Susan made her first public appearance at age three on Indian Variety. She became known as Baby Susan.

1977 became youngest qualifier for the finals of Mastana Bahar at age six. Placed First on Twelve and Under at age eight.

Performances for visiting celebrities Amitabh Bachan, Waheeda Rahaman, Asha Bhosle, R.D. Burman

Started First dance school at age 13. 1987 - 1988 Won Indian Cultural Pageant Dance Competition. Toured extensively as Baby Susan.

In 1989 began studies in Kathak Dance at the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi under the direction of Shrimati Reba Vidhiyarthi. Secured First Division on completion of B.A. (Kathak).

Featured performances at Nritya Utsav, Swatcha Ganga Utsav, Kala Mandir, Videshi kalakar Utsav, Sara Chandrika Kathak Festival.

In 1994 completed M.A. (Kathak) securing First Division under guru Shrimati Vaswati Mishra; study of folk dances of India; three year course in music; two years of Tabla under Shri Partho Roy.Toured extensively in India, Canada, New York, Suriname and Guyana and Guadeloupe.

Performance for international dignitaries such as Prime Minister of India, HRH Prince of Wales, President of Botswana...

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Sophia Mustapha started dancing at the tender age of nine with the Desh Premee Dance Group led by Randy Dhanessar.

After only a few months of training Sophia discovered that she was ready for stage performances and began dancing at weddings, chutney shows, The Indian Cultural Pageant, Indian Variety and off course Mastana Bahar. She gained enormous experience in a short period of time and began tutoring other aspiring dancers.

When Sophia attained the age of eighteen, along with her sister Mauressa Mustapha , they formed what is now known as the Nirvana Dance Group.

Today this group is one of the top dance groups in Trinidad specializing in Chutney , folk and Film. They have performed at several international stages like Surinam, Guyana, New York, Venezuela and St Lucia to name a few and have accompanied several top performers with distinction.

Sophia and her sister are quite attractive and very creative, they never fail to deliver a most exhilarating dance performance whenever the opportunity arises.

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Neil D Persad was born in Debe, Trinidad and resided at the junction of the very talented Ramai Trace. Neil comes from a very talented family and through the guidance and blessings of his beloved parents has always been heavily involved in Music and multicultural activities.

Neil began his music career playing for many temples and bhajan groups at the tender age of 8, when the harmonium he played was bigger than him. He then began his classical training in singing, harmonium and the tabla from ustaad Boodlal (Doy) Samaroo who was an accomplished drummer trained by professor H S Adesh.

At the tender age of 16 Neil migrated to Toronto, Canada to further his education in the field of Computer Programming. While in college, Neil began playing and singing professionally with the great Music Director, Karamchand Maharaj. Neil then went on to form his first band called "Sangeet Canada", Canada's first crossover West-Indian band.

Neil began accompanying top entertainers such as Harry Panday, Rajmanie Maharaj, Parry Gosine, Prahalaad Sooknanan, Bul Bul Ganguly (India), Naqi Bilgrami (India), Taruna Devi and Bansraj Ramkisson. Ustaad Bansraj Ramkisson recognized his potential and began training him in indian classical singing and Tabla. He has accompanied Bans on many performances thorough North America.

In 1988 Neil moved to Florida to thaw out from 7 years in the icebox and began building his foundation for the "Florida Melody Makers" which was formed in 1989.

Neil began his recording career in 1991 and made his first cassette entitled "Gems Of Mukesh Volume 1". This cassette has sold over 5,000 copies worldwide but unfortunately was pirated in the North American market.

Neil has given his life for his culture and together with the dedicated members of his band have performed at no charge for many non-profit organizations. Neil has taken the Florida Melody Makers to great heights making it currently the only North American -West Indian band to be in existence for 13 consecutive years. This band has accompanied some of the best artistes in the world. Neil's Idol, has always been the great Vareendra Persad (Leader of the Triveni band). Vareendra and Neil are very good friends and share a great relationship.

The band is completing it's very first CD which was released in February 2002. Keep checking this website for more details. Neil is a Microsoft/Cisco Certified Systems Engineer by profession and is currently employed at a major technology Provider in Ft Lauderdale as a Senior Network Engineer. Neil does a super imitation of Mukesh (Lookout Devindra), a dedicated pioneer of East/West-Indian culture here in south Florida. "Yeh hai Neil Persad"

Neil Can be contacted by e-mail at melodee@attbi.com

Also check out his website at www.floridamelody.com

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