Make dance a way of life: Terence Lewis

New Delhi: Choreographer Terence Lewis is conducting dance master classes across eight cities in the country. He says it is aimed at spreading awareness among people to take up dance as part of their lifestyle. "I believe in the philosophy of ABCD (AnyBody can dance). I know that a lot of people do dance occasionally, but not on a daily or weekly basis. Besides, there is a huge population that is shy and feels that they have two left feet. Through my master class, I want to invite them to participate and make the effort to include dance as a part of their lifestyle," Lewis told IANS. "People have to make time to incorporate a little bit of dance in their life. It doesn`t matter what style and which academy they join to fulfill this need. The objective is to get more people to come out of their homes and take dance as a group or shared activity," he added. Lewis became popular as a mentor and judge on Zee TV`s "Dance India Dance", and he has imparted dance lessons to many people through his institute Terence Lewis Academy. His master classes, that started in Pune (Nov 18) followed by Indore (Nov 24), will now visit Baroda (Dec 9), Kolkata (Dec 11), Jaipur (Dec 15), New Delhi (Dec 16) and Bengaluru (Dec 23). Lewis feels the need to educate people about dance. "I took up this initiative on behalf of the UNESCO`s Counseil De La Danse, where I am a member representing India. This is a non-profit initiative that I have chosen for the aam janta (common man)," he said "I would like the whole of India to take up dance not as a fun activity, but serious lifestyle change activity. If we can do regular exercise, then why can`t we dance everyday," he added. His multi-city tour will also provide scholarship to two best male and two female dancers. "One needs to pay a registration fees of Rs.300 and the class is free. We are also looking for dancers who want to grow in the field of dance. We are giving free scholarships to two boys and two girlS, who will then be taken to Mumbai for training," he said. IANS