Introduction

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everything

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[Music]

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is

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my name is vermise Karim I am the

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founder and head choreographer of veils

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of Hollywood which is a dance Collective

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based in Montreal Canada

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[Music]

How did you get into dance

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so I’m Indian by Heritage my family has

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been living in Kenya for a few

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Generations which is where I was born

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and we moved out of Kenya when I was too

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unsettled in Canada so I was raised as a

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Canadian my parents had actually

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enrolled me in different extracurricular

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activities after school and classes and

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they found that in all the activities

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that I was signed up in I wasn’t

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enjoying them I wasn’t excelling in

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anything I wasn’t having fun and so

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dance was an opportunity they thought

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might interest me and they took me to go

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see a show that was produced by a local

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dance studio and when I went and saw the

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show my job was open at the end and they

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asked if I wanted to join classes I said

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yes and that was a start

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through showing my art my objective is

What is your objective

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to really encourage future generations

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of artists to pursue their art on a

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professional level as a career choice

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and not as a glorified hobby or a

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Pastime I think it’s important

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especially in our community to show that

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the Arts are a viable career and given

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how art was consumed throughout the

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pandemic I think that everybody has

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learned that art plays a crucial and a

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very vital role in society

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[Music]

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[Music]

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[Applause]

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thank you

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foreign

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there’s not very many male dancers I

What are your goals

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also identify as part of the queer

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community

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identify as a person of color so those

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provide barriers sometimes with casting

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in regards to diversity and inclusion

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and so a core focus of my work through

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my Collective is to use Bollywood and

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dance to spread joy to share another

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culture and to live an experience with

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other bodies and movement and motion I

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think there’s many perceptions and

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preconceived notions about what

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Bollywood is

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um what it’s based on and these

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perceptions of course

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engages in a in a deeper role in

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education and in pedagogy and in

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transmitting information that is

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breaking stereotypes and showcasing the

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Beauty and the Mosaic of cultures that

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is actually making up Bollywood culture

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I’m most looking forward to performing

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at the festival and presenting the two

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numbers that are being created which are

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inspired by the world of Dreams what

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interests me about the world of Dreams

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is that it’s it’s something that’s

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accessible to to many folks because many

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of us do dream uh the the qualities of

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the dreams themselves the sort of

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non-sensical illogical possibility that

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can that can happen in a dream this

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transportation of of ourselves into a

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parallel world or into another dimension

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and how this is a very ephemeral

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experience those are all qualities and

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things about dreams that interest me

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which I’m looking to bring to the

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performance through Bollywood dance

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[Music]

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[Music]

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come on

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[Music]

Conclusion

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I think this Festival is is an

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indication of the cultural diversity

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that is present in Canada I think it’s

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important to highlight different

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communities that have established

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themselves in Canada without forgetting

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the role that we also play on this land

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as settlers I think that the festival

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also provides a platform for aspiring

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artists for emerging artists for

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established artists to really come

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together and create a sense of community

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a sense of belonging build Bridges with

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with other like-minded folks and to come

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together with this common goal of

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upliftment through ART

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of Bollywood we hope to see you back

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next year

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what a beautiful performance

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