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MANISH: I can't give up.

I want to dance, I really want to dance.

(shouting directions) YEHUDA: You start sort of late.

You're not gonna be in a classical company.

MILAP: MANISH: Dancers go through a lot of pain.

And we deal with it.

I don't know if I can start my journey again.

ANDIA WINSLOW: "Call Me Dancer" on DocWorld.

Funding for DocWorld was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Support for DocWorld an Link Voices is provided in part by Wyncote Foundation.

With additional funding for Link Voices provided by Alec Rhodes, supporting independent journalism and diverse cultural storytelling at the forefront of social change.

Support for this episod is provided by Elements Center, offering physical therapy for strength, recovery and overall health.

Additional funding provided by: (din of the street) (passing traffic, indistinct chatter) ("Hands Up" by Sammy Chand playing) (children's chatter) Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang Wu, just throw your hands up Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang Wu, just throw your hands up Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang Wu, just throw your hands up Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang Wu, just throw your hands up MANISH: In India, people think that there is no future in dancing.

My mom is like, "It's just a hobby for rich people.

"Not for us.

"We are common people, we have to go do a job, go sit in the office, like a normal life."

But they don't understand.

They don't know my feeling, what I'm feeling about my dance.

What I want to be.

(indistinct chatter) When I was young, I was never interested in dancing, I was like, "Dance is for girls."

But then everything changed.

(Bollywood music playing) I was 18 years old when I saw this Bollywood movie.

Where the hero of the movie, he do a backflip, so I was, like, fascinated towards that.

So I was like, "Such a big hero, he can do it, and I also want to do this thing."

People would be like, "Wow."

I started practicing.

And I started doing a back arch.

I don't know how to learn that, but I just imagine in my head what the mechanism of it.

To do a backflip, I have to turn, and to turn, I have to bend like this.

Okay, now my leg should come up.

And slowly, slowly, I got a flip.

After that, what happened, the hunger developed inside me.

Like, to learn more.

So, every day in the college, I used to, like, take the lecture and sit like this, and, like, try to listen to lectures.

No concentration, but I know that I'm increasing my arm strength.

(vehicles honking) My father's a taxi driver, and my grandfather was also a taxi driver, so my father don't want me to drive a taxi.

MILAP: REETA: (sewing machine whirring) India, Dance India Dance!

CROWD (in Marathi): HOST (English and Marathi): MANISH: I went to one reality show that was in India, very famous.

(cheering) You are a fire performer.

MANISH: Everyone was clapping for me, I was so excited.

So I came in the TV, I was satisfied, I was, like, happy.

But when I was in that reality show, one of the dancers asked me, "Are you from this dance institute?

Or this dance institute?

Or this?"

I was like, "No, they are too expensive for me."

He's like, "You are really good.

"If you train yourself, you will be, like, much, way better."

So, this guy told me about a school called Danceworx.

And that was all the time in my head.

And I saw first time all the, like, high sophisticated people.

All the tall girls, with the butt shorts, and sports bras, and tying the shirt around them, and they're dancing, and I was like... (laughing): "Wow."

So, first day I went and I was like, "Okay, all fancy people gonna be there."

I asked, "Can I get a scholarship?

Because I want to be a great dancer."

Ashley was teaching the class.

He told, me, "Yeah, yeah, if you are good, you will get it."

I was like, "No, I'm good.

I'm good.

I work hard."

And then I said, you know, because he is so talented, we thought, "Okay, he's a street dancer, "a very good acrobat, let's give him a scholarship and proper training."

MANISH: In the beginning, I was doing all the different kinds of classes like jazz, contemporary.

And in a few days I have to get introduced to ballet, because it's mandatory to do a ballet thing.

(piano music playing) And that's when I met Yehuda.

Up.

(claps): Come on, up!

Go!

And up!

No.

What you don't understand from what I'm screaming over and over and over, second and up.

And you give me this up and up.

No!

This is not a position in ballet.

It has to go second and up.

Second and up... MANISH: Everyone scared me about Yehuda.

Tall guy.

His big, like, voice, he makes everyone cry.

And he shouts at people.

He throws them out.

And you gonna cry.

YEHUDA: Arthur, move!

(piano playing) And cut your hair when you have time.

ASHLEY: Yehuda is a very transparent human being.

You can see his passion for his dance.

You know, like, I mean, you can see that that correction is about the dance and that frustration is about the dance.

So, I think that, that pick-up works, yeah.

Experience it and go to the deepest point of it, till she pulls you.

India is a sea of talent.

We have 2,000 years of culture, of music and dance.

The dance here was mainly Indian classical, folk, Bollywood.

(voiceover): There was no ballet, jazz, contemporary-- and I thought that needed to change.

Ballet for me is the most complete framework for global dance.

One, two, three, four, five six... ASHLEY (voiceover): We had teachers of all kinds, but we had no ballet teacher.

And then I met this American-Israeli ballet teacher Yehuda.

He's a master teacher.

Yehuda is the guru.

YEHUDA: I was a professional dancer.

25 years of performing.

The only thing I want to do is dance and be on stage.

Tour around the world, and... ...and then in 1980, I started teaching in San Francisco.

I opened my own studio, I immediately was a big success.

I worked with the cream of the dancers.

I mean, like, with Natalia Makarova, with Rudolf Nureyev, companies like American Ballet Theatre, and eventually, I came back to Israel to teach.

But this new director, she didn't like me.

She actually fired me.

45 years of... of experience!

ASHLEY: When Yehuda first came, and I think, he gave me very good impression that he had of India.

I think three months later, I actually found out what he actually thought.

The truth?

I hated it.

(chuckles) (honking) The life, the oppressive heat, the... the chaos.

(indistinct chatter, street noises) I cannot cross the street by myself.

I look for old lady with three kids and go behind them.

(horn honks) I started feeling really unsafe.

I was going back.

(chuckles) But Ashley Lobo sort of said, you know, "Give me another week."

So, I said, "Okay."

(upbeat piano music) Up!

Up!

In the end of the day, India is the only place that will give a 75-year-old teacher a position.

ASHLEY: In India, we have a very rich tradition of Guru-shishya parampara, which is like you respect the Guru.

For Yehuda, that's an alien concept, you know?

YEHUDA: When I met Manish, he was, you know, doing all this silly B-boy, hip hop, flip flips.

It, it was, you know, like, fun.

I went to the morning class, I stand way behind.

I was just looking at the people and trying to follow them.

YEHUDA: ...hands don't look like.

You're not working.

I was like, "What's happening here?"

(chuckles) Full out.

MANISH: I've never seen anyone dancing like them.

YEHUDA: With Manish, I could spot a good instrument.

A unique instrument.

MANISH: It's, like, really cool.

I was like, "I want to learn that."

YEHUDA: When he'd been introduced to my ballet classes, it opened his eyes completely and he dropped everything.

MANISH: Every time, like, he corrected me, I made sure that I practice it and show him the next day.

He learns like this.

(snaps fingers) MANISH: He said, "Manish improved a lot."

And I was like, "Really?

I improved?"

The more I train him, the more he wanted.

MANISH: But still, people used to think, like, I'm just an acrobat.

Yehuda never called me an acrobat.

He said, "I saw something in you.

And I can see a different Manish."

I don't want to be an acrobat, I want to be a dancer.

Call me dancer.

(train horn) (horns honking) I used to go from my house to college.

"I am going to college!"

And I used to go to the dance classes.

It take two hours going and two hours coming back, so four hours traveling.

So, slowly, slowly, (laughing): I started missing the college.

Yeah, I took that college money and paid to the Danceworx.

But my parents never got to know.

I have a scholarship, but it doesn't pay for everything.

Once I arrived at the studio, and there was a guy standing in front of the door.

And he told me, "You are not allowed."

I was like, "Why?"

"You don't have ballet shoes."

He's like, "No ballet slipper, no class."

I was standing there, I was crying, I was like, "Why?"

Dance is an art, right?

If I don't have money, that doesn't mean I can't dance.

One guy came and I was still crying.

He's like, "I have an extra pair of shoes, that are broken, but still that will give you entry in the class."

And I told to my mom to, like, just make it fit or do something.

So, my mom cut it and she stitched it.

And the next day, I had the broken shoes but I showed up, like, with the broken shoes.

I was like, "Yeah, now, no one can stop me."

To get from Mumbai to my village, it takes almost two days.

MILAP: MANISH: We have a huge family there.

(indistinct chatter) I know my dad wants to be retired, because he's getting old.

If I would have a secure job, yeah, I would send them back to the village.

(groans) Because he did the same thing.

He helped his parents.

It's the Indian culture.

Parents take care of you, and then afterwards, you take care of your parents.

(people singing, percussive instruments) (singing, playing continues) Dance is a very big part of our culture.

Whenever we're happy, we dance.

It's like offering a prayer to the gods.

(music, singing continues) But no one think as a profession which can provide you money.

(singing, playing continues) MILAP (mix of Hindi and Hamachali): UNCLE CHACHU (mix of Hindi and Hamachali): MILAP: UNCLE BOI (mix of Hindi and Hamachali): MILAP: UNCLE CHACHU: MILAP: UNCLE CHACHU: AUNT (speaking Himachali): GRANDMA (speaking Himachali): MANISH (speaking Himachali): GRANDMA: AUNT: MANISH (speaking Indian language): GRANDMA: MANISH: (music playing from phone) GRANDMA: MANISH: GRANDMA: (music playing from phone) GRANDMA: MANISH: GRANDMA: (music playing from phone) MANISH: GRANDMA: MANISH: GRANDMA: MANISH: GRANDMA: (vehicles honking) (indistinct chatter, cars honking) YEHUDA: Four to the side, and three and four.

Cou-de-pied, pli.

Cou-de-pied, pli.

More on the big toe, on the big toe, not on the little toe.

One... MANISH: Yehuda was giving me a lot of attention, but there was another kid in the class, he was getting even more.

YEHUDA: Amir was 12, 13.

And the talent was oozing out of him.

ASHLEY: When Yehuda first saw Amir, he came to me and said, "Ashley, I've seen this boy, "he's got legs like this, and feet like this.

"He, I've never seen anything like him.

I think we can develop him to take him across the world."

So, I said, okay.

(laughs) YEHUDA: Amir and Manish are very unique talents.

I saw it right away in the first day that I met them.

I just felt like I won the lottery.

(chuckles) Amir was natural.

He was going to be a principal dancer.

I knew from the first day.

Manish comes with a lot of focus.

But for him, he started late for ballet.

So, everything that he achieved, it was through hard work.

MANISH: I'm, like, pushing myself a lot, so try to be like a do, do, do, do, do, still hurting.

Pushing myself so much.

AMIR: YEHUDA: Manish had to work on every single step to look like Amir.

Amir did a double pirouette; Manish spent all night till he did a double pirouette.

ASHLEY: I think Yehuda's got a second lease on life with these two boys.

He found something to sink his teeth into.

This is what I can do.

(vehicles honking, bicycle bells ringing) (honking) MANISH: I clean the studios in the night when everyone goes.

And I used to clean the bathroom and whatever.

I want to dance, I really want to dance, and I'm doing everything for it.

YEHUDA: For me, it wasn't Manish, it was Amir.

I put Manish in my training not just because he was talented but because I want to create a competition between the two boys.

MANISH: Yehuda told me when you become a really good ballet dancer, then the ballet can give me a secure future.

So I was like, "Yeah, so I'll do this, "and I will get a secure future, and my parents will be fine with me."

I thought in my head, and I start going in that way.

YEHUDA: Dancers are unique human beings.

They have to fall in love with this.

Ballet is everything.

That's my life.

That's the essence of my life.

Ballet, ballet.

Dance, dance.

I don't mind to be by myself.

(chuckles) Yesterday, the nurse asked me, "Where's your family?"

I said, "Why I need family?

"I'm an adult.

I can walk."

(chuckles) In India, you know, families get together, hold on to each other like dear life.

Nobody goes to the toilet by himself.

(indistinct voices from TV) (claps): Up.

And back, and back, and up, up, up And up, up, up, One, one, one... In a very short time, the other people in the school stayed behind.

And Manish and Amir... (sharply exhales) And they were not getting enough.

So I was training them privately every single day.

I demanded them to do four classes a day.

I had to rent a little dingy studio somewhere.

It wasn't glamorous, you know, no air-conditioning.

AMIR: YEHUDA: I start dragging them-- wherever I go, they were with me.

MANISH: He have, like, soft spot inside him for us.

Other people can't ask anything personal, but with us, he opens up.

AMIR: MANISH: Yehuda used to tell us, like "If you learn this variation, "I'm going to treat you in a Starbucks.

Both of you."

So yeah, that was our mission, to get that Starbucks coffee, the cold one, Frappuccino.

AMIR: YEHUDA: Up.

In three years, we achieved what people achieve in nine.

Up!

Up!

Up!

Go!

Up!

Right!

Up, up!

(claps) Right!

And I realized, they're above me.

I knew that they needed a real school.

Me, by myself in India, it's not enough.

So, I took my iPhone, made Amir do the Corsaire variation, sent it to Christopher Powney, who was sitting in Atlanta airport receiving my iPhone, Amir dancing.

Two minutes later, (chuckling): I'm getting a call from Atlanta airport.

"Congratulations, Amir got a full scholarship in London with the Royal Ballet."

I was like, "Whoa!"

This is not a small thing, this is a big thing.

TV ANNOUNCER: Mumbai's 15-year-old Amir Shah has been selected in one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world on an all expenses paid course.

Being a welder's son, he was helped by his mentor to collect funds for his dance dreams.

AMIR: YEHUDA: I feel I've done the best that I can.

You know, it's up to him now.

MANISH: When you have a dream, you try to climb towards there.

But you don't know the future.

I'm going to really work hard, not just hard, smartly hard.

It is what I have to do now.

YEHUDA: Manish became... ...it's not just a teacher, a mentor and things, he became sort of, um, family to me.

I really want him to get a professional job.

There's no... paying contract in India unless you're doing movies and Bollywood.

Because I really love him very much as a person and as a human being.

This is, like, from 1970s.

This used to be... MANISH: This is in Hebrew.

YEHUDA: It was like... MANISH: How old were you?

YEHUDA: Here?

MANISH: Yeah.

YEHUDA: Late 20s.

(chuckles) MANISH: What is this one?

YEHUDA: This is the beginning, beginning of me dancing in some...

I was, like, maybe 19, 20.

(chuckles) You think my life was-- I was too tall.

I've always been cut off in classical companies.

I became a principal dancer with Bat-Dor because Bat-Dor was contemporary.

MANISH: Not like... YEHUDA: We did new ballets.

MANISH: Ah.

YEHUDA: But not traditional.

YEHUDA: It's nothing to do, sometimes, with your dancing.

When you go to a classical company, they look, people, they all look the same.

Because most of the work, it's in corps de ballet.

I worry about you all the time, you know, more than, Amir had it natural, he didn't need me.

You didn't have ballet natural.

You had to work and work.

You started sort of late for the turnout, and you're not going to be in a classical company.

MANISH: I really wanted to become, in the beginning, like ballet dancers, and tour around.

Go on stage, going to be a lot of audience, and throwing flowers and all, and stand like a prince.

But I don't know what I'm going to do because Yehuda told me, like, "You're getting old "and it's hard to get into the ballet company."

But then from inside, I'm thinking, like, "Manish, if you leave this, what you going to do?"

Now, you fight with your parents about this thing and they told you, "Don't do it."

And if I leave, they will be like, "See?

We told you.

"We are right.

It's never going to happen.

You gonna spoil your future, everything."

YEHUDA: I start thinking, I have connection, really strong connection to the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company.

And I know how the company is good.

(rhythmic percussion music) Then I said, "Why don't we try this?"

MANISH: I don't know how to do contemporary.

Whatever Yehuda decides, or whatever my fate is going to decide.

I don't have any option, I was fine to take anything.

YEHUDA: I called the school, sent his audition video.

And they accepted him.

REETA: MANIP: MANISH: It's very expensive, and I don't have money.

MARIAM: I got to hear about Yehuda completely by chance.

It was just a little snippet in the papers.

When I met Manish for the first time, he came across as such an earnest hard-working boy, and it was actually we were privileged to look to support him.

MANISH: Like, Mariam sees me, I don't know, from somewhere, and she put her hand to help me.

My goal is to get a contract in a company, because I promised everyone.

So, I will make it that, somehow.

No, somehow, definitely, I'm going to make it.

(indistinct chatter) When I arrived to Israel, I was a little afraid.

And I show up with the tights, ballet shoes.

Everyone was in loose clothes, and I am, like, a ballet dancer, and everyone was looking at me.

And then they started doing the movements and the movements are like very wild.

It's very hard to pick up because there's no vocabulary.

No structure.

It's a different way.

Like, yeah, instead of like a prince, how they are.

But they hardly-- they don't want prince here.

They're like, "We just want a normal human being."

YEHUDA: I said, "Go open your head, your mind.

"This is good experience, "and the pathway into the main company which give a full salary to the dancers."

MANISH: Watching the rehearsal, I've never seen any choreography like that.

I want to do this.

I want to become a dancer like them.

The life in the kibbutz is very new for me.

Everyone has different habits.

My roommate is really messy.

He eats food and he leaves the plates under his bed.

He don't clean, so I have to clean.

TEACHER (speaking Hebrew): MANISH: It's nice to learn a new language.

TEACHER (Manish repeating): MANISH: It's difficult, too, because they speak, like, (makes sounds at back of throat) And we don't have words like "chema".

TEACHER: MANISH: I cook Indian food and other dancers like Indian food.

So, when I used to put the spices and all the fragrance used to come.

So they smell "Something is cooking nice, something cooking nice."

And they came to me like, "Manish, what are you doing?"

I'm like, "I'm cooking."

They like, "It looks good."

I'm like, "Yeah, thank you."

Like, I don't want to give them because I was like, I have to save for tomorrow.

And then the other person comes, like, "What you cooking?

Look good."

And I have to say them, "Okay.

You can try it."

I eat, like, a bread and dal, a little bit.

(laughing): But they just eat dal, so they finish it.

They're like, "We love Indian food, just make a little less spicy."

And then I got the trick.

They can't eat spices, especially Americans.

(chuckles): They can't eat, they're like, red.

So I was like, "Okay, I make it more spicy, I was like, that's how I save food for another day.

(indistinct chatter) I find myself here, like, more fitting than in the ballet world.

When you dance with someone, they don't see the color of the skin, because my color, I'm brown.

People here are, like, white.

But, it doesn't feel like that.

Because dancing, you can grow.

And in this thing, like this (muted) thing like color, religion, you can't grow there.

I never said I am a Hindu here, and no one said I'm a Muslim, I'm Jewish, or something.

We say we are dancers.

We are one.

(blows) It's already a year now I'm here.

I speak to Yehuda often.

He misses us.

MANISH: Yehuda!

YEHUDA: Hey!

MANISH: He also said, "I will come and help you to find a job."

Because he always told that, "In the time I am alive, I will help you as much I can."

(Yehuda chuckles) YEHUDA: I miss you.

MANISH: Miss you, too.

YEHUDA: But are you happy here?

MANISH: Yeah, I love it.

And today, we have a class with Nadav.

YEHUDA: So I talked to the director of the company, and she said, "I'd take him in a heartbeat, like this."

(snaps) He's fantastic.

We just don't have-- the Kibbutz, the KCDC, we just don't have... ...budget for another dancer right now.

(seagull squawking) I can't tell you how many auditions I did.

So I know that something, you know, will happen to Manish, if he keeps... (chuckles) There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Most of my extended family, my grandparents, my uncle, my aunts, all perished in the Holocaust.

I grew up in the Kibbutz.

At that time, there were lots of them all over the country.

And the most beautiful things was in the Kibbutz.

Every Friday, the-the people come, like, at 9:00 and start dancing, for hours; till 2:00, 3:00 in the morning.

The Kibbutz had a different kind of life.

The children were living not with the parents.

I was left to fend for myself.

You know, I was bullied a lot.

So, I had to create my own world.

And when I was very young, I was introduced to "Swan Lake."

I was, like...

I just knew that I fell in love with something that I couldn't really explain it.

We are getting close to Tel Aviv.

So, Vertigo Dance Company, they need the dancers, so they invite you for a private audition.

Because they have a tour coming.

MANISH: Yeah, I'm just worried about, like, I don't know what they expect from me from the-- YEHUDA: Don't think that you come like they don't know.

They know where you are now, technically.

You're ready, you're twenty-- you don't have the time.

You're not a school boy.

You, as you are now, you're a professional dancer that look for a job.

And for your abilities, a lot of companies would love to have you.

NOA: So, you release, yeah.

And push, yeah, and then...

Turn... And you go forward.

Yeah, beautiful.

Okay, very nice.

This project could fit you very much, but it's not enough work for you at the moment.

It's only a project.

It's not the whole year.

So actually... YEHUDA: Basically, she said, "You're a beautiful dancer, "but at the moment, no dancer left, or leaving, so I don't have a contract."

MANISH: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

YEHUDA: This is the, this is the planting of seeds for the future.

But you did good, and... MANISH: Yeah.

I don't know why they make people come if they don't have any contract.

(clicking tongue) YEHUDA: It's always hard.

(chuckles) MARIAM: I don't know that I would have had the guts in Yehuda's position to tell Manish's father, "Get him out of college and allow him to do this."

If it was a boy from a family like ours, there's no question, you would say go and, go and follow your dream, I mean, go and be a dancer, be anything you want to be, because there is always a safety net under you.

But in the case of a kid like Manish, there is no safety net.

So it is a very tough decision to make.

(laptop chiming) MANISH: Hello?

(speaking Himachali): MANIP (speaking Himachali): MANISH (speaking Himachali): MANIP: MANISH: REETA (speaking Himachali): MANISH: REETA: MANISH: MANIP: REETA: (laughs) MANIP: MANISH: MANIP: MANISH: REETA: (voiceover): MANISH: In the Kibbutz program, they asked us to create our own choreography.

And I was thinking to wear, like, white pants?

Maybe.

(giggles) And, I decided to do a solo.

It shows my abilities, what I can do.

WARDROBE MISTRESS: I think... ...and I'm serious, no shirt, nothing.

I think it's the best.

(chuckles, indistinct chatter) MANISH: Before, I was trying to hide my skills so people don't call me acrobat.

But now, here, I'm trying to put it in my art.

Like, I'm accepting it, that this is me.

I have a weird situation.

I got this offer from India.

There are people who are making a movie about me, Amir and Yehuda.

It's a full-size fictionalized movie.

And I didn't believe it.

I'm like, you know, "Who will make a movie on me?"

MARIAM: It was just this wonderful story; two boys from really disadvantaged backgrounds getting a chance in this world of beauty.

YEHUDA: Manish sort of got the leading role in this movie.

MARIAM: The Royal Ballet really felt that the last thing Amir needed was to be distracted.

They were absolutely adamant they did not want him in a film.

MANISH: My teachers in Israel, I told them I have to leave the program.

And they are like, "Manish, do you want to become a dancer, or do you want to become a movie star?"

And I was like, "Really, I want to become a dancer."

I called up Yehuda, like, "What to do?"

Yehuda is like, "Manish, you decide what you want to do, you are grown up now."

I'm like, "Now I am grown up?"

I was very stressed.

I was like, "(muted), it's my career.

But with that money, I can help my parents."

Okay, I'm going to do it.

Whatever's going to happen, it's on me.

(din of the street) MANISH (Indian language): MADHU: MANISH (speaking Indian language): MADHU: MANISH: (giggles) MADHU: MANISH: (giggles) MADHU: MANISH: (giggles) MADHU: MANISH: MADHU: (claps) MANISH: When I was in the set of the movie, I was like, "Wow, it's amazing, this world is, like, different."

I had my own bus and whenever I used to go out, they're like, "Manish is coming out, Manish is coming out."

And I'm like, "Oh my god," and then this umbrella guy comes next to me and they drop me to the location, and the other guy, "Manish is here, he reached the location."

And I'm like, "What's happening?"

I feel like some important man.

SOONI: It's a very inspirational story.

The central message is that you can come from anywhere, but if you have talent and if you have determination, never lose hope.

(laughs) MANISH (speaking Indian language): REETA: MANISH (speaking Indian language): MANISH: REETA: REETA (voice breaking): MANISH: REETA: MANISH: REETA: REETA: MANISH: I'm really happy to invite my parents to see the shootings.

Because they've never seen me, like, their son, dancing.

REETA (voiceover): PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: MANIP: MANISH: Today, my shoulder was hurting in the shoot, so I hope I don't make it worse.

REETA (speaking Hindi): (assistant director shouting directions) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Okay, stand by, please.

Roll sound.

Roll cameras.

And music!

(applause) DANCE SHOW HOST: And a one and a two, begin.

MANISH (in film): I want to dance.

SISTER (in film): FATHER (in film): (laughs) MANIP (speaking Hindi): (thunder rumbling) YEHUDA (in film): This is ballet, not circus.

And cut your hair, huh?

When did you become so good?

MANISH: Long back.

You never see.

YEHUDA: There is a possibility that Manish might want to go into movies.

He's good looking, talented.

He's become a big Bollywood movie star.

MANISH: After the movie came out, I got a lot of attention, and they want to do a photo shoot with me, and the actor that played Amir.

Now, I'm getting a lot of offers to give audition for their movie or the web series, and it's very tempting.

YEHUDA: Okay, let's go, from the beginning.

MANISH: But I decided I still want to dance.

YEHUDA: Right, and... MANISH: And I'm training with Yehuda again.

Get my body in shape, and I got tickets to Europe to do audition.

YEHUDA: And one, up.

I know you have problem here, but it's already like this.

Up.

Yes!

(church bell rings) MANISH: A lot of things can really damage dancer's career, especially injuries.

I have a 90% tear in my shoulder.

I don't know how it will feel after surgery.

It might be not strong, like before.

Dancers go through a lot of pain, and we deal with it, but we have our limits.

Dance is a certain amount of time.

(din of the street) The doctor told me it will take at least one year for recovery.

Meant to be a dancer, maybe not now.

I don't know, but... Like, I can't feel anything.

I feel, like, hollow inside.

I don't know if I can start my journey again.

I can't give up.

And I love dancing, and I will keep dancing.

(birds cawing) (caws) (whistle blowing) MANISH: No one in the streets.

Like, it's a little scary.

I'm staying with Yehuda because Yehuda has no one here to take care of him, and he always protected me, and now, it's my time to take care of him.

YEHUDA: Finish.

Okay, dancers.

Listen very carefully.

My name is Yehuda.

I want you all to stay at home and stay safe, wear your mask and wash your hands.

MANISH: It's already, like, the first of June.

The lockdown is extended more, 30 days.

YEHUDA: Dance is limited with time.

You know, dancers, by the time they get close to 30s, they are not going to get another job.

YEHUDA: Hi.

IGAL: Hi!

So, yeah, so we haven't, we haven't talked in a long time, so I really wanted to touch base, and based on knowing you from class and from having worked with you, I realized you're very talented.

And so, I'm really excited about inviting you to be a student apprentice with Peridance, yeah.

Basically, kind of, you are invited.

(chuckles) Thank you so much.

I am also very excited to come and work with you.

We'll make it happen.

(chuckles) Thank you.

(voiceover): Peridance doesn't pay that much money, but I saw a ray of light.

I can go to New York.

Like, here is nothing happening, but New York, it's happening, maybe something.

YEHUDA: This part is very painful for me, to-to give them up.

I'm not that innocent.

I am jealous.

I-I'm really jealous, because Amir is in the Royal Ballet, and they will take all the credit when Amir gonna do his first "Swan Lake."

I will be forgotten.

But it doesn't cloud my eyes to see that that's what they need now.

MANISH (voice breaking): No, Yehuda.

YEHUDA (voice breaking): No, it's the truth.

MANISH: But you are the first teacher we had.

YEHUDA: Anyway... MANISH: He's the best teacher I ever had.

I'm not going to forget him.

Because he loves me so much, but he's pushing me away.

Even my parents would be like, "Stay with us," that's love.

But he have a different kind of love for me.

"For your own good, go.

Learn a new thing.

The world is waiting for you."

(person giving directions) (drumming) (music playing through headphones) (music stops) Okay, so class today is gonna be upstairs in studio one.

("Zindagi" by Jay Sean playing) Yo Hey, yo Don't know Whoo, whoo!

Hey, you don't know me but you know the way I like to play They saw me just dancing on the streets And they're like hey Yeah, you're that boy Yeah, you're that boy who got that swag Making people say you're gonna know my name (woman singing in Punjabi) IGAL: One.

One... And one.

One!

Let go.

(snapping): Three, four, five, six, seven, down.

(voiceover): If you want to know where the center of dance is, this is it, it's New York.

For Manish, coming to New York is a kind of experience that he cannot get in other situations.

All right, we're going to take a little break.

And then we will come back and continue.

Thank you.

(clapping) (police siren wails in distance) YEHUDA (over laptop): Manish!

Big, big hug.

You look good somehow, I don't know from the last time.

YEHUDA: No haircut, no.

Yesterday, I took class outside, at the park.

Yeah!

That doesn't bring a contract.

Okay, yeah, that doesn't bring a contract, but for the contract, there is no audition.

What do you think about what to do now?

Some of the dancers are leaving the city because there is not much like job, and all.

Like, in the streets, they're practicing, in the garden, in the park, because there's no studio.

YEHUDA: We need to be a little bit more aggressive.

The thing is that Peridance is not a company that pays enough salary, so you need to hustle.

TEACHER: And reverse your arms, and a huge port de bras to your barre or your railing.

And first.

And demi.

(instructions fading) MANISH (voiceover): So, sometimes, I am feeling like I made the wrong decision to come to New York.

And I have only one year that my sponsor, Mariam Ram, she offered me.

Not making money, just spending it, so all the time, my head goes like here, there, "Will I make it or not?

Or I have to go back to India."

Today, a director is coming to audition dancers.

So, I'm a little bit nervous because I don't know what she's going to think about me.

Like, I'm a little bit anxious.

IGAL: Lucy Bowen McCauley is director of a company in Washington, D.C. And she asked me to choreograph a piece for her company.

She's looking actually for a dancer to do a solo, so it's really a great opportunity.

YEHUDA (over phone): Hello.

MANISH: Hi, Yehuda.

YEHUDA: Hey, Manish.

MANISH: How are you?

YEHUDA: I'm great.

I miss you.

MANISH: I miss you, too-- Yehuda, there's a good news.

Lucy chose me for a solo performance in Kennedy Center.

YEHUDA: Oh, that's big, this is not small, it's a big-- MANISH: Yes.

(chuckles) MANISH (voiceover): I told a few of my friends.

They asked me, "What happened, what happened?"

Very supportive, my friends.

(chuckling) Working with Igal is my first professional, like big opportunity that I ever have.

I feel, like, grown up.

IGAL (snapping): Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

(claps): One, ah, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

That's it.

Good.

See, that's a much better transition.

When you lift the shoulders, you get a little stuck.

Shoulders down, everything happens.

(chuckles) Okay, good.

We can go on.

So, let's go after that, yeah, with a lot of joy.

(clicking tongue) MANISH: Yes.

Okay.

("Mera Joota Hai Japani" by Mukesh playing) (singing in Hindi, Igal snapping to the beat) IGAL: Good.

Better.

(Igal grunting, snapping to the beat) Easy now.

Good.

And go.

MANISH (voiceover): This is a very old Bollywood song and everyone knows in India.

And I decided to dance on it because it represent my journey.

I've learned all these different international dance styles, but in my heart, I will always be an Indian artist.

(chuckling, heavy breathing) GUARD: Hi.

I'm Manish.

And looking for a dressing room.

GUARD: Yes, sir.

MANISH: I don't know what in the future there is, but I know that I will keep dancing.

Maybe one day, I'll find a way to make money, too.

YEHUDA: My baby.

I get to see you dancing.

(chuckles) Got it.

(knock at door) MANISH: Yehuda gave everything to us, me and Amir.

And I think we didn't give back much, but I make sure that whatever I do, he can say proudly, "See my student."

ANNOUNCER: Thank you for joining us for the 25th anniversary performance of the Bowen McCauley Dance Company, and please enjoy the show.

(applause) MAN: Rolling.

MAN: Rolling.

("Nachke Dikha" by Jay Sean playing) Oh the way you're calling me I feel the love instantly Our bodies are TNT It's you and me and the full moon I rise in the spotlight Leave it in the past for you And we'll be here till the sunrise The way your body moves, breaking all the rules To the sky, we'll be creative For the whole damn ride, we hypnotize Trying to get close to you, baby I can't ever take too much of you (woman singing in Punjabi) Love it like a love hangover Black seat all black tinted Range Rover We too criminal call me up a lawyer I don't need to water dreams I was gonna show you I'll get the crown baby, royalty Slide through every time it's calling me I don't even care what it's costing me It's got a hold on me The way your body moves, breaking all the rules To the sky, we'll be creative For the whole damn ride, we hypnotize Trying to get close to you baby I can't ever take Too much of you.

("Ready Since Forever" by Andreas Zaron feat.

Peggy March) I have a dream And so does everyone else But I have a force That's deep inside of myself I have the strength to conquer every wall And I have the will to stand whenever I fall I want to own the world.

WINSLOW: Funding for DocWorld was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Support for DocWorld and Link Voices is provided in part by Wyncote Foundation.

With additional funding for Link Voices provided by Alec Rhodes, supporting independent journalism and diverse cultural storytelling at the forefront of social change.

Support for this episode is provided by Elements Center.

Offering physical therapy for strength, recovery and overall health.

Additional funding provided by: