Little Miss Twinkle Toes boogies her way

Akriti is not your average student. She is a rank-holder in the National Science Olympiad, a former head girl (junior wing) of her school and she could be called little miss twinkle toes, for her passion for dancing.

In August this student of Delhi Public School, Ranchi, made her way to Calcutta to appear for the preliminary auditions of Boogie Woogie, the popular dance programme for kids and adults on Sony Television. And the true performer that she is — she's made the cut!

When the young Salsa and Bharatnatyam dancer landed in Calcutta there were some hundreds of contestants all vying for the 15-minutes of fame.

But in the two-and-a-half minutes allotted to each dancer, Akriti, mesmerised both the judges (Javed and Naved Jaffrey) and danced her way into their hearts and into the show.

In the audition finals there were six teams (with two dancers in each), who vied for prize — a chance to appear in the show. Akriti chose Intezaar Intezaar from the Bollywood flick, Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo — quite an unusual choice.

While talking over the phone from Mumbai, an elated Akriti told The Telegraph: "When we were rehearsing there were so many others, who were doing well. Though my dance steps were appreciated, I was not sure of my chances. It was luck coupled with hard work, which brought success."

Akriti is a daughter, who can make any Indian parent proud. Her craze for dancing hasn't made academics score low in her list of priorities, (which as everyone knows is much appreciated by parents). She is an IAS aspirant, who wants to pursue dance only as a hobby.

"From Ranchi, my classteacher called me to congratulate me on my success," said the happy girl.

Along with mother Alpana, Akriti would be back home on December 17. And for the friends and family, her performance would be aired on the telly on January 27.

"The best thing about her is that she is very hardworking. Winning has always been her habit, be it in academics or dance," added a proud mother.