A total of 82 local and international teams duked it out at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Aug 30 for the annual Super24 dance competition. About 4,000 spectators witnessed every combination of urban dance imaginable, but only one team delivered an Indian cultural blend of bharatanatyam and Bollywood.
That team was Royalusion – the only all-Indian dance troupe at this year’s Super24.
Founded in 2021 by Ms Iswarya Jayakumar, 31, Royalusion is a Singapore-based South Asian dance collective comprising a team of performers from diverse dance backgrounds who excel at crafting bespoke performances tailored to every occasion.
For instance, the company has been involved in a variety of commercial and cultural projects such as the Singapore Grand Prix – Formula 1, Esplanade’s Da:ans Festival, and Kalaa Utsavam, and also performed for artists such as Jaynesh Isuran during Tamil composer Anirudh Ravichander’s “Once Upon a Time” tour stop in Singapore.
All of these performances took place in 2023, the same year Royalusion made its debut at Super24. “I know that I’m bringing a team of Indian dancers into a space that is hip-hop centric and where the judges are leaning towards Western dance styles, so we didn’t know what to expect,” Ms Iswarya said.
She added that not only was Super24 a good platform for Royalusion’s dancers to showcase their talent, but it was also an opportunity to inspire the younger generation to embrace cultural dance. “We don’t have Indian dance competitions at this level, and it’s okay to bring yourself and your culture to such a stage to show that, hey, look, we do exist.”
This year, Royalusion choreographed its routine to a mashup of “Dole Re Dola”, a piece that embodies the richness and vibrancy of Indian dance, from the 2002 Hindi film Devdas, and Kerala-born rapper Hanumankind’s song “Run It Up”. The dance item celebrates Indian performing arts, creating a bridge for audiences everywhere: rooted in tradition yet immediately relatable.
“Our choreography was meant to feel like a cinematic journey: playful Bollywood evolving into the precision of bharatanatyam and the raw authenticity of konnakol, rising into a warrior-like climax with kalaripayattu-inspired steps, and closing with the joy of garba to bring everyone together,” Ms Iswarya said.
The climactic moment, in particular, was a standout as the crowd unanimously erupted in cheers when all 24 dancers unleashed their crossed arms in sync, their faces fierce and bodies taut. It took the team many arduous months to achieve this level of mastery.
“The most difficult part was unlearning our individual habits and surrendering to a common language of movement. Training meant long nights and sacrificed weekends as we balanced school and jobs with rehearsals that grew into near-daily sessions,” Ms Iswarya said.
A classically trained bharatanatyam dancer since the age of three, under the tutelage of late 1989 Cultural Medallion recipient Neila Sathyalingam, Ms Iswarya also works full-time as a senior clinical research coordinator at Parkway Cancer Centre.
However, to her and her team, the highlight eclipsed the struggle. “Feeling the audience hold its breath in silence at certain moments and erupt in cheers at others. That response reminded us why we dance: to connect, to move people, and to bring our culture alive on a stage where it had rarely stood before,” she said.
Super24 is a mega crew dance competition created by O School in Singapore, where teams of 24 dancers each deliver 90-second routines within an 8-by-8 metre square stage and are judged from all four sides.
“Thank you for representing one of the four main cultures in Singapore. You danced beautifully as a team, and when you incorporated bharatanatyam, it was skillfully done. It looked effortless,” said Mr Amin Alifin, one of the judges, after Royalusion’s performance.
