Mia Michaels has worked with Madonna, Ricky Martin, Celine Dion and Tom Cruise. Now, the Emmy Award-winning choreographer wants to make a mark in Bollywood and says she would like to work with Indian actress Deepika Padukone.
Michaels also expressed her love for the art of Indian filmmaking.
“My goal is to do Bollywood… I am putting it out there because I have loved the Bollywood world for many many years. I got familiar to it through ‘So You Think You Can Dance’. I love big production numbers and I love creating them,” Michaels told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
Often, the grandeur of Bollywood films are known for syrupy romantic sagas, laced with elaborate song and dance sequences. Michaels loves all the shades of Bollywood.
“My favourite film is ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and I love Deepika Padukone. She is my favourite. She is amazing because she dances with so much passion.
“There is something very authentic and very passionate about the work in Bollywood. My goal is to learn more Bollywood but also create some. I would love to see something where I can infuse my style into the Bollywood and explore or collaborate with a Bollywood choreographer.”
What about working with Deepika’
“That would be amazing.”
Michaels has been associated with the dance world since the age of three and excelled in tap, jazz, contemporary and ballet. She is best known for her stint as a judge and top choreographer on TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”, and earned the title of ‘Mama Mia’.
Michaels has choreographed for Celine Dion, Madonna, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and late Prince.
She says she grabbed the chance to come to India and join dance reality show “Dance India Dance Season 6” as a challenger. The show is aired on Zee TV.
On her maiden India trip, she said: “The trip has been amazing from the moment I landed in Mumbai. It has just been incredible with such warm welcome and lot of love.
“I did know about the show. When I got an email and an invitation to come and be a part of the show, it was perfect timing for me and I was like, ‘Let’s go and let’s do it’. It was an opportunity to come to India and see the dancers, the culture, and see what is happening over here.”
Michaels keeps on working on her creative skills to be in sync with the changing times, and also keeps on conducting masterclasses and devotes time to dance enthusiasts to share her expertise.
She feels the dance world is evolving, but also finds some drawbacks of the booming digital world.
“Things are becoming a hybrid. I find all these different styles like contemporary. hip-hop and street, they all are fusing together. It is becoming like a big melting pot which I think it is interesting because different styles are coming out of this fusion of everything.
“I think with social media, people don’t train any more because they have access to videos and everything online that they don’t really get into the studio and train, which is a shame.”
On the other hand, the choreographer added that social media also is giving a platform to people looking forward to making a career in the dance industry.
Michaels says she is busy with her book “A Unicorn in a World of Donkeys”, which will release in 2018, and is looking forward to take up different things and experiment.
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at [email protected])
By Sugandha Rawal
