Natu natu dance choreographer

The responsibility to showcase ‘Naatu Naatu’ on the Oscar stage fell on Emmy-winning choreographer couple Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo. With zero experience of choreographing an Indian film or folk song, the couple pulled off the feat with élan. Their popular stints include So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars. They operate under the brand name Nappytabs Creative Productions. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Napoleon D’umo: Q/ What was your reaction while watching the live performance of ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the Dolby Theatre? Were you expecting the song to win an Oscar? A/ We knew it would be well-received, but we didn’t expect a standing ovation for the performance. That is a difficult thing to accomplish at the Oscars. The Oscar audience tends to be a bit more reserved. We weren’t expecting the song to win, but we were very hopeful and equally excited when it won. It is a very contagious chorus along with a strong beat―two things we love in music. Q/ How many dancers were on stage? Could you shed some light on the rehearsals and backstage preparations? A/ [It had] 12 male dancers, eight female dancers, and two male singers. We had roughly 12 hours of rehearsal altogether with the full dance cast and one hour to block it on stage. In that one hour is when we had the two singers. Prem (Rakshith, RRR choreographer) sent us a tutorial of the original steps, and we staged, did transitions, blocked the dancers and camera moves. Q/ What were the challenges ...

It seemed like a fairy tale.A commercial Indian movie and irresistible Telugu song made it to the 95th Academy Awards, where the performance of eventual Best Song winner “Naatu Naatu” should have been nothing but a celebration and a milestone for Indian artists. But when it came to the televised performance, the “I was told that the choreographers want to work with dancers they already know,” Kazi wrote in her post. “I get it. I also don’t need to book everything under the sun, because there are plenty of talented South Asian dancers and choreographers to choose from…but…respectfully…where is the representation?” The Oscars performance was generally well-received, but the fact remains that it could have highlighted established or upcoming South Asian talent on stage and behind-the-scenes, or at least visually reimagined the song from a performance perspective. Here's the energetic performance of "Naatu Naatu" from — Variety (@Variety) “Here are people like me, like Joya, like Ravi reiterated that she wasn’t surprised — a sentiment shared by her peers — which further underscores the lack of access and representation felt by South Asian artists across the board and at the highest levels. Ravi, whose credits include “So You Think You Can Dance?” the Miss America pageant, Coachella, and more, repeatedly used the phrase “not good enough.” When producers and directors repeatedly tell South Asian artists that they need more experience and stronger relationships “You can’t just ju...