Shakti Mohan to groove Hyderabad on waacking dance style

Shakti Mohan, who starred in Aa Re Pritam Pyaare, and also co-assisted choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant for Kamli in Dhoom 3, will be in the city on May 28 and 29 as part of her world dance tour Nritya Shakti, and will be teaching waacking and Indian contemporary styles.

So, what’s waacking?  The trained Bharatanatyam artist says, “It’s an urban dance form that originated in Los Angeles in the ’70s. It is interesting to see how Bollywood music gels with waacking. I’ve also choreographed a video on Dola re Dola.”

Shakti, after gaining accolades across the world for her excellence in Indian contemporary dance in 2015, is conducting a short series of dance workshops in eight cities around the world.

Nritya Shakti world tour is back this year and will be hosted in Texas, Virginia, Seattle, Florida, San Francisco, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru.

Walking us through the birth of the show, Shakti says, “I always wanted to do something for aspiring dancers and dance enthusiasts, but was not sure how. The seed was germinated by my dad when he gave me the name ‘Nritya Shakti’. That’s how it all started in 2011.”

Shakti has earlier performed in Hyderabad, but this is the first time that she will be teaching contemporary dance forms. “Hyderabad has huge talent and I am really looking forward to meeting good dancers,” she says.

Talking about her journey as a dancer, she says, “It has been incredible, it has definitely been more than what I have expected or imagined. I feel from where I started, you know, enjoying dance to making it a career, it has been really amazing.”