Welcome to the world of Social Dancing…..
Want to learn Latin &Ballroom dancing well you are not alone. There is a wave of interest which is reaching a new high with Bollywood movies bringing in world music to commercial cinema. The trend is definitely international and what with movies addicted audience wanting to learn everything the stars do on screen, there is a huge surge of interested people wanting to learn these international social dance forms & styles.
I have been teaching various Social dance styles for a decade or so and I can clearly see a shift from typical jhatka matka dancing in the movies to a plethora of international dance styles of different countries. The interested student wants to explore and is ready to learn these different styles of dancing and adapt an attitude to suit it too. I must thank our movies for this as I have myself encountered various people who had no idea about the dances I taught and have innocently albeit ignorantly asked whether ballroom dancing has anything to do with a ball… Such was the interest in these styles a few years back where only a select few couples would come to learn maybe to dance during Christmas and New Year parties or on a wedding occasion. Well now the scenario is radically shifting with husbands wanting top learn to tango or a waltz to surprise the wife, a mother wanting to pair up with her son and daughter and learn the social graces which are very much a compulsory syllabus if you are learning ballroom dancing.Infact its very necessary that you check whether you are also taught dance floor manners by the teacher you plan to learn from as that would hold one in good stead throughout one’s life in every aspect of their lives whether its social behavior,posture or simply better body alignment as its very important to teach holistically incorporating self awareness.
Nowadays there are a number of children and young couples wanting to learn innovative steps like the salsa dips and tricks or the evergreen jive just for fun. Then there are the professionals who have stressed out lives and want to seriously connect with their partners over the weekend learning a new skill together and try to get back the good old times with a jig on the ballroom dance floor.
Whatever the reason, it’s really inspiring to teach such enthusiastic learners and the more they are the merrier it is on the dance floor. Also one gets to learn new styles just by observing different people move differently to the same steps and patterns as per their individual ideas of styles. It’s been a fantastic time for me so far finding myself in the midst of it all and learning to evolve over the years and clearly its getting better with the years passing by .And with Bollywood films going truly international in dance styling there is a positive trend in it with more students interested in learning these styles at my dance class….. The going is definitely getting better!!!……
Savvy
danceconcepts@rediffmail.com
