Ann Mouse, a Russian e-girl, got an incredible chance to travel in India for the ILL-ACT RAW Vol.2 contest, an event where she was judge and teacher. Electroisthefuture.com contacted Ann to know all the details of her trip where she discovered a completely different culture and a country where Electro dance is starting to grow up.
Hello Ann, how was your experience in India?
“I am in touch with Sandy (the organizer) since three years and I always had the idea to visit this amazing country. Now following all this time, everything came together. He invited me to India, saying he can arrange for the competitions with me as judge. The flight was difficult. Three two transplants myself flying two to three hours. Our flight to India was delayed by 1.5 hours, but Sandy waited for me about 4 hours and finally we met. At the masterclass we had around 60-70 people. I was in shock, because were I teach in Russia, I can barely had ten interested.”
Ann Mouse lives in Rostov-on-don, in Southern Russia. It was the first time for her judging and teaching electro out of her country, a big responsability: “I thought a lot about the responsibility and that I needed to represent the culture, because it was a promotion of electro in all India. The dancers here started to practice Electro from 1-2 years, but they are really good, a lot of guys had a strong technique, they make complex movements with complex rhythmic patterns. But they are not always into the music. Initially, I wanted to give a class about the relationship of basic movements with the music, the concept of rhythmicpatterns, the construction of a coherent dance, and exercises for finding new moves. I tried in every moment to share a sense of culture, also playing Electro Shifumi.”
Ann made a Vogue and an Electro Masterclass in India: “In class, due to the fact that it is a
huge number of newcomers gave a base, I preferred to teach two steps and three groove, plus a small bundle, and exercise. The atmosphere was incredible, boys supported me, believed with me, and, most surprisingly, gave me a huge amount of energy!”
A 1 vs. 1 and a 2 vs. 2 contest took place in the event in New Delhi: “The competition was also hot, especially the nomination stage” says Ann, “the Guys were doing incredible things. Compared with last year, the culture in India has grown strongly, the dancers started to be respected for the hard work. This was my first time judging abroad and it was not as difficult as I thought. Ask yourself the question: what do I want to change in the electro-culture of India? I want them to understand musicality, and building dance concepts, plus a huge number of additional aspects. The e-dancers came from many different areas of the country, so we discussed a lot together about the focus in the battle, teaching them the best way to approach it and then explaining they errors after each versus. I think the guys learned a lot from this event.”
For Ann the Indian experience was huge also from the human point of view, as she discovered a country with a totally different way of life, she confirms: “The Indians are very spiritual people, don’t overload yourself with excessive analysis of things, genuinely happy life. After a trip here you can change your view on many things. Electro family there it’s just at top! Unreal support, relaxed atmosphere. Despite the different way of life in this country, I was completely comfortable. Very kind and caring people. Special thanks to Sandy who gave us a lot of things. They have a good organization level, the difference from the traditional dancing to the street dance in India is huge, but because of their perseverance and hard work, they are quickly improving the level. So we are waiting for electro to break out in India!” concluded the Russian e-girl.
