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The 17th FOGANA North Atlantic Regional Dance Competition took place on June 28, 2008, at Jefferson Memorial Performing Arts Center, Elizabeth, New Jersey. An audience of Over 1200 people jam-packed the theatre, cheering and rooting the eighteen breath taking choreographed items performed by over 270 dazzling stars, ranging from 6 years to 60 years. Most of these participants, even the six year olds traveled over 200 miles, from New Jersey to Massachusetts, They were accompanied by their parents and other relatives. Most of these choreographers worked over three to four months in preparation of each performance, training minimum 10 to maximum 16 participants in each item. Under the rules and regulations of FOGANA, they performed on an original version of Gujarati Garba, Raas, and Folk Dance songs. They all followed the strict FOGANA guidelines in preparation of the performance. They exhibited bright, colorful, artful, and traditional costumes from the different parts of Gujarat. Throughout the Dance Competition the DJ: Ultimate Soundz filled the theatre with the dholak beats, the tunes of the flutes, and the cymbals. The participants romped the stage with their energized performance. Their energy was so high that it helped spark the crowd’s excitement. The program ran without any interruption.

The day started out with a warm welcome from the committee of volunteers. The groups were first escorted to the registration desks, then to their individual dressing rooms, and then welcomed to a rehearsal in the auditorium. Throughout the day all the welcomed guests were provided with food and drinks without any charge. The host organizations provided over sixty volunteers on feet, working tirelessly from morning to mid-night.

The respected judges were called from the western parts of the United States, to make sure that the decision they made was fair and honest. The judges were kept away from the performers and were not aware of the performers and choreographers who were part of each item. After each item the scoring sheet was collected and recorded in the computers and on a separate sheet of paper to make sure the results were correct.

The emcees Aditi Mankad, the host of Namaste America Qubaid Kadwani, and runner-up Miss India USA 2007 Tanzie Variaza handled the program smoothly and explained each item in Gujarati, English, and Hindi along with entertaining the audience.

The Chief Guests included National FOGANA President Mrs. Jyotsna Patel, FOGANA Chair Mita Patel, Cultural Education Chair Smita Amin Patel, North Atlantic Regional Chair Rajesh Patel, Regional and National

FOGANA Treasurer Girish Patel, ICS President and past North Atlantic Regional Chair Anil Patel, founding President of ICS and NJFIA J. P. Patel, South Gujarat Patel Pragati Mandal’s Chair Piyush Patel and Co-Chair Sandip Patel, Assembly Man Chivukula, Council Man Sudhansu Prasad, Arun Thaker, Harish Mehta, Kiran Desai, Dr. Jayesh Patel, Rajesh Patel, Kirit Patel, Yashwant Patel, and lots of other prominent personalities from the tri-state area.

Along with South Gujarat Patel Pragati Mandal’s Committee Members, the board of advisors such as; Mukesh Kashiwala, Thakor Bulsara, Dipak Thaker, Arun Thaker, Suresh Jani, Bhavesh Dave, Kaushik Amin, Jashvant Modi, Pankaj Bhrambhatt, Shailesh Patel, and Sanjiv Pandya played an important role, in planning and execution of the event.

Three leading organizations in the tri-state area took charge of the entire event, working day and night for over two months. ICS provided Logistic planning and pre-event administration; South Gujarat Patel Pragati Mandal played the leading role as the host of the entire event; Yogi Divine Society provided the team of over twenty-five volunteers that worked form start to end taking the delicate job of getting the groups ready and helping out in any other way they possibly could. These three organizations worked in brother-hood in making this event a grand success.

The following Dance Schools participated in this competition: India Performing Arts Center, Aangikam Dance Academy, Gujarati Samaj of New York, Studio Mudra, Performing Arts of New England, India Cultural Association of Central Jersey, Mystic Dance, Aum Performing Arts Center, Patidar Samaj of New England, Satsang Group, and Gurjar of New England.

All the participants, choreographers, and managers were awarded with a participant’s trophy. The first, second, and third place winners along with best costume and choreography in each minor, junior, senior, and adult divisions were awarded with 14-18 inch trophies. The following items were the ultimate winners of the Regional FOGANA Competition:

Minor Garba - India Performing Arts Center - Smita Miki Patel
Minor Folk Dance - Gujarati Samaj of New York - Bharti Desai
Minor Raas - Gujarati Samaj of New York - Bharti Desai

Junior Garba - Gujarati Samaj of New York - Bharti Desai
Junior Folk Dance - India Performing Arts Center - Smita Miki Patel
Junior Raas - India Culture Association of Central Jersey - Bina Desai

Senior Garba - Mystic Dance - Shilpa Mithaiwala
Senior Folk Dance - Aangikam Dance Academy - Jasmine Shah

Adult Garba - Patidar Samaj of New England - Hina Amin


Adult Folk - India Performing Arts Center - Smita Miki Patel
Adult Raas - Gurjar ( Gujarati Association of New England ) - Eshani Shah

The winners above have been Invited to represent the North Atlantic Region at the 28th North American Competition that will be held in Lowell, Massachusetts ( Boston ) on July 26th 2008.

Over 600 participants from around the country will be competing ( Best of the Best ) for a chance to be the ultimate winner in their Category and Division.

We all wish all the above teams that represent the North Atlantic Region " All the BEST and we hope they bring the Ultimate Prize to our Region ".

To get more information on National FOGANA Dance Competition, which is to be held at Boston, Massachusetts, on July 27, 2008. Log on to: www.fogana.org


The above press notes, released by:
Viru Patel
President of South Gujarat Patel Pragati Mandal