In step with the future

A social dancing class at a Mumbai venue before the lockdown put an end to such activities

Let's start by painting a snapshot of what a social-dancing class would look like before the pandemic. Place yourself on the rooftop of St Joseph's Convent International School in Bandra West for example, where the group Mumbai Jivesters would conduct these sessions. Imagine a batch of 15 couples dancing with gay abandon without any masks on, social distancing or sanitisation. Strangers would mingle with each other, interacting in between routines. And the entire atmosphere would be filled with a convivial sense of joy that's born out of a shared love for dancing.

All that's gone out of the window now, of course. The institutes that conducted physical dance classes were forced to re-evaluate their teaching modules after the lockdown, gradually adopting the virtual route. But this involved pros and cons. Would connectivity be a hassle? What about the logistics of conducting group classes? And most importantly, would it be possible to recreate the joie de vivre of people dancing together at a physical gathering?

Lillian Mendes conducts an online class

The answer to that last question, according to the experts we speak to, is a resounding no. "The fun is missing in our Zoom classes," confesses Lillian Mendes - who runs Dance Planet that teaches salsa, cha-cha, bachata, waltz and other forms in different Mumbai venues - while Marlon Almeida of Mumbai Jivesters chimes in with the same point of view. Both Almeida, whose teaching is focused on jive, and Mendes add that there is often a time lag on the Internet, which creates an issue since the music has to be on a certain count when it comes to dancing. Plus, paying equal attention to a group of people in an online class is difficult. That's why they both started classes for one couple only, so that the students don't feel shortchanged.

But this advent of classes for just one duo could only be limited to people living in the same household, given the restrictions that were in place. The advantage here is that the duos learn faster since the instructor's focus is squarely on them only, while Almedia adds that he restructured his teaching modules to send students pre-recorded videos of footwork techniques, which they are supposed to absorb as homework before the actual lesson.

Mendes, too, sends her students tutorial videos. But Vineet Bangera of Dance Central has gone a step ahead. The instructor who teaches urban, western and Latin dance forms including salsa says that he has actually treated the online medium as an opportunity to start a new chapter for his school. He tells us, "We went into complete reinvention mode when the lockdown started, since the concepts of social dancing and social distancing are diametrically opposite to each other. So I created a totally different module of teaching techniques, which has a structure that allows you to write down dance movements on paper before practising them. It's a technique that's based on language since dance has its own grammar to it."

He adds that he also built a system in his studio where even though a student is practising to a pre-recorded video, there is an instructor watching the moves thanks to a second camera. But what about starting actual classes again? While both Bangera and Mendes are adamant that they won't resume them till a vaccine is found and the pandemic is officially over, Almeida tells us that St Joseph's Convent has given him permission to start classes, with conditions, from October 15 since the city is now in unlock mode. "But I have a moral dilemma. On one hand, I don't want to compromise a person's safety. On the other, there are people who are more than willing to start physical classes again. So, should I deny their wishes?"

It's a question he will have to figure out for himself. But even if he does resume classes soon, the participants will be taking cautious steps. We will have to wait for the sort of gay abandon that was the norm earlier at the venue.

Get in touch

. Mumbai Jivesters
Call 9820344010

. Dance Planet
Call 9820358260

. Dance Central
Call 7045645632

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