Daily Texan Online, By Anjli Mehta: In front of a wall of mirrors, about 15 people shake their hips and heads to the latest Bollywood songs, showing off the shoulder shake made popular by Bollywood/Hollywood fusion movies like “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Bride and Prejudice.” The dancers’ smiles sneak in after catching their breath in between dance moves that leave no limb behind. When the instructor laughs and calls out, “time to shake it,” it becomes clear that the Bollywood Shake dance studio’s workout class isn’t the average gym’s dance
class. Inspired by the popularity of the movie “Slumdog Millionaire,” UT alumna Ruchika Dias, 35, opened the Bollywood Shake studio in July of 2009. Dias, who started dancing when she was three years old, learned traditional Indian dance while growing up in India. In college, Dias joined Indian dance troupes, embracing more modern styles of dance like hip-hop and jazz, blurring the lines between dance genres. In 2009, Dias held her first Bollywood dance workshop in Austin, which incorporated a mixture of dance moves that reflected traditional Indian, hip-hop and jazz dance genres. “I was surprised when about 50 people signed up for the workshop and realized there was a demand for this style of dance class, so I started renting out dance studios by the hour to do two classes a week after that,” Dias said. Graduating from two classes a week to 20-25 classes a week, Bollywood Shake has established itself in both the dance and fitness scenes in Austin. Located on Anderson Mill Road, Dias is proud to have a studio to call her own, where the studio’s five instructors can lead high-energy classes. Dias recommends the beginner class to those looking to try out Bollywood dance for the first time and the workout class to those hoping to shake up their fitness routines with high-energy cardio and muscle conditioning. Class sizes range from six to 15, with one instructor per class leading the dance routines. Siva Papineni, a workout class attendee, said she takes the class with friends. “The atmosphere is good motivation for working out, and when the music comes on, troubles go away for an hour,” Papineni said.Source: Daily Texan Online
