HYDERABAD: The city seems to have found a new love – salsa. A quick Google search for salsa class in Hyderabad will yield 25 results to learn this dance form.
“Most hotels had a special live music zone with a little dance floor to let the romantic couples indulge themselves in this subtle and intimate dance for the Valentine’s Day,” says Rajneesh Khandelwal, a techie who works at Gachibowli and has been learning salsa for about an year to be able to make a move on his crush this year.
We talk to a salsa tutor to find out more. Nitish Menon is an instructor who conducts Salsa Socials on Sundays at Our Sacred Space, Secunderabad, “I have been pursuing this dance for 11 years. I started teaching in 2016 and the classes attract members from all walks of life.”
We found that the salsa class was fully packed with pairs happily dancing to Latino beats.
Trained in Latin styles, Nitish also conducts workshops for salsa mostly at Hi-tech city with the support of his volunteers.
A participant at Asian Level Competitions in the category of salsa solo and Bachata Group, this dancer starts new batches every two months.
He primarily teaches Latin Dance with strong fundamentals of salsa steps.
“Salsa is a dynamic dance and in order to excel in it, you need to have a strong skillset in dancing. Hence, I advise salsa enthusiasts to practice freewheeling dancing and gain a grip over easy mobility before taking up these classes”, adds the tutor.
“Age is never a factor. With a lot of practice comes a fair amount of improvement. So if you are an active attendee it doesn’t require much time to be proficient for a performance, ” says this salsa lover on the duration to learn a jig.
The dance is typically taught for two to be able to learn the right coordination. Salsa involves a lot of psychological attention, it requires you to think in a different way.
“Salsa dance class has also given me an opportunity to make new friends and it lets me stay in touch with my body regularly,” says Rateesh Reedy, a salsa student.
Preethi George, 19, a student of CMR Engineering College and teachers at Kothaguda for youth in a gated community says the dance teaches a graceful body language and relaxes the dancer. “It’s something you should do after a long commute,” she advises.