We are living the dream: Viral dance group Quick Style

The Norwegian dancing sensation Quick Style, that went viral earlier this year when they performed at a wedding to a hit Bollywood number, set the stage on fire on Thursday night at the Yas Marina Circuit, performing with eight-time Grammy award winner Usher.

"It was an epic moment. We had so much fun on stage with Usher ," said Suleman Malik, one of the co-founders of the group, speaking to City Times. "During rehearsals a few hours before the show, we were able to connect with him as an artist and that really translated into the energy between us on stage."

Abu Dhabi is the latest in the list of cities that the group has been performing at. “We are living the dream,” said Nasir Sirikhan, another co-founder of the group. “We have been traveling the world and doing what we love the most.”

Nasir along with his high school best friends, twins Bilal and Suleman Malik, started Quick Style 13 years ago. Since then, the group has grown leaps and bounds, with over 400 students learning dance at their studio in Oslo.

Unity in diversity

When CT arrived at the 25hour hotel to catch up with the group, seven of its members including Bilal, Suleman, Nasir, Yasin, Dilen, Rafa and David as well as their manager Usman are sitting around a table in the lobby with their laptops. While some are checking flights, others are pursuing prospective business deals. They chat away in Norwegian about plans and meetings. Ever since their dance at Suleman’s wedding went viral, with even YouTube itself commenting on it, the group has been at its busiest.

With members hailing from 12 countries and dancing to a selection of songs from around the world, Quick Style has become the poster boys for unity in diversity. Their video received a lot of praise for their perfect steps to popular Bollywood songs.

As the others continue working, Bilal, Nasir, Suleman and Yasin extracted themselves from the chaos. In a candid chat, the group talked about everything from their move to Dubai, the hard work they have poured into dance and the bond they share.

'Dubai values hard work'

The group have often performed in Dubai but the first time they came after their video went viral was at the Coke Studio concert in October. At the time, Bilal Malik had shared plans to set up a base here and start a dance school.

Now, at least part of the group is hoping to be based out of the city. “There are a number of reasons why we love Dubai,” said Nasir. “One is that Dubai really values hard work. This city has given us a lot of love, appreciation and recognition. It doesn’t matter where you are from, this city rewards you when you work hard. That is great encouragement to keep living here.”

The central location of Dubai also appeals to the group. “We travel a lot for our shows and getting to places is so much easier from Dubai,” said Bilal. “There are so many flights from here and it is shorter distance to most places. Also, we love how this city makes us feel like we are home. In Oslo, there are people from various countries, and we grew up with all of them. It was like a melting pot of cultures. Dubai is just like that. Every time we look around, there are so many different nationalities and all of them are so friendly towards each other. We love that vibe.”

Suleman admitted that sometimes the fame they have achieved blows his mind. “We have done so many perfectly choregraphed numbers,” he said. “We have choreographed for BTS and won Norway’s Got Talent. But the video that took us viral was this last-minute routine that we put together. But we think we know why it amassed over half a billion views across all social media. It was the brotherly bond that came through and appealed to everyone.”