A troupe of eight dancers presented a 45-minute show at the Taj Mahal Hotel with Hollywood as its theme traipsing from era to era, performing a short act representing each period.

Beginning with the genre of the Opera, which had a solo performance by a singer, the show ran through perfectly choreographed renditions of Laurel and Hardy of the '20s and the formal dances of the '30s, complete with costumes. The '50s were represented by mock James Deans and John Waynes, as was Clint Eastwood, in a performance against the backdrop of the haunting tune from A Fistfull Of Dollars. The evergreen theme of cops and robbers was represented with familiar figures from the James Bond series, including the gun-toting, skimpily cladlong-legged beauties.

The fine, freewheeling acts of the '70s were sashayed well with the Travolta style of dancing. The '80s brought forth go-go girls and boys, who would give Shiamak Davar a run for his money. For the '90s Michael Jackson's style was pulled off near-perfectly.

The segments of Hollywood were interspersed with parts from some of the most famous Broadway musicals, like Cats, Evita and The Phantom Of The Opera. The most impressive was a 45-minute performance without a single hitch but for five-second breaks for costume changes.

The show comprised a few slices from the complete act that the same troupe performs on board the cruise. With performers changing off and on, it is held together by the choreographer, Jonathan Chianch.

Chianch has been in the business for the last nine years, taking his show all over the world from ship to ship. After sporadic stints around the world as a dancer, fitness instructor, deejay and assistant sound director and manager, he felt this was his truecalling.

``What I'd really love,'' he says, ``is to do a show in India. The response here has been phenomenal.''