Students take Latin-American dance lessons at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Oct.17: Going by the popular idea that dancing acts as a stress buster, a weeklong workshop on Salsa is being organised at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB).

The dance workshop that also aims to boost extra-curricular activities in the institute began last evening.

The workshop is being conducted by city-based dance group Anu’s Dance Freak, and around 15 trainers from the group are imparting lessons in the Latin-American dance form.

About 55-odd pairs of students are busy in matching steps with the trainers.

Focusing on club-style Salsa, the moves involve a lot of legwork, waist isolations and shoulder shimmies. But, head of the dance group Anupam Nayak said the students were picking up the steps quite fast.

“It is quite surprising how quickly they are matching steps with the trainers. They are very sincere and putting in their best efforts,” said Nayak.

“By the time the workshop ends, they will be able to execute the steps in parties, and it will also help de-stress themselves,” said Nayak.

Nayak belongs to Puri and has been imparting lessons in international dance forms for over 10 years now.

During the two-hour dance sessions in the evening, the students are taught a number of typical Salsa steps such as cross body lead, open break, copa style and valentino. The training sessions are based on a mix of Bollywood songs and Cuban salsa music.

The enthusiasm to hit the dance floors is intense among the boys and the girls. “We are busy with academics throughout the year. So, there could be no better recreation than dancing. Moreover, we have students from all across the country in our institute so it gives us an opportunity to know each other,” said a dancer Niharika. She has teamed up with Suvendu.

For the students, the classes accompany a lot of fun and amusement. “We applaud our friends when they get their steps perfect. We also laugh and giggle when we topple on other couples for a wrong step,” said Roma, who teamed up with Andrews.