Dancing Queens

For Priya Lisa Gonsalves – India’s first female hip hopper and street dancer –  forming an all girls street dance troupe was always a cherished dream, one that she finally fulfilled with Urbanista last year. The girls all from different fields – make-up artist Payal Balse, college students Kezia Fernandes, Simone Louis and Giselle John – are trendy and of course, passionate about dancing.

Priya has been involved with street dancing for more than seven years and met her young dancing star members while judging a college dance competition. “I wanted a name that could be instantly related to female energy,” she explains, “since street dancing is not a classical form and referred to as an urban dance, I came up with the name Urbanista – which is a play on the word fashionista,” she beams proudly.

The Mumbai-based group is slowly becoming a regular at major city fests and recently shot a music video for an artist from New York. Priya looks at it as a positive social transformation. “You do not create vast changes that trickle down through society. But other girls watch us and feel inspired,” she states firmly.