Although she grew up in Germany, Sander has always had a strong link to her own Indian heritage.

"I grew up speaking my mother tongue Tamil (a South Indian language) and German simultaneously. My mum taught me how to read and write my native language and from my early age on, I knew that India would always take up an important part in my life."

Learning Indian dance early, she began to study classical Indian Bharathanatyam at the age of seven. Later, she studied regularly with master Sudarsanakumar from the famous Kalakshetra School of Dance (India) starting in 1999.

"With him, I learned more about this graceful and simultaneously energetic art of dance, which through its facial expression, hand gestures and body movements tells mythological stories that are well-known in India."

In 2003, Sander and two other dancers formed the group Triveni.

"We wanted to stay true to our roots and find different ways of transporting our Indian culture through dance. Having the rich and strong basis of classical Indian Bharathanatyam as our background, we found Indian film music to be the most appropriate means for this," she says.

Unlike classical Indian music that was harder to digest, the lightness of film music was helpful to get a non-Indian audience more easily acquainted with parts of an Indian culture.

"We began to choreograph pieces and our first presentations were received with much enthusiasm and acclaim. The audience was much more able to relate to the themes of the songs. They are not mythological but speak of real life situations."

In Shanghai, Sander offers her students a combination of many different kinds of dancing with the idea of transporting Indian culture.

Sanders makes her students feel special, feminine and unique, says Rashmi A. Urhekar who has taken two of the classes.

"Basically I am an Indian, and also a Bharathanatyam dancer, so for me it's very good opportunity. Normally foreigners find Indian dancing style quite difficult as it has lot of facial expressions and unusual postures, but she makes it very easy to understand and explains the meaning of songs for better understanding," says Urhekar.

A Chinese student, Guo Jingjing, says she likes Bollywood dance very much. "It's fun and joyful, and shows people's optimistic attitude toward life," says Guo, adding that Sangeetha is a teacher with strong personality, "combining traditional moves with modern elements, which helps us better know Indian culture.

"I hope the course can be divided into beginner's level and intermediate level, which might enable us to learn more systematically."

Sander herself says the dance isn't difficult to learn. She says its influence of different kinds of dances allows everyone to do it as long as they are willing to go with the music. And there's not too much technique.

What is challenging about Bollywood is the ability to use the face to express feelings, which is different from hip-hop, jazz, ballet, belly dance and other forms.

"Bollywood exaggerates because it wants the audience to understand whether it is a happy, sad or a love song. For example, they are describing the beautiful bride in a wedding ceremony or the shy way the heroine expresses her love for the hero.

"This is sometimes not so easy because students might not know how an Indian bride looks, how important an Indian wedding is, or why the expression of love in Indian movies is so different from just saying 'I love you'."

With some tips for those just starting out, Sander recommends that dancers go barefoot and wear comfortable dresses for training.

"For a performance it looks very beautiful when you wear Indian traditional dresses like a gagra, sari or salwar and appropriate jewelry. The right kind of makeup gives the dancer a special touch."

But most of all, she concludes, "be open to a different kind of music, don't feel shy about using your face and body for expression and go with the flow."

Bollywood Dance
Venue: Jazz du Funk, Bldg C, UDC Innovative Plaza, 125 Jiangsu Beilu
Tel: 021-52399922
Website: www.jazzdufunk.com
Fee: 100 yuan for casual drop-in class; 850 yuan for any 10 lessons in one month (please inquire for rates)

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