BENGALURU: There’s no time like now to try something new. With malls and commercial establishments around the city shutting down and events being called off, people are finding themselves being confined indoors more these days to stay safe from COVID-19. But staying home doesn’t necessarily have to be boring. Two city-based dancers and instructors have now come up with a video learning series titled Salsa for Corona, that will teach people how to integrate such dance moves in their everyday lives. “With the ongoing slow down, people have more time on their hands to experiment,” says Archana K R, who has already made the initial videos with Raghuram Krishnan and is continuing to make more as well.
The minute-long videos cost `200 each. Initially, one gets to learn simple moves to incorporate while walking, before the steps are scaled up to include other activities like opening a door, taking a shower or serving a meal. “The idea is to also let people know that salsa isn’t just about lifts or having a partner. Secondly, you don’t need a huge event either. This is something you could try by yourself at home, integrating it with your daily routine,” explains Archana, who along with Krishnan has learned dance at Lourd Vijay’s Dance studio, under the guidance of Minoti Ramachandra.
Today, the two instructors also run their own dance institute called shArA Salsa and Latin Dance Institute at Jayanagar. While they have conducted online classes or video tutorials earlier, this series is not like their regular structured classes. “We don’t want people to just see dance as a form of entertainment. With these videos, people might just be more aware of their movements. For example, while walking people don’t realise whether they go from heel to toe or the other way around,” says Archana. Agrees Krishnan, who explains how one gains more awareness of their posture, alignment and movement through dance. “Now is also when people are listening and focusing more on their health and general well-being,” he says.
In order to keep the community aspect of the activity alive, participants can also choose to send videos to the instructors in order to get feedback. And should they receive permission from the dancers, Archana and Krishnan also plan to make a larger video with everyone’s attempts, which they hope to share online. “We hope that the initiative can push someone in the direction of living through the situation instead of succumbing to it,” says Archana.