Are you getting tired of your daily routine of pumping weights and sweating it out on your treadmill to maintain a fabulously toned body? If yes, it is time to try something new to keep your body and mind fit and trim. From the ancient Afro-Brazilian Capoeira to the modern desi Bollybics, from the exotic pole dancing to the refreshing creative movement therapy; there are a whole new variety of fitness regimes on offer for urban India’s fitness freaks.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, games, music, and dance. Created by African slaves working on Brazilian plantations in the 16th century, today this game of acrobatic play is popular in many countries. The multiple aspects of Capoeira from the physical to the musical and to the cultural make it a sport that appeals to a wide segment. Besides sculpting your body to perfection it alerts your mind keeping you in a state of constant awareness of your surroundings.

“A Capoerista has the coordination of a dancer, the endurance of a runner and the beat of a drummer,” says Reza Massah, who is the first one in India to start training programmes in Capoeira.

Participants form a roda or circle, and take turns either playing musical instruments (such as the Berimbau), singing, or ritually sparring in pairs in the centre of the circle. The sparring is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Less frequently used techniques include elbow strikes, slaps, punches, and body throws. “It is a sport, a culture and philosophy,” says Massah, nicknamed Monitor Baba. According to the tradition, says Massah, all Capoeristas get nicknames.

A chef by profession, Massah left his job in Israel to train himself in Capoeira and returned to India a few years ago to teach this martial art dance. Between two training centres in Mumbai, there are close to 100 students learning Capoeira today. “From four to 40 anyone can join a Capoeira class,” says Massah. Besides students, working professionals some of his celebrity students include Reitesh Deshmukh and Rossa, Saif Ali Khan’s ex-girlfriend.

While Monitor Baba attracts the young and old, men and women from four to 40 years, Shillpa Rane, a Reebok certified fitness instructor and a pole-dancing instructor at Gold’s Gym in Mumbai, is helping “every day women” to “dare and bare” with her exotic dance programme. It consists of six levels and at each level Rane teaches different types of dances to women who are 18-year-old and above. A beginner level exotic dance workshop is inspired from pole-dancing, lap-dancing and strip tease performances. Don’t be misled by the connotations. It is neither striptease nor bar dancing. The focus is on the “tease” in “striptease” and the class has nothing to do with stripping.

“Exotic dancing is much more than ‘dancing sexy’. It is learning how to reach deep within yourself, find your own inner beauty and grace, and combine it into a sensual movement. The moves, exercises and tips are designed to help you find your own rhythm, style and grace regardless of whether you share your new skills with anyone else,” says Rane.

According to her the pre-requisite for the programme is “loads of enthusiasm and a chilled out attitude”. And the most important rule: men are not allowed and no photography permitted while the training is in progress. The dress code is essentially sexy gym wear (a comfortable sporty top and a pair of shorts) or sweat pants along with exercise shoes and platform heels/boots. Also you will need a feather boa (minx) as a prop along with a bottle of water.

After a safe warm-up you are taught simple exotic dance moves that any woman can quickly learn. Throughout the class, exercise adaptations are offered according to the level of fitness within the class, catering to varying abilities. Intensive stretching is also a part of the class.

Most of Rane’s students are the regular working women from Mumbai. But there are a few housewives as well. “They are well travelled and well read and therefore they are more open to something like this,” she says. However, five years ago when she returned from London after her training in exotic dancing, she did not dare to introduce it. She knew the women were not open to something like this. She was happy and comfortable teaching aerobics then.

It is close to two years since she started the exotic dance programme in Mumbai, and Rane is overwhelmed by the response. “Women of today are open-minded and I think they want to do something new and different every time.” At the same time she has come across a few of her students who have not told their family members about the exact nature of the fitness classes.

Most of Rane’s students primarily come for weight loss. “They want to look thin.” While it burns fat, a few exotic dance sessions also make the women shed their inhibitions and be comfortable with their body. “Any kind of dance will help you open up. It helps you destress,” promises Rane. And not everyone completes Rane’s all six exotic dance levels.

It is believed that dance by itself is uplifting and therefore any kind of dance will have a therapeutic effect on you. This is precisely the focus of Dilshad Patel, a dancer, instructor, therapist and wellness consultant based in Mumbai.

“I believe dance is therapeutic. Dance is the most fundamental of the arts involving direct expression through the body,” says Patel, who has also conducted holistic corporate wellness workshops for employees in Infosys, GE and Ashok Piramal Group.

Patel’s dance and movement therapy class takes you through an invigorating movement experience. Stabilising your core muscles and strengthening the body and mind from the ‘outside in’, the class builds self-awareness and health through correction of movement and posture.

Trained at the Harkness Dance Centre, New York in the field of dance and movement therapy, Patel’s focus is not to teach dance, but wellness. “I don’t stress on formal techniques, the class is not dance class, the class is about movement therapy, where structured class only enables them to get a broader movement repertoire.” “Music is the basis. Rhythm is the basis of what I do,” adds Patel.

The choice of fitness workouts with dance and music does not end here. Depending on your taste for music and dance forms you can either choose Masala Bhangra, an exercise dance routine that modernises the high-energy folk dance of Bhangra by blending traditional dance steps and the exhilaration of Bollywood (Hindi film) moves or just Bollybics (Bollywood plus aerobics), set to the Bollywood music and dance steps.

Pilates, a fitness system that teaches awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aims to strengthen the deep torso muscles; Zumba, which incorporates, moves from the tango, flamenco and belly dancing styles; kickboxing; and power yoga are some of the other programmes that attract the attention of the new age fitness freaks.

Interestingly, there is a whole new breed of trainers who want to harness the energy of dance and music to help people drop kilos and dump stress.

(With inputs from Shveta Bhagat)

rejijohn@mydigitalfc.com