Salsa in Mumbai -An Introduction:
Salsa in Mumbai really took off in 2003, when a few people mainly students of Sandeep Soparrkar (who at that time used to teach only ballroom) got inspired by seeing Ashwin Mushran (now an actor in bollywood) dancing salsa. Ashwin having returned to India after teaching at Supermario’s dance school was the original inspiration of many of the early Salsa enthusiasts in Mumbai. There was a select crowd who used to gather way back in 2003 at Trafalghar chowk, a lounge in bandra to dance every Thursday, the first time I ventured out to Trafalghar chowk to check the salsa scene i was left gaping. I never knew there could be something so sensual and beautiful on the dance floor. I could only believe because I saw it.
I was determined to learn Salsa, so I got in touch with another talented Salsa teacher named Raunaque Sidana and took classes for a couple of months. With Raunaque started the “Mumbai Salsa Meetups” which was organised at various clubs in mumbai, this was the only party where students of all instructors in Mumbai would come and dance, it continued with hot & sizzling Salsa Parties at Bohemia, a club which used to be in Juhu with Haansa Singh and Kiran Shriyan to become one of the most popular hangouts for Salsa lovers to venture out on a Sunday evening and dance with abandon. One of the most popular instructors to shift base to Mumbai from delhi earlier that year was “Kaytee Namgyal”. Kaytee’s Salsa India parties on Sunday at Zenzi bandra, were also extremely popular. As I interacted with Salsa lovers I came to know, that these people came from various backgrounds, stock brokers, doctors, businessmen, sculptors,painters,actors and celebrities. There I met another die hard Salsa lover, Yogesh Karikurve who is one of the pioneer to introduce Salsa in Mumbai way back in 1999, when he used to have a Salsa Night’s at “Starters & More” Churchgate. The other popular instructors in Mumbai are Anand Majumdar, Ravi Akhade, Nakul Ghanekar, Conrad Coelho, Vivek Yadav. For a complete list of instructors click here
Mumbai cannot claim to be the Salsa capital of India yet, as close in competition are Bangalore and Delhi, where Salsa scene is very vibrant. But we do host a few world class events. Salsa India host’s a yearly “Salsa India Festival” and also “Bachata festivals” where some extremely talented foreign performers and instructors are invited.
Salsa popularity in Mumbai, rose and eventually a few instructors from Delhi moved base to Mumbai. The first documentary on Salsa was made by Sangeeta Kumar called “Masalsa” in 2006, and a finally no one could believe that a mainstream bollywood movie would be made with Salsa as a theme called “Mumbai Salsa” by director Vikram Bhat in 2007. As I am writing this Hritik Roshan’s international blockbuster “KITES” is going to be released across India tomorrow, the celebrity instructor Sandeep Soparrkar has choreographed Hritik in Kites, and I am hoping we might get to see one of the hottest star of bollywood dancing Salsa in this movie. Salsa had finally become mainstream with every dance school worth its Salt, including “Salsa” as a part of their teaching curriculum. It also gives instructors who were not trained in Salsa an opportunity to cash in, and exploit ignorant students, who pretty much didn’t have any clue about Salsa.
Salsa dancing now has become more of a fad in Mumbai, and the art for me has lost it’s charm and sense of wonder, blame it on television dance shows or instructors trying to sell salsa as a “seduction skill”. As a very popular instructor in Mumbai recently confessed to me “I don’t feel much appreciated in India, as well as I am appreciated abroad, I will give it a few shots here, and then maybe move abroad if things don’t start looking good”. This statement coming from one of the most popular Salsa instructor, the competition between Salsa dance school’s to acquire new students is fierce, which is further damaging the spirit of this wonderful dance form, in the city.
Still there are efforts to keep the spirit alive by die hard Salsa enthusiasts who go dancing socially whenever they have an opportunity. Mumbai now has popular Salsa parties happening every Sunday at Zenzi bandra, Wednesdays at Zenzi Mills, lower parel, and also Thursdays at H20 bandra. Besides some dance schools hold their monthly & annual events, where students get to dance and perform. As for me, my commitments to salsa are deep, and though i don’t dance much now, I will keep on promoting Salsa in Mumbai as a part of a clubbing activity, and try to restore the old charm.
The above article was written by Osho (nickname), who publishes the only website for salsa in mumbai at http://mumbaisalsa.info/ , he also promotes the first social network for salsa in mumbai at http://www.mumbaisalsa.me/ and he manages the only directory for Salsa schools in India at http://salsaindia.tel/
