Heerani: Making the UK dance to her tune

24-year old Heerani Woodun is a medical student at Durham/Newcastle University. Common you might say. However, this would-be doctor, who bagged a national scholarship, is also one hell of a dancer. In fact, she is so good that she has won scores of hearts through her moves. Heerani Woodun has already made her parents proud by winning one of the much coveted national scholarships in the science side in 2010. However, the medical student boasts some serious skills... dancing moves to be precise. Following her participation at the Battle Bollywood 2016 competition organised in the UK, her team won the first place. “It was a dream come true. There was an opportunity to step on an international stage and I took it, despite the fact that I was advised against.” The reason: she is undertaking an all important year of study.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"15262","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-25567 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"264","height":"644","alt":"Heerani Woodun"}}]]Battle of Bollywood 2016

The Battle of Bollywood 2016 competition is the UK’s biggest cross-university dance competition. After the selection process of the 23 video entries, 13 universities were selected for the finals. Each team was then randomly allocated names of four famous Bollywood actors and Heerani’s Team Newcastle got Varun Dhawal, Parveen Babi, Pran and Riteish Deshmukh. “We prepared our dance choreography featuring these names in their respective roles within six minutes. We were judged in technical ability, entertainment value, creativity, formations and synchronisation by a jury comprising of eminent personalities: Terence Lewis, Signature, Juggy D and Shruti Shah,” she says. “Terence Lewis gave us the highest score for best costume. He found our dance amazing and said we were fabulous. Signature also praised our formations and movements.” The preparation involved a lot of dedication, time and effort. The team’s dance lead and choreographer Iswarya Jayakumar, who is also a university student, has a professional dance background and she held open auditions to bring together a dance team: Team Newcastle. “I auditioned after preparing a two-minute solo performance of street dance, Bollywood style and Sega. The final team comprised of 17 girls and 1 boy. Most of us were not professional dancers but we were all students fuelled by our passion for dance and this is what made us unique.” Dance has always been a way for Heerani to connect with her inner happiness – a means to escape all the stress. “During my first year in a foreign country, I had to deal with challenges such as adaptation, culture, and language. In my second year, however, I joined a street dance society and I reconciled with my dance getaway. I performed solo in talent shows, and since 2014, in a team with Iswarya. I find Bollywood performances particularly rewarding as they beautifully portray my culture.” The type of dance she chooses depends on her mood. “My favourites are Bollywood Indian and street dance. Through the competition, I learnt some Flamenco and Salsa, which I really like. And I love the expressiveness of contemporary dance. I also appreciate the beauty of classical Bharat Natyam and Kathak.” Heerani hit the stage for the first time when she was seven years old. Since joining university, she has participated in 12 stage performances.