Dance India Dance

Dance India Dance

Most people know that dance guru, ace choreographer and contemporary dancer Terence Lewis has coined the term ‘ABCD,’ which means Any Body Can Dance. He wants to make India fit, hence he, along with his team, has come up with an initiative called ‘ABCD (Any Body Can Dance) Masterclass Tour with Terence Lewis’. He takes on this bold and notable initiative to combat the growing side effects of smartphones and social media addiction. Those living for the ‘likes,’ end up living a lonely, digitally active but physically inert life, which leads to severe physical and mental health issues. The masterclass, which will be travelling to various cities, aims at getting people off their gadgets and make them physically active. It will be held in Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara etc.
 
Terence, who aims at creating awareness by travelling to every city and pushing people to get out of their homes and phones, wants to make India the first happy-active, dance positive nation. Says Terence, “As a dance ambassador, it’s a long-term commitment to galvanise the movement, ‘Great Indian Dance Revolution’ and the hashtag is #AbSarUthaKeJeeyo because currently, our heads are down in our phones. Another hashtag that I have coined for the ABCD Masterclass is #AbPuraIndiaNaachega.” 

He says that the idea stemmed from his personal experience when he realised that it was getting challenging for him to balance social media and personal life as FOMO (the fear of missing out) stopped him from keeping his phone aside. “I realised that I wasn’t being able to function correctly and had become sluggish despite having an active lifestyle because of the demands of my profession. However, the quality of my life had deteriorated and I had become more of an observer than a doer,” he says. 

The situation is worsening everyday. “At dinners and family gatherings, I find everyone hooked on their phones or busy taking pictures of food. They are not moving out or really living a life that they need to. Sometimes, the most popular person with many likes, happens to be very lonely. So when this bubble will burst, we are going to find ourselves dealing with anxiety, depression etc. Hence it is important to find the right balance and get people out of this inertia and, to do this, I choose dance as a medium. Dance is not just a physical activity but also a fun learning activity,” says Terence. 

He feels that dance lets us find a community where we are doing something together, connecting with each other in actual/ real situation. “My motive is to encourage people to step out of their homes and get active. I want this masterclass to be associated with dance, the same way marathon is associated with fitness,” he says. 

The aim is to make the body move in a fun way, hence Terence has intelligently designed the class where people of every age group can groove. “While we are going to teach a few basic moves from Bollywood, hip-hop and contemporary, I will also introduce some party moves because people often feel shy when they are asked to dance at a party or a sangeet. I am going to reveal a few tricks where everybody learns the basic footwork, body moves and grooves of hip-hop/ Bollywood,” he informs.
 
They are also going to have certain ice-breaking games and activities to make it more fun, engaging, interactive, rewarding and motivating so that everyone goes home feeling happy. Talking about using dance as a medium, he says, “Through dance, one not only gets healthy, but when you dance and make a social connect, there is a euphoric feeling within you. You enjoy dance because you are not competing with anyone. So the idea is not to make people lose weight, rather it’s about balancing things out for them for their wellbeing so that while they’re doing something physical, they are also learning a skill and getting a certificate in return. So it’s like a feel good, self-motivating, and encouraging event for the consumer so that they go home feeling that they have achieved something, and also feel a sense of satisfaction that they have met some ‘real’ people!”

The participants can also enroll for a 15-day free membership in gyms across India or even learn dancing with their local dancers and choreographers. For this, Terence has also signed up with #FitIndia which allows them to use this free membership at any gym/ local dance institute for 15 days after the masterclass. “I plan to carry on with this initiative for five years, covering three cities every month,” he concludes. 


ST READER SERVICE 
In Pune, ABCD Masterclass Tour with Terence Lewis will be held at Don Bosco High School, Shastri Nagar Chowk, Yerwada, on February 16, 4 pm onwards. Gates open at 3 pm. To register, log on to www.terencelewis.com/master-class.php

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