When the going gets tough, the tough get going. And it’s been tough for dance studios in Hyderabad. To sustain, expand in numbers and yet, retain their students is an issue that they are all grappling with. The city has seen many studios being swept away, but one studio that has weathered many storms is Steps Dance Studio. Started by Prithviraj Ramaswamy in 2003, the recent good news is that Steps, which has branches in Banjara Hills and Tirumalagiri, has opened a new studio in Gachibowli. When we call Prithviraj to congratulate him, we also try to decode the formula behind running a successful chain of studios in the city. The 750 square foot studio at Gachibowli was inaugurated by MLA Arekapudi Gandhi and Harikrishna Mamidi, Director, Department of Culture and Language, Government of Telangana, which the studio is also supported by.
To pedal back to the start, Prithviraj, who is originally from Chennai, came to Hyderabad to start his own dance school. But this was not a hollow ambition. He learnt Russian Ballet under Ann Tonner from the Russian Cultural Centre in Chennai, learnt contemporary dance from Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts in Bengaluru and even travelled to the Big Apple to study dance at the famed Broadway Dance Center. Backed by solid knowledge and intricacies of several dance forms like hip-hop, jazz and ballet, he started and ran Steps successfully. “Unless one is a trained dancer and has a strong curriculum, one cannot run a studio long-term,” says Prithviraj with experience and adds, “Many studios open in the summer to make quick money and then have to shut down because they can’t keep it running throughout the year.” It is imperative, he feels, that a studio has trained instructors, someone who understands the physics of the body and movement and who knows how to take care of both. Also, in general, he feels that Bollywood dance is more in demand than art forms like ballet or jazz. “It’s true, people love Bollywood too much!,” quips Prithviraj who is a graduate from Madras University.
A piece of advice for parents he doles out is that they need to be careful while choosing a dance studio. “Because dance is just not about steps, it also helps with body language, expression and so on,” he explains. But Prithviraj’s long-term mission is to start a cultural centre where many art forms are taught. “Government alone cannot make this happen, we need to bring in private players,” he reasons. But he is determined to make it happen, no matter how much time it takes.
For more on them, click on stepsdanz.com
