Cha Cha Chat

Dance

When Kaytee started learning dance, he knew it was his true calling. And he liked the fact that he was getting paid to have fun. And now, he's opened a new dance school in the city

Karma Thinley Namgyal is now known as Kaytee.

In a freewheeling interview with MiD DAY, Kaytee, founder and director of Salsa India Dance School and K-School of Performing Arts, who recently opened his dance school Platinum Bodies in the city talks to us about his origins and passions.



What's in a name?

My real name is Karma Thinley Namgyal. Karma means star, Thiney refers to a person who can acclimatise himself to any situation and place and Namgyal means a King. When I was four years old, my friends refused to call me by my full name. Everyone started calling me Kaytee, the name just stuck on.

The journey so far

I was born in Sikkim. I left home at the age of four to study in Darjeeling.u00a0 I completed my graduation in Delhi. I was pursuing photography. The market was bad and not all of us could afford a digital camera then. I had to wait for months for a single payment.

Step up

I always loved dancing. I took it up as a passion and when I started learning, I knew this was my true calling.

The money was good too. I was getting paid for having fun. Dancing makes me happy. It broke the monotony, showed me ways to explore new avenues and helped me tame my creative psyche for the better. It makes me mature and creatively active. Hip-hop was the first dance form that I learnt. I also learnt contemporary, modern and jazz too. But I found many limitations in these dance forms, though they are beautiful. In Japan, I was out with friends at a nightclub. I heard Latin music with a tinge of jazz and I knew since then that I wanted to dance to this tune. That is how I started salsa, cha cha and other dance forms. I trained in Japan for Latin dance forms.u00a0

My own mainstay

I have formed two distinctive dance forms. The K-style Bachata and Salsa. Bachata is a sensual dance. I hate copying people. So, I turned this dance form by adding in my own elements. With more of R n B and funk, I emphasise on motion, adding more feel to the music. K-style salsa involves more of jazz; R n B and hip hop at times too.

Namma own city

Bangalore has plenty of fresh talent. Through my dance school, I want aspiring dancers to perform better. I will provide them with a platform to travel abroad as well. I want them to travel across the world and learn more.

We also performed at The Salsa International Congress in Bangalore. The dancers in the show were my first batch of students from the new dance school.

Into the future

I plan to visit my new school at Bangalore at least once a month. I am in India only for two weeks in a month, as I travel abroad to train students. In October, I will be part of a 10-country dance tour. I am really excited about this event.