Having relocated to Austria from Chennai, a little more than a month ago, Arun S Pauer hit the ground dancing in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown. The 34-year-old salsa instructor started online classes within a week of landing in Europe, and also enroled himself for German classes to learn the language.
With 11 years of teaching dance, having covered 17 countries and participating in more than 65 dance festivals across the world, Arun tells us that going digital was not difficult for him. “I started with live YouTube tutorials that were available only for my students — but now my online classes are available to everyone.”
Arun is the founder-director of dance school, Salsa Madras that has three centres in Chennai. Besides conducting the Latin Dance Festival Madras, they also conducted more than 1,000 Salsa Nights and Socials in the city. With his online presence, he now has lectures and seminars in the mix, along with
regular classes that are usually keeping pace with the Chennai time zone. “In fact, we had a Malaysian Salsa DJ as a guest in one of our lectdures,” says Arun who started the online dance classes for beginners and saw a line up of 30 students in his first class.
Right now focussing on freestyle, Arun tells us that it will include moves from Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba dance forms. They are now offering personalised classes for couples and private sessions for individuals. Also, you can look forward to the Ladies Styling classes that include elements of footwork
and musicality conducted by his partner, Sneha Vakkala, who is Chennai-based.
Starter kit
Arun Pauer tells us that to enrol for his classes you need a few basic props and you are ready to shimmy!
• A good tech screen
• WiFi (but of course!)
• Enough space to stretch your arms without bumping into furniture!
• Zoom app
• Audible speakers (laptop or phone)
• On your feet? Even socks will
suffice!
While Arun concedes that online classes are not a substitute for real-time classes, he does add that some students prefer the virtual sessions. “Dancing is not easy — many of my first-time students are shy and self-conscious. For them, the online option is great and also gives them the option of shutting down the video till they are confident enough to be seen!” says Arun, whose classes include theory and individual improvement. “It is exhausting to conduct more than two hours of class daily — however, it is a great experience to reach out at this time — as I can see some even dancing on the terrace!”
A 10-day course is priced at INR 200 per session (with an option of pay-per-class). Sign up at salsamadras.com/classes