Ahead of Mumbai's first tutting cypher, here's looking at a bunch of youngsters, who want to make the dance style that relies on hand and finger movements more mainstream
At 10 am, Shubham Gharge draws curious glances from passers-by at Bandra's Carter Road promenade as he forms pyramid structures to imaginary beats using nothing but his fingers. Bhushan Prajapati's fingers, too, take a life of their own as they resemble wriggling threads. Rohit Keshri twists his fingers to conjure up monsters, while Allwin Das creates geometric shapes with his hands and passes them through his knees.
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(Clockwise from left) Tutting artistes Rohit Keshri aka Leoz, Bhushan Prajapati aka Pro8, Shubham Gharge aka Silverhead and Allwin Das at Carter Road promenade. Pics/Shadab Khan
No tut-tut about tutting
The intricate finger and hand movements that the city-based youngsters, all in their 20s, showcase belong to the street dance style called tutting. "Most b-boying and hip-hop crews use tutting only as a part of their performance. Not many are aware that it's a dance style by itself," says Gharge. To promote the burgeoning art form, the team has curated Tutting India Cypher this Sunday, said to be the first such event in the country. Over 100 male and female tutting enthusiasts from across India, including members of the popular Tuttix Crew, will participate in the event, which features workshops, performances to trap music beats that suit tutting the best, and a competition.
Hand tutting: Use angular hand movements to create boxes and other structures
Learn the basics
Gharge and Keshri founded Tutting India, an online community in 2012, after the former suffered a leg injury that forced him to quit b-boying and focus on using his hands and fingers to dance. He sought inspiration from YouTube videos of internationally popular tutting artistes like Tiny Love and Finger Circus, a California-based dance crew. "In the US, tutting gained popularity with EDM parties in the 2000s. Back then, there were barely 10 tutting artistes in India. The numbers are growing, albeit slowly, with over 20 tutters in Mumbai alone," says Gharge. The main reason, Keshri adds, is that learning the basics of tutting can get boring. "You need to sit still and learn to control your fingers. For that, we meditate daily."
Finger pyramid: Twist your fingers to form a layered, triangular structure
Get creative
To date, the team has uploaded 50 videos on their YouTube channel, with 4,500 subscribers, offering tutorials showcasing how to get creative with tutting. "It's a myth that tutting is limited to making geometric boxes. Most tutters copy only international moves. The idea is to be original. We create our own finger tuts, blending elements like Bharatanatyam mudras and shadow art moves," Das shares.
Finger mask: Create a shape that covers your face
Interestingly, tutting is finding favour in advertising commercials, after finger tutter JayFunk starred in a mobile phone ad, a few years ago. "We are yet to catch up in India, but I've performed finger tutting with a biscuit and laptop in digital commercials," shares Keshri, while Prajapati offers a list of other props, including caps, tennis balls and cola cans, which make for great accessories to tut with.
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