Dance wizard Terence Lewis is looking forward to his new adult dancementry (Dance and Documentary) called The Kamshet Project which will roll out on 1st of at NCPA, Mumbai.
“There are no props, set and lights etc but performances will hit you in the gut. Such unusual dance movements normally happen abroad, this is the first time I am bringing it to India,” says Terence to IndianWikiMedia.
“Being stage performance it gives me license to say what I want to, which is not possible due to Standard and Practices restrictions on TV. ( Has judged several dance shows Dance India Dance, Chak Dhoom Dhoom and Nach Baliye etc.”
He further states: “Given the cultural sensibilities, I was just very careful for the matter which came out of this explorative content in which we face up to our inner demons or deal with our past memories is very uncomfortable. The challenge is to say what we have to without hurting civil liberties and laws but that is also a beautiful process in itself. It is expression of emotions through dance which becomes some sort of catharsis for the person doing it and also the audiences.”
Wonderfully spoken!!!
Coming to Dance Champions, which Terence is currently co judging with Remo D’Souza, he says, “I am very happy that Star Plus has made the format in such a way that both the judges are dancers. And there is no third judge who is an actor or a director. For he or she, would not have been able to understand the level of talent up for grabs. All the contestants here are winners and runners up of past dance reality shows. Hence, only a trained dancer/choreographer can understand the subtle nuances, styles and performances at their level. I am really happy with this above format which takes dance to a new level for having judged quite a few shows I was feeling that we were reaching a saturation point.”
Since contestants have been part of past realty shows, does he think that they can carry a chip on their shoulders?
“No, as long as they feel they are artists who are doing a good job, it is fine. The problem happens when celebrities start bringing their personalities to the table. Only your art matters on the dance floor. They need to remember that when we praise them, we are talking about their performances and not who they are.”
In closing, he rues the fact that audience still vote along regional or emotional lines ( sob story). “Although we (judges) have 50% vote, sometimes the audience vote is so strong that our wishes become null and void.. Agreed talent shows do not run only on skills of the contestants alone, you need the complete package i.e. soap opera and a comedy show. I have no issues for this is needed to bring in numbers, but I just hope that when voting, audience keeps out all these emotions and select the most deserving guy/girl. But luckily in this show, as all are also talented, so it does not matter who wins.”