CHENNAI: Four years ago, when a motley crew of young dancers from Chennai won the ticket to represent India at World of Dance, an international dance competition in the US, little did its members know that it would be the turning point of their lives. For Arnold Charles and Suren Rajendran, the trip to the acclaimed event enabled them to not only change their world views of the art form but also pave a new and reimagined platform for fellow dancers in the city.
“It was during our trip to the US, while meeting acclaimed crews and artistes that we observed how dance is seen as a form of education. It is structured and in a sense, a lifestyle in the west. Here, besides classical dance forms, the rest are labelled as either entertainment or fitness. This experience got us thinking,” shares Arnold.
New beginnings
Earlier this month, Arnold and Suren, with their vision to reconceptualise the city’s dance scene, launched The Dancers Club (TDC) at Royapettah. “During our time in the US, we met other crews and understood how they function. It made us thirsty — to spin the dance arena here. So, for the last three years, Suren and I focused on chalking a plan to make our vision into something tangible. Now, with the launch of the Club, we are inching towards it becoming a reality,” says the dancer-cum-choreographer, who has worked with Gautam Vasudev Menon, Vijay Devarakonda, and Leon James.
Polishing dreams
With a majestic eight-foot-tall mirror, dramatic curtains, warm lights, and an additional open gig area, the welcoming and refreshing space can nudge anyone to break into a dance. Arnold details that personal care has gone into curating everything — from the setting up of the studio, roping the right mentors, building a syllabus for the classes to identifying talent. All their instructors are acclaimed and have over a decade of experience in various styles, he says. Additionally, the Club also gives special focus on building one’s fitness, mobility, strength and stamina.
“For this, we offer a 20-day fitness package, which we encourage the students to take up before learning a certain style. Those who learn Bharatanatyam are trained to sit in an aramandi and perfect it during their formative years to strengthen their posture. Similarly, we are looking at giving the students a holistic experience here, which, they can adapt to their lifestyles,” he emphasises. Self-discipline, consistency and passion — these are the tenets that drive them, and the duo hopes to share and impart its goodness to anyone who steps into the Club.
“Besides mentoring and teaching students styles, TDC will enable them to master their minds and be better versions of themselves. Suren and I are sportsmen too and our lives have been shaped and driven by discipline and consistency. We want to reintegrate learning dance with these principles and more. Ultimately, whatever we choose to learn is a lifestyle choice,” he notes.
Steps and styles
House dancing, hip hop, breaking, waacking, dancehall, Bharatanatyam, choreography classes, strength training, yoga, animal flow and pole dancing are some of the styles that TDC offers. “We are, perhaps, the only place in the city to offer pole dancing. Through this offering, we are hoping to break the stigma around it and delve deep into the style as a nuanced art form which needs a lot of dedication, strength and practice,” he shares. The line-up of instructors at TDC includes Anwer Shariff, Vijay Varma, Anusha Swamy, Praveen Aakash, Simran Sivakumar, Nithin, Kaushik Sundaresan and Vignesh Ezhilarasan. “The idea is to not impart surface-level knowledge. Every style and every step has a history. Through knowledge-sharing, we want to form a community and provide a platform for students to shine,” he details.
Structured learning
The students will also be assessed by its mentors at the end of every month. “We will follow a grading process. Besides this, we will also be shooting videos and share it on our social media platforms to give them the needed impetus. This way, they can also gauge their progress,” he says. The Dancers Club has a following of over 14,000 on their Instagram page and has actively been curating unique workshops even amid the pandemic. The Club has also flagged its monthly workshop series — Myriad of Artists. “These workshops will be a perfect place for those who are new and are inquisitive about dance to know more about it and us. They can experience our offerings first-hand. Our goal is to not merely train people but go beyond and create future artistes here,” he emphasises.
The Dancers Club’s studio is located at Chandrika Chambers, Royapettah. For details, visit Instagram page @tdc.thedancersclub or call 07550220511
