Ravitejas wants to become a dancing superstar. The six year old student at Air Force School, Bangalore and Vikram Ganesh (12) are among the 10 aspiring dancers chosen from 1,400 kids at the end of a three-week long selection process headed by Lourd Vijay Dance Studio (LVDS) at Bangalore. The objective of this campaign is to choose a team to represent India at the Dance World Cup being held in Brighton this July.
Both Ravitejas and Vikram are from weak socio-economic backgrounds and may not have enough money to fund their recital. Lourd Vijay, principal instructor at the studio remarks, “Vikram’s mother works as a domestic help, his dad is a carpenter, and Ravi’s father is a key-man in the railways. Their parents are very encouraging towards the children’s dance education.
Vijay also said it takes a total expenditure of Rs. 3 lakh to make all the arrangements necessary for the final performance. The costumes, sets, visa, passport air tickets, accommodation during the competition, training all involve a lot of money.
“We work in close collaboration with a trust called Indian Society for Performers and Teachers of Dance (ISPTD) which is based on donation and funding. It is this trust which takes care of the dance education of these kids. Both of them are on a 100 per cent dance scholarship with LVDS. We have raised 1.8 lakhs already for the dance cup, but it is still not enough.”
Personal instructor, Yashaswini Kedilaya, also Regional Head of LVDS- Bangalore when asked about her opinion of Ravi and Vikram said, “The two are very hardworking and sincere in their dancing. They have a bright future and have the potential to become great teachers and performers in the future”. With daily training of four hours, and ambitious plans and potential to achieve them, the only thing that stands between these two aspiring dancers is the financial constraint.
With over a 120 competing dance schools, the completion is indeed thick for LVDS who will display recitals in the hip hop and folk genre. For further details, mail lourdvijay@isptd.org or log on to www.isptd.org.
