Why do Background Dancers get unsolicited Sympathy- Blog 14

 I recently got featured in an AR Rahman music video and post shoot, I shared this news with a few friends and some family members. The most common reply to this was "you dance so well, you should have been the lead, why did you say yes to being a background dancer?" I wanted to explain them how an artist cannot be that deluded to have their first break with Bosco Caesar. 

Giving them the benefit of doubt, I thought this reply must have been out of concern about my career but somewhere this felt out like an unnecessary pointing out of a kind of injustice, that the dance community does not believe in. Somewhere, between their tone and their assumption, one thing got cleared to me; people have no idea what background dancers are actually expected to do, pre shoot and on the days of shoot. 

Background dancers do not need the sympathy they receive. We as dancers voluntarily sign up to be one. People do not understand that background dancers don’t need sympathy at all. In fact, they are the ones putting in the most unseen, uncredited work long before the lead dancer even arrives on set. 

The reality says a completely different chapter. By the time the lead dancer is called in for the rehearsals, the background dancers have already been working on the whole routine, a month before. A whole month of training, rehearsing, adjusting and perfecting. We learn the same routine multiple times, not because we are slow, but because every camera angle demands a different formation. Every costume the lead wears for the music video, changes the spacing. Every difficulty of the lead to perform a step on camera might  become something we must perform beautifully. Our job is to make sure that when the lead steps in, they feel comfortable, they look perfect, and they never face a moment of difficulty. Everything around them is already set by us. 

And yet, the funniest part? Even after all this preparation, the real challenge begins on the day of the shoot. It happens so often, the lead struggles with a step, forgets a movement, or feels something doesn’t look flattering. In that instant, the choreographer changes the entire segment. Not slightly, not a small correction but the whole block that we are supposed to perform in one take. 

Now imagine having a routine carved into your muscle memory for months, only to be told to unlearn it and relearn something new within minutes. That is the life of a background dancer. While the lead gets multiple takes, multiple chances, multiple rehearsals in front of the camera, we have to get it right almost instantly. We cannot afford too many retakes because the clock is ticking, the location is on rent, the shoot must wrap on time, and no one wants to delay the lead’s schedule. 

But, here is the part people tend to forget, background dancers are the ones who bring life to a music video. The lead maybe the face but us artists are dancers set the soul to the video. Above that, casting has evolved so much that audiences often watch a music video because a known background dancer has been featured in it. Many dancers have built fanbases, online communities, and identities that pull viewers in, sometimes more than the lead. 

Even after putting in the hard work, all we get to hear is sympathy. Not admiration, not recognition, but just sympathy. As if being a background dancer is some sort of failure. People think they are being supportive when they say, “You should’ve been the lead,” but what they don’t realise is that this sentence carries a hidden insult. It assumes that background dancing is a step below, something you do until you become “good enough” for the lead role. It ignores the fact that background dancing is its own skill and its own kind of excellence. 

The truth is, the world has misunderstood background dancers. They imagine us standing somewhere behind the lead, doing simple steps, waiting for the spotlight to fall on us.  They don’t see the early mornings, the sudden changes, the pressure to be perfect, and the responsibility to hold the entire choreography together.

Being a background dancer does not make one less of a dancer. It is not a compromise.

Rather, It is a profession that holds the power to make a person with 0 knowledge of dance, fall in love with dance. 

Shreya Roy Choudhury