Rare moves light up the dance floor

Fluid Styles

The couple danced with ease across the dance floor, hardly aware of the audience in front of them.

He lifted her and held her there before she fell into his arms. They continued these gymnastic moves until the music stopped and the applause got loud. The two dancers were Dotty and Pasty, from Holland and Hungary, who travel the world performing zouk, a traditional Brazilian dance, and are in the City for the week to perform at the India International Dance Congress (IIDC). 

This will be the third edition of the IIDC, which sees an increasing number of participants every year. 

The festival will begin today and will continue till July 13. According to John Anthony, the founder of the event, the aim of the event is to put India on the map when it comes to Latin dances. He says that this is a dance festival to bring the dance fraternity together. It is also a platform where international trainers can come together to share their knowledge with the dancers and participants. 

Participants will have the opportunity to learn from the world’s best performers including like Colombian salsa and tango experts, Gabriel and Zynthia. 

“Dancing runs in our veins and we learnt to dance by watching the people around us,” says Gabriel. They are expected to teach tango at the workshops. There will be a series of workshops, shows and competitions throughout the three days. 

Although salsa is expected to be the most popular form, Pasty thinks there is more to zouk than people realise. He says there is only one rhythm in salsa and hardly any room for improvisation. 

“Zouk provides more freedom and lets one to be more expressive. But people learn salsa only because it is popular.” He and Dotty say that people should watch them perform before they make up their minds. The press meet was attended by John Anthony, Dotty, Pasty, Gabriel and Zynthia and Dutch DJ Caesar. 

There will be variety of dancers and dance forms from Latin America like salsa, zouk, bachata, tango and cha-cha. The dancers who win at this congress will qualify to the World Salsa Championship, which will be hosted by India next year. It will be the first time a non-Latin country is hosting the championships. The festival will be held at Hotel Lalit Ashok. Visit iidc.co for details.