KOCHI: For people who love dancing and are looking to sway their body, there can be no better dance form than Salsa. Chennai-based software engineer-turned-Salsa instructor, Praveen Kumar has been attracting enthusiasts from across the country towards Latin American dancing which involves hops, lifts and twists. As part of his agenda to popularise the dance form, Praveen will be conducting a Salsa workshop at Space next week.
Parveen was introduced to Salsa in 2016 when he happened to witness a free demonstration in Chennai. “I realised that you need not be a performer. The dance form has been rendered by people of all ages from across the world since the 1970s. The release one feels while doing the dance attracted me to it. I decided to research more on it,” says Praveen who has conducted Salsa classes in different cities of India.
In 2017, when Club Opal in the Olympia Opaline residential complex, Navalur, Chennai opened its doors to Salsa Chennai (a Salsa learning platform), the session saw only a few participants. But, the numbers grew substantially in 2018 with people from all walks of life including engineers, homemakers and doctors grooving to the beats with Praveen as the instructor.
Praveen always wanted to take the dance form to places where few were familiar with it. “My first session was on the rooftop of a yoga studio. Initially, only two people turned up but as the numbers grew, I thought of doing more such sessions,” says the Salsa instructor. He has so far conducted two Salsa festivals in Chennai which saw the participation of about 50 people. “I always try to bring new innovations to my sessions. I have tried Salsa for seniors and also fused dandiya with it,” adds Praveen.
The first Kerala Salsa festival was held on December 14 and 15 at Hotel Karthika Park in Thiruvananthapuram. The session, which was conducted by Praveen, was attended by about 50 people. He plans to start an exclusive batch for senior citizens above the age of 50. He is also associating with Space to give instructor training so that more people can learn the Latin American dance and teach others.