For John Anthony, the shortcut to happiness was dancing, but after finding the joy that he desired, he is taking the long and laborious route to spread a non-native art form across the country. Taking Latino dance moves to the next level, the Bengaluru-based artist is striving to establish the country as a preferred destination for salsa and cha-cha-cha.
John hosted the India International Dance Congress (IIDC)—Asia’s biggest Latin dance (salsa) festival—in Bengaluru this year, and has vowed to put the country on the global map of this exuberant dance form.
“I grew up as a loner, following my pursuits, and not learning to relax or have fun. My focus was creating something unique for the community. A decade back, these dance forms were not so popular in India. However, the concept picked up slowly and there are 20 million salsa dancers in the world now,” says the 37-year-old.From a young age, he trained and mastered the art of Latin dance forms, founding the Latino Rhythm Dance Academy in Bengaluru.
Very few are aware of his difficult yet rewarding journey to what he is today. “I still remember studying under streetlight so that my family could sleep in our one-room house. When my college dean got to know this, he granted me the permission to sleep and study in the college at night,” he says.
John supported his family—mother and sister—financially as his mother could not afford his education. The teenager joined a travel company as a courier boy.
“I used to clean the office and deliver tickets to passengers. It was a big struggle as I juggled work and studies. I worked on weekends and made some extra money by selling flowers outside church,” says John, who joined a company as a travel manager in 2000.
One day, he chanced upon a jive class at the Alliance Française and was immediately intrigued. “I signed up for it immediately with the little savings I had. This was the turning point in my life and I never looked back,” says the creator of Goa International Latin Festival (GILF).
Though John’s family was disturbed with his decision of leaving a well-paid job, things changed for better gradually.
The sixth edition of the IIDC, which is growing bigger year after year, witnessed over 300 artists from Asia and the world. John says, “IIDC attracted more than 2,000 people per day on all three days. It also attracted 300 expats from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam and rest of Asia. Latin dancers like Johnny Vazquez (Prince of Salsa), Adolfo and Tania, Juan Matos and Fabian, Alien and Cristian Oviedo, Wilmer and Maria were the star attractions.”
For the past two years, Salsa artists have been coming for an intensive training workshop where the artist did 30 hours of teaching. “I have managed to create integrity and credibility due to which the artists come to India to give special training to our artists. Usually, we have 40 people per event being trained in difficult art forms and they get an opportunity to interact directly with great artists.”
Since planning these events takes plenty of time and travelling, John has to curate his training schedules in such a way that he hosts a party every Tuesday to be in touch with his students. “If I don’t turn up at my Bengaluru Academy regularly, people don’t turn up for training schedules. So life is hard. I started with 20 students in 2006 and today, I have more than 300 people learning different forms of dance from salsa to classical. Apart from this, I do workshops at corporate companies, especially in Infosys, Oracle, and Deutsche Bank,” he says.
Although the concept of international dance forms was alien to India, John enjoyed every bit of it. Having seen his passion for dance, his colleagues asked him to put together a small performance at his workplace, which received accolades giving him the confidence of taking his love for dance to another level.
Now, he is getting ready for the Goa festival, which will be held this month.“We have not found sponsorship or any kind of corporate support for the biggest dance festivals in Asia. I have to put in my savings to hold the event. Since our dancers are teetotallers, no alcohol-based brands are ready to sponsor our events,” says the trainer, whose goal is to attract over 1,000 participants for the next event.
