Eleven-year-old Abhishek Sinha from Jamshedpur was declared the winner of dance show Boogie Woogie. He spoke to Divya Kaushik about learning forms like hip hop and jazz on the show and working hard for four months to master body language
This 11-year-old has been an inspiration to not only his peers but even dancers and choreographers much elder and experienced than him. Abhishek Sinha, who was recently declared the winner of the dance reality show Boogie Woogie on Sony, says that more than him it was his mother’s dream to see him win. “It was a lot of hard work but after winning the title it feels everything was worth it. For last four months I haven’t gone home and I only concentrated on learning new styles and techniques. Sixteen contestants who were chosen for the competition were dancers par excellence and it was a challenge to learn every style and overcome my weaknesses as a dancer to win the show,” said the Jamshedpur boy, who has been learning dance since he was three. “My training in dance began at home. My elder brother, too, is a dance teacher and he started training me at home in most contemporary styles. But that was not enough. One should also have knowledge and training in classical to get the foundation right. Classical dance teaches you a lot of discipline and expressions. It makes your body fragile, which in turn helps you gain perfection in other contemporary styles as well. So I have been learning Bharatanatyam,” shared Sinha, who believes that contemporary styles like liquid popping and robotics are his strength. “When I went for the auditions, I chose to present liquid popping and judges just loved it. These are the dance forms which I have been doing ever since I loved dancing, so I know the moves right. The performance helped me get an entry into the show. But once I reached Mumbai I realised that there is so much more to learn,” he said.
Sinha was trained by choreographer Jeetu during the show. More than a choreographer and trainer, he is a friend to him. “It is easy to learn with a friend. I respect him a lot for his knowledge of so many dance forms. I just love his style and attitude. Whenever I watch him dance, I try to pick up few things. He has never been strict. Thanks to him that today I can perform old school and new school dance forms along with jazz and hip hop,” he said. The toughest part of the show, as per Sinha, was getting through the semi finals. “All those who were selected were good dancers and it was difficult to beat them. But I was told to concentrate on my performance and learn as much as I can,” said Sinha, a student of class seven, who has to give his exams a miss due to this dance competition. “But I will be giving exams now. I would not let my studies suffer because of my dancing. I would continue learning dance while studying. Only after completing my studies I would decide if I would want a career in dancing or something else. I can never leave dance, it is a passion to me,” he said.
Sinha received the Boogie Woogie winner’s trophy along with a cheque of Rs 1 lakh sponsored by Horlicks and grand prize money of Rs 10 lakhs by Sony Entertainment Television. “Money is with my mother and she will decide what she wants to do with that. The win has given me confidence to learn more,” said Sinha, who is waiting to be back home, meet his friends and party hard.
The finale show was attended by Amitabh Bachchan. Jackky Bhagnani, Varun Dhawan, Nargis Fakhri, Ileana D’cruz, Anu Malik and Shreyas Talpade set the stage on fire with their performances.