TWIST ‘N’ SHOUT: (From top) Lourd Vijay and his partner; a couple practise their steps; and Soparkar conducts a salsa class

It’s air-conditioned inside but Devraj Singh and his wife Anita are working up a sweat. The mirror-lined hall throws back images of the 40-something entrepreneur and lecturer couple as they lock glances and roll their hips. It’s saucy all right but there is nothing salacious about what they are up to — the Singhs are hot stepping to the sensual yet energetic Latin American dance form, the salsa, at a leading gym in Bhopal.

Celebrities such as Kajol and Viveik Oberoi are also in salsa mode. While the former has learnt the salsa and samba with ace dancer Sandip Soparkar, Oberoi has signed up with salsa guru Kaytee Namgyal, who runs the Salsa-India chain with branches in several cities. “We have conducted workshops on request from places as wide apart as Surat and Sikkim,” says Mumbai-based Vineet Bangera, operations manager for Salsa-India.

Be it sleepy state capitals, Mercedes-owning cities like Ludhiana, trading cities Surat and Indore, or the big metros, Indians are taking to the salsa for more reasons than just its form and energy — as an exercise that is more fun than gymming, as a stress buster and to find new friends.

“Salsa. The word itself is trendy and fashionable, so people are drawn by the sound of it,” says Kaytee Namgyal. “Salsa is more popular than say ballroom dancing, without any disrespect to the classical forms, because ballroom dancing is technically very structured. Salsa is your own interpretation of the music. You have to feel the music. Your body is the instrument for that kind of music. That’s why anyone can do the salsa.”

Salsa has suddenly found its place in the Indian dance lover’s must-do list. Movies such as Dance With Me and Dirty Dancing, TV shows such as Nach Baliye, Jhalak Dikh La Jaa, Dancing with the Stars and Ballroom Bootcamp and the swinging moves of Shakira have prompted swathes of people to become salseras and salseros, the female and male titles of salsa dancers.

Lourd Vijay is one such salsero. In Bangalore , the fleet-footed choreographer-instructor is preparing for the third Salsa India International Congress 2007. This kicks off on August 15 in the Garden City. The three-day meet will tee off on July 21 with preliminaries in Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Mysore and Mumbai, with international instructors, workshops, six-hour ‘bootcamp’ sessions for beginners and top cash prizes of Rs 3 lakh. There will be salsa DJs, paraphernalia such as shoes and merchandise such as t-shirts and caps.

Be it beginner, amateur or expert, salsa enthusiasts say the rising popularity of the dance form lies in its combination of sheer energy and sensuality. “Re-runs of old dance movies on TV as well as reality shows and salsa steps in Bollywood films attract newcomers constantly,” says Vijay.

And many of the enthusiasts are discovering that the salsa is not what they thought it was. “In India people don’t really know what it is,” says Vijay. “Shakira and Ricky Martin are Latin American musicians, they are not doing the salsa.” Adds Namgyal: “In Gurgaon, there was an advertisement saying ‘If you want a butt like Jennifer Lopez then join salsa’. The classroom was full!”

Vijay’s advice to newcom- ers is to learn Latin American dances such as the rhumba, samba, jive, cha cha cha and paso doble. “This will give you the grounding for all other dances. If you learn only the salsa, you will never be able to do any other dance form,” he says.

Quite a few dance lovers are doing just that — learning other forms before zeroing in on the salsa.

Damini Tiwari’s love for dance knows no classical barriers. The 22-year-old has learnt Bharatanatyam and signed up for kathak. When it comes to doing a salsa roll at the Studio’s weekend class, she is fluid. “I tried other dance forms such as jazz and then I took up salsa. I love the look, the body movement. It’s sexy and carefree. And it’s fun to dance with a partner. I want to be a professional salsa dancer.”

Despite the growing interest, Indians have to be familiarised with the salsa ethos, says Nicole Alvares, salsa instructor with Soparkar’s company, who partnered chef Sanjeev Kapoor in the Jhalak Dikh La Jaa TV show. Their opening act was a salsa number. “The most important challenge for Indians who want to dance the salsa is accepting it as a contact dance. People have to get over their inhibitions,” notes Alvares.

Soparkar says getting people to not do the “Madhuri (Dixit) jhatka” is the biggest test. On the plus side, the instructors say, there are plenty of “uncles and aunties” who come to learn the salsa. “What is nice,” says Vijay, “is that they feel they can come alone, without their friends or spouse.”

Most of the better known salsa studios have between 5,000 and 7,500 students across their various centres every month. Vijay, who was hooked to the salsa after seeing Patrick Swazye’s Dirty Dancing, says over the years the numbers of those enrolling for salsa lessons has increased steadily. In the past nine years he has seen 12,000 sign up for salsa. Since this year, 800 students have already taken their first classes while 36 corporate workshops have been held.

The options are many for enthusiasts and amateurs — private lessons to be had for Rs 1,500 an hour, batch lessons whose cost ranges between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500 per level (usually 12 lessons) and even group sessions for ‘ladies only’, companies and CEOs. The price tag, depending on the volume and expert status of instructor, can touch Rs 1 lakh per workshop.

There are a variety of salsa schools: Cuban, American (including New York and LA), Puerto Rican, to name a few. There is a dress code, too. Soparkar insists on proper clothes and shoes for dancing. “No bicycle shorts and no sneakers. I had to tell one of my star students that, yes, you have to wear chaddis. You don’t wear a sari to the gym, do you,” he asks. Bangera, however, feels that salsa can also be danced barefoot. “But at competition levels, you need 3.5' heels and suede-based shoes.”

At the Salsa Festival held by Namgyal’s Salsa-India earlier this year, instructors were flown in from the UK, Denmark, Poland and Amsterdam. Most international events hold workshops in the evenings, performances at night and social dancing during the course so that everyone gets a chance to dance with instructors.

At the forthcoming congress, instructors and dancers from various countries, including the US, China, Spain, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, have confirmed their participation. You may not see the Singhs from Bhopal there but be in no doubt that their love affair with the salsa continues. It’s the time for salsa.