Finger Tango

KOCHI: Its not a talent that many could claim to share. From the time his memories would open up, Tony Mathew remembers himself finger-dancing. Today Tony has his own four member finger dancing band. “The shoot is over. We will be releasing the video in the coming months,” he says.Play any tune, English, Tamil or Malayalam and you would soon find Tony’s fingers grooving and rocking with such perfection, that it would give the best of professional dancers a run for their money.“I remember doing it on school desks when I was eight. Beyond that my childhood memories are vague,” he says. But it was not until he reached college that Tony recognized the value of the gift he had. “I was just browsing through the internet and suddenly I came across a number of professionals in the field. Then I found two ladies, one form Brazil and one from  Israel, Venessa Jackson and Lilach Chen. These are the only two people who have got international recognition in the field,” he says.Tony soon discussed this new discovery with his friends. “I knew about this professional dancer who  taught in the Bharathi school. He is called Imitiaz Abubakar and in some places Imitiaz Khan. He had done a couple of international performances too. So I asked Tony to consult him,” says his friend Avinash Chandran. But events turned sour for Tony thereafter. “He was very interested. He told me if I teach him a dance, we can perform in a video together. We released the video on Youtube last May,” says Tony.But after the there had been no contact from the man.“After a couple of months he returned and was all over Malayalam channels. He claimed he is a world renowned finger dancer. He never mentioned a word about me. He claimed that he has been given opportunity to perform in operas in Israel. No one performs finger dancing in opera houses in Israel. Even Lilach Chen has not got an opportunity to do that in her own country,” Tony adds.The  development was a blow for Tony.“He was in depression for days,” says Avinash. “But then we friends got together. He taught us the dance and we formed a band. But unlike him we can only dance to the steps in which we are trained. The same goes for this other guy. The steps that he is displaying now are the ones which has been taught to him by Tony. He has no new steps.” Tony and his friends hope these dark clouds will soon, pass and make way for a brighter future.