Mumbai dance crew triumphs in US reality show

Los Angeles: The Kings, a hip-hop dance crew from Mumbai, has found international glory with their victory on American reality television show "World of Dance", taking home a cash prize of $1 million.

"The Kings are officially 'World of Dance' royalty. Sending big love to our champions," read a post from the official Twitter handle of "World Of Dance".

Judges Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo and Derek Hough stood up in awe of the finale performance of the NBC show by the all-men group The Kings, which performed a high-octane sequence involving stunts in slow-motion.

They got a perfect score, with the judges giving them a 100 each.

Ne-Yo called it the "greatest action film" he has ever seen, while Hough thought they "altered reality". Lopez was happy to be surprised by their act, yet again.

The 14-member Bolly-Hop squad, involving males aged 17-27, was consistently getting ace scores during its run on the show.

Suresh, the choreographer of the group, took to Instagram to share an emotional post on their victory.

"Finally, we can say India is on top in dancing and history has been created which will be remembered and cherished forever... It was the best experience of our life so far.

"The journey of local dancers from the small gully of Vasai Nalasopara to becoming world champions was really challenging, filled with never-ending hard work and dedication," Suresh wrote.

He said the prize money has brought the team members closer to their dream.

"All my team members as everyone dreamt of having their own houses since a long time and finally after winning $1 million, they will be able to convert those dreams in reality now.

"We have struggled a lot and it took more than 10 years of hard work and teamwork for us to become the top dancers in the entire world," added Suresh.

For the finale, they put up a gladiator-inspired performance, complete with their death-defying jumps, rolls and tricks.

Among their competitors were Canadian contemporary dancer Briar Nolet, the sister duo of Ellie and Ava, VPeepz, a hip-hop group from the Philippines, and Unity LA, a 10-person squad from Southern California.