The group of 10 disabled dance wizards who have levelled allegations of exploitation and sexual harassment against their guru and pioneer of therapeutic theatre Syed Salladudin Pasha have decided to forge a path of their own
The youths have formed a dance troupe, The Flaming Wheels, of their own
The group of 10 disabled dance wizards who have levelled allegations of exploitation and sexual harassment against their guru and pioneer of therapeutic theatre Syed Salladudin Pasha have decided to forge a path of their own.
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mid-day had reported yesterday on how Pasha had kept their honorarium low — at R500 a month — for close to a decade and sexually harassed deaf and mute girls under his care.
Beginning their step into self-dependence, the youths have registered a trust — We Are One — and have banded together to form dance group The Flaming Wheels.
The group has for over a decade set national and international stages on fire with their performances on wheelchairs.
Read Story: Differently-abled dancers accuse dance guru of sexual abuse
“We have decided to perform as a group hereafter under our banner. All 10 of us the trustees in it,” trust founder Husnain (25) told mid-day from Delhi. “We spent 15 years with guruji, where we learnt to dance. But when we decided to start our own venture, we realised we do not know how to organise and run live shows, for which Geeta didi (TV show emcee Geeta Poduval who has anchored many of their shows and is now helping them put up performances on their own) helped us. Else, life would have been difficult.”
Free classes for disabled
The group has already begun conducting shows independently, and recently performed three shows in Mumbai.
The youths have rented a place in East Delhi and are training 10 students in Bollywood, freestyle, hip hop and contemporary dance styles. They want to give free training to disabled children and take them along for their shows.
Fears of vengeance
The group, however, feared that their former mentor would throw a spoke in the wheels. Elaborating on the fears, Husnain said the youths put up a dance video titled The Flaming Wheels on social media recently to promote themselves. “But within a few days, we found out that our guruji had lifted the title for a video of his own. He has money and can go to any lengths to halt our growth.”
Another group member said a vengeful Pasha is yet to issue an experience/service termination letter to them since allegedly throwing them out of his organisation, Ability Unlimited Foundation (AUF) last November.
Gulshan Kumar, another member who holds the Guinness World Record for the most spins in a wheelchair, said, We Are One will keep an account of every rupee. “Also, all legal formalities of the trust will be completed.”
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