In the world of social media flooded with content creators and influencers, it’s not often that we see an American dad dancing to a Hindi or a Bhojpuri song and acing Bollywood choreography. Ricky Pond aka 'The Dancing Dad, has taken the Internet by storm with his dance moves and is gaining popularity for his energetic performances on viral Hindi or Bhojpuri songs.

A graphic designer by profession, Pond rose to popularity with his dance videos on Bollywood songs like ‘Chammak Challo,’ ‘Chaleya,’ ‘Raanjhana,’ and, ‘Tere Vaaste,’ to name a few. 

Enjoying a following of over a million on Instagram, Pond can also be seen shaking a leg to famous regional hits as well. 

White Rivers Media brought Pond to India and facilitated the meet-up with Manifest.

Edited excerpts from our conversation:

In which year did you start making content and which is the video that made you viral? 

We started in March 2020, during the pandemic. The viral video that started the Bollywood craze was ‘Teach Me How to Dougie’ where I did a mix into an Indian song. I think that’s kind of what transitioned us into doing more Bollywood songs.

What is the intent behind dancing to Bollywood and Bhojpuri Songs? 

We started dancing to a bunch of different songs from all over the world. It was just one request out of a bunch of requests that we did, and we just continued to get more requests. So it happened organically. It wasn't something we intentionally did. It was probably the furthest thing from our minds. We didn’t think that we were going to start doing dances from India today, it just happened.

You primarily were on TikTok and then shifted to Instagram as the former was banned in India, did that affect your numbers and are you still strong on TikTok? 

We have 2.2 million followers on TikTok, and we continue to post every day there as well as on Instagram. The only thing that changed is now we manage two different social media platforms. Most of the time, we will do the same dance and post them on both platforms. So it makes it easy that way, of course. But it just broadened our reach in a way that allowed the Indian Americans who were watching our content on TikTok and had family here in India, wanted to share our stuff on social media, including other social media platforms. They were the ones who told us that you need to post somewhere else, because our family back in the country can't see it. That's when we found out that TikTok was banned in India. And so we started to post on reels and it kind of went from there.

How did your collaborations with actors Madhuri Dixit and Maniesh Paul boost your popularity? 

I  wasn’t aware of how much of a big deal they are.  I was never on social media for followers and likes. It was about having fun with my kids. I'm sure the collaborations did have some impact. They were fun collabs and I enjoyed them, but at the time, I  didn't understand how big of a personality they were. 

Any upcoming collaborations planned during your visit to India? 

Yeah, we have got a few that are in the planning stage. It’s just a matter of locking down what times will work for them. We are going to do some stuff with The Dancing Cop and there are a few other creators that we have got tentative plans with to do things. I think it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of nailing down schedules.

In regards to brand partnerships, are you associated with any? 

We have collaborated with Netflix, Disney+ and the Indian ice cream brand - Vadilal. We collaborated by dancing to their jingle. We have had some fun opportunities. We have worked with Duluth clothing company in the US and a few others. 

When it comes to brand partnerships, what do you look for? 

I look for a family-friendly brand, something that I wouldn't be ashamed to put my name on. I want parents to feel confident that they can hand their kids the phone and let them flip through my content without being worried about them seeing something they shouldn't. It's kind of the type of brands that I want to work with or brands that are just really good, wholesome, decent brands.

How do you keep up with new and refreshing ideas so that the Reels don’t look monotonous?

We look for fun things, but we also rely heavily on our followers. Our fans are the ones who help us know what is trending here in India. Since we’re not here, we get a lot of help from them and they suggest songs. And so that's kind of what helps us, honestly, and what helps us keep relevant in an ever-changing tide of trends.

Lastly, being viral or authentic, which one would you pick?

I would say being authentic to who I am is more important to me than some big viral video. It is because of my authenticity that I have created more viral videos, in a sense, than trying to be viral or trying to do something viral. I think that should be the go-to case for pretty much anybody because the more you try, the harder it is to make it happen. Just be yourself and do what you love and other people will love it.