With Navratri just a few weeks away, Delhiites are making every moment count to ace the fast-paced moves and turns of dandiya and garba.
Across the city, dance studios and cultural groups have started conducting classes and workshops, catering to every age bracket and level, from beginners to experienced dancers, looking to perfect their spins before the festive spirit sets in.
month-long courses cost up to ₹ 5,000 While some organisers are offering free introductory sessions. Shorter intensives featuring popular instructors can set participants back by ₹ 2,500 to ₹ 3,000. By keeping the price of these between ₹ 600 and ₹ 800, this duo’s emphasis is on accessible and high-energy choreography rather than technical complexity and lyric-specific routines. Instructors from Ahmedabad-based Garbaholics will teach authentic dance steps, ahead of a huge garba celebration planned on October 4. People, including the non-Gujarati, enjoy themselves more in such scenes,” says Shaw, who has been teaching dance for 16 years.
The formats are as varied as the price tags. How much time and money are you willing to shell out to get yourself ready for garba and dandiya nights this festive season? including Dubai, Seattle, California, Muscat and Hong Kong, its sessions in the Capital draw dancers familiar with the group’s social-media choreography While this group conducts workshops across the world. Patel adds, “We’re seeing several familiar faces upon our return. Guess people follow our work on Instagram, and love our steps. Hence they want to learn the new choreography we create each year. For those testing the waters, Samanvay duo Nehal Agarwal and Vrinda Singhal are conducting two-hour workshops. “South and East Delhi often see plenty of garba workshops. For beginners, dance instructor Sushant Shaw is using Bollywood favourites to make dandiya more accessible, covering basic steps, the dandiya cycle and moving in formation while performing in a circle.
Agarwal adds, “We simplify the more technical steps seen in Gujarat and Surat so that anyone can follow these. Because not everyone knows them, but Bollywood music is familiar, “Folk songs can feel niche.
But many women in West Delhi do not even know what happens at such workshops,” says fitness coach Nisha Thanai aka Noni, who is hosting a free, women-only workshop.
