Boogie-woogie mania

Attending her first dance fitness class, Ambreen Haider was expecting some fun alongside an aerobic workout. Initially impressed by the finesse of her young dance instructor and the professionalism of his choreography, it was only later than she realised the physical benefits the routine was having on her. Along with the promised weight loss, Haider’s dance classes greatly improved her back problem, which had lead her to days of bed-rest with muscle relaxing injections previously.

Haider is a student of Hasan Rizvi, a major proponent of dance as a fitness form in Karachi. His studio the Bodybeat Recreational Centre, offers different classes ranging from pure dance to pure aerobics, and from breakdance to fat-torching programmes, all of which are structured to blend in and work together. Rizvi teaches a unification of Hip-hop, Latin and Bollywood dance that he calls ‘BodyBeat’, a new genre initiated by him. “It’s an excellent form of cardio workout,” he says.

Rizvi’s philosophy is that if one feels beautiful inside it vibrates outside, and this is exactly what his classes are for people; “an umbrella where people can vent, feel good, stay fit, and be healthy. Being a combination of different forms of workout it has the best of everything, it burns calories and increases your stamina, and all the while people are having a ball of a time,” he adds.

Furthermore, with the development of dance studios like BodyBeat, people are finding a platform where they can try out dance forms like Hip-hop, Salsa, Latin and that bastardised hybrid referred to as “Bollywood dance’’. Rizvi is overwhelmed by the response he has enjoyed in the last three years since he started plying his trade in Karachi, and is elated that Pakistan has embraced dance.

His vision is to help establish a respectable dance industry by 2013, with well trained dancers and choreographers, entitled to have a category purely for dance choreography in all awards. For enthusiasts like Rizvi, the mushrooming of dance studios opens new vistas for development in the field, even though more people are turning towards it for staying fit and losing weight, than out of the pure love of dance.

Though traditional dance forms and genres have long been practiced and appreciated in Pakistan, modern and international genres are still comparatively new and are just starting to be explored.  The most popular amongst them is Bollywood dance, no doubt due to easy-viewing Indian cinema that has for years taken the place of arts and cultural activities in Pakistan.

According to Joshinder Chagger, a dancer, actor and instructor who conducts Bollywood dance classes at the Actone Lounge, dance is the best form of exercise; “it has a lot of movement, weight training, and muscle training and it all comes in the natural course of choreography, and because it involves many hard moves, jumps and has a lot of moving around and following steps it is highly engaging, resultantly good for the muscles.” Moreover she thinks dance can have therapeutic effects too, as it helps a person get in touch with his/her body and releases tension. Compared to other types of exercise regime, people pursuing dance-fitness classes find it more enticing and less monotonous and are hence successful when it comes to sticking with it.

Saba Bilwani who has been taking Bodybeat classes for the past two years says, “Every month there is something new, something different, when I’m trying to walk or jog, time seems to stand still, but during my dance workout I keep wanting more.”

Fitness expert Samina Umer agrees, “Dance-fitness has more motivational compliance and people find it easier to stick to,” but she cautions that “there are certain moves like leg splits and jerky neck movements that can be dangerous if not done correctly but apart from that it’s as good as any other form of workout.”

Having taught at many dance studios in Karachi, including the Alliance Francais, Zeus is now a Unesco certified dancer, teacher and choreographer working in the Netherlands. He believes that Karachiites are very eager and easily adapt to new trends, and that is how they have embraced dance-fitness. “Dance allows for more freedom of expression more than any other form of exercise, it makes you feel lighter and the expanding flexibility leads to relaxed muscles while a livelier outlook makes you feel younger, leaving the mind stimulated for a new challenge.”

Apart from anything else, the main benefit that is drawing people towards dance-fitness is weight reduction. While jogging, swimming, aerobics, cycling and yoga have all had their day in Karachi, dance fitness is expanding like a juggernaut, gathering more fans and increasing in number. For while other exercises can help you with your vitality, and indeed, your vital statistics, few are likely to provide, like dance, a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2010.