Young Pakistanis have taken a fancy to salsa dancing and are hitting the dance floors at the few available outlets in the country to learn the Latin American jive.
ISLAMABAD: Young Pakistanis have taken a fancy to salsa dancing and are hitting the dance floors at the few available outlets in the country to learn the Latin American jive.
The six-week salsa jive courses are packed to capacity and students often have to book weeks in advance. There are advertisements on the internet inviting Pakistanis to learn salsa and Alliance Francaise too has launched three-month courses to teach the dance form.
In a country where any form of dance is not looked upon kindly, the rush at the dance studios is surprising.
Faisal Anwar, who launched one of the first dance lounges in Karachi, is upbeat with the response. Having learnt to jive in Britain, he decided to teach salsa in Karachi last year. Initially, the response was not heartening and he had pack up within six months.
However, his hard work produced three die-hard salsa dancers Hassan Danish, Hassan Amin and Hamza Awan who are now his instruction assistants and his partners.
Anwar has been luckier in his second innings. His new dance studio - Ultra Lounge opened just over a month ago and is a hot sell.
Yet Anwar has a problem maintaining the gender ratio. "I find more women interested in salsa than men. Since salsa is done in pairs, it is difficult to maintain the gender ratio," he said.
Asked why salsa has taken young Pakistanis by storm, Anwar's assistant Danish said, "I think salsa jive is for the local people. It is sort of manufactured for them. In this part of the world we usually don't like to move our bodies below our waist so this dance form is a hit with us. Without moving the lower part of the body, we get the feel of jiving and it also requires less practice."
It is not just the high society set that is taking to the dance floors. Actress and Dawn News channel host Ayesha Alam is also learning salsa.
"Salsa is good, clean and healthy fun. Moreover it helps you de-stress," she said.
It's not just Karachi which loves to salsa. Private clubs in Islamabad too are teaching salsa. Though the classes have a majority of foreign nationals, locals are also turning up to learn the Latin American dance.
Mahila Anwar Khan, a banker, was one of Anwar's first students who got completely hooked to jiving. "For me it's like a rejuvenation treatment or therapy I feel energized after the sessions," she told Newsline magazine.
Asghar Kazmi, an aerospace engineer, has enrolled for the course with his wife. "We haven't taken it up to work out. It's just an interesting activity to do and a fun way of getting to know more people."
Anwar has his plate full with 80 students enrolled for the beginner's six-week course. But he is not quite sure how many will graduate to the advanced course. "I think about 30 per cent of the students are passionate about dancing. The rest make up the ballroom dancing crowd or those who want to just hang out, socialise and may be de-stress," he said.
His students are aged between 24 and 32. "That is how it is abroad too. Professionals are willing to spend on these courses not teenyboppers who are more interested in hanging out at coffee joints."
Apart from conducting workshops at universities, Anwar also teaches dance at Alliance Francaise, which is offering three-month courses for Rs 2,500 a month.
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