Brave amateurs in Eccles and Monton weaved their way into a £1,000 fundraise for St Ann’s Hospice at this year’s Bollywood Ball.
Organiser Jen Thomas persuaded everyone from local business owners to the Monton village postmaster to to try their hand at a Bollywood-style dance.
All the money raised will go to St Ann’s Hospice.
“We chose Bollywood dancing because Bollywood is all about cherishing every moment in life, and at St Ann’s Hospice people realise how important it is to cherish every moment,” said Jen.
The community event at Eccles Liberal Club saw dancers run through the ‘Mahi Ve’ routine from the 2003 Indian hit film ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, learned over the course of just four weeks.
The group of keen amateurs included local jewellery store owner Julie Ogden, of Sandford & Ogden, Val Ashall, who owns the Lady V boutique, Linda Mills, who manages the Eccles Liberal Club, Dilip Patel, Monton Village Postmaster and number of other local Monton residents.
Maxine Coyle of the Monton Village Community Association learned the dance and helped lead the choreography.
She told SalfordOnline.com: “For most of them it was their first time.
“Some had never danced before and certainly not in front of an audience, but it was a wonderful occasion for a truly worthwhile cause.”
St Ann’s Hospice, which runs three centres in Little Hulton, Heald Green and Wythenshawe provides award-winning care for around 3,000 people with life-limiting or terminal illnesses.
It costs £16,000 a day to run the service free of charge.
“Our target was £500,” said William Ogden, of Sandford & Ogden Jewellers, “but we’d already beaten that by Saturday night.
“It was actually a great place to meet people in Monton and further afield.”
Closing the community event was Jen’s friend, Irish dancing champion John Mulgrew, who managed to combine traditional Gaelic steps with a Bollywood backbeat for a showstopper of a finale.
By the end of the night the whole audience was up and dancing and learning the steps to kick off Monton’s own Bollywood Saturday Night Fever.
