This Disco Dancer can’t huff and puff

Disco Dancer

At first glance, it's easy to see that the team behind the Disco Dancer musical has addressed several factors to help leading man Arjun Tanwar do his job of dancing and singing live on stage. "The choreography has been designed in such a way that he gets enough breathers to sing and dance correctly. I know which steps require more energy, so, we [minimise] the singing portions [around them]. Also, we avoid jerky movements while he sings," says director-choreographer Rajiv Goswami, stating the obvious, and essential, when it comes to making a musical.

But, there's another aspect that makes Tanwar's job easier. As we turn up to catch the preview of Salim-Sulaiman's musical that opens to the public on April 14, we realise that the leading man is favoured by his flair for dance. So much so that he needn't even be attentive about his movements as he trains his attention to his rendition. "Things were not always like this, though," he says, adding, "In the first few weeks, I would run out of breath [easily]".

Donald and Goswami

"When we started working on the project, we only focussed on the dialogues, and the dance. But, when I had to also sing, I struggled. Our [voice] coach Shannon Donald came on board, and that's when we really began to see a difference. She told me that I was projecting my voice way too much, and needed to practice restraint. I started working on softening my voice, and enhancing the melody. I needed to build stamina. So, I began to [pay heed to] the technical and physical aspects," he says.

Breath work, says Donald, enabled the cast members to "increase exhale time". "When you learn to exhale for longer than usual, you will be able to stay in pitch, finish the line without running out of breath, use inflections, and include nuances to display emotions. This is something that Salim and Sulaiman wanted in the act. It helps you stay true to the character. So, breath [work] was one of the primary things that we did to maintain the emotional [crux]."

As what may best be termed as sports-specific training, Donald had the performers practice like they were performing. "Things like cardio for live singers is often overlooked. When they would do the warm up, [I'd have them] move like they would, while performing. You need to match [the performance] even during practice. Without that, there will be disparity. Movement exercises, like jumping and dancing while singing, was the [physical routine] that mimicked what they would do on show-day. So, instead of isolating the singing and dancing portions, we'd have them do both at all times."

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Neither Tanwar nor Donald dismisses the need for physical training. Sleep, hydration, and nutrition, says Donald, are like the limbs of the tripod that keeps actors in good stead. Tanwar pays heed to both cardiovascular routines, as well as strength training. "I was told to focus on functional training. Kick-boxing and gymnastics are comprehensive formats that I adopt to build stamina. Functional training is significantly helpful. My days would begin with exercise, and that would prepare my body for the riyaaz that followed. I am able to sing at the octave that I can only because my training enables me to be physically charged up, and that [power] reflects in my voice. While one may believe that cardiovascular training is all that's needed, weight training is essential to build strength to pull off the [long shows]. A lot of factors can be negatively impacted during the act if your muscles lack power, because there are eight songs in the act. We also need to pull off two shows in a day."