ANNIVERSARIES:
ANNIVERSARIES:
Just when you thought you’ve seen the best of hip-hop in India, Breezer and Only Much Louder (OML) will set the floor on fire once again with Season 3 of Breezer Vivid Shuffle. The competition kick-started with a colourful bang at a ‘Secret Cypher’ hosted by Varun Dhawan in Mumbai on Wednesday night, at an exclusive party that saw several faces from the hip-hop scene. With performances by Naezy, MC Altaf and Spin Doctor, Varun Dhawan officially launched India’s biggest hip-hop dance festival that will take place across the country along with an international qualifier, over the next 3 months.
Going strong in season 3, Breezer Vivid Shuffle will be going to 11 cities this year. With one international round taking place in Bangkok, Breezer is taking it up a notch with its mission to discover the different colours of the hip-hop scene. Furthermore, participants in each of these cities will have the chance to learn from the best in the business, through ten special workshops conducted by acclaimed dancers from across India. After 3 months of qualifiers, the season’s ‘Final Battle’ will take over Famous Studios in Mumbai in September. The winning talent will bag a cash prize of INR 1 million, and get the opportunity to be mentored by the industry’s finest dancers, along with a chance to perform at some major national platforms, such as Bacardi NH7 Weekender.
“Through Breezer Vivid Shuffle, we have witnessed remarkable artists from across the country pushing the boundaries of their talent and the genre as a whole. They have become part of a disruptive movement that continues to experiment and set global standards within India, where the hip-hop culture has exploded in the last couple of years, with brands like Breezer rooting for rising stars. This season we are thrilled to announce that Breezer Vivid Shuffle is expanding its horizons with four more cities in India along with an international qualifier.” said Anshuman Goenka, Director Marketing, Bacardi India Pvt Ltd
However, the crazy fun does not stop at the ‘Final Battle’. The most exciting feature of the platform is the annual Breezer Vivid music video, which will feature Varun Dhawan, Breezer Vivid Shuffle winners and some of hip-hop’s biggest names.
Varun Dhawan whose movie ‘Street Dancer’ will be releasing soon said “In the awesome two years that I’ve been a part of Breezer Vivid Shuffle, I’ve witnessed some incredible talent from across the country. Hip-hop has always been very close to me and these artists inspire me to take my love for hip-hop to the next level with movies like Street Dancer. This year again, I’m super pumped to groove with these artists who know exactly how to live life in colour, through dance.”
The competition includes 4 categories – ‘Breaking’, ‘Popping’, ‘All styles’ and ‘Rep your style’, that encourage other dance forms in tandem with hip-hop. Over the last two seasons, the competition has seen more than 2300 participants with last year’s winners being Tornado (Breaking), Popcorn (Popping), Same Age Crew (Rep Your Style) and Polestar (Crew). Breezer Vivid Shuffle will come alive in the following cities: Shillong, Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Bangkok, Bhopal, Indore and Mumbai. With a mix of dance battle editions and cyphers across each of the 11 cities, this promises to be a season like no other.
Registrations open on 13th June, so stay updated with Breezer Vivid Shuffle on Facebook and Instagram.
Those of you who have been around from the 1960's through the 1990's will remember the vibrant live music scene in almost every starred hotel in India. Those were the days when you walked into a nightclub like 'Rendezvous' at The Taj Mahal hotel and 'Supper Club' at the Oberoi Sheraton in Mumbai to see curtains going up on a band that was the prime focus of these outlets. Every seat in these restaurants allowed an unobstructed view of the band that performed every night on resident contracts. Today all this has disappeared thanks to some ridiculously high entertainment taxes on live music. Today, non off these hotels have complete bands playing save for a few that feature small duos or solo singers. The Lodhi in New Delhi, recently listed among the world's best hotels, decided to step in and rewind to the good old days. They got Goa's premier jazz quartet 'Jazz Junction' to move to Delhi on a resident contract and the decision has paid off in terms of footfalls generated by the band. Jazz Junction featuring singer Daniella Rodrigues, pianist Tony Dias,
bassist Colin D'Cruz and drummer Angelo Colasco began playing at The Lodhi in June 2018. Four months into the contract the band generated a sizeable following, with quite a few high profile guests choosing to celebrate their special occasion at the Elan bar where the band performs. Against all odds the rewind option proved to be a huge success and hopefully other properties around the country takes the cue to trigger a whole new revival of live music.
