500 Days of SALSA!!

I have a secret. I have had a debilitating phobia throughout my life. I may have done a number of brave things in life, but I have always been afraid, no, terrified of the very notion of dancing. Jump out of a flying plane at 11,000 feet? No problem. Perform on stage in front of thousands? Been there and done that in style. Shake a leg? God save my soul!! My default reaction to the topic of dance has always been to physically take a step back.

All that went for a toss one late evening, in the second half of July 2013. I was having coffee with a friend, who in the course of a free-flowing discussion, expressed her intention to learn to dance salsa, and that she needed a partner. As always, the mention of dance triggered a 'fight-or-flight' response within me, but for some reason, I chose the 'fight' option that night. Maybe it was the cold night air, maybe it was her pleasant company or maybe I was feeling particularly brave in the 'face-your-fear' kind of way. Perhaps my brain had resigned itself to the inevitable, after 3 years of half-baked promises to myself, that only ended in secretly following all dance studios in Pune. Nevertheless, something just fell in place, and thus kicked off a new chapter of my life that has proven to be quite the adventure, and changed me in many ways, some good, some arguably not-so-good, but most of them quite irreversible!

Today, I celebrate 500 days of salsa.

I celebrate the first time I stepped into the studio for my Salsa Level 1 batch.

I celebrate learning a new art form absolutely from scratch. and really, really struggling with it.

I celebrate not giving up when others did, and reaching a bare minimum level of proficiency at it.
I celebrate my instructors who put up with my obnoxious level of attention to detail and tendency to break down and analyze every single thing.

I celebrate experiencing the rush of a new obsession, and falling head-over-heels in love with the music, history and language.

I celebrate 4 international dance congresses and countless socials, where I made tons of new friends and shared numerous beautiful moments.

I celebrate my first on-stage dance performance (after kindergarten!) at an international salsa festival.

I celebrate 500 days of facing my fear and coming out on top (most of the time, at least!).

I celebrate working hard and getting better continuously, to a point where I can now inspire other people. I am humbled and honoured to be able to give back, in any small way I can.

I celebrate a studio that feels like my second home and a mad, mad gang of people who are practically my extended family now.

I celebrate going for dance lessons, and returning with life lessons.
I celebrate that I have broken through the glass ceiling, and that I will continue to work hard and grow at a brisk pace in the days to come.

I celebrate this serenity that I feel within me since the last few weeks whenever I step on the dance floor, because I no longer dance to face my fears, for there are none left.

I celebrate that I now dance for the joy of unbounded expression through being one with the music.

I celebrate that dancing gives me the same indescribable feeling inside my heart, that playing guitar does.

Today, I celebrate my next 500 days of salsa. The journey has only begun!

Love-n-luck,

Av

In today's faking news....

Two renegade dance instructors invent new dance form

Pune, 21st March 2014

Until recently, Latin dance in India has been an underground movement, only gaining mainstream traction in the last couple of years. In what is coming to be seen an a defining moment in this process, two amateur dance instructors from Pune have developed what they are claiming is the ultimate Latin dance form that will make Latin dancing more accessible to everyone.

Dikur 'Taller-Than-Thou' Anvekar and Kruti 'Pinocchio' Sulkarni are trainee Latin dance instructors at the Danda Deke Le Lega school of dance in Pune. Through an on-going collaboration over the last several months, even before blossoming into full-fledged instructors, the duo have conceived and developed a new dance form that they have christened as 'Merezumboogachangachachatalsa'. Kruti explains, 'Both of us loved dancing with each other, but it was very hard. Dikur would want to dance something else other than what I was in the mood for. So it was only natural that we started evolving an all-encompassing dance-form that allowed us both to dance together. Merezumboogachangachachatalsa draws upon the elements from all the dance forms we know. In this day and age of political correctness, everyone has a right to want to dance a non-judgemental, non-discriminatory dance form that is unbiased and accommodating by its very nature. This was exactly what we had at the foremost of our minds while creating it, because the main...".

"Yes, yes, equality FTW.", Dikur interjects, rolling his eyes. "By the way, although it might sound derivative of various pre-existing Latin dance forms, Merezumboogachangachachatalsa is infact an original concept due to the amalgamation of the styles. Chaos in order, order in chaos", he expounds, in a spouting of yet another one of the wise-sounding, philosophical but meaningless statements that we are told Dikur frequently utters. "During our instructor training, we were exposed to a variety of Latin dance styles, much against our objection that it would confuse us. But our instructor Koonruta 'Step-Step-Step' Sothadia insisted that it would broaden our hearts and lengthen our.... minds. Yes, minds it is.", says Dikur, giving a bit more perspective. "I guess mommy knows best", he adds absentmindedly, with a fond faraway look in his eyes.

But how is this sudden development being seen by their dancing seniors? The top bosses of Danda Deke Le Lega are full of praise for the upcoming dance prodigies. Shavin 'Quick-Quick-Slow' Bukla, Artistic Director and co-founder of the school says 'I couldn't be happier. This will enable us to open up the system, bring in fresh blood and create women empowerment. Not to mention the new simplified time-tables. No more keeping track of batch timings for salsa, bachata, boogaloo, zumba etc. Now every batch is a Merezumboogachangachachatalsa batch!" The managing Director and co-founder of the school, Parti 'Never-Seen' Andey, could not be contacted for comment. We are told this is a common phenomenon and that half the current staff has never met her in person, due to her work commitments with management of tight-fitting fibers. We don't exactly understand what that means either, but it is heartening to see young talent in the country not only dare to try something original, but also get applauded for it. We wish these two foot-tappers all the very best!


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Apologies to anyone outside the select circle of people who can understand what this was about! The next post shall bring things back to normalcy, or whatever passes for normalcy around here :P

Luv-n-luck,
Av