I had a enquired a few years back, that who are the prominent players in the Salsa teaching scene in Thane. I was given 2 names Nakul and Dipaali. I had the pleasure of meeting Nakul several times, but never knew who Dipaali was, Until I stumbled on a video on Facebook, it was a dance sequence with Cornell. I was at once blown over by the video and asked Dipaali Manddavkkar for a interview. She was generous enough to indulge. Below is the interview and the video! Do check out the interview below and if you are in thane, go and learn a few moves from Dipaali.

• 

  How and when did you get introduced to Salsa?

A: While working with GOLDS GYM I came 2 know about Salsa Dance Style in 2002 through a Work Shop. and fell in Love with Salsa & started learning..

• How long have you been dancing Salsa?which is your “other” favorite latin dance?

A: I have been Dancing Salsa since 2002…

I Like all the Latin & Latin Ballroom Dances.. But I love “RUMBA” after SALSA…

• What difference has Salsa made to your life?

A: Salsa has actually changed my Life…as After learning Salsa & other Latin Ballroom Dance Styles, Contemporary, Hip-Hop & Belly Dancing I started my own Dance & Fitness Studio ” PACE & PASSION’” in Thane…

Salsa has made me more Open minded & Social person..
I just forget the world when I Dance & teach Salsa..

The Most Important to mention I got a Chance to Star as a Lead in a Marathi Movie named ” THE STRUGGLERS AMHI UDYHACHE HERO”

• 

  When did you decide to take to Salsa dancing as a profession by being a instructor and performer? what is your experience with the same till now.

A: After falling in Love for Salsa & Latin Ballroom Dances I decided to take Salsa dancing as a Profession… Since then I’m not only teaching only in my studio But in many other places also…

Me & my Team take Corporate Workshops, College & School Workshops & also Perform, Choreograph for different Events.
We also give Our students the Chance to Perform in our own Annual Shows or other Events..

• 
  

  Have you attended Salsa congresses or festivals in India or abroad , if Yes can you describe some of those experiences to us?

A: Couldn’t Yet attend Salsa Congress.. But would Love 2 attend in near Future….

But I have Won All India Dance Sports Championship for consecutive 3 years..

• What kinds of dances does your dance school teach and where are you located?

A:

We teach
SALSA
BACHATA
MERENGUE
WALTZ
TANGO
SAMBA
RUMBA
PASO DOBLE
BOLLYWOOD
HIP HOP
CONTEMPORARY
BELLY
CHA CHA
JIVE…………..
you name it n u get it…..
Add: Pace & Passion the Dance & Fitness
Lok Puram Federation Hall, behind Regal Plaza,
Opp Hiranandani Meadows, Thane w. Contact 9967277202

Check out the video below

She is one Indian Salsa dancer who has made it big abroad, I have been always fascinated by her beauty and the heady spins she can do. Here I am copy/pasting few excerpts from her interview she did for Salsa Vancouver. One day I might get a chance to interview her.

Tasleem – Where are you originally from?

Magna – I was born in New Delhi and I lived there for the first six years of my life. And then I moved to Toronto, Canada, with my family. And I lived there for about nineteen years. Now I’m based out of New Jersey.

People often find it unusual that I would choose to salsa dance if I’m Indian. I have been asked many times why I chose salsa and not Bharat Natyam or Bollywood dancing (laugh). Have you ever gotten those kinds of comments?

A lot of people have mistaken me for being from some Latin country. So when they find out I’m Indian, some people do ask why I never did any sort of Indian dancing. But I never actually studied any type of dancing at all. My interest in salsa came about when I watched the movie Dance With Me. That’s what drew me to salsa. Maybe if I had watched more Bollywood films, perhaps I might have gotten more into Indian dancing instead. But now that I’m at where I am with my dancing, I have a greater appreciation for other dances and would definitely like to study other forms of dance, but I just happened to fall into salsa first.

I am intrigued by the Facebook messages I often get from “Salsa India”. What is the salsa scene like in India?

I don’t know what year they’re in right now. But the first year I went, it was 2005 or 2006, and they were already in their 2nd or 3rd year there of the Salsa Indian Festival. They have two events over there. One of my friends Kaytee is the one who does the Salsa India Festival in Mumbai. And there are actually A LOT of dancers there. In every year that I’ve been there and seen them, they’ve progressed SO much. It was incredible and I was surprised. I mean, I was already surprised to go back to Delhi, where they first did the event. And it was just really surreal for me to go back to where I was born, to teach salsa, of all dances. And then in the few years I’ve been back, it’s been amazing. It’s just a really good scene, and the dancers are all very dedicated.

Does anything stand out to you about your travels to various salsa communities around the world?

I find that in a lot of countries where Latin dancing is not part of the culture, where people have not grown up with the music, those countries and those cultures tend to put a lot more effort into learning and mastering the dance. They don’t believe that they were born with it, so they take many classes, practise a lot, and put time into joining dance groups or teams. In particular, in many of the Asian countries I’ve been to, the dancers have been phenomenal, beyond my belief.

Do you think dancing can be learned at a high level even if a person doesn’t have a background in it or an environment in which they grew up in it? You learned it really quickly, without taking many lessons at all. Do you think it’s something that you either have or you don’t, or is it something that can be learned?

I would say that it’s a combination of both. I know people who are more dedicated than anyone I’ve ever met, but their level of progress is somewhat stinted. There’s just something that’s still missing, you know?
At the same time, growing up with the dancing or music doesn’t make you a fantastic dancer either.
The good thing about salsa dancing is that it’s not as rigid as other forms of dancing. It’s very social, it’s a dance that’s open to all ages, all body types, and for that reason, it’s very liberal in what it permits. And because it’s liberal in that sense, it doesn’t require the same kind of technique you’d need in ballet, for instance. As long as you have your basics, and you can follow decently, you could still have fun, and people would have fun with you, and you could progress on that level.

What do you think has helped you progress so quickly?

A lot of people tell me, “You just have it”. I think that comes from a very strong awareness of my body. And when you’re aware of your body, to the smallest fibers in it, you can manipulate it and create whatever you want. For the people who I know who still keep taking lessons all the time, and they’re still not there yet, at the level they want to be, it’s because they still don’t look comfortable in their body. If you’re not comfortable in your body, it’s probably because you don’t understand what it’s doing, or when it’s doing something. It still feels very awkward to you. When everything that you’re doing – all of your movements, how you got there, how you maintained it, how you got out of it – is something that you can comprehend, and you can also be in that moment instead of looking at your body from the outside in, then I think you progress much faster. That’s when the sky’s the limit.

What do you do to achieve this awareness?

I think one of my reasons for my personal progress has been because EVERYTIME I dance, it’s an active moment. EVERYTIME I dance, I’m thinking about what I’m doing, how my body is feeling. I ask myself, “Why did I lose my balance?” Or I experiment and say, “Let me try something different the next time I do that move and see how that works.” I am actively involved in every aspect of my dance. The more active you are, the more you can get out of it. It’s really a matter of being active. If you want something, go for it in every breath that you breathe.If you’re getting into the dancing passively, then you might not progress in every aspect of the dancing. Socially, I think you see that a lot. There are some dance teams that are FANTASTIC performers but not as good at social dancing. And there are some people who are awesome instructors but they can’t dance as well socially.

What is it?

• 3 nights and 4 days of non-stop partying – sleepless weekend guaranteed!
• Shows and workshops from the world’s most celebrated dance stars
• Participants from over 30 countries around the world
• The best Latin DJs mixing your favourite music from dusk till dawn
• Your only chance to enjoy the true spirit of Latin America in India
• A chance for you to dance your way to the most popular touristic sites in India
• 5 star accommodation at affordable prices – luxury spa and resort setting
• Venue: Sports complex with all facilities and amenities
• You just DON’T want to miss out!

Programme:

April 12th – Thursday

Pre-party in New Delhi

April 13th – Friday
16:00 onwards – Registrations and collection of passes
21:00 – 23:00 – Shows
23:00 – 03:00 – Party

April 14th – Saturday
11:00 – 18:00 – Workshops (5 halls)
18:00 – 20:00 – Dinner
21:00 – 23:00 – Shows
23:00 – 03:00 – Party

April 15th – Sunday
11:00 – 18:00 – Workshops (5 halls)
18:00 – 20:00 – Dinner
21:00 – 23:00 – Shows
23:00 – 03:00 – Party (Special theme night called U-VIP. Details coming soon!!)

April 16th – Monday*
10:00 – Departure to Agra and site seeing tour inc Taj Mahal
20:00 onwards – Farewell Party@Taj (Theme Bollywood/India)
(Check the ‘Party@Taj’ page for more details)

The only true star at the 3rd Goa Salsa Festival 2012 is YOU

A pure fun SALSA vacation for all.
We have tried to include everything that Goa has to offer – sun, sea, good food, some surf, Water sports and added to that “SALSAAAAAAAA along with a dose of Bachata, Zouk, Cha-cha and Merengue”, as the cherry on top of the sundae.

My (self)claim to fame in Salsa is not my poor Salsa dancing skills but the because I used to run a community for Salsa right from 2004-2008 organising Salsa parties across various clubs in Mumbai. I wasnt the only one, I had more than ample help from others (wouldnt get into naming them, they all know) but rain or shine every Sunday i showed up at the place to take care of the guests and newbie Salsa enthusiasts who wanted to learn Salsa and dance. As a part of this group, we managed to host more than 150 Salsa parties in Mumbai.

I call this period the Renaissance period of club Salsa dancing in Mumbai.

There were other people organising Salsa dance parties, but the Mumbai Salsa Meetup Group with me as the Organiser was the only community driven Salsa event happening every week (after week). When I look back I wonder why I did it. I was thinking I would make some money (no I didnt make any). But lady luck shined on me with lady love. I asked her “Why does a beautiful woman like you want to be with me”, She answered, “because you are the organizer, the leader”. Well I guess that was reason enough for me to continue doing what I did as a Organizer of the group.

But like all good things come to end, the energy required to keep the parties going were too much, as club owners bickered to us, Salsa dancing is a loss making proposition for them. They said “no one drinks much”. The final blow came to us when Bohemia shut down as consequence of a raid on a rave party happening there (not us).

I never made very good friends in the group, there was no one in the group I met outside our dancing meetups. But they became more like brothers, where a silent relationship with salsa music and salsa dance connected me to them. I love them without having to say so and they probably know about this. Also there are so many newbie boys and girls whose hands I have held and forcefully (bullied) them into dancing with each other. Seeing newcomers on the dance floor gives me a lot of JOY. I like to see them losing their inhibition and becoming one.

Madan Kumar:A few acheivements

“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to Salsa. That’s my best-selling T-shirt for women” laughs Abhishek Tiwari, 26, the founder and CEO of the one-of-a-kind T-shirt venture, Salsa Tees

Abhishek has an answer for everything. “I wanted something to define me as a dancer; to wear my dance attitude, if you will. When I began looking for such T-shirts, I found them to be very expensive – 1500 to 2000 rupees a piece. So I decided to make my own T-Shirts with funny captions. Initially, it was all for me. But when I got on the dance floor, everyone began asking, ‘Dude, where did you get that shirt? I want it too!’ That’s how my little idea became a busin

Not just a business, but a flourishing one at that. Abhishek says what helped him take off is “the big gap between demand and supply. People want such shirts – good designs at affordable prices but no one does them.”

“Tantra is very broad. They do a lot of things but my product is for dancers alone. It’s an outward expression of the art they love. It’s an additional way for us to bond, and a unique way for us to give back to the community.” In that Abhishek feels he doesn’t sell T-Shirts; he gives his clients a piece of themselves – a reflection of their art, a glimpse of their drive, a drop of their passion.”

“My designs!” Abhishek jumps at my question as if he had been waiting when it would come. “We offer the widest range of shirts. One of my most popular designs include, ‘In a relationship with Suzy Q’ – a very tough move to master in Salsa.”

Then there is ‘Salsa Man,’ a T-Shirt that unabashedly sports the Superman ‘S’. ‘Salsaholic’, ‘Salsa – Connecting People’ and ‘Certified Salseras!’ are all a part of Abhishek’s colorful portfolio, including my personal favourite, ‘It’s not a mistake, it’s a variation.’

“It’s hard to choose!” But after a pause, he says, “The Osama one! We had this shirt, ‘I wanna Salsa before the Americans kill me.’ It went out of stock when he was killed. Now we do a variant, ‘He did Salsa the night before he was killed.”

“You can create your own shirt and order online on our Facebook page. We also sell at special dance studios across India – Salsa India in Delhi, Danza de la Liga in Pune, and have other locations coming up.”

Salsa Tees will also have their own stall at the 6^th International Salsa Congress in Bangalore from 12^th-15^th August so look out for them.

It’s not every day you meet a young entrepreneur, who can run a business he’s deeply passionate about alongside a full-time job and its travel commitments. But Abhishek is full of energy and you can tell he and Salsa Tees will go places.

“Any last words?” I ask him.

With 39 swing dance flips in a minute, Salsa guru Lourd Vijay has set a new Guinness record. Indian Salsa guru Lourd Vijay has added one more feather to his cap — a Guinness World Record. The dancer (34) recently set a new record for the most number of swing dance flips in a minute, adding six more to the previous record of 33.

“I had no intention of breaking a record,” says the dancer, “I’m often in Mumbai to judge reality shows; I am also a talent scout. I was approached by the production company of Guinness in March to find someone who could break a record — there are many in dance such as rock and roll flips and hand hops. Surprisingly no one was willing to give it a shot.”

Vijay then decided to do it himself. He chose three of his dancers who would work with him on the record. “I needed girls who weren’t too tall or heavy. The ones I picked were from across the country and, therefore, we couldn’t start practising till everyone reached Mumbai about three days before we went on stage,” he explains.

Having introduced Salsa in 1997, Vijay has also been working to promote Latin culture music and dance in the country.

For this record, he says, mental preparation was important. “I have been doing Pilates for eight months and that helped me. The work-out focusses on core and upper body strength, which was necessary for the flips. On March 18, we reached Mumbai and practised for three days. We first saw how many flips we could do in a minute and then in 10 seconds. We reached 33 on the second day of practice and then became confident.”

And with 39 flips in a minute, the record was broken comfortably on the sets of Guinness World Records ‘Ab India Thodega’. “I didn’t think it was a big achievement till it was aired and people began to call to appreciate me. But now, it feels good to have done something like this,” he says.

Following this, Lourd Vijay is engaging in a host of activities this year — his dance studio’s Summer Festival Final, a tap dance workshop and an International Salsa Congress.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2009147.ece

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF DANCE

“Let’s say Salsa is a language. You first learn the alphabets then the words and then the basic rules of grammar. Then we teach you to form sentences to express yourself. And finally you learn to think in the language so that you can write your own story.” These are the words of Vineet Bangera who has recently co-founded The Dance Factory with Sahiba Sawhney. Dance cannot be learnt by rote as mere steps and it is this belief that has pushed them to set-up a company that aims at giving its students quality dance education. The Dance Factory is about creating artists and not just dancers. It’s about understanding music, communicating with dance, developing your personality and allowing your own personal style to emerge and therefore making dancers a complete package. While setting up dance classes in Mumbai is the first step, it’s far from the last. The Dance Factory will eventually launch apparels and products related to dance. But above these plans, Vineet and Sahiba want to make The Dance Factory into an institute that nurtures quality artists whose talent and skill are their own certificate in dance. The Dance Factory is also going to provide a platform to all talented dancers in the country to make a career of this art form. If you have the passion we will show you the way.

An engineer by qualification, technique and detailed understanding of the subject is a way of thinking for Vineet. A fashion designer by qualification, style and grace is Sahiba’s forte. Together they are technically sound, stylish, fast and precise. With deep love for music, they make sure that their students dance to the music and not on counts and therefore maintain a strong harmony between dance and music. The duo have been teaching salsa and dancing together for a decade now. They have taught and performed at various events in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa, Pune and Surat within India and in festivals across the globe including Istanbul, Antalya, Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Paris, Malaysia, Bangkok, Bali, Sydney, Dubai, Slovenia, Croatia.

The Dance Factory has started its first batch at Sparks Centre in Grant Road. Classes are conducted on Mondays and Thursdays (8-9pm Basics and 9-10pm Improvers). The first class was held on Thursday, 10^th February. To join the current batch, drop in on Monday, 12^th February. For further information call on (98200-**-TDF) i.e. 98200-97-833 or 98200-59-833.

The Dance Factory - Rethinking Dance….

Watch this video below of Vineet Bangera and Sahiba Sawhney at the II International Turkish Festival.