Bollywood choreographer Terence Lewis: ‘critiquing helps you to realise your own potential’

He was in Dubai recently where he judged 80 dancers as part of the UAE’s first choreographer dance competition, Strikers Dance Challenge.

Terence Lewis with the performers during the Strikers Dance Challenge in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

So you think you have the moves on the dance floor? Well, India’s leading choreographer Terence Lewis will be the judge of that.

And judge he did, when 80 dancers performed in front of him recently at the UAE’s first choreographer dance competition, Strikers Dance Challenge, organised by the Strikers Dance institute.

Lewis watched Shah Rukh Khan imitators, glitter-clad hip-hop troupes, belly dancers, hula hoopers, grown men in crop tops performing acrobatics and even a group of 7-year-old boys dancing Bollywood-style as they ate bananas.

"I'm amazed at the talent the UAE has," says Lewis, who made his mark as a reality-TV judge in talent contests such as Dance, India Dance, Nach Baliye and So You Think You Can Dance India.

“I’ve always been a huge critic of myself and really feel that critiquing helps you to realise your own potential.”

But when judging amateur talent in Dubai, Lewis takes a more gentle approach than he does on TV.

“I didn’t want to break their hearts, because they’re not at that level,” he says. “If it was a big championship, then it would be a different ball game. This showcase is more to motivate people to continue to dance.”

Lewis got into dancing through similar competitions, winning his first at the age of 6. He was raised in Mangalore, with seven brothers and sisters, in a home where dance was considered a taboo for boys. Nevertheless, he persevered and started teaching dance as a teenager to make ends meet.

“I was pretty much self-taught,” he says. “It was only later in life that I worried that I simply wasn’t up to the mark, because winning competitions locally is one thing, but making a career out of dance is different. I had to go back to school at the age of 26 and study dance in a very systematic way.”

Lewis says his “hope and dream” is to see India represented on the international dance stage. To this end, he has set up a professional training institute in Mumbai, Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company, which offers diplomas in dance to help would-be dancers get the best possible start.

One course Lewis offers prepares dancers specifically for reality-television contests.

“The idea isn’t to make it into a business, but to make sure people who are really talented get the best coaching,” he says.

Lewis got on stage twice to strut his stuff with the dancers during his Dubai visit. These days, he prefers to be in front of the camera rather than behind it, which is why he quit choreography.

“I love the adrenalin rush of performing on stage in front of a live audience,” he says.

In 2002, Lewis won the American Choreography Award for his work on the film Lagaan, which has been brought to life in motion-simulator rides at the Bollywood Parks theme park in Dubai. He says that many of the dancers who trained with him for Disney India's musical stage show, Beauty and the Beast, in Mumbai, now have jobs at Bollywood Parks.

“I think it’s very appropriate that this Bollywood park is happening, because the Hollywood theme parks have been around for the longest time,” he says.

“Why not Bollywood? We make the largest number of films in the world. And Dubai is the perfect place to experience the Bollywood rush, which otherwise only happens in Mumbai.”

Like many celebrities before him (including Jackie Chan, Will Smith and Tyrese Gibson), Lewis wore a kandura during his UAE trip, which he says was a gift from an Emirati family.

“I decided that every time I come to visit the UAE, I’ll wear this kandura, and feel one with the people here,” he says.

“Besides, I love white – I like that it is loose and that I blend in with the local people. It’s a beautiful feeling.”