John Britto’s happy feet

Twenty years after he found himself in dancing, the well-known choreographer on his journey in the performing arts

November 24, 2014 06:07 pm | Updated 06:07 pm IST

John Britto (centre) and his troupe. Photo: K Pichumani

John Britto (centre) and his troupe. Photo: K Pichumani

“I am John Britto and I would like to teach dance,” — this written on pieces of paper, is what John Britto carried around with him. The schools said no. The colleges turned him down. He finally approached his alma mater. Standing outside the Don Bosco principal’s office, Britto relentlessly requested the authority to give him a chance. By the end of the day, the principal acceded.

“I think he finally said yes to me conducting my dance workshop. I think he was fed up of me standing there the entire day, he agreed just to get rid of me,” laughs Britto, now a well-known dance choreographer in the city. Post that, he recalls running home to get chart papers and sketch pens on which he neatly printed ‘Summer Dance Classes by John Britto’. “I pasted them on the walls in school. Then I wrote down my name and number on little pieces of paper and handed it out to everyone who looked even remotely interested in my ad.”

That’s how Britto’s first ever dance class took off in 1993, with 17 children. He was a first-year college student then. He’s lost count of how many students he has now. “Back then, my classes were Rs. 75 for a month and now it’s Rs. 150 for an hour.” An MBA graduate and gold medallist from LIBA, the performing arts always interested him. His final-year project at LIBA, which won him the prize, was also to do with entertainment. “After I graduated from LIBA I did not want to be interviewed for placements. I told my parents my plans and they gave me three years, failing which I would have to make my bid in the corporate world.” He made things work out, which explains why, even after 20 years in the field, he’s still a name to reckon with. “People thought I would fizzle out. My parents thought so too. In 1999 I started Artworx, that’s the parent company that holds John Britto’s Dance Co. In 2003, I opened my school on Sterling Road and in 2006, we entered television shows, choreographing for participants in reality shows such as Jodi No.1 and for various award functions.”

The 38-year-old is a self-taught dancer. “There was no Internet then so I couldn’t look up YouTube.” But that was an advantage, he believes, as it let him explore and create his own movements. “What I saw in my mind I performed.” Later, Britto travelled extensively as part of exchange programmes and learnt more dance styles — jazz, hip-hop, salsa… “Of all the forms I have learnt, Flamenco was the toughest because of the extensive footwork and ballet because I have bow legs,” he smiles and adds, “You should have seen the class I attended. It had little kids learning the dance and then there was me sticking out like a sore thumb,” he laughs. Speaking of children who crowd his dance studio for their classes, Britto says, “Hip hop is the current favourite among all.” His classes even get students who are in their 50s coming in for dance fitness. Most learn to gracefully swing, swirl and glide, keeping in tune with the music by the time they leave. “I should know because 19 years ago, the dance teacher spent many a day, patiently teaching me and a bunch of other 10-year-olds steps to the then iconic ‘Made In India’.” With an eye for recognising and mentoring talent, Britto has now launched his new initiative — JB’s Chennai Dance Championship 2014. It’s open to dance groups across the following categories — school, college, corporates and all-girls dance teams. Five hundred and twelve dancers participated and the shortlisted 16 teams will perform at the finale on November 28. “After Chennai, it will be Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, other states, zonals, then Nationals… International dancers have been roped in to conduct workshops. Through this, I plan to find the top dancers in the country through a structured manner so they can participate in the World Dance Championships,” he says.

Britto believes there is a lot of talent in the country that’s losing out due to the lack of an organised platform. “A competition is successful when a dark horse wins and this time I sense that happening.”

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