Dancing to the riddim'
Afrobeats and dancehall may not be very well known in the city, but they're growing at a fast pace.
Dancehall and Afrobeats have been slowly taking over the dance and music scene in Chennai for a while now. Many popular clubs have dedicated nights to the music genre and a lot of people have started dabbling in the dance style as well. Afrontãl, a new dance group that has been promoting dancehall and debuted with Reggae Rajahs recently, are now all set for their debut performance in Chennai!
Maryann Ranjini Vincent, who started the crew along with Anjaly Ariyanayagam and Divya Easwaran — which now includes other dancehall enthusiasts, tells us, “It all started when I attended a Reggae Rajahs concert and one of the trio asked me to come perform for their opening act for Major Lazer in Bengaluru. Back then, it was just Anjaly and I. We got amazing feedback and comments when we were called by Zorawar of Reggae Rajahs to perform at the Humming Tree in Bangalore. From then on, we started adding more dancers into our informal ‘non-crew’!”
Anjaly tells us why she wanted to start Afrontãl and why she enjoys the genre, “I’ve mostly only tried ‘stage styles’ like jazz. Every style has great character and energy and can be as fresh as you want it to be. But the difference with Dancehall and Afrobeats, and especially the way Afrontãl likes to do it, is the presentation. There are almost no rules — you can show your back, be uncoordinated, and even freestyle if you want to. It is a style that did not evolve on stage, so you need to maintain that essence even while presenting on stage.
This I loved because it’s new to me — where being on point is not really the point.” Maryann adds, “Our crew currently consists of dancers from varied backgrounds. We’ll be performing in Chennai with other dance crews. This is our first time here, so we’re very excited. We are hoping to see other dancers being open to learning and trying this new style.” Anjaly adds, “Our plans with Afrontãl are to take the style to as many people as possible through various stages and workshops. We want more people to enjoy this feeling of dancing with a complete lack of boundaries.”
Maryann agrees, “We would also love more dancers to join us and maybe, hopefully, we get to do this full-time! I’d love to see the style and community grow.”
(Afrontãl debuts at the Indian Premiere Locking event at Russian Cultural Centre on June 11)