BENGALURU:Have you tried walking on 6-inch stilettos? If you think that is hard, then meet 14 Bengalureans who dance on 8-inch ones. The High on Heels dance group, have been selected for the upcoming season of India’s Got Talent.Formed on February 7, 2015 as a dance group of just two members, the team auditioned to get more members and now after frequent performances in the city, they have four men and 10 women in the group.City Express catches up with them for a quick chat with the team’s founding members Hariharan V and Aashika US.
How did you come up with the concept?
We are trained Jazz dancers and in one of the events, we met Yanis Marshall, a French dancer who dances on heels. We got really fascinated with his sassy moves and wanted to introduce this style here.
Who is your inspiration?
Yanis Marshall for sure and Brian Friedman.
What’s the best thing about dancing in heels, according to you?
The style is unique and dancing on heels brings out the sexy side.
What are the challenges of it?
International dance forms such as jazz and contemporary are a challenge in itself and it becomes more difficult to bring the technicality of it in heels while also keeping the moves elegant.
How often do you guys practice?
We practice almost every day for three hours in the morning.
What kind of shoes do you often wear for the performance?
Usually, six inches but highest we have worn is an 8-inch stiletto. We are particular about size, colour and format of the shoes.Please elaborate on the aim and objective of your dance group.
High on Heels also introduced Jazz on Heels. We carry the tagline ‘High on Hope’ and our mission is to encourage dancers, choreographers and instructors. As of now, we have 14 trained members and more are coming forward to be a part of the team. No matter what level of experience students have, each member plays an important role in the pursuit of this mission.
What are the reactions of the people when you tell them you perform in heels? How has the reaction been for the male members?
We are proud of our dance genre and have received positive response. The audience is slowly accepting this style, especially when male dancers are dancing on heels, they are encouraging. We have performed on various platforms including corporates, colleges and cultural events.
Your recent performance was in The VillAge. What number did you perform?
We had an exclusive choreography for The Village. We chose two songs namely Escalate and Goodbye which includes a lot of rhythmic patterns.
What’s your favourite number to dance in high heels?
We dance on sassy beats of Beyonce and Britney Spears.
Were you all professional dancers before you guys came together?
Yes, all of us were professional dancers but in different genres such as classical, belly dancing, contemporary and breaking.
How did you all meet?
Initially, we started our team with two members namely Aashika and Jaqlene. Once we started performing and conducting workshops at different cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Sagara and Shivamogga, many enquired about this style of performance and we auditioned different people and got them into our team.
Where do you see your group in a year from now?
We want to hit the international platform along with the artistes who are already popular in this style and we would like to see ourselves on national shows.
You also do Jazz in heels, what other kinds of dance do you perform in heels?
We also do Contemporary, Bollywood, Urban and Breaking in heels.
Were there injuries when you initially started practising the dance?
Yes of course. But we take precautionary measures by set warm-ups and cool down after every session and shows to get back to normal feet.What’s the best attitude you can carry when dancing on heels?
Sassy, sexy and hot.