TWINKLE TOES: Rossa strikes a Capoeira pose; (Below) Reza Massah who introduced Capoeira in Mumbai plays on for his students Photographs by Gajanan Dudhalkar

Feel like shaking things up a little? How about dancing the Krump? That’s a frenetic, freeform Los Angeles street dance for those of you out there who aren’t already doing it. Or why not take up Capoeira, a two-in-one Brazilian blend of martial arts, games and dance. Closer home, you could get into Bollywood aerobics. Or else, there’s always salsa.

From teenagers to harried professionals and housewives, Indians are tapping out hot new dance steps as they seek to get fit and have some fun too. Says dancer Shiamak Davar: “From tap dancing to Capoeira, the fever has caught on. It’s great to see Indians embrace all forms of dance.”

Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s take a look at some of these moves:

Capoeira

This suburban Mumbai school is far removed from South America but the Afro-Brazilian beat that the youngsters are playing on the atabaque (large drum), pandeiro (large tambourine) and berimbau (an ancient single-string instrument) and their Portuguese songs soon whisk you to Brazil and the world of Capoeira.

This martial art — a synthesis of Brazilian dance and self-defence — was created by African slaves working on Brazilian plantations in the 16th century. They camouflaged self-defence moves as dance. In the last century, Capoeira was revived and caught on globally.

Now people in Mumbai are discovering Capoeira because of Reza Massah, who mastered it while running a cafeteria in Israel. “I was fascinated by it,” he says. Three years ago, he decided to return home to spread Capoeira here.

“I thought I’d take it to every gym. But most didn’t have the space,” he says. He started small with foreigners mainly. But gradually, Capoeira has grown in Mumbai and Massah now has around 50 students.

One for instance is Gaurav Pawar, nicknamed Mackaco or monkey — all Capoeiristas get nicknames — who now assists Massah. “I was an introvert, Capoeira changed my life — I’ve explored new places and got to know new people,” he says. Or take television host Rossa, Saif Ali Khan’s ex-girlfriend, who’s been learning it since January. She says, “You’ve got to be strong — mentally and physically —- to do it.”

Learning Capoeira means taking in a whole new culture, learning Portuguese songs and playing all three musical instruments as Massah’s students demonstrate. The singing is a preliminary though. After warm-up exercises, the students practise their Capoeira moves. First off there’s the cocorinha or basic swaying movement, then some roundhouse kicks and even headstands and handstands.

“Capoeira is a sport, a culture and philosophy. Like in the Roda so in life — if you fall, you get up and put yourself back together,” says Massah.

The Roda (pronounced ‘hoda’) or circle formed by the players is at the heart of Capoeira, who sing and play the instruments. Then, two players enter the circle and play a jogo or game, leaping, lunging and testing each other. The idea is to best, not hurt your opponent. New players enter the circle as others exit, and the pace picks up with the music.

A Bollybics session at Aanchal Gupta’s studio;

After three hours, Massah’s students are still revved up. “People come here stressed out. But once they start doing the Capoeira, they get energised,” he says.

That’s the experience of Parikshit Sadh, who first saw a character in video game Tekken 3 do the acrobatic martial art. But he only realised it was Capoeira after seeing Massah’s class. “I was awestruck. These people were doing what I’d seen in the video game,” he recounts.

Aparna Roy, too, is hooked and is quitting her brand manager job at Marico to travel to South America. Roy, also trained in karate and Bharatanatyam, says: “You get addicted. It’s a great combination of dance and martial arts.”

Krumping

Feeling super-energetic? Then how about Krumping? This high-energy street dance is for teenagers wanting to vent their angst. A hip-hop derivative, Krumping originated among underprivileged African-American kids in Los Angeles in 2005. In this mix of break-dancing and gymnastics, dancers gyrate their torsos and stomp their feet.

Krumping came to the fore when music video director David LaChappelle made a documentary, Rize, on it, and artistes like Missy Elliot and Black Eyed Peas featured it in their videos. And in last year’s Hollywood film Stomp the Yard, the protagonist was a Krump dancer.

Now, youngsters in India are Krumping under the self-taught Melvin Louis, who started classes at Aanchal Gupta’s Arts in Motion dance studio in Mumbai a few months ago.

Says Gupta: “This high-energy dance is focused on college kids. But we also get older people who want to do something fun to beat the stress.”

Adds Louis, 22, who doubles as an investment bank analyst, “It’s become so popular I’ve had to turn down students.”

In Krumping, dancers let their body flow free with moves like “popping and locking” — dancers thrusting their chests out and in. There’s also rapid rhythmic arm throwing and arm swinging.

“Krumping is a great stress-buster and it’s about expressing your own originality,” says Louis. He can’t transplant an LA street culture to a Mumbai studio but he has improvised. “We do Krumping choreography with a lot of freestyle moves,” he says.

Nishant Shah, a Class 9 student, who loves dancing, says: “With Krumping, you can do stunts.” Shubhranshu Gupta, a software engineer adds, “It’s a great workout.”

Interest in Krumping is growing “too fast for me”, says Louis. Davar too sent “one of my best dancers” to train with Dave Scott, the choreographer of Stomp the Yard, and will soon introduce Krumping classes.

Zumba

Shalini Bhargava at a Zumba session

How would you like to combine interval and resistance training with intoxicating Latin American rhythms? Well, try the Zumba, a dance-based workout set to salsa, merengue, reggaeton and hip-hop music, created by fitness trainer Beto Perez.

Says Shalini Bhargava, a certified Zumba instructor who runs JG’s Fitness Centre in Mumbai: “Zumba is a pure fitness form fused with Latin American dance. The music is so peppy that people love it.” Bursts of high-intensity steps like squats and lunges are followed by lower-intensity moves. “Hence you burn a lot of calories,” says Bhargava, who has interwoven some Bollywood moves to it.

Television actress Kavita Kapoor says, “I enjoy the beat and rhythm. You don’t feel you’re working out.” Adds college student Riddhi Sheth, “Zumba is about losing weight and having fun as well.”

Bollywood Aerobics

Salsa guru Kaytee Namgyal (left)

Anything Bollywood sells, especially its jhatka-laden dance. No wonder fitness workouts set to Bollywood music and dance steps have become popular. Gupta has a ‘Bollybics’ — Bollywood plus aerobics — class at Arts in Motion. The Body Gym in Salt Lake, Calcutta too has an aerobics class set to Bollywood music.

“Bollywood dancing is very popular. People identify with it as it’s fun and they also learn Bollywood dance steps,” says Gupta. Davar, who introduced jazz to Bollywood, has long included Bollywood jazz in his classes. “The course includes basic strength and flexibility training and isolations required to execute Bollywood moves,” he says.

Salsa

From metros to small-town India, Salsa has become fashionable today. It’s not just its sheer rhythm but its social aspect too is attracting people.

Salsa guru Kaytee Namgyal, whose Salsa India runs 16 studios across Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Pune, though warns: “Everyone wants to capitalise on Salsa but where’s the quality?” Yet, Namgyal is keen to expand Salsa’s reach and will have 30 studios by 2009. There’s a big fitness angle too. “Every muscle gets trained and dancers build cardio ability and flexibility,” he says.

So what are you waiting for — put on those dancing shoes!