Salsa king

From dance fiestas to corporate tie-ups, Kaytee Namgyal is doing everything he can to popularise salsa in India.

You don't know a thing about salsa, that much is obvious," said the dance trainer to the enthusiastic young man. "But what you do have is rhythm."

It was the year 2000, the place a Salsa Bar in Japan, and the young man was Kaytee Namgyal, who was in the country on vacation.

That day marked Kaytee's first encounter with salsa up close; he had walked into the bar, sat at a table and, watching experienced salseros practice their graceful moves, he found himself mimicking the steps.

"Something clicked, something I can't define," says the soft-spoken Kaytee as we sit in his south Delhi studio, "I knew it was for me."

Less than five years later, the Salsa India Dancing Company (SIDC), which Kaytee set up in 2001, has six studios in Delhi, around 300 students, 12 instructors trained by Kaytee himself, and conducts regular workshops around the country to popularise the dance.

The next big event on the agenda is the Salsa India Fiesta, which will be held in April, with renowned instructors from Singapore, Hong Kong and London participating.

It's been quite a journey for Kaytee who, at one stage, was undecided between his two passions "" dance and photography. But that was before the salsa bug bit.

"I was into dancing from a very early age," says Kaytee, who has a charming way of measuring his words very carefully, even when talking about the things that enthuse him; at such times his eyes, not his tone, betray the excitement.

"But that was mainly hip-hop, which I picked up from watching MTV "" M C Hammer stuff." His career in dance began when, as a class seven student in Darjeeling, he choreographed a few moves for a Teacher's Day performance.

Later, as a member of the Boy Scouts, he kept up the interest and, after moving to Delhi a decade ago, became a professional choreographer for colleges.

But there was a time, not so long ago, when Kaytee was putting all the money he earned from dance training into photography. "I was into portfolios to begin with, and later into street photography "" making brochures for NGOs and so on."

The interest scales tilted, however, with the visit to Japan and by the time Kaytee returned to India he was a man on a mission. "I started by promoting salsa in small clubs," he says. "I would go there on weekdays when there wasn't much of a crowd, make friends with disc jockeys and get them to play the odd salsa number."

The initial results weren't encouraging "" people would leave the dance floor when they heard the unfamiliar beats. But word of mouth helped and starting with the embassy crowd "" "people who had at least heard of salsa and weren't prejudiced against it" "" he gathered together a dedicated band of students.

What's so special about this dance form? "What salsa does," says Kaytee, "is help you not to distinguish between people.

You'd much rather dance with an ordinary-looking woman who's good at it, and who makes you look good, than with a pretty model who doesn't have a clue. Whether you're fat or thin, salsa makes you look and feel sexy."

As we sit talking, we are joined by two of Kaytee's students "" Shalu Chopra, an interior designer, and her husband Sunil. "It's addictive like you wouldn't believe," gushes Shalu.

"It helps with your fitness, it helps you bond and" "" nudging her husband "" "it teaches men a thing or two about how to deal with women".

Enough quotes for a day, one would think, but Shalu and Sunil have another anecdote that provides a sense, firsthand, of the effect salsa has on its practitioners.

"We had just ordered lunch at a restaurant and were arguing about how a particular step turns out," says Sunil, "so we left our table, went outside and started practising right there, while shocked waiters gawked at us."

One of the things Kaytee would like to do now is tie up with corporates to encourage salsa training in the workplace. "It has immense human-resource potential, which is being tapped in many countries around the world," says Kaytee.

"Salsa is a democratic dance that can help people at different levels of the corporate hierarchy to find common ground."

Clubs/ schools

Bangalore
Dance Studio Inc
4, Off Palace Cross Road, Chakravathy Layout
Teaches LA-style Salsa and Ruedo de Casino Classes every day

Delhi
Salsa India Dance Company
E-5, Greater Kailash-2 Enclave (main studio)

Mumbai
Starters & More,
Eros Cinema, Eros Building, Churchgate
(Salsa nights on last Wednesday of the month)

Trafalgar Chowk,
Near Leelavati Hospital, Bandra
(Salsa nights on first Wednesday of the month)