KOCHI: Onto the dance scene and posing a stiff challenge to event management companies are two dance crews owned by two young enthusiasts, which is also representative of the rising culture of dance crews in the state.
DSouls
Deen Johns started Dsouls in 2013 with three members. It was then that the idea of developing it into a full fledged production team struck the BTech graduate. He then expanded the crew, bringing in choreographers for the preproduction stage, and a postproduction team to make videos and generate publicity. “My friend, a Neo Film School product, filmed our performances and broadcast it on our Dsouls channel on YouTube and Facebook, and the response has been great,” he mentions.
Dsouls easily adapts itself to various styles of dance, ranging from martial arts, dappankuthu and hip-hop, to robotics. What makes our crew standout from the rest is because we think we have a rich dance material in Mollywood. Instead of copying foreign styles per se, Dsouls aims to make dance enthusiasts feel that they need not rush abroad for quality dancing tutorials,” mentions Deen.
Magic Moments
Meanwhile, Deen Shifas, after completing his BTech at the Jyothi Engineering College, Cheruthuruthi, realised that his real skill lay elsewhere. After pursuing a three-month course in media studies, he launched Magic Moments, which offered web designing, short film production and even launching the official website of ‘Premam’ actress Anupama Parameswaran. But it was its dance crew that made it popular. “We ruled many college festivals and shows with our dancing styles,” Shifas adds with a grin.
Magic Moments also boasts of some very skilled artists in its team, among them Abee Joe, Leo Paulson and Asvin Manohar, members of the music band ‘Theyyam’. And Akash Thomas, another crew member, made his entry into tinsel town with ‘Happy Wedding.’
The Magic Moments team is comprised of 15 members, of whom 8 are dancers, the rest comprising the production team. “Our dream is seeking a space in the event management field..we don’t have a media background..but we are setting up one to promote our dance events,” commented Arnold Tom, Magic Moments Crew Member.
In the long run, both Dsoul and Magic Moments see themselves engulfing the event organising space with great zeal. Responses reveal that this change is happening.