SHIAMAK’S DANCE WORKSHOP — A FUN WAY TO FITNESS
Miral Durlabji and Tanishka Khan, instructors with Shaimak Davar’s International have a passion for dance and their enthusiasm is infectious. “Have fun and just keep smiling,” were the simple instructions that they gave the participants at the dance workshop, organised as a part of the Hindustan Times Fitter Mumbai initiative at the Integral Studio, Lower Parel.
The participants were first made to go through 20 minutes of ‘dance-ercise’ as a warm up and to “make their bodies leaner, stronger and fitter”. They grooved to popular Bollywood hits and seemed to forget that this was actually a form of exercise. As Miral rightly pointed out, “You don’t even realize that you are doing a complete workout with aerobics, isolations and body toning.”
This was followed by the actual choreography and learning the steps. For this particular workshop, the instructors taught Bollywood Jazz. Miral explains the best part about this dance form, she says, “Bollywood music is something that everyone is familiar with it and can relate to.”
Jennifer Lobo and Ritu Jaiswal, both IT professionals, who participated in the workshop agreed, “After the session we are feeling very energetic and are considering enrolling for Shiamak’s regular class, so thanks to Hindustan Times for introducing this style of workout to us,” they said.
Shiamak’s classes have students from the ages of four to 84 and he believes, “Dancing enables physical development, emotional maturity, social awareness and cognitive development. It is a natural method for learning and a basic form of cultural expression. Which is why I have initiated the Shiamak Dance Education, to bring dance into the mainstream curriculum of schools.”