Bet this guy is Goan (BTGIG) .. maybe I'm wrong: AND I DISCOVERED to my surprise that it was possible to earn more money from teaching how to dance than from keeping accounting ledgers.
Evergreen dance instructor J J RODRIGUEZ, who is virtually an institution in the city, said this about his love affair with dance. Joao Joaquim Rodriguez, or simply "JJ" is credited with starting Mumbai's best-known and probably oldest Western dance school. A legend in his own right, JJ strongly feels that classical music is still around and people prefer the golden oldies despite the transformation of music and dance tastes over the years. His love affair with dance began when he won th eRumba Championships in 1951 at Mumbai's famous Metro cinema. "That was the turning point in my life and career," he admits. While working in the accounts department of the Briths Institute of Engineering Technology, it dawned on him that it would certainly be more profitable to teach dance. Interestingly, he admits that he picked up the art of dancing from books, without any practical training! Initially, he only taught on weekends on a terrace behind Rhythm House, but as his students increased, he had to shift to Colaba to his own home where he has been for over 40 years now. Today, even though he's almost eighty, JJ still teaches dance from 9.30 am till 1 pm and from 4.30 pm till 8.30 pm. His moment of glory came when he was asked to teach the Viennese waltz to actors Jason Scott Lee and Lena Hardy for the Hollywood film *Jungle Book*. "It was a truly wonderful experience and it showed the world that we Indians are as good at ballroom dancing as anyone else." P 272-273 From The Mumbai Factfile, by Derek O'Brien. Penguin Books, 2003. -- FN 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 (phone calls after 1 pm please) _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org