Shantanu Maheshwari has a new feather in his cap — the Calcutta boy and his dance crew Desi Hoppers, comprising Macedon D’mello, Nimit Kotian, Niraj Lama, Mohit Antony and Rohan Vyas — have become the first Indian group to participate in the NBC dance reality show, World of Dance Season 2.

Held in Los Angeles, Shantanu and Team Desi Hoppers cleared three rounds before being eliminated. But they earned scores of fans among American audiences and won the hearts of judges Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo and Derek Hough. Back in India, the Kumartuli boy chatted with t2 on the experience and the road ahead.

Getting so far on what is considered one of the biggest dance reality shows in the world is an achievement…

Honestly, we didn’t know we would come so far. Our strategy was to take every round as it comes. We hadn’t expected the huge response that we eventually got. 

What were your top moments on the show?

All the performances we came up with, plus meeting some of the top dancers in the world. One big highlight was having Ne-Yo get up on stage and dance with us… that may be common in reality shows in India but hardly happens abroad. The judges consistently appreciated the freshness we brought in; JLo (Jennifer Lopez) saying that looking at us it seemed 10 to 12 people were dancing on stage, instead of just six of us; Ne-Yo saying that Desi Hoppers will always be remembered for the performances… these are massive compliments!

Also, being mentored by Nappytabs, who choreograph all of JLo’s performances, was a dream come true. We’ve admired their choreography on shows like So You Can Think You Can Dance and we got first-hand tips from them. Jenna (Dewan), who was the show’s host, was always very helpful, and in our last round on the show, we got to meet Paula Abdul and be mentored by her.

We learnt a lot about the technicalities of dancing from Paula Abdul. We don’t come from a technical background as far as our dancing is concerned… our training has mostly happened by learning from each other or from YouTube. Yes, we have teachers, but even their knowledge is not studio-based or technical.

This show took a lot out of us physically. We were injured, we had bruises… but we had the spirit and the passion to represent India. 

Jennifer Lopez tweeted in support…

Yes, that was huge (Lopez had tweeted: “Love me some. Desi Hoppers! India is in the house!”) The judges were incredibly supportive and JLo tweeting for us was a big surprise. Unlike Indian shows, the judges on international dance shows don’t interact with the contestants except for the time they are on stage. So for her to tweet for us was quite unprecedented. We were over the moon!

How much does your participation in this show open up avenues for you as dancers?

Dancers all over the world aspire to be on this show and once you are on it, you have to bring in your A-game. Huge money is at stake, you have the best people judging you and it’s a global stage… by default, the level of competition is very high. Us getting so far on the show has made everyone realise that India has potential and we can churn out world-class dancers.

What’s the way forward for you and Desi Hoppers?

We all work individually as dancers and choreographers, but as Desi Hoppers, we are trying to focus more on movie and TV show choreography, as well as for music videos. We have our own workshops. We are trying to expand and ultimately open an academy where we can train dancers and choreographers… the aspiration is to have dance as part of the curriculum and affiliate the academy with a university.

You recently debuted as a TV host with India’s Best Dramebaaz on Zee TV. Did hosting help to discover a new side to you?

It was initially a little tough because I was very conscious. But then, I gained confidence on how to hold the audience’s interest. I now understand the concept of stage presence better and plan to use this new-found confidence and knowledge both in my acting and dancing.