dancing to lose weight and build stamina

Say hello to 'dancercise' - dancing to lose weight and build stamina - which is catching on among young professionals and students who don't get the time to hit the gym or do early morning exercise.

Shraddha Poddar, an animation student, says, "I wanted to lose weight, but did not want to lock myself up in a gym doing repetitive exercises. That's when I decided to sign up for dance classes. I loved the fact that I was losing weight while learning interesting dance forms."

People who come looking for these courses want to both learn dance and get in shape. Pallavi Bhatia, trainee mentor at Thumps Choreography, says, "Our clients specifically ask for courses that involve a lot of dance forms and still help them lose weight. We teach them twist, which works on the waist, salsa, which helps tone the hips, and even bhangra for stamina building."

Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts (SDIPA) also has a course dedicated to dancercise. Deepika Mathur from SDIPA says, "This batch sees participation from a lot of college students and young professionals. We teach them various dance forms like Bollywood jazz, salsa, modern contemporary, disco and rock 'n' roll."

"Joining these dance classes is more about de-stressing and utilizing my free time in the most fun manner," says Sunanda Poduwal, who works long hours in a CA firm and chose belly dancing to keep herself fit.

Nanda Kundu from Kiran Dance Rhythm echoes the same sentiment. She teaches jive and salsa to employees of various MNCs in their offices and at her studio. She says, "Gymming and aerobics are passé. Our clients are now looking at weight loss options which can deliver quick results. Jive has everyone sweating within two minutes, as it is a very high energy dance form."

Meher Malik from Banjara School of Dance teaches belly dancing to her Delhi clients. She says, "Belly dancing is a very interesting dance form, which helps with weight loss if practised seriously."