This Odisha-born Zumba instructor again makes Americans swing to Odia folk number

Bhubaneswar: For the past two years, this Odia lad and Zumba instructor has been making Americans dance to Sambalpuri folk beats.

The latest in this series by Anupam Nayak aka Anupam Z Choreographer is a unique mix of Zumba and famous Odiā song ‘Dāmerā Rābidelā Lo’. The video released last week on his Facebook page is wining rave reviews. 

Last year in April, he had released a video in which Americans were seen dancing to the tune of popular Odia folk song, ‘Jai Phoola’ and followed it up with the Sambalpuri number ‘Sagada Gadi’.

The Jai Phoola Zumba workout had garnered 462K views.

Speaking exclusively to Odisha Sun Times from the US, Anupam said, “Zumba is performed on Spanish, Latin American, African and Country music. Through such attempts I want to introduce Odia music to the world while making our youngsters aware of our rich folk tradition.”

Anupam has blended merengue Zumba with Sambalpuri folk steps to create a high-impact workout regimen in the video featuring ‘Dāmerā Rābidelā Lo’.

His efforts to popularise Odia music also saw him release an Odia music video ‘Halijayee America’ in September last year. This video, which also features his wife Amrita Ray, has garnered almost 300K views on YouTube.

While Sangram has lent voice to the song, the lyrics are penned by Arun Mantri. It was shot in Boston, he said.

“The shoot for my next music video, ‘Odia Toka’ was recently completed in New York. It’s my story and that of every Odia, struggling to make a mark abroad and missing home. The post-production work will be done in Odisha,” Anupam said, revealing his plans to visit Odisha in March.

The teaser of the video will be released on March 10, he added.

“I am going home to meet my parents. Between March 1 and 10, I will also conduct Zumba workshops in Bhubaneswar and present all the three workouts based on Odia songs,” he said before signing off.

If you are in and around Bhubaneswar or planning to visit the city around that time, take some time out to experience the high-energy high-decibel crash course offered by the trainer.