Learning about these dance groups will set you grooving
With every passing year, India is getting more noticed on the world map not just through art, science, sports, business, and technology, but through dance as well. From the ghettos of India have emerged world-class dancers performing hip-hop, salsa or ballet on Indian music on the world stage, making India proud.
Desi Hoppers Desi Hoppers, also known as Desi Hoppers Dance Crew is a hip-hop dance crew from Mumbai formed in 2015 and the same year won the World of Dance Championships in Los Angeles. Mesmerizing the audience with their dancing moves, they created history by being the first Indian dance team representing the country in the World of Dance. They were also invited to give special performances on Season 11 of America's Got Talent. And they are the only Indian crew to have showcased an exhibition performance in World of Dance 2017.
The Kings United Emerging from the narrow lanes of Mumbai’s Nalasopara they won the World of Dance Championship in 2019 and a cash prize of one million dollars. Defying odds and embracing daily struggles, these boys placed India on the world map of hip-hop, carving a niche not only for themselves but also for those who look up to them. The unique thing about this group of self-taught dancers is that they use only Bollywood music for hip-hop and be-boying. Founded and choreographed by Suresh Mukund, Kings United is the same dance group whose journey was aesthetically essayed on the silver screen in the dance film ABCD2 by choreographer-director Remo D’Souza.
V.Unbeatable Dance Group Rising from the outskirts of Mumbai, dance crew V.Unbeatable - comprising 40 dancers- made headlines after it emerged as the winner of Dance Plus in 2018. Founded by Omprakash, who came to Mumbai to earn a livelihood, he prefixed V to the crew name is after his friend Vikas, who died performing a stunt. While they also perform on Bollywood songs, the crew has its own name for performing stunts, called Jhama. Their international glory came with winning America's Got Talent in 2020, fulfilling his friend Vikas' dream of taking the crew globally.
Ballet Boys Twenty-one-year-old Manish Chauhan and 15-year-old Amiruddin Shah from Navi Mumbai, coming from low-income families won hearts for their love of ballet. The two have been training under the 73-year-old ballet instructor Yehuda Ma’or at Mumbai’s Danceworx Performing Arts Academy. The two have also been granted a year-long scholarship to study at the Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) in Portland. Recently a movie based on their life was released on Netflix, called Yeh Ballet.
A lot of inspiration and grit is what one can take back from their life lessons and the sheer love for dance.
