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.

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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.

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She ordered
And waited for her drink
When led, moved smoothly
Like a skater in the rink

When the music started
And upped the beat
Her magic moves
Turned on the heat

Twist, turns and drops
Our chemistry was unprecedented
Her passion was sizzling
First drops of rain on a roof cemented

If beats maketh a ‘music’
And moves maketh a ‘dance’
Wonder what
is this cryptic word ‘Romance’

Salsa, merengue, cha-cha
The music never would stop
The tempo was up
Our HIGH never took a DROP

I woke up in the morning
‘It’s a dream”, I thought as much
But my heart kept pounding
I could still feel the touch…

Sourced from: YK’s blog

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Have had a bad bout of cold cough n fever.. and have been feasting my eyes on some great dance movies..

I watched Dirty Dancing, Dirty Dancing Havana Nights, Dance With Me, Save the Last Dance, The Company, Centre Stage and Flashdance!!!… PHEW!!!!! It was awesome!

I somehow love dancing so much that I can dance non-stop for hours. and I’ve done it. Its exhilerating.

Once when I was down, somebody asked me "What is the one thing that
makes you feel life.. makes you feel ALIVE. and without thinking twice,
I blurted DANCING. Watching all these beautiful movies, I could not
stop gleefully smiling while the dances were being enjoyed. WOW written
all over my face.
I was once watching "The Next Karate Kid" and Mr. Miyagi, the spiritual
karate guru said "Never trust a spiritual guru who cannot dance". Its a
language of the body, its only natural.
Now Imagine that for someone like me in a place like Mumbai, there’s no place you can go salsa or ballroom.
I went ahead and learnt Standard Ballroom instead. I was soooo happy
once I knew how to dance. My whole group would meet twice a week for
‘practice’ And then came a stand still.. the class got over. We all
got busy with work and our own lives. Once again, I was back to just
imagining myself indulging in two-some forms of dancing only in my
dreams.

And then… Salsa meeups happened. It was such a relief. For all
those who want to dance, want to learn how to dance… there you go.
I read a quote once by Plato. It said "To sing well and to dance is to be well educated."
Somehow dancing has always held a sacred space in my heart. Once in
class, my ballroom instructor told us that Rumba traditionally was
danced as a prelude to lovemaking. Watching some of those dance moves
in Havana Nights has only made some of my notions on dancing stronger.
To me, dancing has been a beautiful connection between two bodies, two
minds and two souls; all at different times. Each connection has been
unique, and each more honest than the last, like an unspoken language
of the soul. So beautiful is that feeling that it is physically
difficult for me to stop dancing once I’ve started. Ever since I can
remember, I’ve felt this way. And now, after all these years I can
proudly say I’m a dancer. I forced my sister into dancing (she
absolutely loves me now for forcing her then) She’s now a proud
Bharatnatyam Graduate and can move her feet to any kind of dance form
now.

I hope to someday start teaching one or another form of dancing -
maybe salsa, maybe ballroom. Just the thought of it is enough to put me
in seventh heaven.
Another thought that comes to my head now is that if someone ever asks me how I would like to die – I would say While dancing

Ending with my favorite philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s quotes
"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star" &
"I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance."

Truly, I put this art form on the highest pedestal.

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This is the question i have often asked my self especially when i started dancing and teaching it. Incidently i started teaching dance before dancing. A lot of the people i come across with as a result of my profession also ask me the same question.. They say that they often get so involved in getting the moves right that they cant think of anything else. Others insist that though they have the moves right, it gets too mechanical ..

So what really is the secret of enjoying dancing ?? Is it in knowing all the moves ? Or dressing well ? Or going to the best studios, nightclubs or instructors ?

Well, no. While a certain level of proficiency with the actual moves is good, that only keeps us from not enjoying it. It, in no way ensures that we do!

Cut to some personal experiences. I have had the good fortune of dancing with some very diverse people. People from different backgrounds, people who do different things, from different countries, doctors, executives, students, architects, jouralists, home-makers, young, old, … all kinds. But what was very very surprising to me was that all these people had something common in them. They were all people.

With some of them we went out, some who we visited when they were sick, some with whom we had extended coffee sessions after every class, some who shared stories of their college, some who had valuable stuff to say about different careers. Again there was something common. Everyone had something to say and everyone made me feel a particular way. And no matter how hard i tried i couldnt shake the way i felt towards each one of them.

What i began to realise after a while was that the amount i enjoyed dancing with someone was directly proportional to the number of times i had coffee with them. And probably exponentially proportional each time they visited me or me, them.

I soon began to realise that i was at the mercy of so many people and it would dishearten me extremely if one or some of these people wouldnt come to the class for a while. It finally dawned on me that it wasnt dancing which i liked, but dancing with these people that i liked. Every month i would find newer and newer people with whom i liked to dance but "that" feeling would come back every time someone whom i knew for a long time would visit me and we would dance..

Knowing them for the people that they were and not how good they were as dancers automatically made me enjoy more with them. That really is the truth. Dancing is about proximity, connection, fun and enjoyment with PEOPLE.

What their lives are about, what bothers them, what makes them tick, are we part of their lives in some way and are they part of ours,.. the answers to some of these questions really will make us enjoy the dance a little more. Its really upto you now as to how much you wanna have fun … Also i am very very bad at all this people business, i know. I hardly bother about other people as much as they do about me. But im smart enough to know that these people are these only reason i enjoy dancing..

If it werent for the people around me, those specific people, dancing would never be the same..

Anand Majumdar is a teacher of Latin American, Standard Ballroom, Salsa, and Tango Dancing based out of Mumbai, India.
He is a also a DJ and Fashion and Portfolio photographer

Anand Majumdar

Mobile : +91-9820146788
www.anandmajumdar.com
anand_majumdar@hotmail.com

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During the process of learning Partner Dancing most people experience a variety of problems. Sometimes these difficulties and anatomy-based, sometimes attitude-based and also sometimes knowledge and skill-based

 

I am going to try and break down most of the common
difficulties experienced by students and I hope that life becomes
slightly easier

1. I could cram my entire history encyclopedia in one night, so what’s the problem? :

One of the biggest handicaps people suffer from (and
most of the time they don’t know that they do!!) is that they don’t
know HOW to learn. Learning itself requires some skill sets and it
isn’t the same as cramming data into one’s mind before a test

2. Why? :

Because in learning dance there are two kinds of
difficulties on would experience. The first would be the COMPREHENSION
level difficulty. What this means is that one is not able to understand
what is required of one in doing the dance. This is very easily
surpassed (most often). The second kind of difficulty is the
APPLICATION level difficulty, which means that having understood what
is required of us, we are not able to do it. Just understanding what we
need to do isn’t sufficient for us to be able to do it. Necessary yes,
sufficient no.

3. So how does one take care of this application – whatever – business? :

Practice. The ONLY parameter, which will bridge the
distance between understanding and application, is practice. Most
people aren’t able to do stuff because they do not devote time after
class practicing (remember me telling you “practice everyday for 15
minutes”). Over-confidence, Boredom, Lack of a partner, Tough schedules
(I mean I barely make it for class) are some of they reasons why most
people don’t practice. Too Bad. Don’t take classes if you can’t
practice. It’s wasting everyone’s time and your money. And this is
coming from an instructor. So I can’t be lying. I need your money
remember. One of the other reasons why people don’t practice is because
being over-enthusiastic they want to learn more without having devoted
enough time to the move at hand. Learning 5 moves well is better than
learning 15 not to well. So all the available time is spent in learning
more. I used to and even now sometimes do make this mistake.

4. Trust your instructor:

Trust your instructor. Trust your instructor. Trust
your instructor. Trust your instructor. Trust your instructor. I didn’t
copy-paste these. Typed each one of them. Your instructor knows what’s
best for you. Don’t pre-empt, don’t try to teach, don’t question
his/her plan for you. He/She understands your body, mental make-up,
schedule and likes-dislikes best. Hence He/She is best equipped to know
what you need, not you. Honest. But how do I know if the instructor is
a good one. Who recommended you to Him/Her? Your friends, family,
colleagues or other students who weren’t exactly your enemies, right?
Why did they do that? Because it helped them. The number of students
recommending him/her always determines the quality of an instructor and
how many of his/her intermediate and advanced class are filled to the
brim with students. Easy to con students to join the basic class, but
if your student comes back to do the next level that’s the litmus.
Still can’t find a great instructor? Well I’m one. Come to me. Contact
information below.

Anand Majumdar is a teacher of Latin American, Standard Ballroom, Salsa, and Tango Dancing based out of Mumbai, India.
He is a also a DJ and Fashion and Portfolio photographer

Anand Majumdar

Mobile : +91-9820146788
www.anandmajumdar.com
anand_majumdar@hotmail.com

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Please pardon my engineering reference to this most common problem. It’s about asking a woman for a dance and then escorting her off the floor back to her seat. Though I think that I am shooting myself in the foot by not running a workshop and charging you people for this information, I will still go ahead and do it. Its my way of trying to show how generous a person I am, which should coerce some dumb people reading it into thinking that I am a nice person and hence join my dance school.

The problem is more culture and history based than anything else. Indian women have been most often, by the society we live in, taught to be one, repressed about their sexuality and two, refuse overtures by men in public (I mean, what would your uncles and aunts say if they saw you behaving this way?!!). Consequently our women have, as much as we hate to accept it, been very cautious about flaunting and enjoying male attention at least in the view of 50 other people. Indian men too, most often are either overtly aggressive with women or would silently keep admiring her and not muster up the courage to tell her.

This results in the most common problem ever. Either the man can never be confident enough to “ask” the woman “himself” (I know this because of the innumerable number of times I force people to pair up at parties and that even amongst the most educated people I have met never has any man who doesn’t know another woman asked her to dance), or makes a complete ass of himself by overtly throwing himself on to women without having an inkling as to the fact that he is being shunned. The woman too either feels very awkward accepting an invitation or refuses it completely, which is the most embarrassing moment, EVEN for the woman.

Needless to say that complications about women and men getting possessive about their partners and hence not letting them dance with other partners is entirely another discussion

Hey, Hey we got the problem…Now tell us the solution!

Sorry, was getting to that.

1. The first step is for both man and lady to understand clearly as to what is it that they are doing. It is only a dance, nothing more, nothing less. The woman needs to understand that a man asking her for a dance is not asking her to have sex with him and the man needs to know that a woman agreeing to dance is not agreeing to have sex with him. Or vice versa! That not agreeing to dance is not, not agreeing to have sex with him ?! It’s just a dance, lasts for about 4 minutes at most, and that’s it.

2. Start at home. I don’t mean that you should start dialing numbers and asking people to dance from home, but trying to look a little presentable before reaching the venue. By presentable I mean, if you must have body odor then keep it down to a bears’ rather than a skunks’. And if you must wear that amazing yellow suit with the purple shirt, the least you could do is wear correctly coordinated accessories … I mean like a red tie and white shoes. Don’t forget the pink felt hat. Remember that people always fall for people with that clean and well-dressed suave look. Soon you will have people hovering around you dying to get to know you. After all you are a colorful person!

3. It also doesn’t mean that I am asking you to start dancing with someone strange the moment you enter the room. Start easy. That is achieved by spending some time in a dancing school (maybe, like mine) and paying for a few lessons and actually attending them so some faces at the party do ring a bell. Faces, that you have seen more than once so that you could easily speak to them. Try selecting the batch with most men in it. Don’t know why but most women would remember you, relating you to some hunky dude who did class with you. (Hey, remember he is from Bhavik’s batch!). To reach that hunk they may even speak to you! You lucky coyote, you! There’s your chance to ask!

4. Jokes apart, the best way to break the ice with one woman is to dance with another. Sounds ridiculous but dancing makes you visible, makes you confident, shows that you can dance (here’s where the lessons come to use, thank me!), and tells the women watching you that there is actually some woman out there who is willing to trust you. Trust me if many women see even one woman trusting you, it speaks a lot for you. And like bulleted point 3, pick on someone you know, someone who you went to class with, someone who you know will not refuse

5. Dancing on the floor also gives you two other advantages. Since you are moving its gives you a better view of the room so you get to see all the people you know and them talking to all the people you don’t! Secondly it also allows you to smile at other people dancing close to you or those you bump into on the floor. Just happens easier than sitting on a table and grinning ear to ear at someone ten blocks away.

6. Bond with other men. This ensures that after a friend finishes a dance with a woman you don’t know, he will recommend you to her and probably even bring you two together. This ensures the two of you get to know each other and dance without the obvious mammoth task of walking up to her and asking her. Do this for your friend too with all the women you know. Help other people out too, if you are looking for help yourself. Trust me, many women I know would prefer to be rather “forced” into the dance with someone strange than be asked directly by him.

7. The actual process of asking someone to dance is however the most excruciating. Its simply a matter of converting that smile on the floor with someone, converting that friend you know who is talking to someone you don’t, or converting your visibility and attractiveness, into a conversation. While “May I have this dance with you?” in our cultural context sometimes would seem odd other phrases might work…

“Wow, you are great … Umm I don’t think I am as good as you … I don’t think I can ever dance with you…” Trust me, nobody replies with “You are right, you cant.”

“Hey we did the samba differently … how did you learn it with leads?”

“Didn’t you come for the workshops that happened in December?” Which should tell you to go for every event that you are invited for.

Look, its not about a specific phrase or line. It’s about timing. And it’s about putting yourself at that place. And its about what’s appropriate and when. And the ONLY way you will learn to perfect it is by the Trial and error technique. And very often if you are careful and sensitive you wont make an error.

8. The other most common problem that men face is walking the woman back to their seats. Till not too long back even I, was guilty of committing this mistake, though my reasons were different. I would just dump the woman after the dance on the floor and walk away, leaving her to fend for herself and find her way back, because being a teacher I would not look at her as a woman. I would look at her as a student. And coupled with the fact that my objective was to ensure the party was a success and that everybody was having fun, it took my attention away from the dance I was dancing. The mistake I made was that I stopped looking, and hence treating, the lady like a lady. Most men suffer from this. We don’t treat the lady like a lady not because we don’t want to, but more because we don’t realize that we are not. 9 of 10 men would not know that the lady needs to be escorted back to her seat after the dance and not just left there. Therefore this article now targets only the 10 % who do know it. It’s embarrassing to stop dancing and walk the lady back even if that’s the right thing to do. Try it.

9. The way to circumvent it is to anticipate when the song will end. About 30-45 seconds before the song ends, try doing only the basic movement of a dance with the lady. This ensures that your mouth is closest to her ear and that you guys can then talk. While talking you are not only taking the awkwardness of silence away, you are also deciding the next course of action. Could be a drink of water, could be another dance, could be guiding her to the washroom or even taking her to introduce her to a friend of yours near the floor who is waiting for a dance. Whatever the next step is, the important thing is that after the dance is over you are not caught off guard and fumbling to decide what to do. If no obvious course of action is decided then an over-emphatic bow and vote of thanks after the dance and a deliberate guiding of the lady’s arm back to h
er seat in the most overt fashion also sometimes works. Both you, the lady and the people around you know that the bow and guide is an act and you are mocking the gentlemanly gesture that you see in movies… but hey it achieves your purpose. They don’t see you sweat.

10. Ladies, please please ask the men to dance with you. It’s allowed! Yes, it’s perfectly fine for the lady to ask the man to dance. And guess what, the men love it! The advantage you derive is that you are just not sitting around waiting to be asked and most of all; YOU get to choose who you want to dance with. However be sensitive not to ignore some men while giving attention to only those you like. Also be prepared to handle overtures that may result from the man mis-understanding your asking him to dance for sex-at-midnight. (Sorry gentlemen, had to do this … happens all the time).

You know I could go on about this forever and ever, but to be kind to your bladders I will at this point terminate this thesis.

I believe in simplistic stuff and would like to come back to the most obvious language that people around the world understand, the language of love. Partner dancing is just one of those ways to express that love. It’s about enjoying, helping someone enjoy, and finally enjoying together with that person. It’s about care, affection and above all gentleness. And it is this gentleness that must come through in all your actions on the floor and off it. Don’t go by the book; don’t go by what I say. If you find yourself to be in a situation which demands you to be in a way contrary to what I may have said, and if that is what your heart feels is right … just go ahead and do it. You wont be wrong.

Anand Majumdar is a teacher of Latin American, Standard Ballroom, Salsa, and Tango Dancing based out of Mumbai, India.
He is a also a DJ and Fashion and Portfolio photographer

Anand Majumdar

Mobile : +91-9820146788
www.anandmajumdar.com
anand_majumdar@hotmail.com

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My experience of learning dance, actually dancing and teaching dance has given me some very simplistic but valuable inputs … and very often these are not just limited to the dance floor but can more often than not be applied to life itself.

I
have learned most of what I am going to speak about by the trial and
error technique…while some lessons have been easy some others have
been…well, expensive. And it is these simple but important truths,
which I shall try to share with you …(Lets leave the mechanics of
spinning and contra body positions for the experts)

"I want to be a great dancer who is sought-after by others dancers"

I mean how wrong could you go with this one.
Everybody wants to be this. Including Me. I have witnessed some very
average-looking people being really in demand and it isn’t always
because of their charming personalities. So lets actually try to see as
to what constitutes a great dancer. I have always asked my self this
question and the answer I have got is this…lets imagine a man who is
excellent with timing, moves and does everything by the book. In fact
very often he desires so much that the spotlight shine on him that he
very callously forgets that there may be a timid and not-so-experienced
dancer in his arms. He is excellent on his own but his partner doesn’t
feel good in his arms…

Would she come back to have another dance with him… I
don’t know…because everybody essentially wants to look and feel good
out there…and she DIDN’T feel good the last time she danced with him.
On the other hand we could have an inexperienced, off-time and
technically BAD dancer who essentially does nothing well apart from
being a little sensitized to you and hence make u feel like a million
bucks. The partner couldn’t care if his free arm-styling was good
enough to make him win the world Latin championship as long as when his
free arm went back to her shoulder-blade, it gently caressed her and
his nails didn’t sink into her skin.

Simple. You are dancing to give pleasure to both
yourself and your partner. Your partner is the more important person
here because if your partner isn’t enjoying it…trust me you wont enjoy
it for too long…or even better you may not be there for too long. You
are not there to look good by yourself…you are there to look good as a
team…Good dancing and a good dancer is not about how great you fared in
your bronze level class championship …but how wanted and important you
can make your partner feel on the floor…After that…dance the bolero on
flamenco music for all I care…you are home

Practical Tips on Applying all this:

You know all that lecturing and all that was fine,
but tell me what to ‘DO’? … Is that all you wanted to know? Sure here
it is…(a lot of the stuff I will mention here I haven’t found in
reference articles at times but I feel they are very important)

• Lets start of with one, getting your partners name
right (elementary Watson it might seem) … cant tell you how many people
have danced over three dances with the same person and then called them
by their friend’s sister’s pet armadillo’s name. I have done it too
• Make no references about your partners body … Most people are
generally uncomfortable about conversations about their body especially
before and after they are going to be touched by you…
• Dance Floor = 1000 square feet; Partners feet = 0.5 square feet … The
disparity in numbers is completely misleading … the chances of stepping
on your partners toes is much more than you can imagine despite the
fact that they occupy a negligible amount of area of the full floor
• Did I bother asking you whether you like a particular move or not? Or
did I bother asking you whether you had a drink or not? Or did I bother
finding out what i should or not do? Did I bother talking to you?!
• Ok so your partner danced really badly…Well, if she was really that
bad then the least you could have done while leaving the floor was tell
her that she was amazing and that you would love to dance really soon
with her…and ACTUALLY go back and dance with her…and this isn’t a
typo…see what a statement like that did to a dancer like me. Two
benefits of this …1.she loves you for it because she KNOWS she cant
dance that well and 2.You get better …cant explain why…but its always
easier to dance with someone good
• Thousands of articles on hygiene…body odor, mouth odor, under-arm
odor, sweat, palm odor, odor-where-you-didn’t-think-it-would-exist
odor, the works …And you don’t need a sex and relationships magazine to
tell you what to do about it.
• Well, there is also the mechanics of compensation but like I said
lets leave that for a later time. Just remember that if your partner is
as tall as your friendly neighborhood supermodel then leave your classy
Japanese lady footwork at home.

Anand Majumdar is a teacher of Latin American, Standard Ballroom, Salsa, and Tango Dancing based out of Mumbai, India.
He is a also a DJ and Fashion and Portfolio photographer

Anand Majumdar

Mobile : +91-9820146788
www.anandmajumdar.com
anand_majumdar@hotmail.com

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