GLOSS Volume 2, Issue 7 - 2018 | Page 55

the deltoids and lateral muscles that run down your back and the sides of your body. E X C L U S I V E How do you attract fitness enthusiasts? What makes bhangra so attractive is that it has energy, as well as grace, especially when performing in a group. Choreographed and in proper coordination, such group assembled acts are even more mesmerizing. Having the blend of fitness to it attracts a lot of people who are looking for a fun and entertaining way of losing fat and getting in shape. How well are people taking to this concept? Are your members all from the sub-continent or have you sold the magic of bhangra to people from other parts of the world as well? Bhangra is incredibly infectious. Regardless of the ethnicity of the student, they always have a good time. We mostly have Indians, Pakistanis and Nepalese students as of now and we are open to welcoming people from other parts of the world as well. Over the past couple of years, bhangra has been growing as a trend on the internet. With the numbers of Punjabi songs, the key element for bhangra, going viral, people are becoming interested in learning bhangra. Getting in shape and losing fat is another reason why people show interest in our workouts as they help you lose weight and burn calories the bhangra way. We have yet to find someone that was exposed to bhangra and actually disliked it. We are still on our journey to share our Fit Bhangra experience with people from other parts of the world as well. How do you deal with someone who is not a dancer or has no experience of dancing? Can they easily get the hang of it? We are very easy on beginners. We observe each individual very closely and teach them step-by-step. We teach the steps at a slow pace by breaking them into pieces, focusing first only on the leg movements and then the hand movements. We believe that improvisation is the key to perfection. We have seen some really good changes in few of our committed students who have been part of the journey from the very beginning. studio where we could start our sessions. After having selected the perfect studio, which is right in the city with the easy availability of parking, the second task was to inspire people to add Fit Bhangra to their routine. People were quite interested in stepping into our session for once to see what we were offering, but the challenge was to convert them from one session to joining us monthly and that could only be possible if they liked what we were offering them. We gave them our best, which changed their minds, resulting in our team successfully growing from the very first week itself. Bhangra sometimes gets tricky to learn, from stepping/tapping feet to lifting. We start with very basic moves. Once they start mastering a few basic steps, we keep adding on more complex moves. Professional bhangra can be as tough as other dance forms but the basic steps are not very challenging. It does not require any individual to have previous dancing experience, someone with little or no experience in dance or bhangra can Pretty much everyone is busy here with the full-time jobs or education, so another challenge we faced was having a time for also fully enjoy it. our session that was suitable for everyone. Have you faced any challenges as you grew your club? There were a few days where we couldn’t make it to many Yes, challenges are everywhere! members of our class, some having a busy work schedule and People have a conception about Abu Dhabi being boring. some travelling. Some days the studio is packed and some days Something like this has not been done before in the Emirates. there were just 4- 6 students. However, are pleased with the We knew we would face challenges at the beginning with a new number of inquiries we get about the classes and the willingness to join, it keeps us going. concept like this, but we kept a positive attitude. We initially faced challenges in selecting the right institute or We compromise on timings and adjust it according to our