When most UCLA students were heading for relaxing vacations after finals last quarter, Seema Narain and Mala Tejwani were preparing to compete on an international television show against some of the most talented dancers in the world.
For the next 11 days, the two UCLA undergraduates would eat, sleep and breathe cultural dance with renowned dancers from Ireland, India, the United States, Argentina, China, Russia, South Africa and Australia on the new NBC reality television show “Superstars of Dance,” currently airing Mondays at 8 p.m EST and PST.
“You are seeing a production of dancers that are world champions,” said Tejwani, a fourth-year history and political science student. “A man (did) a handstand on his fingers. A woman was en pointe on a guy’s head with one foot and the other foot was in the air turning.”
In “Superstars of Dance,” each country competes against the rest with unique cultural dances comprised of two soloists, one duo and one larger group. Narain and Tejwani had been chosen to represent the India team in the large group competition.
“Bollywood dancing is pretty much just all about celebration and having fun, and that’s what we brought to the stage,” said Narain, a fourth-year business economics student.
Narain grew up dancing. At an Indian wedding party for a family member, 3-year-old Narain got up in the middle of a song and began dancing perfectly in rhythm, upstaging another girl’s performance. Her future dance teacher happened to be present and suggested that she enroll the next year for the classical northern India dance, Kathak.
In high school she trained in modern dance, jazz, hip-hop and ballet, and as a first-year at UCLA she joined UCLA Nashaa, a Hindi film dance team. After two years, Narain also joined blue13, a Los Angeles-based independent dance troupe.
Tejwani’s childhood was a little different.
“I was not born dancing,” she admitted. “A lot of dancers are like, “˜I was born (dancing) and danced in my mom’s stomach.’ I didn’t. I was a really sucky child dancer.”
Her mother was a dancer who never had any classical training, and signed Tejwani up to learn the traditional classical Indian dance Bharantanyam, which can take up to nine years to complete. Tejwani completed it in seven, performing the two-and-a-half-hour dance required for graduation with her older sister. Tejwani also began learning Bollywood dance, a modern fusion of classical, hip-hop and salsa made popular by Bollywood films. At 16 years old, she competed in and won the international title for Sony Television’s Boogie Woogie dance competition in London.
After returning, Tejwani joined the local L.A. dance troupe of renowned choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan. He and Tejwani choreographed many dances together, including routines for “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Tejwani is backed by a vast system of support from her family that encourages her to keep dancing.
“I think that joy of seeing people that are genuinely happy for you makes you get up and do it every day,” she said.
With executive producers from “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” the show is the opportunity of a lifetime for Tejwani and Narain. It features a number of traditional cultural dances, including hip-hop from the United States, Irish step dancing, Argentinean tango and Chinese acrobatic ballet.
Team India’s members were the youngest in the competition, with an average age of 21. It was also the least unified, at least in the beginning.
“We’re kind of underdogs in this competition,” Tejwani said. “Ireland was together for 11 years. We were together for four weeks.”
Team India arrived at every blocking and filming two hours early to prepare their costumes for each dance.
“Indian jewelry and hair takes forever to get ready because it’s so intricate and ornate, but that’s also the beauty of it,” Narain said.
One of the highlights for both students was the collaborative effort of all of the country teams. Narain recalled one rehearsal during which a hip-hop song was playing in the audience to keep the crowd entertained. While Team India was jingling their bells on the feet, Team USA was stomping random rhythms, and Team Ireland’s step dancers were doing jumps; every team was perfectly in harmony with the music.
“It was just one of those moments where you take everything in and you really realize why you’re there,” Narain said.
The two students learned much about the importance of camaraderie despite the competitive nature of the show.
“We just were there to have a good time,” Narain said. “At the end of the day, it’s about the experience, not about the competition.”
Most of all, they learned about the well-earned rewards of hard work.
“Being on stage is not what shapes me ““ it’s practicing six hours a day or having bloody knees or not sleeping,” Tejwani said. “That’s what you remember and that’s what shapes you.”