Want to dance in heels? This class in Chennai teaches you how to

Meet Shweta, a Heels dance instructor
| Photo Credit: Thamodharan B

I walk in heels with the grace of a novice showman on stilts. I wobble, have the gait of a feeble foal, and end up propping myself against a table or wall for the rest of the evening. So when I stumble upon Shweta’s Heels dance choreography classes, it piques my interest.

Can this help improve my posture? Armed with a pair of one-inch stilletos, I land up at the studio. In comparison, Sweta’s stilletos look like the Empire State Building. Sleek and four-inches high. But the size of the heel does not matter, she smiles. “To begin with, being comfortable in your body is more important than the heels,” she says. Through Heels dance, Shweta also also hopes to educate people about body positivity.

We begin class with a few mindfulness exercises, followed by a warm-up routine without the heels. “These are to strengthen your ankles so it’s easier to move in heels. Dancing in these shoes is physically enduring, so it’s important to stretch,” explains Shweta.

After 30 minutes it is time to slip into my formidable heels. The movement flow is designed in such a way so as to not overwhelm the student. She first takes me through the heel and ankle movement, followed by the waist and upper body and finally the hands come in. We try each segment with music. The final segment at first is a blur — my hands refuse to keep pace with my legs and move awkwardly like an inadequately wound clockwork doll. Shweta is a patient teacher and goes through the sequence repeatedly till there is a semblance of coordination and finesse.

This style of dancing can be credited to burlesque dancers. strippers, and showgirls. Over the last decade or so, Heels has been picking up as a popular dance form in the US, with icons like Beyonce and Britney Spears performing this style in their videos.

In India, however, it is still in a neo-nascent stage. “When I started teaching dance in 2023, a lot of spaces were not open to this style because anything sexy is often deemed vulgar or obscene,” says the 24-year-old, adding that she approaches the dance style as a means of healing and not sexualising the dancer. For her, dance has been a great way to express herself.

“A lot of people don’t want to talk about what they are feeling, they just sit with their emotions. When I moved to India from the US in 2020, I was going through some personal problems that I couldn’t express otherwise but could do so through my dance,” says the dancer who was a figure skater and also trained in ballet and jazz.

Last year, Shweta sent a dance video of hers to The Dancers Club studio and ever since she has been conducting classes there. “Even though people were shy in the beginning when they joined this class, they slowly started opening up and became confident of their own bodies,” she adds. It is a sensual dance and helps with the posture. Heel dancers, she says, have upper body strength, have flexible backs, and a lot of fluidity.

Her classes are open to all aged 16 and above. Most of them are in the 20-30 age group, and her oldest student is a 50 year old. Though it is predominantly women, she has also had a few male students attending classes. But her priority is the comfort and safety of her women students. “So, if a man is creepy, he is never being allowed back to class again,” she says.

Shweta’s Heels dance classes also incorporates how to walk, how to balance, with techniques from different forms of jazz, ballet, and runway techniques. This is your base for a solid foundation in heels, she explains. “I also draw from contemporary dance style, vogueing, kuthu, Tamil cinematic styles, aadalum paadalum… “

For her group classes, she typically sticks to Tamil item songs. Some of the songs that she has choreographed in her classes include ‘Ponmeni Uruguthey’, ‘Tee Pidike’, ‘Malai Malai,’ ‘Dolu Dolu’… “I take great pride in Tamil culture and Tamil language. The music and dance space right now has Hindi or English songs. I want to represent the South. That is why I am adamant about choreographing only Tamil songs,” she smiles.

For details, check @marudaanimummy on Instagram. Group classes start at ₹800 and private classes start at ₹1,250.