The win did not come easy for the boys; they fought family and society to pursue their love and their passion - dance.[break] “People don´t really take dancing seriously here in our country,” says Arvind adding, “Any extra curricular activity apart from studies is regarded as a waste of time.”
It has been a year and half since the group formed when the members came together through an anti-drug campaign which had a b-boying dance show. Before the show all of the boys (besides Nishant) were only amateurs who loved dancing. “I had begun b-boying a few years prior to the show, my friend Bishal Gurung helped me,” says Nishant. For the rest of the team, dancing had been limited to their bedrooms. While Arvind learned watching TV, for Saroj it was through dance-based movies, Sampurna credits his gymnastics classes and as for Bikash it began with videos from YouTube.
All of them would practice at home, sometimes up to a grueling seven hours a day. Back in those days our champions were not aware of what b-boying was. All they knew was that they were fond of dancing and so they danced. “We became aware of b-boying being a particular style of dance only after we formed the group,” says Arvind. B-boying is a style of break dance consisting of toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes.
Bikash says, “The steps in this type of dance can be dangerous,” because b-boying borrows steps from gymnastics and consists of daring acrobatic moves in unison. The flips and swings, therefore, can sometimes be risky. “If one is hurt it can take weeks to recover,” he adds. This is also a major factor in the boys´ families being reluctant to give a green signal to dancing as a career.
The boys, however, are determined b-boying is not only dance, for them it is a form of self-expression. “Dance is eloquence for us, it is our exercise and art,” says Sampurna. The boys believe that dancing takes their stress and channels it into positive energy. They say it is absolutely necessary to take up some kind of stress reliever, and where many youngsters turn to alcohol, smoking and drugs, dancing is definitely a better option.
“We want to become professional dancers and trainers in this very field,” says Saroj adding, “If you love something truly you can never part ways with it, dancing is our love.” While all of them agree that their passion demands much of their time and, therefore, hampers their studies, they are still willing to do so. All of them are college students, and they say although they do not excel academically they manage to perform well.
They say there are a lot of street dancers here in Kathmandu and outside the capital as well. On their Nepal tour the boys encountered many amateurs, even in places like Dang, who would come and submit them queries and also exclaim their wish to join the boys.
“It´s the same problem again,” says Nishant, this is a field where you put in a lot of effort and yet the fruits are minimal. The wages they get for doing shows is very minimal and the dangers and effort involved in that one perfect performance is unending. “Even till the last step we do on a show we have a risk of meeting an accident and an injury, the style of dance is such,” says Arvind.
The boys think it is a positive sign that only in a year and half they have gained popularity. All of them enjoy being recognized while walking on the streets and take pleasure in coverage through various media. What also excites them is that many young boys and girls are showing interest in b-boying. They, however, want to advice the newer generation to begin with the basics. “We have seen a lot of newcomers who straight away want to try out freeze or head spin and other difficult moves,” says Sampurna. “It is necessary that that you begin with the basics, or the chances of getting hurt are high,” is Nishant´s advice.
So, what is the one big dream for our stars? All of them echo the same wish. The boys want to be able to participate in the ´International Battle of the Year´ that is held annually in Germany. They say, “We want to be able to give our country a good name through our art, through dance.”
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