Dance your heart out

HEALTHY option

It’s an art form that everyone loves to indulge in. Be it for fitness or just to learn something new, the people of the City are gradually being bitten by the ‘dancing bug’. Most people are taking to contemporary dancing because they want to try out a modern and unconventional form of exercise. 

According to them, dancing is fresh, creative and fun and helps boost one’s physical, psychological and mental well-being. “Mentally, it helps release stress while physically, it aids in weight loss, a better sense of balance, increased flexibility, increased muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness. Dancing helps in better co-ordination of different body parts and also strengthens them. It’s a great exercise for those who have sedentary jobs. It is also a great tool of self-expression and creativity,” says Richard David Tholoor, a popular dancer.

Anusha, from Tarantismo Creative Dance Company, says, “Dancing allows you to invent new forms, choose your own music and be experimental. When I’m dancing with my team,
we try to choreograph theme-based dances which enrich our creative side. Music too is a great inspiration and keeps us motivated. Dancing improves flexibility and strengthens muscles and is a harmless form of exercise.”

Zumba, which merges dance with aerobics, is emerging as one of the most popular forms of dance. Dianne CobbPennisi, a zumba dancer and trainer, says, “Zumba’s choreography incorporates hip-hop, soca, samba, salsa and and in India, we also include Bollywood and ‘bhangra’ dance forms. One can attend zumba classes everyday as it doesn’t require a resting period. Since it is mainly an aerobic workout, it helps one lose weight. The zumba toning programme also involves weight lifting but it is not as intense as a rigorous workout. The more you do zumba, the more fat you can lose.” 

Meant for people of all ages, zumba also has a type for people who have had injuries or have been inactive for sometime. Payal Gupta, a popular belly dancer, feels that every dance form has its own benefits.

“Belly dancing, for example, helps strengthen one’s abdominals, arms, upper back, hips and thighs and tones all major muscles of the body. It is also an ideal workout for pregnant women,” she says.

“Dancing has various purposes. But one of the challenges one can face while taking to dance is finding a dance class close to home. The distance sometimes demotivates people from opting for it,” she adds.