Day: March 2, 2017

The Third International Tango Festival

The New Delhi Tango School recently culminated its third season of International Tango Festival at the Eros Hotel, New Delhi. Brain Child of Kiran Bajaj Sawhney, who has been successfully running the NDTS, this festival has grown multi-folds since its inception and the next season looks even more promising, now that I have witnessed this one.

Tango is a partner dance that originated in the 1880s along the River Plate, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay and soon spread to the rest of the world.

And to teach the nuances of this intimate dance Maestros Dana Jazmin Frigoli and Adrian Romeo Ferreyra flew down from Argentina and along with Kiran Bajaj herself and Maestro Eduardo Curiel, they truly made a team of experts.

Dana Jazmin Frigoli, a choreographer and teacher. A multifaceted and sensitive artist, known around the world through her extensive and intensive path. She studied at Escuela Nacional de Arte Dramático, and worked for major companies as a performer and choreographer. She created a unique technique called TTC (Conceptual Tango Technology) which has allowed other dancers to find a way to further develop their own tango, understanding the workings of opposing energies in the body, using this internal understanding, to achieve a greater connection. With this work she needed to create a space that represents and is itself the container, of the ideas that emerged from within, and in 2005 Dni Tango opened its doors – a tango school, company and store with its own identity. In DNI Tango, professional staff (chosen by her) and outstanding teachers in various disciplines (Yoga, Contemporary Dance, Contact improvisation, Rhythm, Ballet, Theatre and others) synthesize and frame, the development of her philosophy about tango. Today DNI Tango, is recognized around the world, for its excellent teaching staff and for the group shows it has created (La Colección, Los tangos de una vida, Arealidades, La Musa del Capricho). In 2010 Dana performed the choreography for Superclasico, a Danish film directed by Ole Christian Madsen, nominated for an Oscar under the category of Best Foreign Film. Thanks to La Musa del Capricho, and all the work performed by the DNI Company, Dana Frigoli received the award for Best Argentine Choreography of the season from Argentores 2010 – 2011.
Adrian Romeo Ferreyra Avellaneda (Province of Bs. as) he spent most of his childhood in Neuquén where, at 9 years old , he would run into tango almost by accident. As a dancer, always in contact with other dances but doomed to tango, he has worked with various companies and participated in shows, as well as conferences and competitions nationally and internationally. He has ‘trod the boards’ in the many theaters of Bs.As and visited countries such as Russia, Italy, Sweden, Germany, U.S., Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, among others. As a teacher he began his journey in the year 2002, where one of his most gratifying experiences was to provide free workshops run by the government, and work with groups of elderly people. In 2004 he met Dana Frigoli and had his first contact with TTC. After graduating from the Academia Argentina de Estilos de Tango(AC.E.T.A), he started working at DNI Tango in the year 2007. Since then he has formed part of the teaching staff at the DNI tango studio and its respective dance body , DNI COMPANY, participating in the shows: LA COLECCIÓN DE TANGOS DE UNA VIDA, AREALIDADES AND LA MUSA DEL CAPRICHO. Now, being the most senior member of staff, he works as a choreographic assistant for the COMPANY DNI and fulfills a pedagogical coordinating role within the school DNI Tango. — with Dana Jazmin Frigoli and Adrian Romeo Ferreyra.
Speaking on the Third International Tango Festival, Kiran Said, “For a short period of time every year I travel to festivals and workshops in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, to maintain contact with other artists and reconnect with students . I’m dedicating a lot of time to choreographing for several professional dance couples, this way I can create for other artists that inspire me. I am therefore able contribute from my vision, helping to bring out the best in people, proposing clear paths for creation. Also this allows me to be in the school and continue working with the company every morning , as well as doing my own training and group classes that I give regularly.”

Two workshops each day of 90 minute duration were held across 4 days and it covered the following topics

1.Walk me to the moon.
2.How to brake the axis and live to dance!
3.Timings for the dance floor.
4.”Los Mareados” turns in closed embrace
5.Embelishments for men and women
6.Combinations of movements out of axis
7.Musicality, different tools to play with the music
8.Elasticity movements

Glimpses from the workshop

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N number of people registered for the workshop making it a bigger success. The finale saw top 5 couples performing while numerous of people watched them dance. The top 3 were then selected and given prizes and accolades by the Maestros. But the real deal was watching the Maestros perform, their performance was breathtakingly beautiful. I could not take my eyes off them even for a moment, it seemed like poetry in motion. The moves, the poise, the postures with which both Dana and Adrian danced was truly outstanding. Here is a small glimpse

The finesse that they bring to the performance is unmatchable and I bow down to such talent. In fact the ones who participated in the workshop also seemed like experts in the making and here is a glimpse when so many people where on the floor.

And watching Kiran herself dance is always a pleasure which I cant explain in words, because she is someone who I admire not just a dancer, but as a complete woman. She truly is a woman of substance and I am thankful to her for inviting me to witness such a fine event and giving me an opportunity to meet such wonderful talents from across the globe.

 

 

 

Sanghvi Brands Launches The Luxurious Rossano Ferretti Hairspa At The Manor, New Delhi

Sanghvi Brands announced the launch of the Rossano Ferretti Hair Spa at Zehen at the Manor, New Delhi. Having founded more than 20 salons around the world, Italian born Rossano Ferretti has revolutionized the beauty and hairdressing industry with his novel inclination towards his customers’ individual and natural beauty. Ferretti believes in highlighting and enhancing the inherent beauty in each of his customers, and finds his inspiration in the natural fall of the hair and its individual characteristics. In having stripped down beauty and hairdressing to its most natural, organic elements, Rossano Ferretti has done away with the staged perceptions and norms of beauty in his Hair Spas, and has thus transformed the way people perceive hairdressing and hair salons. This fresh, yet luxurious approach to hairdressing has been termed as “Metodo Rossano Ferretti”, or “The Method.” The Duchess of Cambridge, Jennifer Lawrence, Reese Witherspoon, Dakota Fanning, Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Paradis, Uma Thurman, Kylie Minogue and Elizabeth Hurley, among many others have visited the salons globally.

“The Method”, combined with some of the most beautiful locations in the world including in Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo, Four Seasons in Milan and other exclusive hotels in Rome, Madrid, Los Angeles, New York and Paris are two of the principal essentials required for a Rossano Ferretti Hair Spa. This combination gives Rossano Ferretti customers the ultimate, luxuriously customized experience.

Making up the rest of Ferretti’s team are international stylists, Michele Finessi & Laurent Visco, both of whom will be available at The Manor.

Michele Finessi has worked at the Ferretti Hair Spas in Venice, Parma & Beverly Hills. Deriving from Ferretti’s approach, Finessi too, incorporates his client’s personality, personal style, & their facial structure into his ideal look specifically tailored to compliment each person’s unique identity, making them feel and look their most beautiful. Finessi has styled many renowned personalities and has also been a stylist at the Oscars. He is now at The Zehen at The Manor, New Delhi to work his magic in India. Laurent Visco too has worked with many French and International renowned personalities. At the age of 23, Laurent Visco came to India to pursue his passion for hairdressing and has been creating magic with his personal style for the past 10 years.

Commenting on the launch Mr. Darpan Sanghvi, Managing Director, Sanghvi Brands says, “We are truly excited to bring Rossano Ferretti at The Zehen at the Manor. As one of the world’s most exclusive and expensive HairDressers, the launch of Rossano Ferretti Hairspa truly brings the best of international hairdressing for the discerning residents of New Delhi.”

Commenting on the launch Mr. Rossano Ferretti, Founder & Chairman, Rossano Ferretti says:Our locations are carefully chosen to ensure clients receive a five-star experience from the very moment they enter. We strive to position our salons in buildings that are beautiful, have strong historical ties, and perpetuate our appreciation for art, architecture, design, fashion, and the culinary arts, as well as for the overall notion of refinement that we value within our brand. We’ve waited a long time to find the perfect location in New Delhi and in Zehen at The Manor, the epitome of well-being, we’ve found an exceptional match.”

About Sanghvi Brands

The Sanghvi Group is a global leader in providing lifestyle wellness & beauty services with over 700 employees worldwide. It has created one of South Asia’s largest portfolios of international lifestyle wellness brands with exclusive rights to operate Spa by L’OCCITANE, Spa by Clarins and ELLE Spa in India along with exclusive distribution rights to ELEMIS products in India. The Sanghvi Group has also expanded to the US, Middle East and Indian Ocean with over 60 locations globally. Embracing the advent of technology, The Sanghvi Group has created MyGlamm, which is one of the World’s largest tech enabled doorstep Salon & Spa service provider.

Masala Library- Not just food, but an experience beyond words..!

Some places are not just about food, but the wholesome experience you get in terms of food, presentation, drinks, service, ambience, hospitality and everything else. I have been thinking since long of visiting Masala Library but somehow it never worked out. But recently during Shivratri holiday, me and my son headed out to ML to experience the best.

The ambience is as classy as it can be, totally top notch and a perfect fine dining place.

We decided to settle for the Chef’s tasting menu because we felt that way we would get to try a variety of things and I think it was one of the best decisions we made.

Our culinary extravaganza of 19 course meal began with Amuse Bouche, which had mango pulp with coconut water and was supposed to be gulped down in one shot, and it was really nice, but more intriguing was the way it was presented, like yolk in eggs that too on a nest.

Up next was Madur Vada with Clear Rasam, an absolute delight, both in presentation and taste, loved the miniature vada and the way rasam was supposed to be drunk. Just wonderful!

The next set of snacks included Pirada Cheese Poee, Deconstructed Samosa, Charcoal Bhajiya, Nadir Churma and Farmer’s Staple. Out of these minus the cheese, which I didn’t like too much, everything else was fantabulous. The Deconstructed Samosa went to become one of the best things I have tasted ever. Charcoal Bhajiya was great too, and because of its charcoal black colour my son ended up eating an onion bhajiya which he normally doesn’t. Nadir Chruma was another dish, which he polished off because he didn’t come to know its made of lotus stem and had a spread of hung curd with raddish. The Farmer’s Staple was a millet paratha stuffed with caramelised onions and it was truly mind blowing. Not just the taste and presentation, but the whole experience of the way these dishes are served and one of the team members comes and explains the dishes, its just amazing. It feels everytime a new cultural story is unfolding.

The next set of dishes intrigued me even more, as the presentation and textures were superlative. It included a Mushroom Chai, Galauti Kebab and Sheermal, Curry Leaf Prawns with Thayir Satham and Cubed Chicken Tikka. The Mushroom Chai was simply fabulous and so was the Curry Leaf Prawn, these both tasted awesome. The Cubed Chicken in three different textures, a chicken tikka, a chicken papad and chicken crumble was great, but the winner here was the Galauti Kebab, which didn’t look like a kebab at all, in fact it appeared as a spread of small noodles on the bed of a fluffy sheermal. This truly was an outstanding preparation.

Up next was a Lamb Champ with maple and kokum glaze and it was amazing, the sweetness of maple was perfectly balanced with sourness of kokum, which made this champ sweet, sour, tangy and extremely tasteful. After this Tawa Keema with Pickled Bitter Gourd was served, very tasty and amusing to find bitter gourd that wasn’t so bitter, but tangy.

The Sorbet which came as a refreshing palette cleanser, was like a deja vu to childhood, as it had the flavours of anardana, hajmola, kala-khatta etc., it was really nice.

Mizo Stew, followed by Tawa Boti, Curry, Breads and Fermented Pakodi Dal made for the last set of main course dishes. By the time I reached this stage I was already so full, eating bite sized foods one doesn’t even realise they would be so filling, but they indeed are. Out of this entire course I loved the stew and the tawa boti the most.

 

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And now an elaborate dessert menu awaited us, and it truly was a treat. Dense Dark Chocolate Mousse, Bhappa Doi, Chenna Payesh, Ashen Kulfi and Jalebi Caviar, doesn’t your mouth starts watering just reading these names.. I am sure it does.. at least mine does..No words can explain the taste of these desserts as you can only savour them and let your taste buds linger, all I can say is that each one of them was better than the other. The final touch was given with a dark chocolate truffle presented with a magnetic levitation, which was great to watch and greater to taste.

Last but not the least a candied orange tree for mouth freshener brought our amazing culinary journey to an end. It truly was the most unique fooding experience I have ever had.

A wide variety of Wine can enhance your meal experience at Masala Library as they have a full fledged Wine Cellar and an in house expert to help you with the selection of wines. As for me I gave wines a skip and settled for a Cherry Cobbler to go with my food.

It was an overwhelming experience for me and I loved it every bit. This is one of those places that has to come in anyone and everyones must visit, so please do go and give yourself a culinary treat!
Masala Library Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato