The thrill and anticipation along with the mind-boggling choreography: these are just a few of the things which make dance shows on television a must-watch for audiences the world over, and NBC’s World Of Dance with judges Jennifer Lopez, Derek Hough and Ne-Yo while being presented by Jenna Dewan and Scott Evans is no less. Having trained and practised practically 24x7, the dance groups from various corners of the globe engage in a neck and neck and toe-to-toe competition for US $1 million.
In an interview with Mumbai-based dance group Kings United, the group are having just the best kind of hangover from the filming experience, sharing some memories and lessons from the very dynamic experience.
Excerpts:
Can you talk about the early days of Kings United? How did you guys start out and how has your team grown?
Our group was formed in the year 2015 after separation of our earlier group — Fictitious Crew. After separation, we obviously had to start from the bottom but with grit and determination of our choreographer Suresh Mukund, some of our members stayed together and helped in forming a new brand Kings United. Few of them have been together for the past eight to nine years where they used to practise together on beaches, streets when we had no studio for rehearsals. From then till now, the struggle has been really hard as we have seen ourselves grow in our field with all of our achievements and today, we can proudly say that we are one of the best dance group in the world and we have our own dance studio where we can rehearse daily.
What would you say has been the biggest turning point for Kings United so far?
Being the very first team from India to achieve bronze medal for our country at World Hip Hop Dance Championship in 2015 has been the biggest turning point in our lives and now.
How diverse is your group? What parts of India does each of your members come from? And do you draw on those cultures and integrate them into your choreography?
There are many of them who belong to different states but all of them have been born and bought up in Mumbai. We do respect all cultures of our nation and try to incorporate those which is more entertaining to audience as per our style of dancing.
What are some of the biggest challenges of being a dance group in India? And what are some of the triumphs?
The biggest challenge we have faced till now is of maintaining this group for the past 10 years. During this journey, we have seen many of them leave our group but then too, keeping those together who have been with us for so long time has been one of the difficult task.
How has the attitude around street dance in India changed since you guys started out?
We feel proud when people consider us as their inspiration as we were the first group from India who made it from the streets of Nallasopara to an international stage. We have seen immense growth and rise of more number of people who are actually opting to learn street style based dance forms, may be a regular job employee or some one who is actually looking forward to make a career in dance. There is drastic amount of importance given to these dance forms in India though it is originated from western countries.
How has the platform of YouTube (where you have over 5 lakh subscribers) and social media helped your journey?
Today, social media and YouTube are considered as an important platform where people get an opportunity to show case their talent to rest of the world. The kind of content which we keep on posting has made us reach much wider audience and helped in growing more socially and also, giving a platform to interact with the audience to know about their opinions towards our company.
How have musicians inspired your choreography? Are there any favourites you guys look to for inspiration or for tracks?
We don't have anything specific as we admire and respect work of each and every music artist in our industry. We are more inclined to pop and energetic songs especially of Mika Singh, Vishal Shekhar, Sukhwinder Singh, etc... songs which are very much powerful and goes as per our genre of dance style.
What do you hope for viewers of World Of Dance to take away from your choreography?
The act kind of tricks and dance representing our Indian culture which we have incorporated in our act is really going to be mesmerizing to our audience along with some best Bollywood music which we chose to perform on the show.
What was it like to interact with judges Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo, Derek Hough and presenters Jenna Dewan and Scott Evans? What did each of them teach you?
We were really blessed and humbled that we got an opportunity to perform in front of the most prominent faces of the world. Each judge made us motivate more and more after our performance with their appreciation towards us. We were the only contestant in the show to receive standing ovation from the judges in all rounds. They made us inspire through our humble words and taught us to treat this competition as a marathon and fulfil your quest steadily by staying healthy.
What has been the most rewarding part of the World Of Dance experience for you?
The love and respect that we received not only from the judges but also from audience and each and every single person has been the most rewarding part of this journey. We never expected that people there would accept our style of dancing and surprisingly, they loved what we did there.
The third season of NBC’s ‘World Of Dance’ is available to watch on OTT platforms.
