For the love of dance

Mona

Dance comes to Ashley Lobo naturally. He still vividly remembers how as a kid, his mother, who was a theatre director then, entrusted him to the choreographer to be kept busy during vacation. That’s when young Ashley fell in love with dance and in fact went to Australia to study and perform. Back in India, he went on to become a well known choreographer in Bollywood. Having choreographed songs in movies such as Cocktail, Rockstar, Guzarish, Love Aaj Kal among others, Ashley is currently busy choreographing Shah Rukh Khan for Imtiaz Ali’s next.

Here are snippets from a conversation with a choreographer who takes immense pride in his contemporary dance company Navdhara...

How is Shah Rukh Khan as a dancer? Is he easy or difficult to mould?

I think working with SRK was one of the most rewarding experiences I had in my life. He is absolutely inspirational, someone as successful as him to be open to hard work, dedication and learning is unbelievable. He is always full of ideas and suggestions; he is probably one of the most hardworking and talented actors. Usually, a hardworking person is not that talented and a talented person is not that hardworking but SRK has that unique blend of being extremely talented and extremely hardworking. My life has been enriched working with him.

How was the experience of judging a dance reality show?

I think for me as a judge on a show, the best part has been watching such credible talent and observing it. The low of it was of course as a judge you can never always be right, you have certain opinions which the audience might like or not.

Has the dancing style in Bollywood evolved over the years? Do you see scope for international styles of dancing making a cut where formulas still dominate?

Different actors have represented international dance forms like Jitendra ji and Govinda. Today the form of international dancing is very, very different. The three genres which I see in Bollywood are -folk dance, classical style and the Visarjan dance which will never go out of style. Whereas international genre has just started to evolve.

Share with us about Prana Paint technique...

Prana Paint is a technique which happened by accident. Dance for me is not just about moving the body but it’s about painting, it’s like an art. So, you are painting the air, the surface of another dancer, so it’s not just physical.

Share the journey of Navdhara Dance Theatre, and its recent production Agni.

Navdhara is an idea which I thought of three years ago. I decided to start a contemporary dance company, where philosophy is Indian but its style, completely western and international. We started with a bunch of 15-16 dancers and we took our first tour to the USA. We were then invited to Israel and China. This year we are doing Agni, which is also commissioned by Suzanne Dellal Centre in Israel. We are scheduling its premiere at JBT, NCPA in Mumbai on December 22.

What are the challenges of being a choreographer in Bollywood?

I think at the beginning there were challenges for me because I didn’t know the camera setup/angles, but now I know the camera and I understand it really well. I had some great opportunities as I have worked with some of the best actors, directors and dancers. Although I would love to see the industry and the union dancers in India start having a proper training process for the dancers, so they can also perform for the internationally.

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