The Hindu Business Line : Salsa casts its spell

As one entered the mezzanine room of a posh downtown restaurant in Mumbai, a young Polish lady awaited the arrival of enthusiasts to the `Beginners guide to Salsa' workshop. Her dance partner, of Indian origin and living in Switzerland, meanwhile, was setting up the music.

Welcome to the world of Salsa and `salsaholics' Neeraj Maskara and Ania. Neeraj, 29, a management consultant for systems development at the World Bank, has been dancing for six years. "I live a workaholic life Monday to Friday and over the weekend, I travel to Salsa congresses across the globe, wherever I am invited," he says. Ania is a soft-spoken former classical ballet dancer. She fell in love with Salsa, at first sight, at the Havana Club in Berlin. She is also an expert in the art of styling one's hands in elegant gestures to complement the dance.

A student of Languages and Social studies, she runs a dance school and studio in Warsaw to pursue her passion for Salsa.

The dance couple manage to plan and practise their moves over weekends, travelling across borders.

Before the workshop began, I was in the grip of mixed feelings - anxiety and enthusiasm. The tension faded away as Neeraj, with a simple orientation, drew the assembled crowd onto the floor. The flow of words put strangers, pairing up for the dance, at ease. Ania's moves complemented the oral instructions.

Eight basic steps back and forth and left to right, and in 45 minutes we were already doing what would look like complex dance choreography.

Dance workshops and performances, followed by theme parties, were a part of the four-day package offered by the Third Annual Salsa India Festival held for the first time in Mumbai.

Salsa is an incredibly graceful, harmonious dance that draws both amateurs and maestros. From Mumbai to New York, from Salsa clubs to Salsa congresses, from dance workshops to performances - Salsa is becoming a way of life. It has even penetrated the conservative borders of Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and Dubai.

Salsa evolved offshore from its original birthplace of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Coined in New York, Salsa stands as an umbrella point of reference for various types of dances - Rumba, Samba, Son Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue, Bomba, Tango, Afro-Cuban Rumba, Bachata, Reggaeton, not to mention the various styles of Salsa - L. A, Cuban, New york, Columbian, Puerto Rican.

Join the movement

Along its journey of evolution, Salsa has generously accepted the offerings of every creator.

Korean born Ara Hwang has crafted an amazingly powerful-feminine `Afro Belly' dance, a mixture of strong African beats with sexy belly shakes. She, along with her colleague Ameile, conducted a workshop, where the dance moves were taught after breaking each single move of the body into `isolations'.

By the end of this workshop, we had learnt to form the number `8' with hip shakes!

Gupson Pierre, who lives in Singapore, learnt Salsa at the age of four from his grandmother. He indulged the `spoilt for choice' participants of the festival with his signature Afro Cuban Rumba style.

Quick break-ups of the strong, not so feminine steps, and we were doing the Afro Cuban Rumba. Extending the platter of dances to some more exotic sounding ones, Reggaeton, Lambada and Bachata, were the couple (off the dance floor too) Taiti and Crystel. He hails from the Caribbean island of Curaçao and she from Holland. They met on the dance floor three years ago. For Taiti, an ex-student of aviation, Salsa was an inherent part of growing up. "My mom and aunts would grab me as a little child and go dancing."

Crystel, gymnast earlier, holds a bachelor's degree in physical therapy. During the workshop, they had a unique way of choreographing and teaching the dance. From cowboy/girl flavoured dance moves of Reggaeton to the shy, subtle steps of Bachata, we lived up the experience.

Music is the most essential part of any dance and this detail slips no dancer's mind. Taiti and Crystel have spent considerable time studying different beats produced by musical instruments such as the Clave, Melody, Tumbao and Conga. Dancers dance in the orbit of rhythms produced by these instruments, they explain. So identifying the individual beats assists in shaping the dance moves to variations in the music — breaks, high and low tempos.

They live a complete Salsa lifestyle — making a new show, thinking about the music, rehearsing, teaching, performing, and travelling to different Salsa congresses.

"We eat, drink, sleep and breathe Salsa, so it is essential for us to take a break and go to the movies or bowling alley," says Crystel in her Dutch accent.

Not all dance partners are real-life couples. Relationships are often difficult in the Salsa world as this form of dance involves flirting and fooling and intimacy," says Crystel. Nevertheless, it is a `clean dance' asserts Neeraj.

A Flamenco twirl

There was also the gypsy dance Flamenco, essentially a solo performance. Despite Spanish origins, Flamenco has roots in the Indian classical dances of Kathak and Bharatnatyam. Gypsies who performed for a living travelled through Persia and North Africa, and crossing Andafucia in Spain, developed the dance, blending different cultures.

The Flamenco artist Maria Del Sol (her real name is Ingrid Sciberras) 40, comes from the island of Malta. Coming to India to attend a Sindhi wedding, she stayed back, and has been teaching the dance here. For the show, she donned a frilly Flamenco dress made from an Indian saree. A `Manton' (a black shawl with tassles) added the flourish.

Wooden flooring and iron nailed shoes are key requirements for the dancers. A Flamenco artist always wears artificial flowers, as the gypsies believed that real flowers brought bad luck, says Maria. Unlike other dances, Flamenco is learnt in school, unless one is born into a Flamenco family. A foundation course of foot work, arm, and wrist movements is part of the the syllabus, she says.

Also meriting mention is the man behind the scene, Kaytee Namgyal, President of the Salsa India Festival. Born in Sikkim, he was trained in Jazz and Hip Hop. He came face-up with Salsa in Japan in 2000 after which he set up the Salsa India Dance Company in Mumbai in 2001. The company has trained over 3,000 students. "A lot of people here cannot travel to Salsa congresses across the globe, so I want to bring the world to them," says Kaytee.