Fit to dance-Mona

Forget aerobics and the treadmill, dance shows like Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dhikla Ja and hot Latin performers like Shakira have got people toning up and shedding kilos to the addictive beats of salsa and cha cha.

Salsa, in Spanish, means sauce. In Latin cuisine, it's what adds heat and flavour to food, and in dance it does that too, but here it is a sizzler that melts away unsightly folds. Salsa, mambo, cha cha, rumba and other Latin dances have shimmied their way into the lives of the masses, through TV dance reality shows, Bollywood sequences, music videos and of course performers like the super hot Shakira, whose hips not only do not lie, but tell whole stories. For the fiterati, salsa is a new road to a toned and graceful dancer's body and one that makes it worth replacing a pair of smelly Nikes for sexy stiletto sandals.

Dance, for the sake of dance, is always fun while exercise for its own sake rarely is, except for the die-hard athlete. But salsa, as the Cubans discovered before everybody else is a form of exercise that anyone can enjoy.  Shows like Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dhikla Ja, with their stories of untrained contestants losing oodles of weight while dancing their way into people's homes and hearts, have only fuelled the fire. One such contestant, actor director Mahesh Manjrekar, didn't even mind losing because he learned how to dance and lost seven kilos into the bargain.

Malaika Arora Khan, dancer and Nach Baliye 2 judge, explains the growing popularity of dance among people of all age groups and experience this way, "Dance is getting a new meaning now because of reality shows which have been reaching out to so many people and where they are inspired by celebrities dancing. As a judge on Nach Baliye 2, I have seen people with the most shaky wickets transform into beautiful dancers like Gauri and Yash who reached the finals. The changes in personality and their confidence levels were a delight to see."

Malaika herself admits she has incorporated many forms of dance, from Russian ballet and Bharatanatyam to jazz into her fitness regime. Dancing for her is "therapeutic. It is the best stress buster and a fabulous way of working out and keeping fit. It tones your body, increases your stamina and makes you light on your toes. Also, it is better suited to some people than jogging and aerobics because dancing to music is more enjoyable," she says.

This is exactly what actress Mona Singh, the unlikely winner of Jhalak Dikhla Ja discovered when she decided to give the show a shot despite having no dancing experience or background. Though her rival Shweta Salve was considered the superior dancer by the judges, the less experienced Mona's energy and attitude won the day and made her a total convert to dance. Just speaking about it gets her juices flowing.

"Even now I continue to dance, both salsa and jive every single day. Dance did a lot for me. It made me confident, it made me sit and walk straight and my body language improved. And what's really great is that I lost eight kilos during the show without it being a punishment.  I wasn't even dieting or going to the gym at the time. I would dance for two or three hours without looking at the clock," she says.

Because dances like salsa are enjoyable, it may be hard to believe that they are as effective in burning fat as aerobics, jogging, pilates or any other rigorous form of exercise if practised for about an hour at a time four to five times a week. A loss of anything between two to five kilos a month is about as much as any fitness trainer would be willing to promise at that rate, even with a careful diet, and this applies to dance too. Mona herself recommends her more moderate regimen — an hour or two of dancing three times a week and being a regular at Mumbai's salsa nights, where choreographers and dancers congregate for their weekly fix.

There is an undeniable social element to Latin dance. Though many in the Latin world claim salsa for their own, it is generally agreed that it is Afro-Cuban in origin, though it was New York that gave it the name salsa. It was sort of an umbrella word, to describe forms as varied as rumba, merengue, mambo and cha cha which have certain similarities whether of counts, pattern or moves, though they have each their own individuality and mood, as choreographer and dance teacher Sandip Sorparrkar would argue.

"The beauty of these forms is that each expresses an emotion — samba is a celebration, tango is passionate, rumba is romantic and cha cha is naughty. They are ways to express one's enjoyment of life and share that with someone else," he says.  The idea of sharing a dance with a partner rather than enjoying as a pure form like ballet or Kuchipudi is proving to be a big bonus for those who are willing to learn. In fact, one reason couples dancing has taken off, in dance pioneer Jaaved Jaaferi's opinion, is because of the clubbing culture and a more liberated social scene which has got more people dancing and even recognising its potential as a sort of "mating call," in his words.

"It is both a social and sexual thing. Men realised that it is a way to get close to a woman, in an officially acceptable way by asking her if she 'wants to rumba,'" says Jaaved though he is sceptical about its value as an exercise unless someone is willing to work very hard at it. Its most important benefits, he says, are that the dancer develops grace and coordination.  Whatever the motivation, people are more interested in couples dances than ever before. Latin and ballroom dance studios are sprouting up everywhere and those that have a name can barely keep up with the demand.

Sandip Sorparrkar observes that when he began his studio a few years ago, there were about five takers for couples dances. "Today we have about 400 people a day and there has been a spike in interest in recent months because of videos, films and TV shows. Even people who don't know rumba or samba by name recognise it and want to learn it from watching it." His most popular classes at the moment are salsa, jive and cha cha. Though most of his students don't come specifically for fitness, they could lose up to four to five kilos dancing four times a week, he says. But in his view, the benefits are even better than that. "When people dance together, they are able to share their moods and emotions with their partner. They open up, lose their shyness and become less inhibited."

He goes as far as to say that couples dances, like therapy, can improve relationships and solve problems, because they "help people rediscover their partners and see them with fresh eyes after taking them for granted for a long time." A married couple in their 50s fought their way through every class until Sandip told them to come in separate batches when the husband threatened to give it all up. About two months later, at a social gathering at his studio, husband and wife danced together for the first time. "It sparked something off in them,' recalls Sandip, "the husband told me he suddenly realised how beautiful his wife was and she was flushed and blushing." 

Over and over again, dancers and choreographers stress that one of dance's greatest gifts is a personality makeover. Malaika strongly believes that dance, when done with intensity, "changes the attitude of a person. When you dance well and get appreciated, you gain a sense of confidence. It adds another layer to your personality." Perhaps this sort of transformation comes with any form of exercise, because in each case, it is the person competing first against herself and her own body and its limitations, before enjoying the sweet, adrenalin fuelled intoxication of reaching a milestone, say running five kilometres or doing 50 push ups with ease. 

The high of a good workout is what gives birth to fitness freaks, and Aradhana Reddy, a Hyderabad based choreographer and dance instructor would add that the same is true of those who take to dancing. "People are drawn to a dance like salsa out of curiosity at first, but when you start it is like you've been bitten by a bug and the rash stays with you," says Aradhana who was herself bitten by that bug as a little child when she first learnt Latin dancing from her uncle. Her students range from college students to a young lawyer who would come to class at 7 am sharp without fail. She sees the transformation in her students, which goes far beyond getting into better shape and becoming more flexible, as a sort of blossoming. "One of my students, a boy, was sober and conservative until dance just opened him up. He started approaching people and talking more and he actually had more style. It completely boosted his confidence in himself."

There must be something to this claim. On the streets of Havana, where I was fortunate enough to spend two weeks some years ago, I saw people dancing everywhere — in little cafes with a live five-piece band or at impromptu outdoor neighbourhood parties to which everyone is invited. They did the salsa and rumba with abandon and skill, even children as young as three or four years old. They looked as though they loved life and each other. They were breathtakingly beautiful, and in the crowd of twirling, graceful bodies, hardly any one of them was flabby.

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