Shake a leg to win on the streets

Over the past three weeks, Nishil Shah has been sweating it out for three hours every day without respite to perfect his dance moves. Done with Class 12 board exams, Shah, along with his troupe of seven have been practicing in the boys’ common room at Hinduja College, Charni Road, for a unique competition that’s not common in the city.

Over the past three weeks, Nishil Shah has been sweating it out for three hours every day without respite to perfect his dance moves. Done with Class 12 board exams, Shah, along with his troupe of seven have been practicing in the boys’ common room at Hinduja College, Charni Road, for a unique competition that’s not common in the city.

HT Image

In a first-of-its-kind event, the students of the Rotaract Club of Jai Hind College (RCJC), Churchgate are organising ‘The Streets’, a street-dance competition for those passionate about the dance form. Participation is not restricted to college students, and organisers expect 30 troupes to compete.

The competition will take place on International Dance Day on April 29, at High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel.

“Street dance gives an expression to our rebellion. It goes beyond the traditional Indian dance forms, expressing anger and other emotions gracefully,” said Shah. “We are totally prepared to bring the trophy home.”

Street dance is a form of dance that has evolved outside formal studios, incorporating various cultural trends and practices such as break dance, hip-hop, tap, salsa, rock-n-roll, rumba, samba, tango and air-guitar, among others.

“Street dance is widely accepted, and you will find this form of dance in every corner of the world; that is why we wanted to introduce this unique open tournament,” said Charmi Mehta, RCJC vice-president.

“Street dance is a freestyle form where we can juggle all kinds of dance without restrictions,” said Akshay Patil, coordinator of the Sydenham college dance troupe.

While Mayuresh Wadkar, a Season 1 finalist of TV show Dance India Dance is likely to be one of the judges, students from the Nalanda Foundation, an organisation that helps educate children with learning disabilities, are expected to be the opening and closing acts for the event.

“We are organising an event like this for the very first time, so there is some nervousness. But I am confident we will be able to pull it off,” said Mehta.