Charming tale of tiny Bollywood dancer

With the festive excess starting to catch up on our waistlines, thoughts are starting to turn to new year fitness regimes.

And it’s not just adults who will have over-indulged this festive season. Many youngsters will have spent Christmas slumped in front of the telly or laptops, scoffing the contents of selection boxes in one sitting.

Salma Zaman blends fitness with fun by teaching Bollywood-inspired dance to a range of people, from toddlers to grandmothers.

A dance and fitness instructor, she is the founder of the first British-Asian Bollywood dance academy in the North and has worked on Coronation Street and with stars such as Donny Osmond, Bradford singer Gareth Gates and actress Meera Syal. She has choreographed pop videos, worked on films, has performed at the Bollywood Oscars, held in Yorkshire in 2007, and launched the region’s first Bollywood Dance Championships.

Now Salma has written a children’s book inspired by her love of Bollywood dance.

Called Bollywood Princess, it’s about a little girl called Milli who dreams of taking part in a dance show like the ones she has seen on TV.

She attends her first Bollywood dance classes, and starts learning the ‘Arabic arms’, ‘Indian head’ and ‘Bollywood hip dips’ – but will she be picked as the star dancer for the Diwali festival?

This is a charming book for youngsters, and got the seal of approval from my friend’s little girl, aged six. It’s a simple tale, and perhaps could’ve done with a moral undertone to add flesh to the bones, but it’s a sweet little story and gets across the message that being active can be fun.

Salma’s clear, engaging prose leaps off the page, and Sahar Ajami’s vibrant illustrations, in deep pinks and shades of red, will appeal to mini dancing queens.

The glossary, with child-friendly descriptions of Bollywood dance moves and terms such as ‘dress rehearsal’ and ‘grand finale’, is a nice touch, too.

Salma incorporates Turkish bellydancing, Latin quickstep and traditional African dance moves with Bollywood routines, creating a thorough cardio-vascular activity for everyone from childhood to old age.

"It’s constant movement, using every part of the body,” she says. “The storytelling is an important part of the dance. It’s all told through body language – not just dance moves, but facial expressions and hand gestures, too.

“Bollywood is colourful, fun and full of energy – everything a workout should be.”

Copies of Bollywood Princess are available on 0797 4008239, or from salmasbollywoodacademy.com.