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`Salsa is so rich'

Salsa dancers Lourd Vijay and Malik Roy are in perfect sync as they talk about dance styles and ways of kissing

PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

TWO TO TANGO Malik Roy and Lourd Vijay are bound by a passion for salsa

They are both from very diverse backgrounds — in country, culture, and even colour. Yet, they share the same passion for salsa. The dusky Lourd Vijay from Bangalore started dancing 10 years ago and is a name synonymous with salsa. The angular Roy from France is a math teacher and makes his students swirl gracefully to the intriguing salsa beats. He also naughtily punctuates his sentence with a wink instead of a full stop!

The two dancer-choreographers get together and tango with words, while SHILPA SEBASTIAN R. tunes in to their rhythm.

Lourd Vijay: Malik Roy sounds so Bengali!

Malik: Malik is a Moroccan name and Roy in French is pronounced `Khawn',which means king. Please speak something more fun.

Vijay: What brings you to India? Don't say Indian women because every Frenchman I come across says the same thing!

Malik: I'm a curious man and want to know the Indian way of life and the truth about their lives.

Vijay: Whom do you want to know better — men or women?

Malik: Both.

Vijay: Gosh, I didn't know you had that tendency! Have you met anyone interesting here?

Malik: Almost everyone I've met is interesting. Do you think I am interesting?

Vijay: Yes. When I first saw you I thought you were a serious man. All you asked me about was if your tickets were booked. How many times have you come here?

Malik: This is my second trip. I came back because of my promise to a guy. And also because of the passion Indians have for salsa. Do you want to come to France? But I can't pay for your tickets.

Vijay: That's okay. I'll come to meet your pretty friends.

Malik: Yessssss. French women are very pretty.

Vijay: How many days do you want me to come for?

Malik: You can see many pretty people in just a week.

Vijay: Do they salsa?

Malik: All girls do the salsa there.

Vijay: Yeah, salsa knows no boundaries or colours.

(How did the two guys meet?)

Malik: I sent him a mail.

Vijay: And I was thinking yours was yet another goofy mail from a guy named Malik Roy claiming to be French salsa instructor. So I took a really long time to reply back.

Malik: But when we met it was love at first sight!

Vijay: Be serious. Tell me how did you get to know about me?

Malik: Ever tried Google?

Vijay: When I first met you I wondered if you ever laughed at all.

Malik: That is because I need to get used to the new place, people and culture. So my first few days go by intense observation. And I can't speak instantly. I need time to open up.

Vijay: Do you believe in long-term relationship or as you travel, are your relationships and emotions are also short-term?

Malik: I can't control this fact about my life.

Vijay: Are you married? Like in (some societies) a man can have six wives, how is it back home?

Malik: I'm not married.

Vijay: Oh, so you've wives without marriage!

Malik: How do you know this?

Vijay: I have tantric powers.

Malik: Okay. But I like girls.

Vijay: So what's your funda to date a girl at a dance bar?

Malik: Ohhh! I have to just reach out and touch her first.

Vijay: Will that be through dance?

Malik: Not salsa but just dance. Maybe depending on music, hmmm... No may be zuuk dance as there is full contact with your dancer, it's intense and has a lot of emotions.

Vijay: Also include the mouth-to-mouth contact?

Malik: No.

Vijay: But you robbed the kiss from us, improvised it a bit and christened it French kiss.

Malik: Let's talk about salsa.

Vijay: OK. It has different styles — Cuban, L.A, New York and so on. Is there something called the French salsa?

Malik: Yes, there is.

Vijay: Do you add a French kiss and call it the French salsa?

Malik: OK, do you want me to show you now?

Vijay: No. No. Noooo ... (As the impish Frenchman leans towards him)

Malik: Do you have an Indian kiss for the Indian salsa?

Vijay: Did you know that the kiss was invented by Indians?

Malik: (Surprised) Nooooooo. I need to trust you?

Vijay: We have it documented in the Kamasutra.

Malik: So the first contact of the lips comes from India?

Vijay: (Very philosophically) The idea is to inhale the soul of the other person and exhale your life into him. For you it's very physical. But for us it's an intense, emotional, soulful act.

Malik: Yeah?! Oh, I didn't know that. Now I have a significant reason to come back often.

Vijay: How is it to run a dance school in France? Here it is really tough.

Malik: It is most easy to have a dance school there. But I like choreography and don't like to be on stage.

Vijay: Really? How do you choreograph or choose your music?

Malik: I have a guy who choreographs for me. And I prefer someone to compose the music for me as I feel very quickly bored. So I am always seeking new sensation, emotions, and knowledge by travelling around the world. What about you?

Vijay: I infuse a lot of Indian classical dances into my repertoire. Though we have a social dance culture like the folk dancers, funeral dancing and group dance, women still don't come out very strongly to dance.

Malik: But Indians are really good at salsa.

Vijay: We're a dramatic people. There has to be song, dance and drama in every part of our life, be it a wedding, movie or anything else. Why even our Bollywood films have so much of dance. But to make it big here one has to be savvy with marketing.

Malik: Back home you can make a living by dancing.

Vijay: Yes, I too make a living out of dance but it took me a long time.

Malik: Salsa is so rich in dance. One can never cease to learn dancing. Salsa borrows from various other forms. It has a strong African, Cuban and American influence in dance and music.

Vijay: Will you come back with some girls from France for the India International Salsa Congress in August in Bangalore this year?

Malik: Only if you promise to dance with them and let me choreograph without questioning?

Vijay: Deal!

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