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Inside the Bollywood Shake studio in a shopping center along Highway 6, the music pumps an infectious mashup of world music, pop and hip-hop.
The rhythm fills the room as a group of women, and a toddler standing beside her pregnant mother, start to pulse their legs to the beat.
Fingers pop. Hands clap. And bodies move for this unique fitness experience.
Ruchika Dias founded Bollywood Shake in 2009 in Austin after graduating with an MBA from the University of Texas. It was good timing. The film “Slumdog Millionaire,” which ended with a Bollywood-style dance scene, took top honors at that year’s Oscars. Dias said shows like “Dancing With the Stars” continue to fuel interest in Bollywood dancing.
(Bollywood refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, India. Its films incorporate melodramatic plots, colorful wardrobes and over-the-top musical dance choreography.)
Dias, who grew up in India and studied classic Indian dance, added the Houston location in 2012. She also hosts a Bollywood radio show 4-7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on 106.1 FM.
Bollywood Shake
Where: 2703 Highway 6 S., Suite 210, across from West Oaks Mall
Class time: 7-8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 10:30-11:30 a.m. Saturdays
The workout: An energetic hourlong dance-fitness class with Indian, hip-hop and Latin moves
Intensity: Medium to high but not difficult
Gear: Comfortable fitness gear, a towel and water bottle
Cost: $10 per class; $69 per month for unlimited classes
Information: 281-310-0742 or bollywoodshakehouston.com
“I think people are looking for something fun and different when it comes to working out, but something that isn’t hard to do,” she said. “The misconception is that it’s too hard and it’s only for Indian people. That’s not true.”
The trickiest part is getting down the hand and foot movements, she said, showing off the signature “deer hands” and “lotus hands.”
In the workout, Dias take turns instructing with 27-year-old Priti Islam, a corporate professional who started taking classes at Dias’ studio in Austin as a UT student.
“It was so energizing to watch, and it looked like so much fun. I wanted to do it,” Islam said. “It involves a different kind of music that’s very upbeat and cultural. And we have a lot of beginners who get the hang of it pretty quickly.”
The hourlong Bollywood Shake workout classes include a five-minute warmup, 45 minutes of high-energy cardio and a 10-minute cool down with yoga. About half of the dance moves can be traced to Indian and South Asian traditions. The rest come from hip-hop, Latin and even belly-dancing origins.
Gauri Ghosalkar, 38, a classically trained Indian dancer, discovered Bollywood Shake through a friend last year and signed up for Dias’ instructor training course. She now teaches children ages 4-12 in classes at the studio.
“It’s just fun. You can add different dance moves, and it has the peppy music. We have grown (as a class) watching it and listening to the music,” she says.
With the class half over, Dias instructs the women to pick colorful belly-dance scarves to wrap around their hips. Some are decorated with coins for extra noise while they shimmy.
The music thumps, and Dias jumps up and down, adding twisting back and forth moves.
And the shimmying begins.
Joy Sewing is the Chronicle’s culture columnist, focusing on Houston culture, families, social justice and race. The Houston native is the author of “Ava and the Prince: The Adventures of Two Rescue Pups,” a children’s book about her own rescue boxer dogs. Joy also is the founder of Year Of Joy, a nonprofit organization, to spread joy to children from underserved communities. A former competitive ice skater, Joy became Houston’s first African American figure skating coach while in college. She currently serves as vice president of the Houston Association of Black Journalists and is an adjunct journalism professor at University of Houston.
On Tangley Street near Rice Village there are two needlepoint shops, Stitches in Time and Needle House, catering to both old and young generations of stitchers.
