Okay here is an another review, hope it becomes as controversial as the “Quickstep Review”.
I would rather call it “My(Re)View” ,and avoid all the angst and trouble later on. BTW Anand and Me have patched up and hugged .In case anyone of you think we are arch enemies.
Please read the following review before we begin ,as i don't want any dance school to sue me, but if the urge is overwhelming please go ahead and sue me, you will probably make me famous.
Review Starts Here
On the HOT SEAT “KIRAN SHRIYAN” and “SHRIYAN'S FITNESS AND DANCE CO”
For ease let me categorize the review in 5 sections.
- My View
- Branding (Impression of the Salsa School)
- Classes and Locations
- Quality of Instructors
- Community Building
My View
I have never actually joined his classes, but have taken some free Salsa lessons (in 2007) at bohemia and at Powai where he had started his classes, which was stopped abruptly.So I know how he teaches and also how his instructors teach and the style of teaching.
I love the way he teaches and his instructors teach, simple and basic, doesn't make a big deal and no attitudes thrown around. I would highly recommend his classes to anyone who wants to put a foot in the world of dancing and don't want to be traumatized.I have danced with a few of his students and they are perfect “follows”(lady Salsa dancer), its a dream come true for any leader.(Male Salsa dancer)
Branding
The branding of SHRIYAN'S FITNESS AND DANCE CO is not very clear, the name suggests Kiran Shriyan is making an attempt to promote salsa as a Fitness dance. There is no publicity on the web , NO WEBSITE, where information can be accessed easily.
It would not be wrong for me to say if i say SHRIYAN'S FITNESS AND DANCE CO is not serious about the idea of teaching Salsa and dance.
Since I havent got the opportunity to speak to him, my guess is he is more foussed on choreographing dance shows and bollywood movies and grooming starlets, so less focus in on classes.
Its High time, he should take the business of teaching seriously and not let a Quality and Experienced instructor like him go to waste.
Classes and Locations
Again the information is not forthcoming, I spoke to some of his ex-students and they also didn't have any idea about the number of venues, but they have definitely expressed satisfaction at his method of teaching.
It seems he has only two venues to
- Andheri –Rennaisance Federation Club
- Goregaon
here is a testimonial from Linda a meetup member
“
at andheri west his dance class is very good, he has weekday & weekend batches too. the weekend batch makes it convenient for working crowd to attend. the crowd here is decent & good. you get practice time with the assitant instructors after class is over as well or with fellow students u may wish to dance with. a lot of seasoned students who had already learned were there but would still continue paying to come & dance, addicted to salsa i guess. about his class at goregaon the space is not big enough & the fees here are economical so there is too much crowd, here the crowd is not as good as at andheri west. these are the only two classes ive visited. kirans presentation is very good. watchign him dance is motivating. however when he is on his international trips i wasnt too happy with the substitute instructors
”
Quality of Instructors
As far as I know all the instructors are trained by him personally, and do follow some basic processes and are not overtly confused. So you don't feel disoriented if Kiran himself is not teaching personally.
But he has a issue with maintaining his instructors, some senior instructors have left them and started their own schools or joined others.As for the current lot of instructors I have no idea ,as there is not much information available on the web or any where else.
Community Building
Kiran and MSMG were the one behind the very successful Salsa Parties at Bohemia which went for almost 2 years and was finally discontinued because the management at Bohemia changed.So his contribution to giving back to the Salsa community cannot be undermined.
But over the last year he has not taken any initiative to get the community together and is probably concentrating on money spinners like dance shows on TV and bollywood.
Recently he has been withdrawn and as a consequence ,NO MAILINGLISTS??? NO FACEBOOK GROUP???? NO FORUMS WHERE SALSA FANS CAN CONNECT TO HIM..( In such case if I am excluded from the database, i would request Kiran Shriyan to include me in the emailer/sms list.)
If you are one of his students, please ask him to start a Salsa Party or Salsa socials, you dont want to get stuck to the idiot box watching dance shows do you? and please make it open to all.
So let us sum it up in figures
| My view | 7 |
| Branding | 4 |
| Classes and location | 4.5 |
| Quality of instructors | 5 |
| Community Building | 6 |
Over ALL Ratings
|
5.3 |
P.S
Now that You have taken the trouble to read the entire review, I would request you to comment and participate.
Also do check out the other Salsa schools, I have reviewed
Also if you want to send in your reviews , you can email the same at manoj@mumbaisalsameetup.info , and I will try to publish it on the this site.
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