When 21-year old Abdul Shaikh danced with his crew, Roc-fresh, on the streets of Mumbai, he never imagined that he would win the Redbull BC One B-boying championship and go on to groove on an internat
When 21-year old Abdul Shaikh danced with his crew, Roc-fresh, on the streets of Mumbai, he never imagined that he would win the Redbull BC One B-boying championship and go on to groove on an international platform.
Held in Bandra on May 14, the championship saw Abdul and his friends competing with 400 contenders before being declared the winner and bagging an opportunity to represent India in the world championship in Japan, in December.
A Santa Cruz resident and third year commerce student of MMK college, Abdul is nervous and excited at the prospect of representing Indian on an international platform. “I will have to keep an open mind and practise hard. All other contestants have been doing this for 20 years and I only started eight years ago. But there is always room for improvement. And one can do anything with patience and hard work,” says the young dancer.
Abdul considers himself lucky to be born in a generation that is blessed to have the Internet at its disposal. “I can gain as much knowledge as I want and practise. Hopefully, that will compensate for my lack of experience,” he adds.
Abdul and his crew participated in the previous season of Redbull BC One, but did not make the cut.
He tells us, what motivated him to participated in the championship were two of his families—the one that raised him and the one that introduced him to dance. “My crew is my second family. Simon and Heera, among others, started this group. They are my early mentors. They introduced me to this world. For us, it is never about the competition, it is about the dancing,” he explains.
Abdul’s practice sessions last anywhere between three to four hours every day. His emphasis being on quality more than the number of hours put in. “B-boying is a dynamic expression of yourself. It is not about fancy moves. You can learn the moves with two months practise. It is the music and the expressions that is hard to get.”
While the dancer believes that these dance forms have come a long way in India, he feels that they’ve also been commercialised to a huge extent. Abdul, though, is in it for the fun because dancing makes him happy,” he adds.
