The Tribals: An Unsung Dance Crew from Arunachal Pradesh

By Jon Pebi Tato
ITANAGAR: "THE TRIBALS", a name that hardly many are acquainted with it, apart from the deliverance of daily doses of news The SPACE have delved into deciphering "The Tribals". They are a dance crew who seems to have grown out of a mist to win competitions & make their stand, yet masses in the state are not aware of it.
Having won the various dance competition like in Sonabyss fest held in NERIST, Floor jam, Arunachal Dance Plus, Technofest Dehradun, Love matters western Dance Competition, Dehradun, Feel the vibe vol 1 & Dev Bhoomi Navadhara Dance competition, the crew has strived hard to do something out of the box that many has dreamt of.
Today the state has witnessed the growth of many dance crews like Tani Daughter's Crew, The Trends, etc, however, "The Tribals" is one among them who has proved their love & passion, & rendered every inch of their blood and sweat in the Art of Dance, & help break the stereotypes in the Society and in their journey as a crew, "consistency" has played a major part since past many years.
This article tends to focus on the very dance crew of Arunachal Pradesh, "The Tribals: An Unsung Dance Crew from Arunachal Pradesh"
THE TRIBALS
Since its statehood in the year 1987, The land of the dawn-lit mountain has produced immense talents and witnessed countless endeavors from its people. The two and half decades of the period saw a paradigm shift in the state's evolving scenarios.
Education has contributed to shaping its citizens in exploring and understanding various fields of subjects, viz, Science, Commerce, Arts, Social service, Entrepreneurship, business, etc.
"Art" & "Entertainment" is not an exception, apart from education, people with an eagerness to learn the form of art in different style has also evolved, after the advent of the digital world in the state, the connectivity in terms of communication and Television broadcast was further enhanced to boost the discovery & growth of new talents evolving out from the society in the form of Dance & Singing and many other.
The state has successfully produced talented singers like Jeli Kayi, Taba Chake, Anong Singpho, Rito Riba, etc, but it has left no stone unturned to produce talented dancers like Nangbia Chanda who represented the state in India's got Talent.
The article wouldn't go unnoticed the very first dance crew to perform in the kpop event in New Delhi "The Dancing Devils", who has been the torchbearer for many aspiring & talented young artists in the state. Dancers like Karken Riba, Sagar Rai, Takam Nikum, etc have contributed immensely in bolstering the indomitable spirit of the youths in the field of dance. Another first street dance crew named"Bboyzlee crew" also had its name, taken by many aspiring dancers. However, The SPACE shall delve into that in near future.
Many artists, dancers, singers, bands, and even dance crews did evolve out of curiosity and passion, however, not many has kept their consistency.
Speaking to the SPACE Media Jeet Burmon who is also a member of The Tribals stated that, "The crew was formed in the year 2015 with members with a passion-driven for the dance"
Jeet has always been one of the people who has not only been a dancer himself but also a promoter of the underrated talents within the Itanagar Capital Region and elsewhere.
The Tribals has a total of 14 members in its crew, from various districts. It was founded by Tadar Taji & Mathew Dongpang in the year 2015.
"We actually talked about it in the year 2014, where it was actually beginning to form"__ stated Mathew Donpang while in an interview with the SPACE.
Tadar Taji is the main choreograph of the crew along with other contributing members.
"Even n the Dancing Devil crew Taji has been the main Choreographer"__added Donpang.
(Left: Mathew Donpang, Right: Taki Nimasow, crew leader)
(The main choreographer: Tadar Taji)
To date, the crew has participated in many events and made its presence, their recent video on youtube has also garnered huge views and contributed to its recognition as a dance group in the state. The link has been given below: The Tribals-Dance Video-Squid Game.
CHALLENGES:
"People take the dancers for granted & overlook the hard work they put behind the performance"__said Nimasow (the crew leader).
The crew has struggled since its formation in the year 2014 but has always tried not just to entertain the masses with their performance but even attracted youths to involve in such positive activity rather than sitting idle & being mentally pressured.
"We have performed in many events, but never got paid properly, many a time we have performed in free, we have cared more of our dancing skills rather than money, but however I think its time the people in Arunachal should think about it, even dancers put their blood and sweat performing for any events" __spoke Nimasow to the SPACE.
"All artist needs equal recognition and respect, so does the dancers"___stated Jeet while expressing his despondence over the reaction & regards the dancers get from the masses.
The crew is always ready to perform and give their best shot, but the event organizers equally need to emphasize the dancers.
Dancing is not anyone's cup of tea, it comes out of passion, hard work, blood & sweat with full dedication and determination, and they do deserve some respect.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Tribals crew is the 3 times winner at Sonabyss at Nerist for the consecutive years 2015, 2016 & 2017.
They have also been the winner of Floor jam Vol.3 Crew category winner.