It has been nearly two years since Arun Srinivasan introduced Salsa and Bachata to the Kochi crowd. After conducting various workshops, Arun and his team have decided to introduce full-fledged Salsa and Bachata classes in the city.
The team comprising Arun, Bonny M. Avanoor and Natalie Tatarinova were in the city as part of a workshop on Friday. Arun and Bonny spoke as to why they thought the city needed a full-on salsa course. “After having conducted so many workshops, we have come across people who were waiting to learn more about the dance. When it comes to workshops, we noticed that students fall in and out of touch with the dance due to the time gap between the workshops. Interested students started asking about frequent classes here. That is when we thought why not introduce regular classes in Kochi,” explains Arun, founder of the dance school Salsa Madras, based in Chennai.
Bonny points out that introducing the dance form and people getting a hang of it take time. “People tend to have a wrong notion about salsa. The way it is used on screen to portray eroticism alone is one of the reasons.” The artistes point out that although it takes time, people have begun to embrace the dance form. “Chennai now gets a lot of international exposure through this dance. We are hoping to recreate it here in Kochi by starting the classes from February. The classes will be held at Beats ‘n’ Steps at Kalamassery,” says Arun, adding, “People who join for Salsa do not need prior dancing experience or a partner; even age doesn’t matter. It is a slow process in which even fitness plays a key role and it is a lot of fun. We are starting with Salsa and will slowly introduce regular classes for Bachata as well.”
