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Samantha is the Founder and Director of Boom Boom Bollywood. She was surprised and grateful when there were so many dancers who wanted to walk with her down this rather odd path! She was even more surprised and grateful when Boom Boom Bollywood's premier performance for the Arizona Indo-American Community (Diwali, 2004) was greeted with cheers and support from the community... and even tears from an Indian gentleman who had recently moved to the US. He said that he as feeling homesick and worried about living in a new country, but to see a team of American girls doing the dances of his country with such joy and skill gave him hope about making his home here. Then he started to cry, thanking her and hugging her... and something changed in Samantha in that moment (as she began to cry as well... wouldn't you?). She realized why what they were doing was important... Fun, yes. Cheesy, yes. Overly-dramatic, yes. But just like the Bollywood movies she loved, the dance team was spreading hope! If just one person walks away from a Boom Boom Bollywood performance a little happier than they were when they arrived, that makes it all worthwhile for Samantha. She is a sap. Boom Boom Bollywood FAQ What is your Sun Sign? Libra Which Bollywood star do you strive to emulate in your dance/character/style? Madhuri Dixit Which Bollywood star is your heart-throb? Sh-Sh-Sh-Shahrukh! What is your dance/theatre background? In addition to directing and dancing with Boom Boom Bollywood (since 2004), I am also a long-time member of Domba. I am seriously obsessed with Bollywood movies and have (somehow) managed to infect others with this fanaticism... leading to the much higher goal of East/West connection and understanding. I have a long history of being on stage with various forms of theatre arts including fire arts (now with Fyrae), stage combat (past stints as a Fight Choreographer with the Arizona Renaissance Festival and the Arizona Shakespeare Festival plus current work with Fyrae), acting, singing, guitar-ing, drumming, concertina-ing and English folk dancing (as the founder of Bedlam Bells Morris). I started learning the great dances of Bollywood films in 2003 when Danielle Van Dobben (an incredible dancer and instructor) turned me on to the movies Taal and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (still two of my favorites). I started performing Bollywood numbers as solos in bellydance shows and much to my surprise, there was a great deal of interest shown by fellow bellydancers in learning Bollywood-style dance, so I started a class... and the class turned into a dance troupe... and people who saw the dance troupe demanded more classes... and so on and so on! Past and current dance instructors (who are also constant sources of inspiration) include Heidi Alexander, Ellisha Tash, Haven Heffner, Joanna 23, Jill Parker, Colleen Mathis, Valerie Pruitt, Jason Adajian, Kevin Hughes, Alex Bernstein, Kami Liddle, Abhinav Puri, Tarun Chopra, Paulette Rees-Denis, Heather Stants, Rachel Brice, and (although they don't know it, the following stars teach me every day) Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Saroj Khan, Farah Khan, Ganesh Hegde and of course... Shahrukh Khan. Tell us something strange or quirky about yourself... I love accordions and accordion music... and I have a soft spot in my heart for anything with tentacles. Really!