Tap dancing to traditional beats

For the last week, the video Allarippu Reinvented by Vikas Arun and Ramita Ravi has been shared several times on social media and has taken the internet by storm. The video has a bunch of talented youngsters dancing to the rhythms — a combination of tap dance and fusion. While Ramita leads the Bharatanatyam troupe, Vikas helms the tap dance team. With her roots in Chennai, Ramita says that she has been dancing ever since she was five. 

“I’m the first generation from my family to be raised in the US. My passion for dance has helped me not only to innovate but also to break the cultural barriers. Also, dance doesn’t make one feel alienated,” she says. Raised in the US, she says that Bharatanatyam helped her to gain insights into Indian art and culture. 

“My family is basically from Chennai. And when it came to the reinvention of Allarippu with the fusion of tap dance and Bharatanatyam, I thought it would inspire the future generation and get them acquainted with various forms of dance,” she adds. Ramita says that the making of the video was exciting and didn’t pose many challenges. “I had to extend my arms and legs in a particular manner to get a special still. The rest was taken care by my team members,” she shares. 

The team didn’t expect the video to grab attention and cross one lakh views. “Indian dance forms have always been audiences favourite across the globe. Even when we perform the famous Dabbankoothu in the US, we get a lot of appreciation,” says Vikas, who has been travelling across the world to teach tap-dance. 

“Ramita and I are like-minded people.  We wanted to come up with something unique and that’s how Allarippu Reinvention happened. We thought of various ways to make it look unique and wanted to showcase the artistry in each of these dance forms,” says Vikas, who has performed in shows like So You Think You Can Dance and various musicals as well. 

When quizzed if they are planning another video anytime soon, Vikas says, “Yes, we are planning to release another video in March and we believe that will be received in a similar manner.”