Name: Eric Sequeira
Institute: St Andrew’s college, Bandra
Tell me something about yourself?
My full name is Eric Savio Sequeira, I am born and raised in Mumbai. I was born in a Roman Catholic family to William and Stella Sequeira on 26th August 1991. I always had an interest in Art since childhood and was filled with curiosity as to know how things work, which is evident as I used to break open my toys but couldn’t fix them back, however, I used some interesting parts from broken toys to make something new, so creativity was always a given. As I grew up I was admitted in St. Mary’s high school in Santacruz (Kalina) and completed my SSC form there, after which I joined St. Andrews College (in Bandra) from where I completed my HSC and BMS. I was still this innocent and shy front bencher who would not talk in class as I was quite an introvert. However, after Junior College I was no more an introvert and started exploring the world. Now I am an introvert turned extrovert and life could not be better. I won a few local Personality competitions which made me aware about my confidence and a few group dance competitions which made me realized that I have a potential to lead a group of individuals with common goals. I am 20 years of age now and train dancers and students under the Brand name known as Pro’v’dance (P’v’D) which is pronounced as PROVIDENCE. Besides dance, I have a keen interest in graffiti and digital art, football, painting, meeting new people and experiencing things first hand. I dislike habits that are injurious to health and people injurious to progress!!
Tell me something about PRO`V’DANCE?
Pro’v’dance or P’v’D (pronounced as PROVIDENCE) is my brand name under which I have a dance crew, all my events and choreography.
When I was in junior college, I realized that not many talented students were getting a chance to dance or perform in the highly esteemed St. Andrews auditorium- one of Asia best auditoriums and other intercollegiate events. It was only the teacher’s pet or some seniors who would get a chance to perform there as no other opportunities were provided and the competition was cut-throat. Well my talent could not be hidden for a long time and hence my Junior college teacher gave me a chance to perform for the traditional day in college which the Principal liked very much and requested us to perform in the St. Andrews Auditorium. That was the day and since then teachers asked me to put up performances in the auditorium and in intercollegiate events.
So at the beginning of every academic year, I would put up on the notice board the dates for auditions for students who wanted to dance. That’s how P’v’D was born and today its not only a dance crew, but we train students to dance, give then advice and knowledge about the dance form that suits their body type and we also have P’v’D Merchandise like t-shirts, jerseys etc and all events and choreography is done under this brand name.
The dance styles in the beginning was just freestyle and Bollywood but now we have hip-hop as our forte, Bollywood, Contemporary, Jive, Salsa and many other dance forms under the umbrella term Hip-hop.
PRO`V’DANCE is quite an interesting name, what is the ideology behind this name? How did you derive to this name?
Well the literal meaning of PROVIDENCE refers to “a force or power that makes things happen without us actually doing it”. According to me that force is God.
Two reasons for the name:
- Firstly I was having a hard time deciding a name for our crew as I wanted the name to end with dance so that even if it’s a wacky name even an illiterate should understand that it’s related to dance.
- Secondly this Devine force of Gods providence has helped me in all walks of life, if I wanted something but couldn’t get it due to some reason; I would somehow get it later! As if I asked (prayed) for it and I received…
for e.g.: Pass in exams, get a cell phone, and establish this crew for instance.
So here’s my definition of Pro’v’Dance which speaks of our vision and mission :
- Pro: stands for being professional in whatever we do.
- ‘V’ stands for WE which means all of us work like one heart with many bodies. Unlike the “I” in the original spelling (providence) there is no I or individual interest.
- Dance: that’s what we eat, sleep, breath, drink and do 🙂
How did you decide to become a choreographer? Was it something you always wanted to be or is it something that happened suddenly?
I’ve been dancing for 10 years now and choreographing from 5years. I was always a background dancer dancing somewhere at the end of the stage.
I did not know that I could choreograph routines on my own until 5 years back when I was asked to choreograph a routine for an event in my parish (kalina) I was scared and nervous as hell, but took up the challenge and choreographed a dance routine. That’s when it clicked that hey I am good at this. I found it very easy to teach steps to other dancers and moves came to me naturally when the music was played. Also that time I had no access to internet so learning moves from videos was out of the question. So I believe that it’s a God given gift or his divine providence.
So that’s how I learnt that I could choreograph and teach routines and yes it did happen suddenly.
What is the most important thing in being a choreographer?
A choreographer must acquire certain important skills to train his students and fellow dancers:
- He must be Knowledgeable about the dance form he is teaching and should be in a position to answer any question put before him.
- He should possess leadership qualities so that others can follow him without a doubt.
- He should be Creative and promote creativity and discourage plagiarism or copying from others
- He should be Risk taker, just as we learnt in BMS – no risk no reward. A choreographer will not know what his art is if he does not take the risk of showing his originality to the people irrespective of the thought of being accepted or rejected.
- He should be able to enjoy work. Your work will not be a job if you have fun.
How has been your BMS journey? What did you LIKE or DISLIKE about the course?
My first two years of the course were spent mostly outside college doing shows and always getting blacklisted in the attendance sheet. My BMS journey of whatever I have spent in college was a joyride. Besides my batch mates, I knew everyone from the administrative staff, teaching staff, peons, the photocopy guy, college accountant, etc. I remember going to the Dean of the college and asking for a rehearsal place. The dean would not allow us initially and then later he used to give us permission for rehearsals. (Yet another example of Providence)
The best thing that I like about the course is that it gives you a platform to express yourself through presentations and you can be as creative as you want while presenting. I also noticed that these presentations taught us to work as a team, and, removed the stage-fear of many students by the end of the year.
What I dislike about the course is that the fees are quite high because of which some underprivileged students with a BMS potential would not get admission even though have a strong educational qualification but don’t have that kind of money.
How has the course benefitted you?
The course has made me a jack of all trades and helped me grow. It has been able to successfully instill the following qualities in me:
- My communication skills.
- Leadership qualities
- Initiative
- To be a visionary
I always had a bend towards understanding business. The very joy of being self employed and deriving revenue by providing a product or service. I learnt that customer is the king but the king never bargains.
Have you ever participated in intercollegiate dance festival? If yes, how was your experience?
Yes of course my first plan of action was to check out our competition.
We performed and participated in many dance competitions in colleges across Mumbai.
Prominent events that ‘V’ performed are :
* Indian Navy event at INS 2012 (event for the Indian Navy officials)
* Nokia channel [v] India fest 2012 (national event in Goa)
* World youth day 2011
* AWMTC 2011 (St. Andrews, Bandra)
* AWMTC 2010 (St. Andrews, Bandra)
* AWMTC 2009 (St. Andrews, Bandra)
* And it was good (the musical)
* Club escape (night club in Mumbai)
* Hotel Jadhavgarh (pune)
* Synergy 2011 (Sathaye college)
* Shikhar 2011 (Chetna college)
* Lakshya 2011 (MMK college)
* Spandan 2010 (patkar college)
* Pop lock drop 2009 (Wilson college)
* Read my lips (charity event for raising funds for the mute and blind)
and various other charity events of parishes and institutions
And the best was channel V india fest 2012 in which we got selected from Mumbai and performed for the finals in Goa. this was a superb experience got to meet various stars from the industry and a load of talented people from across the country, and I was with my crew for 3 days in Goa, what more could I ask.
What dancing styles do you teach?
The dance styles I teach are
- Hip-hop
Locking, popping, waving, totting, isolation
- B-buoying (break dancing)
- Salsa
- Jive
- Bollywood
Was there any person that had a great impact on your decision to become a choreographer?
Yes, God because it was his divine providence.
My parents who constantly supported me.
The 1st crew member of pro’v’dance and still an active member. Who was my friend way before I started P’v’D and was there even when others sought their personal interest and left in time of need.
Define dance in one word?
Expression
What tips and advice you would like to give our upcoming Ty’s regarding preparation of 200 marks project?
Just understand what topic you are interested in and work towards getting information on that topic (like newspaper cutting, print material, articles from the internet etc). Your project should consist of things that others don’t know, this will fetch you more marks and would impress the person taking your viva.
Last but not the least, do not steal or copy someone else’s project, it will only confuse you in your viva’s.You would only be confident if the material written is yours and original.
What are your Future Plans?
- Personally I would like to pursue my MBA in marketing
- In the next five years I see pro’v’dance academy teaching in places where there is no access to dance.
- To try n penetrate the film industry.
Your feedback for Bms.co.in?
Bms.co.in is doing a wonderful job of providing a platform for students to seek information and learn, what they could not, sitting in a classroom. Information ranging from procedures from ATKT’s to recruitment and placement. It’s a mammoth task to create a network of so many Bms colleges in Mumbai and providing information relating to Bms to so many students. Bms.co.in is a one spot stop for whatever a Bmsites needs. Keep doing the good work.
Videos
Some of P’v’d n my performance links
Contemporary : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHl7Uij43wI
Bollywood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZVZg1kgOPM
Krump: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jufOuiQ1PI&feature=relmfu
Freestyle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkyPTEaehNY&feature=relmfu
Hiphop / Bollyhop part 1: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2326129913113
Part 2 : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=213684915346436
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