Let the good times roll
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Let the good times roll
Amdavadis
are craving for the tradition of sit down dinners and hoping that New
Year Ball parties will get trendy this year for family celebrations
The party never stops, and the revelers never tire, but everytime enjoying a New Year dance party is not about having deep pockets or burning the dance floor at a discotheque/club. There was a time when Christmas parties and New Year celebrations were marked with popular clubs and community centres hosting a ballroom dinner and dance party. The whole idea of welcoming the New Year was about enjoying with family and if you were single, you might had a cool dude/dudette asking you to dance with him/her. Dinner tables were laid out, there was rock & roll music, instrumental, fox trot, ballroom and waltz dominated the dancing styles. Cut to recent times. If you want to party, it is all about international DJs rocking the party for teeny boppers, loud music in a large room where you can't even see each other and perhaps, families would not find a place!
Mark Haydon, a musician and member of a popular band Hammersmith, feels that at minimal expense popular clubs used to entertain families for sit down dinners and dancing.
The whole idea of celebration was more about socializing, meeting new people, making friends. He says, "Even now cities like Bangalore and Goa, and two years back Vadodara hosted such parties, now families in Gujarat miss this kind of enjoyment. The experience of having enjoyed a party should be great for the soul and senses, which is missing these days." Seema Bansal, a fashion designer says, "Unlike other cities, in Ahmedabad if you are single then no one asks you for a dance even!"
The fact that party trends keep changing is true. Supriya Shah and Mansi Desai, contemporary dancers and owners of a dance academy organized a party that had even non-dancers grooving to salsa, bachata and ballroom styles. Supriya says, "With party culture witnessing newer trends, in these parties, people are generally dancing in their own groups. We wanted to break that and so our party had even non-dancers pairing up and enjoying themselves. Christmas and New Year should be a family celebration and we should also remember that Gujarat is a dry state, so how much would trance or progressive music keep all the family members entertained on the dance floor?" The fact that a party is organized at a closer destination (not at a faraway farmhouse), and starts early is something that many single women and families look forward to.
Event organizers feel that sit down dinners are a costly affair. Rajat Sogani, president of an event management company says, "Earlier hosting a sit down dinner with a New Year ballroom party would be costing around `1000 per person. Now people love to have everything in a fancy ambience. The cost of organizing such parties is higher and runs into `4,000-`5,000 per person. Another drawback is we are always aping western trends when it comes to partying. So families have now moved on to partying at homes with close friends while youngsters party at discotheques."
Prominent families in the city also feel that party organizers are catering less to family entertainment. Rushad Ginwala, a restaurateur says, "The DJ music has completely taken over those local bands who played at parties. Earlier we had lavish sit down dinners instead of noisy New Year parties with DJs mixing music. Even hotels have deejay music now. And when it comes to New Year celebrations, obviously you don't want to go to crowded places."
A city like Ahmedabad where families spend quality time together even during year-end bashes, may be partying should have a more inclusive feel to it and everyone should be on the dance floor and ring in the New Year.
The party never stops, and the revelers never tire, but everytime enjoying a New Year dance party is not about having deep pockets or burning the dance floor at a discotheque/club. There was a time when Christmas parties and New Year celebrations were marked with popular clubs and community centres hosting a ballroom dinner and dance party. The whole idea of welcoming the New Year was about enjoying with family and if you were single, you might had a cool dude/dudette asking you to dance with him/her. Dinner tables were laid out, there was rock & roll music, instrumental, fox trot, ballroom and waltz dominated the dancing styles. Cut to recent times. If you want to party, it is all about international DJs rocking the party for teeny boppers, loud music in a large room where you can't even see each other and perhaps, families would not find a place!
Mark Haydon, a musician and member of a popular band Hammersmith, feels that at minimal expense popular clubs used to entertain families for sit down dinners and dancing.
The whole idea of celebration was more about socializing, meeting new people, making friends. He says, "Even now cities like Bangalore and Goa, and two years back Vadodara hosted such parties, now families in Gujarat miss this kind of enjoyment. The experience of having enjoyed a party should be great for the soul and senses, which is missing these days." Seema Bansal, a fashion designer says, "Unlike other cities, in Ahmedabad if you are single then no one asks you for a dance even!"
The fact that party trends keep changing is true. Supriya Shah and Mansi Desai, contemporary dancers and owners of a dance academy organized a party that had even non-dancers grooving to salsa, bachata and ballroom styles. Supriya says, "With party culture witnessing newer trends, in these parties, people are generally dancing in their own groups. We wanted to break that and so our party had even non-dancers pairing up and enjoying themselves. Christmas and New Year should be a family celebration and we should also remember that Gujarat is a dry state, so how much would trance or progressive music keep all the family members entertained on the dance floor?" The fact that a party is organized at a closer destination (not at a faraway farmhouse), and starts early is something that many single women and families look forward to.
Event organizers feel that sit down dinners are a costly affair. Rajat Sogani, president of an event management company says, "Earlier hosting a sit down dinner with a New Year ballroom party would be costing around `1000 per person. Now people love to have everything in a fancy ambience. The cost of organizing such parties is higher and runs into `4,000-`5,000 per person. Another drawback is we are always aping western trends when it comes to partying. So families have now moved on to partying at homes with close friends while youngsters party at discotheques."
Prominent families in the city also feel that party organizers are catering less to family entertainment. Rushad Ginwala, a restaurateur says, "The DJ music has completely taken over those local bands who played at parties. Earlier we had lavish sit down dinners instead of noisy New Year parties with DJs mixing music. Even hotels have deejay music now. And when it comes to New Year celebrations, obviously you don't want to go to crowded places."
A city like Ahmedabad where families spend quality time together even during year-end bashes, may be partying should have a more inclusive feel to it and everyone should be on the dance floor and ring in the New Year.
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