He’s fit, he’s smart and he knows how to dance. Terence Lewis, a contemporary dancer and choreographer, who’s known for judging dance shows and choreographing for films, was here in the City for the launch of ‘Howard Johnson Bengaluru Hebbal’.
Terence did a personalised sequence for the launch. Talking about Bangalore and its audience, he says, “I’m in Bangalore almost every few months for a performance, wedding or something else. I think Bangalore is a hub for contemporary dance. It is more prolific here than anywhere else.” He adds that Bangalore is sensitive to contemporary dance.
“Contemporary dance is not a massy dance style; it’s not your regular jhatka matka. It’s more of an emotional storytelling, exploring a feeling or celebration,” says the dancer.
He says that judging dance shows, teaching dance to people and dancing on a stage are different experiences.
“Judging a show puts me in the role of analysing the growth of the dancers and how they have performed. The whole art of judging includes critiquing as well as encouraging a performer to grow. They need to be told what they are good at and what they need to work on, with the right instructions,” says Terence.
He adds that he loves being a judge, as he has been teaching dance for 15 years and that itself teaches one to bring out the best in someone and help in making corrections.
“I’m a person who loves being on stage and performing in front of an audience. The live energy of the audience influences the performance and it feels good to be able to tell a story,” he says. Terence adds, “Dance is a great way of expression.”
He respects Prabhu Deva for trying to create his own style, even while copying Michael Jackson.
“I think he’s amazing. I also love today’s actors like Hrithik and Shahid who are seasoned and well-groomed. We are living in a good time where actors have to learn different skills and are doing a great job of it,” he says.
Ask him, who he would like to work with in Bollywood and he quickly says, “It has been years since I quit films. I do not enjoy choreographing films. I enjoy doing live shows and being a judge. But I am not interested in teaching anyone how to dance.”
But Terence had his share of filmdom with his guest appearance in the Kannada movie Mamu Tea Angadi recently.
“I was in the movie for barely a minute. I did it for Varun, who was one of the contestants of ‘Dance India Dance’. I was very happy when I heard that he had signed a movie. When he asked me if I would do the scene, I was glad,” he says. He says that things happen fast in Sandalwood.
“I was given some lines and advised about the emotion behind the words. Then I mugged them up and things happened fast. There was no fuss on the sets and everything was efficiently planned. I loved that,” he sums up.
