One minute, Dineaish Rajendran was pressed against the barricade at singer-songwriter Zara Larsson’s Singapore set. The next, he was onstage in front of thousands, performing the famous dance break from her superhit song Lush Life. Footage of the moment has since racked up millions of views online.
The dance break arrives near the end of the song. As the backing track thins to an instrumental, Larsson walks the length of the stage searching for someone to join her.
The Singapore crowd knew the routine and only needed to be chosen to show it off. Many held up posters, and some had clearly rehearsed their pleas.
For Mr Dineaish, the possibility of having this felt real once he heard Larsson would be headlining F1. A year prior, he had posted a video of himself doing the choreography, never expecting to perform it live.
“I saw the trend going viral and thought, ‘let me learn it’,” he told tabla!.
On Oct 10, as if glimpsed through a crystal ball, Larsson’s dancers spotted him at the barricades, brightly dressed, while his friends effusively rallied for him. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen! If anything, I just wanted to dress up and have a good time,” he said.
A security guard lifted him over the barricade, took his phone and led him backstage. Moments later, he stepped onto the stage with a white t-shirt, which upon being introduced, Larsson spray-painted with “Zara <3 Din” and became a memento of the special night. “There was no time to be nervous,” said the 23-year-old dancer and content creator.
What he remembers most is the view. “That is a view you never know if you will have again, unless I do this as a job one day,” he shared. Without in-ear monitors muffling his senses, he heard the full roar of the crowd.
The look of wonder on Larsson’s face as she watched him command the stage with ease said as much about his talent as anything could.
Though the moment looks effortless, Mr Dineaish has been preparing for it for over a decade.
Dance runs in his family. His sister has trained and won competitions, and he started classes in Primary 3 and 4, beginning with hip hop and soon adding ballroom. He later trained in ballet and contemporary dance at School of the Arts, earning his diploma in dance all while keeping up street dance on the side.
Along the way, he found his own style: a feminine, fluid blend of the aforementioned forms often called ‘girl style’. His classical training, coupled with rigorous dance camps in Vietnam and Los Angeles, widened the lens through which he viewed dance and how his body could be a conduit for different forms.
“I know I’m meant for the world stages…dancing is not just my passion, it’s my life,” he shared.
Onstage, he was also representing something bigger. “I’ll never shy away from my identity,” he said, hoping that people who look like him will see that it is possible to be Indian and queer and occupy space, especially on a stage as big as this one.
He is aiming higher, as he plans to return to Los Angeles, find an agency and start the process for an artist visa. Akin to Larsson, his dream employers are Ariana Grande and Beyonce.
Much as he hopes to find opportunities overseas, he wants them to open up at home too. “In LA, I feel seen for my talent even without the hype,” he said, but wherever he lands, he plans to keep his roots front and centre.
