Dancing brings happiness

Community, Kortepohja, Kylä magazine, News, Tenant story / 2.5.2022

Story: Anni Pajari

Kortepohja Dance club got a kick off a year and a half ago by an international group of friends living in the Village.

“Because of corona, we had to think about how we could meet and do something fun together safely. That’s why we first started dancing outdoors in the summer,” recalls founding member Myrto Kyriazopoulou.

Dancing become popular, and the club was later set up in Lillukka with the help of community manager Jenna. There are currently five instructors and Myrto teaches salsa and bachata.

Kortepohja Dance club meets twice a week. On Sundays with the basics of salsa, bachata, bollywood, ballet and belly dance, and on Tuesdays a bit more casual training with easy choreographies, danced to pop music.

Popular Bollywood

According to the instructors, the most popular dance is the Bollywood dance, led by Apoorwa Hooda. The secret of the popularity might be the certain ease of the dance – it doesn’t require learning difficult choreographies and it’s easy to join.

For Apoorwa, dancing brings happiness. She describes Bollywood as a fun and inspiring dance with no right or wrong steps.

“Instructing classes combines my two favorite things, dancing and teaching. At its best, I get lost in the dance and forget everything else.”

Myrto thinks dancing is therapeutic because it combines sports, fun and socializing.

“Regardless of what I’m feeling before a dance class, I’m always in a good mood after the training.”

Getting to know people while dancing

Henriikka Koivukoski, who has been practicing belly dancing for years, remembers that the first time she was instructing a class was exciting. Some of the participants join the dance immediately, some of them warm up a bit slower.

“I soon noticed that we have a very relaxed atmosphere here. You don’t have to be a professional to show others what you know.”

The instructors share the responsibility of leading dance lessons and plan the content in advance. In the future, they dream of organizing dance parties in the Village, where residents could gather together for good food and dance.

“Salsa and bachata are easy-to-learn social dances that are meant to be danced together. They are often danced at parties, where you can meet new people at the same time,” Myrto explains.

Dance club meets on Tuesdays from 5pm to 7pm at Rentukka’s clubroom and on Sundays from 4pm to 6pm at Lillukka. The instructors welcome all new participants, regardless of their background.