Dream of Dancing

I told my wife that there was a dance party coming up on Saturday and Sunday.

Wifey: “Oh good, it’s been a long time since I had been on the dance floor and shook a leg”

Me : “We are not going to the party to dance. Its a photo shoot and I have to cover the event organised by the Latin dreamers”

My wife’s face fell. I quickly told her that she can come along if she could be my assistant and shoot a few pictures.

Wifey : “You mean all those guys will be dancing and we will be just looking at them clicking away”

Me : “Yes, we have a job to do and we better do it right. Moreover its Latin dance and you know I can’t do the Salsa or Bachata or Merengue. The only association I had with Latin was when I was an altar boy in the church and had to learn all the prayers in Latin, but that was many decades ago”

 

Wifey: “OK, OK, what will I wear?”

I side stepped that question. The saturday event was at the Red Bar in Koregaon Park Plaza. It was supposed to be from 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm but it went on well past midnight. I started clicking away as soon as the first pair hit the floor. 

Catching them at the right moment with the right expression was the challenge

I suppose the follower and the leader plays a major role in these type of dance. 

Lighting was a major issue for me as most of the dance floors these days are equipped with the “disco light” which is a nightmare for a photographer. 

As the night progressed, the participants got into the right mood and let their body flow with the music. 

To capture some real moments, I had to be in the thick of the action and that called for some tactical moves like avoiding the flying hair and the swishing skirts. 

I think having the right footwear also matters, but hats off to the ones who can pull it off on stilettoes. 

Capturing some difficult holds with the right expression is a matter of luck 

The second day was at the Flying Saucer at Viman Nagar. A little more spacious and the lighting was better. 

People were rooting for the in sync performance by Satyaki & Sovit 

One would think that one has to be slim and trim to dance, but Sovit proved them wrong as can be seen in this video.

I was very impressed by the fluid body movements of Shazeb Sheikh. His footfalls are very soft as can be seen in this two minute video. Sahiba has managed to keep pace with him.

The selection of the music by the DJ was just right for the mood, and they were actually part of the group who doubled up as DJ 

 

I enjoyed filming “follow the leader” as much as they enjoyed performing it. 

Bhavin and Soonruta runs the Latindreamers and conducts workshops all over Pune at specific intervals. 

Made a few videos and posted them on FB and YouTube.

The links are here:

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Part five

 

At the end of the day, my wife said that she didn’t mind not being on the floor. 

Wifey: “for a change I just enjoyed looking at them dance. By the way make sure that some of the pictures I clicked show up on your blog”

Looking at all the pictures above, I think she has done pretty well, considering the fact that this is her first venture as my assistant. 

(ps: all the FB links may show as "this content is currently unavailable" but if you login with your FB account, you can view them)