Article written by Lourd Vijay for OnlineSalsa.com

The salsa scene in Kolkata has been a fairly recent addition to the city’s culture and is ingrained with the presence of Aditya Upadhaya who moved there in October, 2005. Prior to that, few individuals taught moves to Hindi songs and called it Salsa. There was no concept of the salsa rhythm “quick-quick-slow” or the count “1,2,3,- 5,6,7”

My meeting with Aditya happened in Delhi in 2005 approximately at the same time he had moved to Kolkata. On December 9, 2005, Aditya organized the city’s first salsa party ever, which he called “Vive la Salsa Night at Roxy, The Park”. When asked about it, he confesses that it was only him dancing on the floor and luckily a friend from Delhi was visiting so he had someone to dance with.

Slowly over the years the level of dancing has risen, and currently Salsa parties of the “Vive la Salsa Nights” at Venom is usually packed with budding salseras and salseros.

Salsa in the Conservative Kolkota

Salsa nights are organized twice a month at Venom on Wednesdays, and once a month on Sunday at Plush. These parties attract teachers from other schools, but somehow they do not attract their students. One major problem cited about students in Kolkata is that the majority of them are not locals but are in the city for a few months and have to leave soon. These non-locals usually are the ones who stay on longer at the parties and seem to enjoy salsa more.

Kolkata being more conservative may seem different from Delhi, Bombay or Bangalore as far as the comfort level between partners is involved – especially Bachata – and many girls do not join because they feel awkward dancing with strangers, even just Salsa. In spite of this, most students who have stuck on for more than 3 months tend to stay on for long. The largest batches are the intermediate level Salsa dancers. It is observed that Bollywood is what makes the people have fun, which is why most English movies are not released in Kolkata even though they would have in other parts of India.

So today all Kolkata residents are welcome to the world where you can ‘Live Salsa’!

A Growing Salsa Community

The Salsa community in Kolkata has been growing steadily since its inception and the sessions even bring together entire families. They assure genuine and detailed instruction coupled with plenty of opportunities to enhance social life, physical and mental wellness and make new friends while learning how to dance. Students have also had opportunities to perform at, and attend Salsa parties and festivals around the country.

Casa de la Salsa (House of Salsa) was formed in May 2005 and operated through workshops in and around Eastern India. After the success of these initial workshops, the company’s name was changed to Vive la Salsa, ‘Live Salsa’, to better embody the organization’s aim of building a community. Salsa enthusiasts in Kolkata have taken Salsa to new lengths. Some of them have gone all the way to win the first place of the salsa championships at the International Salsa India Fiesta 2005, held in New Delhi, and placed second at the India International Salsa Congress in Bangalore in August 2007.

This is Vive La Salsa’s newest dance routine performed at the Hong Kong Salsa Festival 2010.

List of Salsa Schools

·       Vive la Salsa
·       Vishal Kanoi
·       Salsa India Dance Company
·       Twist n Turns
·       Mambocity
·       Dew drops
·       Tito Dey
·       Suman Mukehrjee
·       Sudipto Kumar

About the Author

Lourd Vijay is the principal Promoter of Latin culture, music and dance in the Asian Region. He recently stood 10th at the “most Popular Entrepreneur of the year 2009” amongst 180 nominees from across the country. An innovative choreographer and a very able instructor, he is the director of the Lourd Vijay’s Dance Studios (www.lvds.in | www.indiasalsa.com ) in India.

Lourd holds a Post-graduate Diploma in Management. He has just launched a project called the Street Kids Street Dance Initiative – a project to impart dance as a vocation to socio-economically challenged individuals. Lourd is also the organiser of The India International Salsa Congress, the All India Salsa Championships, the Chennai Salsa Festival, the Goa Salsa Festival, the Winter Dance Festival, The Spirit of dance festival, Free Spirit Street Arts Festival as well as the Ambassador of the Hong Kong Salsa Festival.

Written for OnlineSalsa.com by Lourd Vijay

It’s hot! It’s happening! And it’s very, very saucy!! Salsa is hot! No matter when and where, it is spicing things up – film, music, and dance…just about anything.

The Sunny Source of Salsa

Salsa is a dance like no other. Its genesis began in not just one country or origin, each wrapped in its own brand of misty mystery, but through several streams melting into a mix which is still developing and transforming to this date. My gut feeling has always been inclined to the esoteric, and maybe because I wanted to believe it so badly, that when I stumbled upon it during my favorite salsa R&D sessions, my jaw dropped. Here was the proof that I always believed existed.

In some inconceivable way, India, I was convinced, was connected with the origins of Salsa. I guess you are surprised and I dare to say intrigued too. Don’t be! Our country is one having given rise to high societies, religion, free thinkers, and inventions, fueling ancient global developments, which today is what we would say…history.

From Gypsies to African Slaves

So here is what I know…a zillion moons ago, Gypsies from Northern India drifted aimlessly (yes, yes, I know, all gypsies do that!). They camped by rivers and dared unknown trails.

By night, they sat under the stars and let the flames of a blazing fire form the backdrop for a rare dance, which we later recognized as India’s classical dance, the Kathak.

The following is a clip of two young ladies dancing modern Kathak. Notice the hands telling a story. This manner of using the hands when dancing  Kathak evolved into ‘styling’ in Flamenco Dance (- S -).

In time, they danced their way through the portal of the Arabian world to the Iberian peninsular (what we commonly today call Spain), where their dance form merged with that of the local Spanish dance, and the fusion saw a hybrid take shoot – The Flamenco – one of the most fiery dance forms!

The following video is of a ‘Sevillanas Enamorado’, a ‘Love Sevillanas’. Sevillanas is the only ‘Couples Flamenco Dance’ which has been developed by the gypsies in Andalucia, southern Spain. The hands and arms are now used as natural extensions of the dancers’ emotions, and to mimic the movements of bull-fighters (- S -).

In later years, European Colonies set foot on Latin American soil and began work on the plantations. ‘Labour’, as in slaves was imported from Africa to work on the cotton, sugar and coffee fields. Having toiled all day, they amused themselves with song and dance, at the haciendas, in secret.

Eventually their African music intermingled with that of the French, Creole and Spanish, giving rise to completely new forms of music like the Son, Rhumba, Guaracha, Conga, Mambo, Cha-cha-cha, Pachanga and Nueva Timba.

Centuries later, a similar exodus was emerging in the USA, where
New York became a melting pot for Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and other Hispanic communities settling down and working in the New York & New Jersey area. Their interaction, spearheaded by Latin illuminaries and revered music enthusiasts such as Machito, Mario Bauza, Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo, gave rise to music such as the Boogaloo, Latin Jazz….and the Salsa.

The following videoclip of Griselle Ponce from New Jersey shows how the ‘Flamenco Hand Styling’, which would become a standard for Latin American Dances,  merged with Afro-Cuban body movements resulting in modern Salsa Arm and Hand Styling (- S -).

Excerpts from my book “Salsa in my Pocket”

About the Author:

Lourd Vijay is the principal Promoter of Latin culture, music and dance in the Asian Region. He recently stood 10th at the “most Popular Entrepreneur of the year 2009” amongst 180 nominees from across the country. An innovative choreographer and a very able instructor, he is the director of the Lourd Vijay’s Dance Studios (www.lvds.in | www.indiasalsa.com ) in India.
Lourd holds a Post-graduate Diploma in Management. He has just launched a project called the Street Kids Street Dance Initiative – a project to impart dance as a vocation to socio-economically challenged individuals. Lourd is also the organiser of The India International Salsa Congress, the All India Salsa Championships, the Chennai Salsa Festival, the Goa Salsa Festival, the Winter Dance Festival, The Spirit of dance festival, Free Spirit Street Arts Festival as well as the Ambassador of the Hong Kong Salsa Festival.

Lourd Vijay (founder –Director of LVDS) is a phenomenal dancer, an innovative choreographer and a very able instructor. Of his most recent accomplishments, Lourd Vijay counts being invited to conduct Salsa workshops at the World Salsa Congress, Italy and thrilling workshops conducted by him in Colombo and Bangkok, and at Salsa Festivals in Hong Kong. He also has fond memories of choreographing and working in many theatre productions and Bollywood Production including the Jackie Chan starrer ‘The Myth”

• Can you tell us how and when did you get in to salsa? Who inspired you?

Ans: Got into salsa in 1996 after getting enamoured by the form while watching the movie Dirty dancing and My first tryst and physical experience with Salsa happened in Toronto, Canada during about the same time.

• Richard and sneha are the most successful dancers to conme out of lvds? How has thier success changed you and lvds?

Ans: Yes they are the most famous Indian salsa dancers on the international scene. After having won the European open salsa masters, the australian salsa classic, being the first indians to qualify for the ESPN world salsa championship n reaching the finals of India’s got talent….Yes their success has made us popular on the Indian entertainment scene and people have begun to recognize us as a premier dance insitution in the country with many international titles to our credit. I have also been appointed the Ambassador of the Hong kong salsa festival n judge of the Asia pacific salsa open championship, the fact that I brought salsa to India is another feather to our cap,  So these achievements have been brought to the fore in the main stream.

• what are the plans this year for 5th Annual India International Salsa congress? Can you give us a preview on what we can expect?

Ans: Will send it in the next mail…Click here for details

• I understand you have spread out lvds in Bangalore, chennai and also in Delhi? When can we see a great dance school like yours in Mumbai?

Ans: Very very soon…

• what are you future plans to promote salsa? Any more TV shows happening?

Ans: Oh there are a lot of plans to promote salsa and dance…

But something big is underway on a mass media platform… Which the whole country will witness soon.a lot of work has been carried out under the “B a star” project which was initially called the street kids dance initiative. About 600 kids from socio economically weaker sections have benefitted from the program… And we are looking forward to taking dance to each n everyone of them thru this initiative.