Now we’ll be famous…

Yesterday, the DISHA kids performed on the song ‘Rock-n-roll soniye’ in front of hundreds on MG Road. Occasion was the candlelight vigil organized under the Wake Up Pune banner. (http://wakeuppune.org/)

Many who saw the kids performing wouldn’t believe that it all started just four days before the actual show. I was asked to choreograph a song for the kids and prepare them to perform on stage within a week. Meanwhile I was getting these minor doubts “You’ll be able to do it na?”… “The kids would be able to perform na in such short time?” My answer to all these questions was a not-so honest “Ya-ya no problem!” I say not so honest not because I doubted the kids capability but because I had never done this before at least not at such a short notice.

Song selection took about two days. So then we were left with just four days before the show. With the kids’ consent we decided on to ‘Rock-n-roll soniye’ as our song. After first day of awkwardness the kids were so good…so good! The best part about going to DGS (http://deepgriha.org/) everyday for rehearsal was getting a warm welcome from the smiling kids who just wanted to learn the new section and then do it again and again and again.

Something about my dancers:
Sonam: good dancer but was a bit too busy giggling throughout…may be that works!
Rani: Surprise package. She was good throughout the rehearsals but was STUNNING on stage!
Rohit: The hero of the group….full of style…only had to be reminded not to stick his tongue out while dancing.
Pooja: had her own unique style…wanting to add latkas and jhatkas to every dance move.
Nikita: the quietest of them all. All her moves and smiles were a bit held back but she had her partner Rajashree to encourage and overcome any shyness.
Rajashree: Full of energy….was a bit upset when she was made a guy only because she thought that in that case she won’t be able to wear all the lovely costumes that the other girls get to wear.
Bajrang: I might call him the baby of the group. Ever so excited to dance but had to force him to show that excitement on his face.
Soni: First was happy to see her name on my MP3 player “SONY”…good dancer…but always up to some mischief. A bit of bully especially when it came to her partner Bajrang! …a silent monster!
Aditya: wanting to dance every song he listens to….only thing, his steps would be the same to all the songs. Very conscious about his costumes and “majhi (my) style”. His favourite line- “mala ….lay tension dete” (….gets me all tensed)
Megha: good dancer…enjoyed dancing…but always had an excuse not to dance only because it meant she had to do a bit of extra hard work.

On the show day, all of the kids were so excited. One of the things to look out for was to watch the kids get out of the rickshaws, proudly walking on the MG Road showing off their costumes and make up big time! The kids just couldn’t wait to get on stage. And once they got on stage they rocked! They just got the crowd cheering, clapping, shouting and dancing. You could also see the proud DGS faces cheering the kids. The kids who were scared to perform in front of hundreds totally ruled them!! After the show, all kids walked down the stage with a ‘we are famous’ expression on their faces. Aditya did walk off saying, “Atta mala rastyavar saglech olakhnar!” (Now, everyone on the road will recognize me!)