Indian Summer

Tara means star in Sanskrit, and anything ending with -roop is probably Indian if it isn't Dutch. It's no biggie nowadays, but for a long time, I had a serious hang-up — my name rhymes with poop!? — about Indian stuff.

But, given the interest of many locals — Indian and non-Indian alike — San Francisco is a fun place for immersion in the culture of which I formerly knew so little. Food? Delicious — Indian often comes up as a dinner option around here. Yoga? Fantastic and well attended, to which many studios and students in the city can attest. Bollywood dancing? Now, here is something I don't hear much about in party conversation. I'm perhaps going to the wrong parties.

Still, if you've ever wondered how you can learn Bollywood dancing — those moves popularized by the bombastic Mumbai-based film industry — there is a way to do so here in SF.

There are some inherent challenges in this quest. There isn’t a specifically Indian neighborhood within the city, and the Bay Area’s pockets of Indian culture lie largely in the South Bay and in parts of Hayward and Fremont. Colorful shops selling mango achar and every imaginable spice don’t line SF streets in quite the same way. In response to my queries about dance classes, Indian friends made scores of suggestions outside of San Francisco, all noting that the city would be a sparser pool.

Though it might sound silly, you should troll YouTube first to learn more about Bollywood dance. Though you will get your share of grainy, shaky pirate video clips (arr!), it is still a great way to familiarize yourself if you’re starting from square one. In my research on and off the 'tube, I learned that the songs are rarely popularized or even created without a movie to back them up. Catchy hooks will easily worm into your head — Maahi Ve from a 2003 movie constantly finds itself in my own — and you'll surely perk up whenever the characteristic percussion and clapping hit your ears. As I watched the moves, marveling at the color, movement, and synchronicity, I realized Bollywood dancing was probably a great workout with tons of ab-toning, soul-cleansing laughter in between. With associations like "ab-toning" and "laughter," my interest was piqued further.

Having only been exposed to YouTube-filtered Bollywood, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I hit my first offline experience — a Bollywood club night at Mist. On this particular evening in SOMA, Roneel, aka DJ Precaution, is headlining and the crowd is largely young Indian people. There are still several non-Indians, who are hospitably encouraged onto the dance floor by pockets of friends. If they can do it, you can, too.

The normal club visuals abound — massive heel height, lots of sparkle, and long lines for the ladies’ room — but it seems like everyone genuinely just wants to dance, either with their date or with a group of friends. Thankfully, this event is not as coordination-oriented as the movies are. That is, you probably won't find people breaking into synchronized dance routines. So there’s a lot more freedom for newbies to just “be” if you're intimidated by the movie clips.

I bet you'll recognize a lot of the music at these shindigs. The first tune I recognize is Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," which easily segues into a definitely unfamiliar remix from Dhoom 2, a modern Bollywood movie. The styles — with lots of thumping beats — go really well together. If you're fairly familiar with popular songs on the radio, this familiarity can help you clear another hurdle: your willingness to participate.

Though Bollywood movies of old featured more traditional Indian music, current films incorporate a lot of hip-hop and R&B elements into their soundtracks. Even the lyrics often feature a combination of Hindi and English. DJ Precaution, whose style melds R&B, hip-hop, Bollywood, soca, and bhangra, includes more popular Western dance songs into his repertoire than seems typical for the movies. Still, if the crowd’s reaction is any evidence, it's a successful formula for a young, Western audience — and Bollywood newcomers — in an urban nightclub.

Given the genre mash-up, you can really do almost anything on-beat and still look completely normal: another major sigh of relief. Bobbing your head, your hands, your arms, moving from side to side, or throwing a few movie-worthy dance moves into the mix all look appropriate. Maybe it just seems that way because the club is welcoming, unsynchronized, and packed with good juju.

If everyone had broken into any semblance of a routine, I would have felt a lot more out of place. If you're feeling brave after such an event, I think you'll be eager to move from the club to a dance class.

Seema Shah is a great guide to the real-deal Bollywood. She’s a former Bollywood choreographer, and, since 2008, the owner of Cree8 Productions, an SF-based entertainment company specializing in dance (including Bollywood, hip-hop, classical, and folk) and film production. On Thursdays, Seema teaches Bollywood dance classes at the City Dance Studio's Annex on Harrison Street.

When I showed up at her class, she asked if I danced at all. Three things came to mind: tap classes as a kid, ’80s dance parties at friends’ houses, and aerobics classes at the gym.

This class was not like any of those things.

With its smooth floors and walls of full-length mirrors, The Annex is a choice space for pro dancers or, at least, for dance enthusiasts. It has to be, given the Carnival costumes, coordinated foot-stomping upstairs, and flexible ballet dancers warming up as we finished. But rest assured, you probably won't be the only newb in a group of pros and Indian-culture insiders. My class includes a pair of interested friends, a more practiced guy trying moves for his wedding this fall, and one non-Indian member of Seema's dance troupe. A number of Seema's students and troupe members are non-Indians, she says.

Seema starts us off with a warm-up that would do any personal trainer proud: push-ups, sit-ups, and a triceps workout. The next day, you will feel it all over your body, lest you forget. I assumed the class would be a great ab-toner — and it is — but I underestimated its ability to make my entire body, elbows, feet, knees, hands, and arms, move. Constantly. Throughout class, you learn to keep your fingers and wrists loose and graceful, yet also keep your arms — tighten up those biceps! — taut. Even when your teacher walks by and tries to push those arms down.

To help us understand the movements, Seema describes each key motion with words unpracticed folks will understand.

Flower : What you do with your hands; think of each of your fingers as a petal that stays visible, even as you splay those petals apart. Opening your fingers in a graceful, accurate, firm way isn’t easy, and I practice these unfamiliar motions at each pause in the music.

Bird: When you hold your pinky and fourth fingers up, while touching your middle finger, index finger, and thumb.

Pony : A rocking, back-and-forth motion, quickly shifting weight from one leg to another.

Together, we do all of these in a hearty attempt at the Cree8 troupe routine, with lots of the characteristic jumping, punching, and elbowing. After several sweaty tries, I think we finally get the hang of it. A professional demo is always helpful, so we ask Seema and her fellow troupe member to do it for real. Don’t be afraid to ask for a demonstration when you go, too. You won't believe how perfectly synchronized and cool it is to watch them go. For me, it was also a reminder that I still have a long way to go before I could even pretend to be a Bollywood star.

Interested in Bollywood dancing? Visit DJ Precaution’s website for his next Bollywood night in the city. Or learn the O.G. moves with a dance class. Seema’s adult classes take place every Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at City Dance Studios' Annex, at 1420 Harrison Street (look for the green door). Classes are $12. Bring comfortable clothing, water, as much coordination as you can muster, and bare feet ready to move it-move it.