Talking point with Sandip Soparrkar

What is the most inspirational thing you’ve seen in the auditions so far?
I was stunned by one dancer from Delhi,called Sunny. He has only one arm,but the way he moves,you can hardly make that out. It’s a lesson to us dancers who think because we’ve got a minor pain,we can take a whole month off. This boy dances without an arm and so gracefully.

Another dancer who left an impression on me is Ananya,a five-year-old girl from Mumbai. She had her arangetram,the first public Bharatnatyam performance,at the age of two years and nine months—it’s an astounding achievement. And when I watched her dance,I thought it wasn’t a little girl,but a lady who’s dancing in front of me.

Does your son Arjun also dance?
Unfortunately,no. He prefers his skating and karate. Even when I’m dancing,he refuses to join in and waits till I’m done so that we can go play. In fact,when we were giving out ‘super wings’ to the best dancers during the auditions,he said he wanted a pair. So I told him he’d have to dance for it,and that really disappointed him.

Do you think there are enough dance shows for children on television?
Not really. There was Boogie Woogie which was an excellent programme and I used to watch it quite regularly. Now there’s Li’l Masters. I hope more such shows come up because they provide an excellent platform for these young dancers to showcase their talent. But there’s one thing we need to be wary of and that is children trying to dance like adults. They copy the expressions and body language and it’s just not pleasant. When these young ones dance,their innocence should shine through.

Now that there are so many talent shows on television,do more people approach you for lessons?
Definitely,they do. Even films have done their share to encourage people. The most popular style is still Bollywood,but more and more people want to learn international styles.

So are we a nation of dancers or are we a nation of singers?
I would say dancers. We’re bathroom singers,but we all dance in public,whether it’s at festivals or weddings. We just need an excuse to dance.