With its boulevards, cobbled streets and a beach almost custom-fit for a city its size, Puducherry is known to be walker’s delight. But, this former French enclave is becoming just as famous for its rapidly-evolving stature as a learning hub for global dance forms.
This is the city to be in if you want to learn to shake a leg and gyrate to the rhythm of dance forms that have swept in from all corners of the world, from Latin American Tango and Salsa, to the more outlandish jigs such as the ‘Aqua Zumba’ or the ‘Vertical Dance’.
Adding home-grown spice to the melting pot of global dance cultures are Indian forms, ranging from classical Bharatanatyam to Bollywood moves.
In a way, the city which boasts a unique cultural crossover space as it has played second home to foreigners, predominantly French, is opening up to global dance forms now the way it embraced multiculturalism in music be it jazz, rock, fusion or hip-hop.
“We still have a long way to go to be able to offer quality lessons in Western dance forms,” says Fleur Soumer, who runs SITA (South India Traditional Arts), a three-year-old school that offers classes in French ballet, hiphop, tango, Bollywood and Bharatanatyam.
“Puducherry misses really good dancers except perhaps in Bharatanatyam and Odissi… but for Western dance, we are far apart from other cities and countries. To change this we need more teachers and professional teachers,” says Ms. Fleur, who is a trained ballet dancer — in fact, her teacher hails from the legendary opera house Opera National de Paris.
A product of the French ‘conservatoire’ system featuring schools specific for dance and music and with timings that help students learn dance in after-school hours, Ms. Fleur has infused into SITA’s classes her own experience at workshops with famous teachers in western ballet, modern jazz along with a teacher from Harlem Jazz ballet of New York, Russian dance and African dance.
SITA also has Bollywood and Bharatanatyam classes taught by Anandi Nicolas who has undergone training in France and Kerala and hiphop taught by Satish a Puducherry-based dance guru.
At La Casita, the ‘House of Latin American Art and Culture’ headed by Tibetan Kash Dolma Timmers, patrons can choose dance forms from Latin America, from regular Tango and Salsa classes to periodical workshops on Samba, Kizomba, Bachata, Rio Zouk and Merengue.
Ms. Kash began her dancing career with Salsa in Delhi with the Alpelatino Dance Company, and has since trained under different international experts, including her teacher Pedro from Venezuela. She teaches Salsa, Bollywood dance and instructs at the Zumba class, and gets dance experts for the workshops.
For many dance learners, these classes are a means to stay fit. This is especially true with many of the adult learners.
In fact, La Casita’s most popular class is Zumba, which though not a dance form, is a fitness routine based on Latin rhythms and dance. Capoeira, a Brazilian art form which combines fight, dance, rhythm and movement is also taught at La Casita.
“The Zumba class is filled with people who are there for the sole purpose of being fit,” says Kash.
La Casita introduces new forms through its workshops, including a series of Aqua Zumba and Acro-Yoga classes which was held recently. La Casita also takes registrations for vertical dance (a form of aerial dance which uses a harness and wall) classes in Auroville which are taken by Ms. Kash’s husband Romain Timmers, based on demand by patrons.
“Salsa especially has been picking up in Puducherry, but many people are also open to other dance workshops. We reach out to teachers who we would like to introduce their dance here,” says Ms. Kash.
“We would love to add more classes especially through regular sessions and not just through workshops, which while being a good way to initiate Pondicherrians on the basic routine of a dance form does not help gain a modicum of proficiency,” says Ms. Soumer.
