Hula hooping, pole dancing, belly dancing: These off-beat fitness activities are a must-try for all Mumbaikars

Vasai-based Abigail Ambrose has been attracted to the hula hoop ever since she was a child but never saw her own potential till the Covid-19 pandemic turned things around for her. "When I started with the hula hoop, I used to do it only on my waist and perform during church feast, cultural programmes and local competitions. However, I was not serious at the time about it." That was the past. Now, she has taken it a step further by combining her love for dancing and hula hooping to make videos of her performing to popular songs.

"During lockdown, I decided to make a dance video of me with the hula hoop and posted it online. Being a part of the internet generation, not even the pandemic could douse the fire that had been reignited in her. Since in-person classes had stopped, she honed her skills by watching videos online.

It is that time of the year again when most of us prefer to stay indoors and limit our outdoor activities due to the monsoon and the looming threat of the resurgence of Covid.

Like Ambrose, there are many Mumbaikars who are rediscovering or simply gravitating towards hula hooping, pole dancing and even belly dancing - the latter two of which may otherwise be considered bold. These are activities that are not what you would traditionally consider as ones to learn or participate in but the last few years would say otherwise. Three Mumbaikars who have been pursuing them individually over the last decade have observed that there are many more people taking to them now than before, most likely aided by awareness and the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is evident from the fact that at 21, Ambrose not only does it for herself but has even interacted with people who have found her on the internet and want to learn from her. Even though she doesn't have any formal training, the Vasaikar visibly hula hoops like a professional. It is also why many parents from all over have been reaching out to her to teach their children. After two years of self-learning, she can now proudly say she even teaches others. "I started teaching accidentally after a few students messaged me when they saw my videos online," she laughs, still surprised, adding, "I now have two batches - one for children and one for adults. The younger students are from Bengaluru, Jaipur and the US too."

Abigail Ambrose combines her love for dancing and hula hooping to make videos of her performing to popular songs now. Photo Courtesy: Abigail Ambrose

Hooping around
Swati Shah is another hula hooper like Ambrose in the city. The self-taught hula hooper may have picked it up later in her life than the Vasaikar but hasn't looked back in the last decade. In fact, while Shah started out at 30 by just spreading the word about hula hooping, she is now an established name in the community in the city, which she says currently is between 4,000 - 5,000 people. She says, "When I started, it was more passion driven because it was something that I figured out in my adulthood and I had never tried it as a child." The 40-year-old started with a kid's hula hoop and soon realised she couldn't really do it. Shah soon realised the problem wasn't in the technique but in the hoop size and that's when she picked up an adult-size hoop.

"I discovered my own rhythm, how to hula hoop very easily and then realised why people were not able to figure out their rhythm with it," she adds, pointing out that getting the right hoop is the first step. At the time, she didn't find too many people who were teaching hula hoop and so the Andheri resident decided to take matters into her own hands. "I wanted everybody's misconception to be broken by showing them how hula hooping is for everybody, and anybody can pick it up. There are simple steps -- you have to have the right size of hoop and you have to be able to spin it correctly - just tips and tricks," she explains. Luckily social media and Facebook was booming at the time and the Mumbaikar took advantage of it. "My page was super organic. I never invited friends even to join it. I would mention that the group is a community I have created on social media only to people who come to my class so that they could join it." With attendees sharing the photos, their friends also joined. One workshop led to another and 10 years on, she has only got better at it. Shah conducts sessions with enthusiasts - which are usually children but also have adults, the group with which she started her teaching journey.

It is not only the enjoyment perspective of the activity that attracted Shah but also its health benefits, that she personally experienced. Shah explains "I gradually discovered its benefits. Apart from being enjoyable, it can be a good workout and a good form of cardio because it makes you sweat and you tend to burn calories faster." Interestingly, she even urges many people to add it to their workout routines, especially for those who have the same routine so that they can jazz it up.


Swati Shah (far right) has been teaching hula hoop in Mumbai for 10 years now with more people getting curious about it every day. Photo Courtesy: Swati Shah

In pole position
While Shah finds hula hooping fun, it is no different for Joanna Michelle, a city-based professional pole dancer who has been fascinated with the art form since she was seven-years-old. Being a professional dancer, Michelle took to pole dancing or pole dancing fitness, as it is more formally known, like duck to water. She explains, "To me it is unique in the way that it beautifully blends dance and strength training. I am an ex-professional dancer in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and the grace and fluidity with which I see pole dancers performing gravity defying tricks captivates me. It is also incredibly freeing - you learn to let go of all inhibitions."

Having begun her training formally in 2016 in Abu Dhabi, while she was living there before learning more from a Ukrainian coach and an intensive programme in New York City later, Michelle comes with a lot of experience. It is also what keeps her on her toes with pole dancing every day. "Through my experience in New York, I was exposed to various styles of pole dance that appealed to individuals with different levels of skill, ages and aesthetics. This is what I am looking to bring to India and why people should take it up - whether you want to learn smooth swirls at floor level or climb ten feet high, there is a style to suit you and make you feel so powerful in your own body in your own way," she adds.


Joanna Michelle (right) says there are many reasons why one should consider taking up the activity, especially in a post-Covid world because it is also for every kind of body structure. Photo Courtesy: Meghna Bhalla/Joanna Michelle

Ask Michelle whether there is a stereotype and misconception associated with pole dancing and she immediately says, it's changing. She explains, "Fortunately, I have experienced very few instances in which people have the misconception that pole dance only refers to the style of pole dancing that one sees in strip clubs. Through social media, I do think the masses are more educated and exposed to other styles of pole dance which are mainly: fitness/sport, artistic and exotic/erotic/strip plastic (which usually involves stripper heels - mine are 8 inches high)." It is also the reason why she prefers to call it pole dancing instead of pole dance fitness, as it is more commonly known. She also highlights that it contributes to one's fitness.

But, how does it really help? Michelle says there are many reasons why one should consider taking up the activity, especially in a post-Covid world because it is also for every kind of body structure. The fact that only one person performs their routine on the pole (which is always sanitised) or may be shared between two people in a studio setup means that more people can take it up. "Through consistent classes, you build your core and upper body strength, your body awareness, coordination, fluidity of movement, and flexibility to list a few of the many benefits of pole dancing, and most importantly for me, you can come to class and be whomever you want to be and just dance your heart out, so it greatly improves your mental wellbeing too." With such benefits and the visible beauty of the fitness activity, it is no surprise when she adds, "I have definitely seen a rise in people seeking the right kind of coaching. I have been booked out since the end of last year, and worked on a music video too." The community is about 100-500 people right now and growing.

Damini Sahay moved to Mumbai in 2016 and started Junkeri Belly Dance in 2020 to teach more people about the dance form. Photo Courtesy: Damini Sahay

Dancing to the tune
Elsewhere in the city, Damini Sahay is making the world dance to their own tune. The Mira Road-based professional has been a professional belly dancer for the last 11 years and moved to Mumbai from Delhi in 2016. After starting her journey with Meher Malik's Banjara School of Dance, she started her own school called Junkeri Belly Dance in 2020. While it was earlier only a troupe, the scope for belly dancing in India made her convert it into a school for aspiring dancers of the field. Being a dance movement therapist and clinical psychologist, Sahay decided to combine both to help women learn the art form to empower themselves.

Being a belly dancer in the country, Sahay has seen many changes in the last decade. "I think belly dancing in India is still so recent, that there is still work at the awareness level, acknowledgement and progress." This, she points out, is visible in individual homes and families where there is misinformation or complete lack of information when it comes to belly dance. "It has changed phenomenally. Mumbai has been progressive in that sense, Sahay says, and generally people are much more aware now.

She explains, "Anything that a woman does, is always going to be looked down, as you know, ‘Oh, my God, that's too much', especially if she's doing something with her body and the more and more it is that she is confident, the more and more it can attract those kinds of questions, and that is what is changing. Belly dancing is standing in the face and challenging that very openly and I love that." While she can't put a number to the number of belly dancers in the city due to the online medium, she says in India, the community is encouragingly between 5,000 - 10,000 belly dancers. Interestingly, most of them who come to learn the dance form, she says, aren't even dancers. While the dance isn't originally for fitness, Sahay says it is usually included as a discipline but when she is teaching the dance form because that helps dancers advance into nuanced techniques that require muscle control. However, she says it does help reduce weight and mental and physical wellbeing.

While there is still a long way to go, Sahay says slowly and steadily the mindset is changing. In fact, even her parents, she says till five years into the profession and winning competitions hesitated to call her a belly dancer as they would prefer to call her a clinical psychologist first and then a dancer because of the word belly associated with it. It is also the reason why she has advice for aspiring belly dancers. "It is important to involve your family members, because only then are you really creating even small episodes of change at your own individual level," she concludes.

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