VIDEO with a birthday release! Here it is - enjoy!
Q&A Video!
Thanks for sending in all your questions guys! Here's the video - get to know a little bit more about me! I'll be back with dance and tutorial videos next week :)