What originated in New York as a reaction to traditional dance styles has become the latest fad in the national capital, thanks to hip -hop dance gurus and dance reality shows. Recently, the urban dance form came down on City streets with a motive to spread a message of equality and respect for all professions.
The city-based dancers of ProjeKt Street Dance (PSD) JBS and Kill Breakers performed B-boying in seven different parts of the City and surprised onlookers with their dancing style. It was an unusual sight for those outside Barakhambha Road Metro Station to see these dancers performing steps like baby freeze and power moves. Even though most were in a rush to reach their office at the earliest, the dance performance at the early hour of nine, forced them to stop and watch the unusual act.
An hour later, the PSD crew gave a 20 minute performance at the Central Park, Rajiv Chowk and thereafter performed outside Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station and School of Open Learning. Their performances across the City grabbed the attention of young crowds, who were delighted to see some energetic moves of B-Boying like toprock, downrock and fluid sliding.
Meanwhile, another group took to the streets at Pitampura. The street dance was a performed by dancers of Kill Breakers Crew at Pacific Mall, Subhash Marg. To capture the moment, onlookers immediately took out their phones and made up for the absence of shutterbugs.
Besides, covering the capital territory, the dancers tried to spread their message in the NCR region too. The Tandavas Crew performed outside the Great India Place Mall in Noida. The day-long event ended with JBS showing off fast and aggressive dance moves outside Select CityWalk, Saket.
The brainchild of this one-of-its-kind event is Vikas Gupta, the 26-year old founder of PSD and one who has judged street dance competitions in IIT-Delhi for three years besides performing in several programmes. “Right from the moment of our birth, we are made to believe that specific professions like engineering and medical are worth pursuing if you have to earn a decent living and also earn respect in society,”
says Vikas.
But this also indirectly means that other professions are discriminated against. “Street dance as a form began as a reaction to traditional dance styles and by those who dared to dream differently but were forced to sacrifice them because of stereotypical notions. Our event was meant to make a point. That all professions have an equal place in society and deserve equal recognition.”