Pre-teen hip hop stars

Tony Jackson, a 26-year-old choreographer from Hyderabad, trained a group of seven kids who won the Hip Hop Championship in India recently. The team includes Jiya, Gracie, Sanskar, Sanketh, Vanaja, Bhuvana and Bipul, and they go by the name “Suicide Crew”. The team is  now all set to participate in the World Hip Hop Championship to be held in Las Vegas on August 9.

The youngest member of the crew, seven-year-old Jiya, was a runner-up in Dhee-Juniors and has also acted in a Tollywood movie called Broker 2. Saying that the whole experience was “thrilling”, Jiya adds that she definitely gets nervous at times, but no matter what, she gives her best. And Tony, has also been a mentor and a guide for the children. He says, “When they get nervous, I ask them to just do what they have been practicing for so long. I tell them to not think of it as any different than a daily practice session. That has always helped.”

At the Hip Hop Championship that took place in Mumbai, five crews from all over the country qualified. “All the crews were immensely talented. It was a very tough and challenging competition. I never thought we would win, given the talent of the other kids. But when the winner was announced, we were over the moon,” he says, recalling his experience. The competition was judged by professional Hip Hop artistes, and Tony says that he is proud of introducing Hyderabad on a global platform. “The judges were really supportive and they were absolutely impressed by our performance. We covered the whole stage during the performance; performing on-floor and on-air. It was very difficult but nonetheless an amazing experience for the kids,” he adds.

When asked about how difficult it has been to train six to 12-year-old kids, Tony says that his job requires a lot of patience. But after witnessing their talent, it encourages him to help them even more. Sanketh, 11, says that he is very excited to perform at a global platform. “It has always been my dream,” he adds. All the kids have been juggling between their academics and dance. When the competitions are close, they skip school and practice from 8 am to 10 pm.

Tony, meanwhile, says that finances are a problem as each member needs Rs 2.5 lakh to cover the expenses of the championship. And nobody has come forward to sponsor. “But we are keeping our hopes high. We hope that the state government helps us,” says Tony. Bhuvana, 12, is hoping for a miracle. “I hope we are able to participate. We have been practising very hard,” she says.