One of the most established choreographers of the industry, Terence Lewis, is indeed a force to reckon with in the entertainment world. The celebrity choreographer has choreographed many international stage shows, mega bollywood shows, exclusive corporate launches, Broadway western musicals, feature films & music videos.He also runs the Terence Lewis Academy International (TLA I), providing dance instruction around the world while Terence Lewis Dance Foundation Scholarship Trust (TLDFST) since has been the one of its kind dance scholarship with the view to providing dance as a serious career option. Now, Terence is all set to take the contestants of Just Dance, through special classes in contemporary, jazz and hiphop to ensure that they excel in each form of dance.
Who is your favourite among the contestants in Just dance?
I don’t have any favourites among the contestants but I feel the ones who can dance with both the male and female energy will be a wholesome, ultimate dancer. The inhalation and exhalation of breath is really important in dance. Karan Pangali, Ankan, Rajith, Karan Khanna, Meher are few people I have noticed who have tremendous potential. They are working hard to better themselves and learn in this competition. All these people have a lot of potential.
How do you gauge if a dancer has the ability to excel in a particular dance form?
Every dancer has to have a flexible body. It also depends on the dance form - like if you are doing contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, the dancer would need a certain amount of flexibility in the spine, certain attitude needed for the style. One also needs to understand the mind set of a dancer before pushing him/her into a certain dance form. As everyone has their tastes so it is better to excel in what you love best. Whatever the mind wants, desires, loves, the body will learn it faster. Also, the dancer’s capabilities, whether the dancer is trained or not also makes a difference in learning a new dance form.
What will you be teaching in these workshops?
Before they learn anything about Contemporary dance, they will have to learn how movements originated, how to go about it, how to control body parts and elongate them, going across the floor, turning your body, isolation, connection, and many basic ground rules of Contemporary dance. First of all they will learn the basics of Contemporary dance before learning the form exactly. Once you know they understand the basics, then you teach them a routine and perfect it. I will also be teaching them about how to create variation and give depth to their dance.
How do you plan on tapping on these contestants talent in order to bring out the best in them?
I used to be a dancer and would train for hours daily but that knowledge doesn’t make me a teacher. The art of teaching is a tough process which requires understanding of the training principles. How do you teach a person who has never danced before, or knows the basics of dance, or wants to learn the intricacies of a dance form? A good dancer need not necessarily be a good teacher and vice versa. How do you teach people about rythym, balance, art. To build that, I have had training to be a teacher. I have done research and understood the process. I can say without arrogance that I am a great teacher.
What is the one important factor that a good dancer must possess?
A dancer needs a certain amount of discipline to go through rigours of dance as it is not an easy task. Everyone can dance but to be a dancer is not everyone’s cup of tea. A dancer has a skill, an ability to mesmerize the audience and himself. A dancer needs to be active, focused, disciplined, dedicated, great teachers and be in love with dance more than anything else. Being a full time dancer isn’t easy nor can I teach you in a day. You need to be patient, perseverant and have a good, strong body.
What is the kind of transformation you are expecting to see at the end of this workshop?
I hope to see a change in attitude towards Contemporary dance, understanding of choreography, how dance and dancer are connected.
What has been Hrithik’s brief to you. How does he want the workshops to benefit the contestants and what is the end result he wants to see?
Hrithik told me that most dancers in the show are raw and need to be polished, be taught and explained about dance. They needed to understand what they are doing. They all have potential to be great dancers but don’t know where it comes from, or how they can achieve it. They don’t know the names of steps they do, and in short, most dancers are dance illiterate. So Hrithik wanted me to teach them about dance, where it came from and how it evolved. Like if you learn to speak hindi as a kid, doesn’t mean you can read and write it too- you need to be taught that at school right? That is the same way with dance. Once you learn to read and write hindi, you realise you can read more books, and understand things better. The same way when you learn about dance, you can understand and use it better.
