Paloma about town: art, pole dance, beauty and Bollywood

Pole dance, champi and Bollywood beats

Contemporary Now – Edition III brought Chennai’s art scene alive across the city, with exhibitions, artist walkthroughs, studio visits, and conversations spilling across galleries and cultural spaces. At the heart of it was Practices in Continuum: Tracing the Present at Lalit Kala Akademi, bringing together 66 artists and seven galleries. What I loved was that it wasn’t just about looking at art, it was about understanding the stories, processes and people behind it. From George K Studio to Ashvita’s and Gallery Veda, the weekend offered plenty of reasons to move around the city, see something new and, perhaps, look at Chennai’s art landscape a little differently.

Next up is the highlight of my week, a performance titled Becoming – An Evening of Pole. I’m honestly at a loss for words, trying to describe it. Calling it a dance show simply doesn’t do it justice. Was it dance? Storytelling? Theatre? Perhaps a little bit of everything. Chennai’s first introduction to pole as a performance art saw the students of The Pole Camp take to the stage and completely own it. We watched strength, beauty, grace and incredible control come together in a showcase that had the audience spellbound from start to finish. A huge kudos to founder Anusha Swamy for pulling off something so fresh and unexpected. The performers truly had us in the palm of their hands.

Chennai’s beauty and skincare gals were in for a treat this week, when Indie Wild founder Diipa Büller-Khosla swept into the city, bringing her beauty-meets-ayurveda universe along with her. The event celebrated Indian beauty rituals with a decidedly modern spin, with the champi team on hand to give guests a taste of some good old-school head-massage goodness. Diipa met beauty enthusiasts, chatted about the brand and its philosophy, while guests got to indulge in a little pampering. Basically, it was an afternoon of great hair, happy scalps and a very convincing reminder that champi never goes out of style.

And in a week that was a proper mixed bag, the city also got a good dose of Bollywood. Vibe Restobar was buzzing as DJ Chetas brought his Chandni Bar Meets Bollywood – India Tour 2.0 to Chennai. The crowd was clearly ready to dance, with his signature Bollywood remixes, Chandni Bar tracks and plenty of familiar anthems keeping the energy high all night. There was singing, dancing and, I suspect, quite a few people rediscovering their inner Bollywood hero. Presented by GetGroove Events, the night was a full-on celebration of filmi music, with DJ Chetas proving once again that a good Bollywood beat needs very little introduction.

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