Dubai: Bollywood dance band Viral Norway brings swag to UAE – News

They are exploring the idea of ​​creating a studio in the emirate where people from different backgrounds and nationalities can perform together.

Photo: Instagram

With over half a billion views across all social media, Norwegian dance group Quick Style are skyrocketing after going viral. The group, made up of members from more than 10 countries including Pakistan, Thailand, China and India, danced to hit Bollywood numbers, setting a trend on social media copied by many celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Demi Lovato, Jason Derulo and the Indian Cricket Team.

We weren’t even going to dance, said one of the group’s founders, Bilal Malik. The group had performed the medley number at the wedding of Bilal’s twin brother, Suleman. And even when we were dancing, we weren’t going to film it. It all happened like a happy accident.

Since then, the group has held meet and greets at Piccadilly Circus in London and Times Square in New York, where hundreds of people have shown up to watch them dance. They have nearly 2 million subscribers on YouTube and many celebrity followers. Grooving to international songs that have been popular over the years, the troupe has been praised for their diversity, impeccable dancing skills, and the brotherly bond they share.

Quick Style was founded by Bilal, Suleman and their childhood friend Nasir Sirikhan in 2007 when they were just teenagers. The group has won several prestigious awards, including Norways Got Talent, and has choreographed for celebrities including hit K-pop group BTS.

In Dubai, ahead of the band’s performance at the Coca Cola Arena, Bilal Malik revealed exclusive details about Quick Style and their plans for the city.

Tell us about the viral 12-minute video. How did it happen?

A few days before Suleman’s wedding, we decided to dance there. My sisters helped me choose some of the songs. Nasir and I were choreographing. To be honest, I really enjoyed choreographing without Suleman. He always behaves like the strict school principal. So when it was just me and Nasir, it was really cool, and we kept all the stages pretty simple and straightforward. Every step, every song in the performance came from our heart and we put it there because it had a connection to it.

Neither of us practiced together before marriage. We always practiced in groups of 4 or 5. We took videos of the workouts and shared them with others who couldn’t attend. One of the boys landed in Norway on the day of the wedding. So it was really a last minute performance. I think that’s part of the reason it’s become so popular. It wasn’t a stunningly choreographed dance number; it was a group of us dancing with our hearts for our best friend.

We hadn’t planned to record the performance. Just before we started, my older brother Ibrar set up the camera and made sure everything was filmed.

When did you know the video had gone viral?

We knew immediately. One of our members, Yasin, uploaded a clip of our Kaala Chashma performance to her Instagram. It got a million views in a single day. Then we all started sharing it. Immediately we knew it was okay. So I went to Nasirs, we edited the video and uploaded it to YouTube. The biggest surprise was when YouTube and Tiktok commented on our posts. It was a testament to how it went viral

We hear that secret plans are being made for Dubai. Can you tell us about it?

(laughs) It’s not really a secret but yes, we are exploring the idea of ​​setting up a dance studio in Dubai. In Norway, our studio is a big building where we have a space where children can do their homework and computers where they can code and edit videos. We want to create something similar here. A safe space where people come to learn dance. We have also been in talks with different entities for various projects. We’ll reveal more details about that when something comes to fruition. In October we will be performing at the Coca Cola Arena for the Coke Studio concert. The whole team will be in Dubai next month for this.

What do you think of the dance scene in Dubai?

It’s great but very divided. Indians only stick with Indians. Filipinos only dance with Filipinos. We want to change that. We want to bring communities together to dance together and break down divides. We believe that dance can break down boundaries and we want to achieve this in Dubai as well. We have been traveling for over seven years teaching dance in various parts of the world. We have learned from various cultures and I think we know the recipe for bringing together various nationalities.

Tell us about the origin story of Quick Style

Nasir and I met at school. He was the coolest kid with his long blonde hair, fancy games and exotic clothes. He had just landed in Norway from Thailand and had a collection of things many of us had never seen. We hit it off as soon as we met. Soon Suleman, Nasir and I were hanging out all the time. We loved to dance and when it came to naming our band, we called it Quick after a famous Norwegian chocolate Kvikk Lunsj.

Once our grades dropped and our brother Ibrar found out. He threatened never to let us dance again. Suleman actually passed out when he said that. So we focused on school but we never gave up dancing. When we started bringing home awards and cash prizes, my family realized we were good, and that’s what we were going to do for the rest of our lives. To be honest, Ibrar is the one who made us who we are today. At first, we were dancing with other artists, and he stopped us. He said we had to carve out our own niche. He is our manager and works full time with us.

The other members joined us at various times. Yasin was our first student. Santos and David came on board to teach when we had to travel for work. We have all been together for a very long time. We are more like brothers and family to each other.

Of all the celebrities you have worked with, who has been the most impressive?

I think it’s BTS. For many reasons. First, they are all very good friends. It’s not a show or something they put on for the cameras. They really share a deep bond with each other. Second, they are very humble people. Even though they have established themselves as one of the most successful boy bands of all time, when you meet them they are really down to earth and have no air. Third, they are some of the hardest working people I have ever seen. They spend more than eight hours practicing their singing and dancing every day. We were at an event that was supposed to be a meeting. We were surprised when they performed so well, but not a single track or step was wrong because they practiced so much. They really deserve all the attention they get.

What future for Quick Style?

A lot. After our performance in Dubai, we are going to India, Pakistan, USA and Europe. We also want to establish ourselves in the Middle East. We are also in talks with an international group in Norway to go around the world with them. So a lot of exciting things are happening.

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