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The boogie bandwagon

Steps to fame Dance reality shows have catapulted choreographers to stardom

In 2004, Aanchal Gupta was just another girl with an idea and a lot of space. She started her dance studio called Arts in Motion in central Mumbai. But she found no takers for her sessions on Salsa, Bollywood dance and Bharatanatyam.

“I remember making cold calls to just about everyone I knew in the locality and the answer would always be a ‘no’,” recalls Aanchal. Five years later, Aanchal has 300 to 400 students signed up for her classes where she teaches about 18 different styles of dancing including Krumping, B-boying, Flamenco, Belly dancing, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Argentine Tango. “Now people come to me and ask for newer forms of dance; and I am talking regular non-dancers here,” she says, having recently opened up another 1000sq.ft. dance floor.

It would be an understatement to say that dance has taken India by storm. ‘Dance shops’ or small studios teaching dance forms have sprung up in the lanes of not just metro cities but also smaller towns. All thanks to the dance reality shows on television.

Led by a few excellent choreographers on the small screen, the dance movement has fired the imagination of millions of TV viewers across the country. So much so that even Bollywood is sitting up and taking notice.

Choreographer Savio Barnes who was Hard Kaur’s dance partner in the recently-concluded “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” (JDJ) was chosen to choreograph the ethereal ‘Pyaar Ki Yeh Kahaani Suno…’ from “Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd” picturised on Abhay Deol and Minissha Lamba only after Farhan Akhtar spotted him on “Nach Baliye (NB) Season One”. Choreographer Terence Lewis who played mentor as well as judge in Zee TV’s “Dance India Dance” (DID) was recently signed up by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for his upcoming film titled “Guzarish” with Hrithik and Aishwarya.

Even Sonia Jaffer who choreographed Baichung Bhutia’s win in this season’s “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” got film offers (“Nishabd”, “Go”, “Meerabai Not Out” and “Raat Gayi Baat Gayi”) after she was seen as Mahesh Manjrekar’s partner in the first season of the same dance show. Now she has wrapped up Anjum Rizvi’s huge musical film “Fast Forward”.

Terence, who runs his Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company, says that initially people never understood his style of contemporary dance. He was the choreographer for the dance-based film “Naach” directed by Ram Gopal Varma. “People now understand that dancing is not only about shaking hips. It’s about conveying a mood, about transition from one step to another. Through TV we got a chance not just to entertain but also to make the general public aware about the nuances of dance. That has caused a revolution,” he explains.

Terence confesses that prior to “DID” he would conduct dance workshops in about three or four cities every three months.

Now, as he leaves for Vienna, he discloses that he is doing 11 such workshops in as many cities internationally, including Vienna, Toronto, New Jersey, Malaga and New York.

And he can’t rest thereafter. He has been signed up for two movies to showcase “exactly the dance seen in ‘Dance India Dance’,” in Bhansali’s film and Ashutosh Gowariker’s “What’s Your Rashee?”.

Savio confesses that the tryst with reality shows has pushed his group (he works with two other partners — Gunjan and Danny) in the limelight and they have been able to bag live stage shows like never before. “We think stage is the best as it lets you interact with the audience,” he says, just back from a tour of Bangkok. His team is leaving next week for a world tour for two months. Savio’s popular pairing with celebrity Hard Kaur has converted him into a sought-after brand among celebs, many of whom are approaching him for teaching them at a personal level. “Koena Mitra and Govinda’s daughter have asked me to teach them.”

What’s amazing about this rush of interest in dancing is that the more unusual the dance form, more takers there are for it. Savio says that he has more enquiries for Lindy Hop, an African-American street dance style. Aanchal says that the day she announced her B-boying class two months ago (another street dance style including headstands and breaking) 50 people signed up for it. Terence seconds this. “My style is more of an art form where dancers have to emote with their body and not just the face.”

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