Karima Essa’s Body Positive Bollywood Dance Show coming to Vernon Performing Arts Centre

Karima Essa’s Body Positive Bollywood Dance Show will celebrate bodies of all types when it comes to town.

The show will be held at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre Jan. 29 at 11 a.m.

It is the third performance in the 2022-23 Spotlight Season’s Kids Series.

Due to the recent flood at the theatre, the performance will take place at the Priest Valley Gym in the Vernon Recreation Centre.

Since she was four, Essa has been gracing the stage in dance competitions, events and most recently on OMNI TV’s Bollywood Star reality show.

When she hit puberty at 11, her body unwittingly became a blank canvas in which people could “paint” their admiration and adoration or their judgement and criticism. She grew up thinking she needed to be a “size zero,” fuelled by the vanity of the Bollywood industry.

Karima’s Body Positive Bollywood Dance Show is an interactive performance that infuses music, breathing and ideologies from ancient scholars from the Middle East and South Asia.

Students of all shapes and sizes will leave inspired to accept and love themselves inside and out, on and off the dance floor.

Essa first delighted audiences at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre last March during the inaugural North Okanagan Children’s Festival.

“She had the whole audience on their feet and beaming with joy, kids and parents alike,” said VDPAC Artistic Director Erin Kennedy. “We are thrilled to have Karima back for another accessible and inclusive workshop-style show.”

A three-time Canadian National Dance champion, Essa is Vancouver’s very own Bollywood star. An incredibly charismatic and passionate performer, choreographer and instructor, she has used her one-of-a-kind Bollywood talent to entertain diverse audiences at festivals, theatres and in schools across Canada.

In 2014, her love for Bollywood took her to the screens in Mumbai, India, as a two-time finalist on Omni TV’s reality show, Bollywood Star. With style, grace and a flair for the dramatic, she has been captivating adult and young audiences for decades.

Since first showcasing her Bollywood Star School show in 2018, she has performed this show in 150+ schools across BC. Essa's new focus is on celebrating that all bodies can dance by sharing the body positivity movement through Bollywood Dance.

Essa is also completing her Education Assistance certification and is interested in exploring how dance can help improve socio-emotional skills in children who have autism.

The show runs for 45 minutes with no intermission and is suitable for all ages.

Tickets are $12 by calling 250-549-SHOW (7469) or online.