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Dancing their way to glory

Staff Reporter

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

TAKING CENTRE STAGE: Krishna Mohan (extreme left) at a training session with his troupe at Ambapua Kali temple in Berhampur.

BERHAMPUR: Even a group of rural menial labourers can turn into a dance troupe of national acclaim, but it needs the guidance of an able guru.

The conviction and love for dance motivated T. Krishna Mohan, a youth in his early 20s, get together a group of labourers from villages near the city to form a modern dance troupe with rural touch.

Within a year, this dance troupe - Prince Dance Group - has managed to draw the attention of event managers in metros.

Special award

In the national finals of the `Boogie Woogie', a modern dance reality show on Sony TV in September last, the organisers had to constitute a special award of Rs. 1 lakh to honour the efforts of this troupe and its choreographer Mr. Mohan.

Mr. Mohan had to drop out after plus two, and the 16 members of his troupe did not study beyond Class IX due to financial burden.

In January last, he strongly felt that with the knowledge he had in modern dance he could provide some entertainment to menial labourers through dance. Obviously, these youths had better stamina and body flexibility due to their profession.

Most of these youngsters had some experience at staging plays and folk dances in their village. Arakhita Das of Ambapua, for example, donned the role of a woman in plays.

New angle

Mr. Mohan used western dance style to depict stories of Indian myths like `Kalia Dalan' to keep his disciples from rural background interested and to provide a new angle to modern dance.

Chintamani Sika, a lecturer posted at Bolangir, provided financial help to the troupe so that it could attend the audition for `Boogie Woogie' in Kolkata in August last.

Mr. Mohan had to mortgage his motorcycle to collect money to reach the finals of the show in Mumbai. At the call of event managers, the troupe performs at elite stages in Mumbai and New Delhi.

The greatest surprise was that Mr. Mohan underwent no professional training in any dance form. He said he always sensed the steps and choreography through instinct. "Rhythm is the hidden reality of nature and every person has the capacity to explore it to become a dancer," he said.

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