Every time we think of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, we definitely think of the song Senorita where the three hunks of Bollywood do their thing along with all the great dancers on the set. They are grooving and their moves are Salsa.
When you see good dance, it soothes the soul. And that was just the reason I, like many others in Kochi, enrolled for the two-day Salsa Workshop held in the city a week ago. Vinu John, his wife Pixie and their team of Salsa dancers from The Verb School, Chennai, took us through the nuances of Meringue and Salsa and the best part was learning the crazy moves of Chikni Chameli.
On day one of the workshop, there were 40 of us and The Verb was overwhelmed by the response. They thought Kochi rocks and I was thrilled to hear that. Four batches a day with children of the ages 5 to 10 in one, then another one for those between 11 and 16 and two batches for those above 16.
Some felt competitive, some timid and some stumped after seeing the Verb School warm up. The first few steps of Meringue and Salsa we must admit we picked up quite fast. But I realised that Salsa is not something you can learn in two days. Like any other dance form, classical or contemporary, practice and sheer hard work makes perfect.
‘So let’s go,’ said Archana aka Pixie. The steps of Salsa are 123 567. The 4 and 8 are there but it's a pause. Strange that just thinking of those orders, I can actually hear her voice. Salsa is a couple dance where the male does all the work so if your partner has two left feet this dance is not for you. There a few times when a woman has a chance to move and these are called shines. Susy q, the roll, back mambo, opening book and combing hair are just a few of the shines. And after I made Vinu and his wife Pixie dance for us, I added another shine called-I QUIT. They took my breath away.
The bottom line is two hours a day for two days all I did was dance away. It was a lovely experience. They were so impressed with the turnout that they want to come back to Kochi.
The writer is a prominent figure on Kochi’s social scene
