Jitesh Jaggi

And a week before the show, 12-year-old Sameer came up to me and said, teacher, we are memorizing the dance sequence not on the words of the song, but the sound of the words. And I thought, of course you are. See, the kids understood some English, but rap was too much for them. They couldn't distinguish one word from another. And then he made a suggestion that blew me away.

He said, how about we break dance on a Bollywood song? The purist in me said, no. That is disrespectful. But the pragmatic choreographer in me, who had six days left for the show, said, why didn't I think of that? We changed everything. And that was the most under pressure fun we have ever had. Day of the performance.

He said, how about we break dance on a Bollywood song? The purist in me said, no. That is disrespectful. But the pragmatic choreographer in me, who had six days left for the show, said, why didn't I think of that? We changed everything. And that was the most under pressure fun we have ever had. Day of the performance.

He said, how about we break dance on a Bollywood song? The purist in me said, no. That is disrespectful. But the pragmatic choreographer in me, who had six days left for the show, said, why didn't I think of that? We changed everything. And that was the most under pressure fun we have ever had. Day of the performance.

The audience has no clue that what they're about to witness has simply never existed before. Breakdance on Bollywood music, also in Bollywood costumes. The crowd was stunned. They whistled and clapped and sang along. In the audience, I thought to myself, this is either blasphemy or the genius of children.

The audience has no clue that what they're about to witness has simply never existed before. Breakdance on Bollywood music, also in Bollywood costumes. The crowd was stunned. They whistled and clapped and sang along. In the audience, I thought to myself, this is either blasphemy or the genius of children.

The audience has no clue that what they're about to witness has simply never existed before. Breakdance on Bollywood music, also in Bollywood costumes. The crowd was stunned. They whistled and clapped and sang along. In the audience, I thought to myself, this is either blasphemy or the genius of children.

They took what was given to them, and instead of adapting to the art, we made the art adapt to our existing lifestyle. And in doing so, made it our own. This is what was missing in my own practice. And the kids put it neatly in perspective for me. From then on, we had regular practices on Bollywood songs. We wore whatever we were comfortable in.

They took what was given to them, and instead of adapting to the art, we made the art adapt to our existing lifestyle. And in doing so, made it our own. This is what was missing in my own practice. And the kids put it neatly in perspective for me. From then on, we had regular practices on Bollywood songs. We wore whatever we were comfortable in.

They took what was given to them, and instead of adapting to the art, we made the art adapt to our existing lifestyle. And in doing so, made it our own. This is what was missing in my own practice. And the kids put it neatly in perspective for me. From then on, we had regular practices on Bollywood songs. We wore whatever we were comfortable in.

Today, here in America, when I see kids break dance, I think of the connection that they have with children across the world in the slums of Mumbai and invisible solidarity through street art. Thank you.

Today, here in America, when I see kids break dance, I think of the connection that they have with children across the world in the slums of Mumbai and invisible solidarity through street art. Thank you.

Today, here in America, when I see kids break dance, I think of the connection that they have with children across the world in the slums of Mumbai and invisible solidarity through street art. Thank you.