So you think you can dance (for 200 minutes)?

If a regular hour-long dance class or gym routine isn’t challenging enough for you, maybe it’s time to give dance marathon a shot. The concept, which was a popular source of entertainment during the Great Depression in America, involves dancing over a period of a few hours, or even days. Rohit Chawla, founder and artistic director of Ensemble Dance Studios in Andheri, has picked up and tweaked the concept to suit a dance class.

Chawla has been holding dance marathons since the past three years, and aims to teach you the basics of three to four different forms of dance in 200 minutes non-stop — with a few two to three-minute water breaks thrown in. Chawla, who has instructed actors like Adaa Khan and Simran Kaur Mundi, explains his choice of the particular time frame, “Two-hundred minutes is roughly the time required to finish a marathon run. But when you’re running, you aren’t actively engaging your brain. Dancing engages your mind as well as your body.”

Also read: Veteran dancer Malavika Sarukkai on the child-like joy of dance

At Ensemble Dance Studios’s upcoming dance marathon this weekend, participants will learn commercial style hip-hop, Bollywood and Latin dance.“There will also be a 30-minute session on the basic formulae of dance which you can apply irrespective of the form. We’ll tell you how to improve motor control, and which muscles to move while dancing,” Chawla says. But will amateurs be able to keep up? “We’ve designed the class in such a way that even if you learn three steps, you will see the difference in the way your body moves,” affirms Chawla. The idea is to make you look like a pro when you’re burning the dance floor at your favourite neighbourhood disco.

While the minimum age limit to join the session is 11, there is no upper age limit as long as your doctor is okay with you trying to pull off a three-and-a-half-hour long danceathon. He says, “We’ve had a 54-year-old gentleman do different styles of hip-hop.” We’re not as confident.

Dance off

What: Ensemble Dance Studios will hold a dance marathon on March 19, 4pm

Where: Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School

Tickets: Rs 500 on bookmyshow.com

Call: 86555 56600