Phoenix Squad heads to Malaysia

Quoting the words of a legendary dancer Martha Garham — “People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that, you live all your life” says Kiran aka Kiran Phoenix the head choreographer of the Dance7 crew.

This Bengaluru based dance crew called Dance7 have been selected to represent the country in the Malaysia International Open Dance Competition on October 25-26 of this month. We had a chat with the choreographer!

Making it to the Guinness Book of World Records for The Largest Street Dance Lesson In The World was Dance7’s first step to success and there was no looking back from then on.

Speaking about how they got selected to represent India Kiran says, “ We had submitted our crew videos to International Dance Organisation in 2018 post our attempt for Guinness World Record. The embassy chose us to represent India in 2018 itself but since this wawe were informed last minute we weren’t prepared. The embassy has chosen us once again to represent our nation. And we hope that we get enough funds to participate this year.”  

Sharing a bit about his journey and the birth of his crew Kiran says, “I started this crew in the year 2017. As a dancer, this art form has been life changing for me and over the years as I met people in the community I figured, that I wasn’t the only one with such a yen.

I came across so many talented dancers struggling to make a mark and prove something to the society. This gave rise to our crew “Phoenix Squad.”

The crew was conceptualised with the aim of giving give space for budding talent to grow and help the community become stronger as well. “Our goal to was encourage youngsters to take up dance as a profession,” he says.

When you have the zeal to make it big you tend to see your challenges like lessons and look for rational solutions to overcome the same. This is what Kiran did. He says, “I was not supported by anyone when I wanted take up dancing as career. I had to fight to prove my passion to our judgmental society.”

Speaking about Dance 7’s biggest challenges Kiran says, “Almost all our crew members are students and are not from strong financial backgrounds. The overall cost is around Rs 6 lakhs and none of us can afford that kind of money. Thus, we’re still looking for someone who can help us with the funds to travel and participate in the dance competition.”

The crew’s ultimate aim is to focus on changing perceptions about the art.