WE’VE seen them winning hearts all over the country through their brilliant stage performance. But off-stage, the 26 member Prince dance group is a team of shy youngsters, greatly humble and modest despite having become the most proudly discussed subject of the State.
It is a known fact now that the body-painted dancers include child labourers and physically challenged members. Nevertheless, when it comes to performing, they are full of vigour. So what’s the inspiration? To prove what the underprivileged could achieve replied 26 year-old Krishna Mohan Reddy, the lead choreographer of Prince at a felicitation function. In fact, the expedition began with that dream of Reddy.
Around eight years back he alone had participated in a dance contest in Hyderabad and used to practise dance before that without any professional training. “I had met the great dancer Prabhu Deva then. Soon people here encouraged,” Reddy said. Belonging to Ambapua village close to Berhampur, he started bringing together youths from the place who willed to work hard and dedicate time even after their daily labour. “I found my school friend Padmanav Sahoo facing tough times. He was suffering due to polio. But I knew him. He was always positive about life and so joined immediately,” added Reddy.
Soon, he formed a team of teenagers four years back who spent hours daily after their day’s work watching different dance videos and practising dance moves. “We went for auditions for many talent hunt shows. But last time in Boogie Woogie Javed Sir encouraged us a lot. He still does and we are really thankful for his immense support. He has always guided us and helped us improvise ,” Reddy said. Reddy and group, after performing at Boogie Woogie noticed their themes are their strong point since they have an Indianness. Talking about the spiritual and soulful themes the group picks up, Reddy said it is a token of love for the Almighty who they believe has always taken care of them or they could not have easily been selected from 15,000 contestants at the India’s Got Talent Kolkata auditions. Four months of rigorous practice combined with the love of people all over the country brought them the triumph, believe the dancers.
Son of a rickshaw puller, 13 year-old Tulu Tarini who played the turtle in the finale said he loves to perform while 18-year-old Sadananda Das loves body-building. But shy as they are, they would all direct you to their Sir, Reddy, who they respect most. Now, they wish to fund their sisters’ marriage and further grow as dancers. The team was at Bhubaneswar to receive an award of Rs 10 lakh from RSB Group on August 25 at Hotel Crown.
panda.namita@gmail.com