For film choreographer Johny, a good dancer is one who is able to feel the rhythm in music. “It is inherent. You start to rhythmically sway, bounce or tap to the tune. As a dancer, if I am able to perform any type of movement with considerable ease, it is all because of the feel for the beat,” says Johny, who started his dancing career a quarter century ago..
His popularity soared with Konja Naal Poru Thalaiva in Aasai and Aval Varuvaala in Nerukku Ner . He is also well remembered for his cute performance in Kothaval Chavadi Lady song in Kannethire Thondrinal . “Our master Raju Sundaram wanted me and dance master Nobel to assist him, but I preferred dancing in front of the camera. Raju master asked me to wait. Couple of days later we went to Goa for the shoot and he offered me a dancing sequence to perform and it became the talk of the town introducing me as a dancer,” he says.
Johny has not learnt any classical or folk dance but his three months training under popular film choreographer Raghuram pushed him into films. “But for my grandmother Philomena I would not have been a choreographer. My parents were against it but she nurtured my passion,” he says.
String of sequence dancing propelled Johny as a front line dancer in Raju Sundaram dance group and he has performed for more than 2,000 film songs in all south Indian films and Bollywood. His compositions in Madhu and Pazhayavannarapettai introduced him as dance choreographer.
Johny breathes life into any song with his cute expressions. “I give more importance to expressions. I come from a school which taught me not to miss even a single beat in music. In five minutes duration of the song, I see to it that there is some register movement, which enhances the character and colour of the song,” he says.
Every time he goes to the location he looks for some inspiration and tries to incorporate it in the song. “There should be a story in every song. It is a style I have learnt. Even in the upcoming movie Seyal I have introduced a register movement, which will be repeated throughout the song. It will be the choreographer’s touch,” he says.
He feels that a choreographer needs at least four days to picturise a song but only two days are given at present for the upcoming choreographers citing escalation of production cost. “If I get four days for a song, I will create wonders. There will be adequate time for rehearsals and I can set a new trend. But now I have to extract work from artistes within two days. If he or she is not comfortable with movements there ends the matter,” he says.
At present Johny is working in Idiyum Minnalum , (as choreographer and also performing a villain role) and Manathil oru Matram .
Johny was in Madurai to judge a certification programme of Dance World Studio along with International B-boy expert Cheno from Thailand. Cheno also believes in expressions but more through hard movements and style. “Ultimately it all boils down to style. Performance is all about how you reflect your personality on stage,” he says.
Ask him what brought him here and without blinking he says, “Rajnikanth!” “I love to watch Rajnikanth’s movies for the sheer energy he is able to radiate,” says Cheno.
An established name in the field of hip hop and having participated in several international B-Boy dance competitions, Cheno finds a lot of potential dancers here. “Dancers here are more expressive and like to exhibit their skill and be the best in the business,” he says.
Dancing is an evolution process, it all depends on how best you get into the groove of music by successfully integrating body and mind to music. One has to adapt quickly to execute the movements at will. “Usually I judge a dancer by looking into their eyes. It speaks volume about the ability of the person. One has to remember all the routines and should not be scared of the audience or the judge. Here, I could feel the hunger to perform in their eyes,” he says.
Hip hop is an international dance and it is being performed everywhere but every country has its own flavour. “Basics is one and the same everywhere. Once you get a hang of it, you develop your style from there. A good dancer is judged by his style and it comes from the way he or she dresses and the personality he reflects on stage through the dance,” says Cheno.
It has been more than 44 years now since Hip hop became popular. Hence, Cheno feels there is nothing more one can do other than integrating different movements and developing one’s own style. “Skill is more about how one has understood the dance form and it also comes from hours of practice on floor. One has to freak out on stage conforming to the rules of this art form,” he says.
