‘India is a place where dreams can come true’

Their debut show, First Encounter, will have glimpses of their earlier works, and also of Fortune at its nascent stage. Pics/Shadab Khan

It was in 2018 that Aaron Fernandes, of Aaron Fernandes Entertainment, took interest in bringing Club Guy & Roni, a Netherlands-based dance academy, to India. This weekend, choreographer Roni Haver and Guy Weizman, founders of the group, will perform their debut show, The First Encounter at the NCPA.

Club Guy & Roni's The Human Odyssey is a depiction of the fundamental pillars of humanity into through dance. They also plan on exploring the concept of ‘fortune', while they are in the country, in collaboration with Mumbai-based Navdhara India Dance Theatre (NIDT). They will perform Fortune in the Netherlands after their research in India.

Three dancers, Razul Singh, Urvil Shah and Chetan Solanki from NIDT, are part of the 10-member dance group

Initially, they reached out to other European dance and theatre companies to collaborate for their project, but in the process realised that it made the project too Eurocentric. "We decided that all our productions should move beyond the European context to include other perspectives of the world," says Guy.

For three weeks, they asked various Mumbaikars what fortune means to them, and then got three dancers from NIDT on board. According to Guy, Indians see fortune in terms of money. "There is an element of luck and you can see hope spark up in people's eyes," he says. "India is still a place where dreams can come true. From a Eurocentric perspective, it feels that everything has been done and there is no space for growth." He explains that the Dutch don't believe in fortune.

After the NCPA show, Chetan Solanki, Urvil Shah and Razul Singh will go to Netherlands to perform Fortune all over Europe. "It is very different when you are on tour and living in a new country for three to four months," says Ashley Lobo, founder of NIDT. "The dancers have never lived in a country for three months without performing; involved only in rehearsals.

Club Guy & Roni

They will get a chance to interact with other dancers there and see how international theatre companies operate." Guy is confident that his interdisciplinary work that transcends boundaries between theatre, art, dance, music and fashion will catch on in India because, "Indians are interdisciplinary in their way of thinking and way of life. Even Bollywood is interdisciplinary."

Apart from inter-mixing dancers, percussionists from the Netherlands will perform in Mumbai. And vice-versa, the final Fortune in the Netherlands will have Indian musicians. Fortune will revolve around nine male dancers and one female dancer (Roni) who will "express the fortune and misfortune of being a woman in a masculine world."

Their show in Mumbai, will be snatches of works from their repertoire, with glimpses of Fortune.

WHAT: The First Encounter by Club Guy & Roni
WHEN: July 8, 6.30 PM
WHERE: NCPA
PRICE: Rs 300 onwards (Non members)
TO BOOK: ncpamumbai.com