Having a ‘ball’ with the stars

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Ballroom dancing instructor Sandip Soparrkar on why Kajol and Dino Morea make for perfect pupils.

Kajol

• She came to me a few months ago and was very enthusiastic to learn Latin American dancing.
• Her movements were typically ‘Bollywood’. Latin dance has a backward movement of the hips unlike Bollywood thumkas. A different set of muscles are involved. It is tricky to learn. So it took her a while to unlearn the Bollywood moves. But she would rehearse her steps at home before she came to class.
• What started as a hobby for her has now become a passion. She dances for an hour, four times a week. She says, “I don’t mind cancelling anything for dance.”
• She is so full of life, that there’s a lot of excitement when she’s around. She keeps laughing and joking, so at times I have to ask her to keep quiet.
• At the same time she has an eye on perfection. She went around looking for the perfect suede shoes and the correct skirt for the sessions, something which the other students have yet to do.

Dino Morea

• From somebody who had no knowledge of the rumba and samba dance forms, Dino mastered them within seven to eight months whilst shooting for the film ‘Holiday’. He rehearsed for eight hours everyday.
• He is very observant  and would even question about how a toe should move. He would ask me to demonstrate it in slow motion. There were days when he would merely observe me taking classes. 
• Once he had a muscle pull in his shoulder while working out. But he insisted on putting ice and continuing with his rehearsals.
• Once during practice, his pants tore. Instead of going back home or changing he said, “Let’s go on and not waste time.” He is so chilled out.

In step with Sandip

• Is a German-trained ballroom dance teacher
• Was the technical director of the show ‘Jhalak Dikh La Jaa’
• Launched the Ballroom Studio in 1999
• Will train Indian participants in ballroom dancing in the Olympic Games 2008

As told to Farhana Farook