With her stylish moves and dizzying spins, Gosia Kulpa, a Latino dancer from Poland, left the audiences awestruck, who came from all across the globe to attend the India Fiesta Latina fest, held at Greater Noida this month.
It is Gosia’s third visit to the country and she is totally in love with the food, spices and above all the colourful attires worn by the people here. “I am dressed in these vibrant clothes because this country made me fall in love with them. Until I visited this country, I used to wear only black, grey and white apparels.
Four years ago when I told my Indian friends that I love their clothes, they made me buy some dresses. I think I am infected with these smart and colourful outfits now.” Carrying off jazzy outfits like these, make Gosia feel like a part of the country. Like clothes, Gosia is fond of spices too. "The food is not bland in India. There is so much variety that your palate can never satisfy. I like the meat that is cooked with spicy gravy. Your tastebuds actually get the flavour of different spices.”
As salsa has spread its roots in India too and has brought Gosia to the country, she says the popularity of Latino dances lies in the inherent joyousness, the friendships it generates on the dance floor and the free-flowing body language.
“Dances like the salsa and jazz are the social dances that can be danced anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to know your partner or his culture. You just dance without fear of being misunderstood despite the physical proximity and the diversity of partners,”
says Gosia.
Gosia started to learn dance at the age of eight and never thought of specialising in salsa. “Till the time I was in school I used to learn ballet. One day I went to a party and there for the first time I saw dancers performing salsa in front of the people. I was mesmerised by their dance and some gravity defying lifts. I asked the lady dancer whether she could teach me salsa and immediately joined her,” reminisces Gosia, who was moved to advance classes very soon owing to her grit and determination to learn the tough dance form.
Gosia is a trained dancer in ballet, modern jazz, contemporary and salsa. She runs her own dance school in Poland and a celeb in the dance fraternity globally. “There’s always an adrenaline rush whenever I am on stage. I enjoy my dance more when I see smiles on peoples faces when they see me dancing. And I am happy that people in India loved what I performed at the festival.”
