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METRO WORKOUT

Hip hop and happiness

Photo: K. Ananthan

Dancing to a new beat At E 5 School of Dance

“From head to toe, your entire body, bones, muscles and joints are given a shaking up and you will enjoy it,” promises John De Britto. “And, if you have noticed most of the participants on ‘So you think you can dance’ display this dance style,” he adds.

“Oh! That is an incredible show; I’m a great fan of it. The participants there work magic with their dance movements. And, I know nothing about dance,” I tell him. “But five minutes of dancing is as good as 500 mts of running,” he convinces. And, I say yes for a date with hip hop at E5 School of Dance on Race Course Road.

The school is fizzing with energy. A bubbly bunch of kids are matching their steps to contemporary dance numbers and the proud parents are watching them clandestinely.

John gets talking about the American dance form. He says the trend is fast catching up and the upcoming heroes in Tamil movies are already shaking their body, the hip hop way. “Dance choreographers are waking up to this new trend and the popular numbers taxi taxi from Sakkarakatti and bhoom bhoom from Dhaam Dhoom, follow hip hop style,” John adds.

Balance is the buzzword. So, a normal BMI is an important criterion. “People who are overweight need to first reduce before they enrol. It is all about balancing your body swings, balancing the body with arms and rotating on the floor, diving, swinging and lifting the body, rotating the body like a windmill and so on,” he explains. To make the point clear, he brings in his team of efficient dancers to give a demo. And, it is mindboggling, especially the act of balancing the forehead on the floor. They make it look so effortless.

I start off with basic stretches and some contemporary dance movements, which form a part of the preparatory exercises. And follow it up the leg movement. When I begin to jig, I feel the weight of my body on the ankles. Now, there is knee movement too. “You should feel the pain on the ankles, and it is an indication that you are all set for the dance,” he smiles. Next, the hip. “It is simple. In your mind, just separate your hip from your body and add some grace to the movement,” he instructs.

It works wonders to your confidence level. “In a matter of 90 days you will feel the difference — a great body and a happy mind. All you need to learn is the balance and you’ll rock,” John tells me.

Another bit of information is that if you learn to master hip hop style (the most elegant of dance forms) jazz, rock, tap, pop, salsa, tango, folk, Indian classical dance…. everything is a cakewalk. I say ‘wow’ to it and add pace to my steps.

John can be contacted at 98947-29606.

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