[YOUR STAGE] FROZEN CREW’s Jonathan Speaks About Dance, Inspiration, The Crew, and More

FROZEN CREW- One Team One Dream

K-POP contest is held every year in India since 2012 and it has been a great opportunity for amazing artists, who love K-POP, to showcase their talents and to achieve their dreams, but to fulfill those dreams one needs to work hard and as we are talking about hard work and dreams we have FROZEN CREW with us who not only won the K-Pop contest India 2015, but also won the hearts of many people including the two amazing K-Pop groups, ZE:A J and IMFACT.

 

For today’s, YOUR STAGE, we got to speak to Jonathan Lalrinpuia who is a member of ‘Frozen Crew’ and dreams to become a professional dancer, travel all around the world and win some biggest dance competitions. He share his experience of performing at the KPOP Contest Finale in South Korea and knowledge and hopefully bring some changes to anyone in need.

 

 

Namaste Hallyu (NH): How did K-POP enter your life?

Jonathan: I started dancing when I was 6 or 7 but wasn’t really into it. At that time, my siblings and I used to learn Super Junior and Big Bang choreography from their MV but we didn’t know it was K-Pop yet, we were just enjoying it. By 2012, I fully let myself into dancing, I also learned from my siblings, YouTube and other dancers and I am still learning. In 2014, my friend introduced BTS to me, and the first song I heard of them was Boy In Luv, I watched their dance practice many times and learned their different choreographies which led me to check other groups too, I started doing K-POP dance covers and that is how K-POP entered my life.

 

 

NH: How was this group formed? Is there any story behind the name ‘Frozen Crew’?

Jonathan: Forming Frozen Crew was never planned in the first place, the first 5 members were friends who just love dancing and one day, one of them got an invitation to do a half time show in a local basketball tournament. So, he talked to his friends and asked them if they would want to join the performance and they all agreed to it. Then they practiced some routine and met up at a restaurant before they went to the place talking about they needed a name for people to recognize them as a group. After about 15 minutes or so, they came up with the name ‘Frozen’. Even so, it was only for that day in particular but after that day they got some more invitations, so they kept using the name in all other events they performed. So, they finally decided to form a formal crew as they were all friends who have the same interest and that’s how Frozen Crew came into life.

 

 

NH: Who is your bias in K-POP? Any qualities of them  that you would like to inherit in yourselves? Also, who is your dance inspiration?

Jonathan: K-POP is one of my inspirations. They really help me to become better and improve in my skills. I’m a multi fandom stan. I like many groups and have many bias, so I can’t choose just one. So, I’ll say my two favorites, Kim Taehyung (V) from BTS and Park Sooyoung (Joy) from Red Velvet. I would like to be as hard working as them and have their stage confidence, the energy that they give out to their audiences and save so many people through their music. Although my main style is Hip hop, in choreography my inspiration is Bam Martin, and in freestyle Les Twins really inspired me.

 

NH: How do you manage studies and dancing together?

Jonathan: To be honest, I used to make routine during lower grades, but it’s hard to maintain as I grew up so I just left the routine because I have to give classes and sometime got invitations so it’s really hard to keep up with the routine but I’m still trying my best.

 

 

NH: What was the feeling when you heard your Crew name as a winner during the K-POP Dance Contest India Finale and how did your families reacted to it?

Jonathan: We never expected to win the competition, so we were thrilled by the result when we heard our name called out as a winner. We couldn’t even hold our tears, as we had faced so many obstacles. Our families were also happy and excited to see their children win a nation-wide competition for the first time.

 

 

NH: How was your experience in South Korea? Any funny incident you would like to share?

Jonathan: Going to South Korea is a dream come true, I learnt so much about them and sharing the stage, the experience and knowledge with everyone we come in contact with really helped me become a better person. Though it was a fun and a great experience that time, I wish I had the chance to experience everything since I was so young and didn’t really understand everything I faced. And the one thing I found really funny is that, before our performance we went to the washroom and before we could have a chance to properly dry our hands, IMFACT came in and started to shake hands with us and joke around to light up our mood. We were happy and excited but at the same time I really feel bad for them.

 

NH: Apart from this, any other accomplishments you’d like to talk about?

Jonathan: We have won a bunch of competitions inside and outside a state, both as a crew and an individual.

 

 

NH: What are your thoughts about the sudden growth of K-wave in India? Have you ever thought of becoming a K-Pop idol?

Jonathan: I remember back in 2015, the rise of K-pop started and a lot of K-pop fans came to see K-POP Contest India, I was really happy to see them. Being a fan from a really young age and seeing K-wave grow day by day has been one of the best thing I have come across. I hope that we will grow in number so that more K-POP Idols will come to know about India and for them to have concerts and visit us soon. And yes, I did submit videos to some entertainment agencies although I never really had hope of being selected.

 

NH: Would you like to talk about any hurdles you faced while pursuing your dreams?

Jonathan: Since Mizoram is a small State, it is very hard to take a great leap with any art form as we never get the support we need to do everything on our own unless we have great connection with the government.

 

NH: Any differences you feel as a group or individual, then vs. now?

Jonathan: I worked harder before than what I do now which I really like about my past self and that made me improve much more. It made learning dance routine easier but at the same time that also made me lazier.

 

NH: Where do you see yourself/ your group in the future?

Jonathan: When the pandemic is over and if it’s possible I would like to keep on chasing my dream and hopefully, I get what I want.

 

NH: Is there anything you would like to say to other aspiring dancers/participants who also wish to win the title?

Jonathan: If you really want to achieve what you want keep on practicing, believe in the process and yourself, try hanging out with passionate people with big dreams and remember, if you always get up after falling you’re always a winner.

 

 

 

We thank Jonathan for taking the time out to answer some of our questions. We wish him luck for all his future plans. Hope he accomplish all of them as a group as well as an individual. You can follow Jonathan’s dance journey by clicking here and Frozen Crew by clicking here.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on Namaste Hallyu for more amazing stories and interviews for ‘YOUR STAGE’ , a segment where we highlight fans!

Follow our Instagram @namaste_hallyu and @namastehallyustudio for quick updates and more!

 Written by: Anushka and Surabhi