NDM Brings Bollywood to Fox Dance Competition

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NDM Brings Bollywood to Fox Dance Competition By MICHEL W. POTTS
Special to India-West

Viewers tuning in to the Fox Network show, So You Think You CanDance, got a brief glimpse of the Bollywood style of dancingperformed by contestants Katee Shean and Joshua Allen on the July 9episode.

Because the two dancers were choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan ofthe Los Angeles-based NDM Dance Productions, the couple gave suchan entertaining performance to the music of the song Dhoom tanafrom the Shah Rukh Khan hit film Om Shanti Om that they were heldover to compete another week.

Who would have ever dreamed that wed see Indian cultural dancingon this program? judge Nigel Lythgoe said animatedly at the closeof their exciting performance.

Its so good, Nakul, thank you for bringing this to us. Itsfabulous.

Given the shows growing popularity over the last three years, theproducers were keen to feature a Bollywood number in this yearscompetition after a similar dance show in Australia had earlierintroduced a Bollywood segment in one of its episodes.

Eager to find a knowledgeable local Bollywood choreographer whocould teach Shean and Allen, the producers contacted Mahajan whenthey discovered that he came highly recommended by others who hadworked with him on a number of Hollywood television shows includingThe Office.

I was already a big fan of the show to begin with, so I was quitefamiliar with the show, its template and the format of how itsdone, Mahajan told India-West. When they told me what theywanted, I knew exactly what to give them.

While Mahajan gave the producers several songs to chose from, theyultimately chose Dhoom tana because the song was dynamic in theway it was composed and the arrangement of the song was one thatreally spoke of Bollywood, Mahajan recounted. They liked how thesong built musically, and that really caught their ear.

The shows guidelines stipulate that the contestants have only fivehours with the choreographer to learn and rehearse the piece. Theirsegment was only 90 seconds long, and Mahajan had only three daysof 90 minutes each to teach Shean and Allen their routine.

Mahajan didnt know which contestants he would be teaching untilthe day before the first rehearsal. So when I found out who itwas, I went online to see what their background was and realizedthat Katees background was in contemporary dance and Joshuas waship-hop, he said.

I was really pleased to learn that, because Bollywood dancing is aplethora of different styles of dance put together, and if youre acontemporary dancer, you already have a variety in your repertoireof what youre able to do. Bollywood dancing is heavily influencedby hip-hop movement, so having Joshua with a hip-hop backgroundmade it easy for me to incorporate that. So we had to adapt to whatthey already know and what we can teach them in the short amount oftime that we were allowed.

The two contestants had little difficulty in learning the Bollywoodstyle. It was truly a gift to work with them, and I found it verypleasant to work with professional dancers, Mahajan said. Theywere just hungry for movement, they were hungry to stay in theshow, and they were passionate.

The SAJAforum Web site reported that the performance apparentlyprompted scores of people to do a Google search of the phrase soyou think you can dance Bollywood, making it the 77th most popularsearch item. The dance can be viewed on YouTube as well.

The routine also received rave reviews from the shows threejudges. When Joshua and Katee picked Bollywood out of a hat, theydidn't even know what it was. Who would have thought that just dayslater, the ever-masculine Joshua would find his niche in a jewelencrusted stocking cap, jingling anklets, a sequin vest and beadedcuff bracelets? noted the Los Angeles Times Show Tracker blog.But from the moment he stepped out in that light-refractingensemble, Joshua was Bollywood. He committed to a dance that wastotally out of his comfort zone, and as far as I'm concerned, hewon the night for it!

Fox News television critic Diane Macedo noted that despite thefavoritism, it was still Joshua Allen and Katee Shean who walkedaway with the best performance of the night, with the shows firstBollywood routine. Whatever criticism the judges had for Joshuaswaltz was completely erased by how perfectly he and Katee nailedthe second dance. This SYTYCD first is likely one for the recordbooks, which will soon be half full of just Joshua and Kateeroutines.

During the show, prior to Shean and Allens turn in front of thecameras, a short video clip was aired showing the two dancers hardat work as they were learning their routine from Mahajan, which inturn enhanced his reputation as a choreographer.

But Mahajans work did not end there. After the segment aired, theproducers brought him back to choreograph the opening segment ofthe July 17 episode. Once again, the theme was Bollywood, this timewith all the remaining contestants dancing to the music of Jhoombarabar jhoom from the film of the same name starring Preity Zintaand Bobby Deol.

This time around, Mahajan made some changes in choreographing thenew segment. Theres so many different styles of Bollywooddancing, and our company definitely takes pride in having our ownstyle, so what I tried to do with my team was give a differentflavor or a different idea of what Bollywood dancing is, Mahajantold India-West. So it was not replicating what America alreadysaw.