tarting off 2011 with a fitness regime is all well and good, but a week into January those thrice-weekly workouts could be running out of puff. Exercise doesn’t necessarily mean joining a gym or jogging around the block in sleet, though.

New taster sessions in Bollywood dance, launched in Bradford next week, blend fitness with the glamour and vibrancy of Indian film. And anyone can have a go, regardless of age, fitness or shape.

The classes are run by dance and fitness instructor Salma Zaman, who has worked with Bollywood stars and Bradford’s own Gareth Gates, and choreographed a dance routine for Coronation Street. She performed at the Bollywood Oscars, held in Yorkshire in 2007, and launched the region’s first Bollywood Dance Championships.

Salma trained in Pakistan, learning Lollywood – the Pakistani version of Bollywood – and Turkey, learning Arabic dancing. She blends Bollywood dancing with ‘Bolly-aerobics’ and says it’s a fun way to keep fit.

Having learned some basic steps under Salma’s tuition, I can confirm that it’s good cardio-vascular activity. While you’re busy learning intricate foot and arm movements, you work up quite a sweat.

It takes a bit of getting used to – I didn’t exactly feel like a Bollywood queen as I shimmied backwards across the floor, arms outstretched, shaking my hips and trying to perfect the “unscrewing lightbulbs” move with my twisted hands – but it’s great fun, using every part of your body.

“You use your feet to shift your weight, you move your hips, and you work on hands and fingers with classical hand movements. It’s great for toning, and it improves posture and builds confidence,” says Salma.

The storytelling of Bollywood is interwoven with the dancing, making it a more soulful experience than simply stretching and kicking to a pumping dance track in an aerobics class. The romance and adventure of Indian cinema unfolds through the body language – and if you remember your facial expressions and hand gestures, all the better!

Salma, who lost two stone through Bollywood dancing, combines traditional and modern styles with salsa, Turkish bellydancing, Latin quickstep and African dance, incorporating them into a cardio-vascular workout.

She started our class off with the Anjali, the palm-to-palm movement associated with Bollywood, then it was arms stretched up and hands arranged in the Alapadmas gesture, resembling a dog shadow puppet. Fingers in position, we moved on to the Bollywood shimmy; dancing backwards, one arm in the air, the other on the hip, shaking shoulders and chest. Not as easy as it sounds –if you don’t focus on your arms and fingers, you can end up looking like you’re hailing a taxi.

Next came a lassooing-style manoeuvre that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a line-dancing class.

Salma goes through each move with everyone, and puts them all together to form a dance routine. By the end it feels like being in a musical, set to a lively Bhangra beat.

“Bollywood is big in Western culture now, thanks to films like Slumdog Millionaire and Bride And Prejudice. It’s colourful, fun and full of energy,” says Salma, who teaches a range of ages, from toddlers to grandparents.

“It’s so accessible, whatever your fitness level,” she adds. “And there is no strict dress code – as long as you’re wearing something loose and comfy you’ll be fine. Dancing is performed in bare feet.”

So what are you waiting for? Get unscrewing those lightbulbs…

Factfile:

* The first taster session is a female-only beginners open class next Saturday, at the Galpharm Stadium Business and Leisure Complex, Huddersfield, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

* On Sunday, January 16, there are three classes at Heaton Tennis Club: a Tiny Tots class for youngsters aged three to 12, from 1.30pm to 2.30pm; a Bollywood Kids class for anyone aged 13 upwards, from 2.30pm to 3.30pm; and a female-only Balle Balle Bhangra beginners class from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.

* Trial sessions are £6 and a full course of ten weekly one-hour lessons is £60.

* For more about Salma’s Bollywood Academy, ring 07974 008239, or visit the website salmasbollywood academy.com.