Salsaaah!

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

It was the year 2000. The place, a Salsa bar in Japan. 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 practise their graceful moves, he found himself mimicking the steps.

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

Now, the Salsa India Dancing Company, which Kaytee set up in 2001, has six studios in Delhi, around 300 students, and 12 instructors trained by Kaytee. SIDC also conducts regular workshops around the country.

The next big event on the agenda is the Salsa India Fiesta this month, with renowned instructors from Singapore, Hong Kong and London participating.

It has been quite a journey for Kaytee who, at one stage, was undecided between his two passions -- dance and photography.

"I was into dancing from a very early age," says Kaytee. "But that was mainly hip-hop, which I picked up from watching MTV -- M C Hammer stuff."

The interest scales tilted 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 would much rather dance with an ordinary looking woman who is good at it, and who makes you look good, than with a pretty model who doesn't have a clue. Whether you are 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."

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."

Where you can learn salsa

~ Bangalore

Dance Studio Inc
4, Off Palace Cross Road
Chakravathy Layout

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 the last Wednesday of every month.

Trafalgar Chowk
Near Lilavati Hospital
Bandra West

Salsa nights on first Wednesday of the month.