An adventurous choreography video featuring dancer Neerav Bavlecha suspended from the facade of Edappally’s Lulu Mall attracted quite a lot of attention earlier this year.
“For me, it’s all about finding new means of storytelling. People get tired of the same ingredients in performances, so it’s our responsibility to give them something new and exciting,” explains Neerav, as we talk to him ahead of his dance workshop in Kochi.
Despite being familiar to Malayalam television audiences as a judge in prominent reality shows since 2014, this will be the debut workshop in Kerala for the dancer who has hosted tutorial sessions across the globe including in places like South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia.
“I guess young artistes like me because I tell them not just what is good and bad, but also how to improve. There is a lot of talent in this State but people need the right guidance if they want to continue in performance art,” says the choreographer, about venturing into tutoring in the city.
Gaining recognition
Neerav rose to fame as a contestant of a popular Hindi television reality show named Dance India Dance. But, even before appearing on-air as a contestant he was behind the scenes as creative director and choreographer.
“I was into performance art from childhood, so decided to get trained at Mumbai-based Terence Lewis Professional Training Institute. As a part of the institute and the associated dance company, I used to aid in the production of reality shows before appearing on screen,” says the dancer hailing from Ahmedabad.
His entry into the Malayalam television sphere in 2014 also was in a similar style as he was initially invited to be the supervising choreographer before becoming a judge!
What lies ahead
Now, as he takes up the new role of a teacher for dance enthusiasts in the city, we ask him whether dance is a viable profession in current times.
“Ten years ago, when I wanted to take dancing up as a career, my parents were reluctant to accept the decision. But, now the scene has changed with reality shows creating new platforms. The way the internet is transforming the entertainment scenario, there will only be more opportunities in the future,” he says.
Although his personal favourites in dancing are lyrical contemporary and Bollywood, his workshops (divided into three batches—kids, adults and ladies) will evolve depending on the participants.
“The goal is not to teach choreography but to give tips on how to be good dancers. The sessions will deal with important aspects like posture correction, weight transfer, groove and grace, to name a few,” he concludes.
***
Cinema code
Since Neerav is acquainted with Bollywood through his work in movies like Sonam Kapoor-starrer Aisha, we ask him his opinion about the approach to choreography in Kerala’s film industry. “Malayalam films are content-driven than commercial. Most of the music is romantic and there are hardly any uptempo numbers. It would be beneficial for the dancing community if the film fraternity at least makes promotional songs for movies,” says the dancer, who has worked alongside stars in the Malayalam industry like Dulquer Salmaan for events.
***
On September 7, from 10 am.
At Jainika School of Arts, Panampilly Nagar.