Q: What do you think is your biggest contribution to dance scene in Mumbai in particular?
ANS: Giving the people in Mumbai to see quality work and an opportunity to see world class Dancers / Teachers from different parts of the World. Keeping Dance alive and taking it to another level to some extent. Not to forget giving people an opportunity to travel around the world and perform too.
Q: Tell us how you manage to run your dance school, when you are virtually travelling all over the world participating is Salsa congresses, isn’t it time you concentrate at home?
ANS: If I get invited across the Globe as an Artist to teach and perform and spread my knowledge, Why not? I am honoured to be one of the few Asians who gets invited across the world every single month to teach at Big Dance Festivals. I feel like a Dance Ambassador of India and this helps me promote India across the World. It helps me put India in the Map.
As far as India is conscerned I give equal importance to my 25 Studios across Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata and Pune. I am happy to have a team who I can trust and are super talented. There is a bigger picture for India which I am working on and people will see it for themselves when time comes.
Q: Why are you promoting other dance forms like hip hop? When clearly you are a Salsa specialist?
ANS: I am a Salsa specialist and thats why I teach Salsa. As a promoter I have the source to get down teachers for other dance forms, so why not promote other dance forms as well? My background in Dance started with Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary and so on. I still love those dance forms, infact for me a dancer needs to be versatile. As a dance promoter its my duty to promote as many dance forms as I can. As a specialist I teach only the forms I excel in.
Q: Can you tell our readers 5 reasons they shouldn’t miss the Ist bachata festival?
ANS:
1: Its the 1st Bachata Festival in India
2: An opportunity to learn different Dance forms from well known International Instructors like Dom, Marion, Vanessa, James and so on.
3: Its cheap as compared to other Congresses around the world.
4: An opportunity for people to perform and participate on a plat form like this
5: Its time to increase your vision as a dancer or as a choreogrpaher.
Q: Whats your vision about the festivals, are we going to have a Salsa festival also, or you are sticking to bachata festival?
ANS: The Festivals I organize in India are the Salsa India Festival, Delhi Salsa Get Away, Goa Salsa Festival and Bachata Festival in India. These festivals will keep happeninig along side other Big Salsa Congresses I co-organize and promte like Turkey International Salsa Congress, Salsa Cruise Asia, Dance Cruise Asia, Berlin Salsa Congress, Rome Salsa Festival, Bologna Salsa Festival and so on.
It looks easy to organize such festivals but only I know and those who do similar events know how difficult it is to organize just one such event, specially when we have no sponsors.
I promice this. As long as my passion remains I will keep doing such festivals and keep giving people in India to see, learn and interact with the best in the field of dance without having to leave India for it.
