Rudra with his group after the performance
Young choreographer Sumon Rudra from Rourkela created history by performing Garba before spectators in Greece. Arindam Ganguly interacts with the young artiste.
BHUBANESWAR: Sumon Rudra from the steel city of Orissa created ripples about Hindi dance and song in Greece recently. Sumon participated in an event – Greece got talent – wherein he choreographed a fusion of two Hindi numbers with his team members who are adept in Garba dance.
The team qualified for the quarter-finals and is contending for the semi-finals. The video of Sunday’s performance which is getting popular on Youtube was viewed by over 30,000 viewers. Rudra told Orissa POST it was for the first time that an Indian style show staged on the platform grabaed attention. The performance of fusion comprised two songs such as Nagada sang dhol and Malhari from the movie Ramleela and Bajirao Mastani respectively. Rudra had choreographed the song along with Dimitratou Anna who choreographs in her academy in Greece and teaches Hindi film dance, contemporary dance, Indian classical and folk style.
The academy is the first dance institute in Greece which trains aspirants for Hindi film style and other forms of dance to participate in multicultural dance festivals of Greece. Rudra had created a flutter by becoming the first Indian to choreograph Indian styles in Greek version – So You think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) – in May this year. Rudra who has been residing in Greece since 2014 produced a fusion of contemporary dance and martial art form, and this had impressed the judges enormously. He was then invited
to choreograph at the semi-final and finals of the show in July.
“This year has been one of the most eventful years of my life. There has been a lot of firsts and it still continues. From making my debut as choreographer in So you think…, to graduating from the Greek Ministry of Culture with a diploma in contemporary dance I’m now making my debut as a choreographer and performer in Greece Got Talent with my group. The judges appreciated the performance and used the word “Fantasmagoriko’’, which means ‘spirited performance’. This is a big compliment.”
He said he had choreographed this performance just for two weeks and his team members are working in various fields and had come on leave for the rehearsals. For the next round, Rudra contemplates to make it better to go to the next round. “I am sure, we will make it to the semifinal and finals as well,” he sounds optimistic.