The farmer’s carry may be trending among fitness enthusiasts as the way to build ‘real world’ strength, but Chennai has taken it a high-intensity step further with real-world farmer cardio. Tamil folk artists and dancers in the city are organizing dance cardio classes where participants perform oyilattam movements to Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ and karakattam or kuthu to popular Instagram trending songs, all while engaging their quads, core, biceps, knees, shoulders, and arms.
Folk Dance Meets Fitness
Folk artist Lokesh Raghavan calls out to his class in Chennai, “Aha… oho …, you ready?” The group of fitness buffs steps onto the dance floor, transforming into “farmers” for the next hour through the movements of oyilattam and karakattam. One step imitates planting seedlings, another replicates cutting crops, while bouncing footwork, squats, and sweeping arm movements turn the folk routine into an intense cardio workout.
“These styles are not easy to convert into modern ambits because for karakattam we balance a decorated pot on the head. For oyilattam we dance with cloth and involve a lot of floor movements. So, they are traditional movements, but we took up the challenge and incorporated farmer movements as well,” says Lokesh, who conducted the session in collaboration with Rasoham, a Chennai-based non-profit that works with Tamil folk arts. He adds that when Rasoham founder Laasya Narasimhachari approached him to do it, he was nervous, but he realized participants enjoyed it because it was not just a workout but a lesson about Tamil folk culture.
“They love that we begin the class with ‘aha’ and ‘oho’ (a call that is used generally for workers in the field),” says Lokesh. Through its steps, oyilattam narrates the life of farmers and how they cultivate food from the field. “We go through 13-14 steps, and through this, you understand their way of life and work. Oyilattam has a lot of movements. Just five minutes makes for a good warm-up, ready for more intense workouts. It also keeps our body strong, improves stamina, and increases flexibility. Many of the steps in oyilattam help strengthen joints and give pain relief,” he says.
Karakattam and More
Karakattam has six simple movements. “Initially, people find it difficult and get neck pain, can’t concentrate and find it difficult to balance. But eventually they get the hang of it,” says Lokesh, who is also planning to add parai attam and saatai kuchi attam to his sessions. Riding on the frenzy around the 2026 release of ‘Michael’, Allwin Koshy Thomas of The Dance Studio reimagines iconic Jackson tracks with a Tamil folk twist. Songs such as ‘Beat It’, ‘Thriller’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, and ‘Black or White’ are being choreographed using folk-inspired movements drawn from oyilattam and mayilattam. Conducted as part of the studio’s twice-a-month fun classes, the routines blend basic hand movements, bouncing techniques, and controlled legwork with trending music as well as hits from the 1990s and 2000s.
“Unlike cinematic dance styles, where movements can be more exaggerated, folk-inspired routines focus more on rhythm, stamina and strengthening the knees. Our one-hour sessions begin with 15 minutes of stretching and workout before moving into choreography that works both the upper and lower body. We incorporate simplified movements from oyilattam which uses bouncing techniques that help strengthen the knees and shoulders while also burning calories. People as young as 18 and as old as 68 participate in these classes,” says Allwin Koshy Thomas. He also incorporates mayilattam, where the choreography mimics the mannerisms of a peacock, including the bird’s gait and its mating dance.
Ancient Movements for Modern Fitness
At The Pallikoodam, a learning and movement space that focuses on Indian knowledge systems, arts, movement practices, and holistic education, trainer Nara Viswa says the studio’s routines are rooted in karanas, the foundational postures and movements from which many classical dance forms evolved. The 45-minute sessions combine repetitive dance-based movements with exercises such as squatting, jumping, and wide limb motions, helping participants improve stamina, activate multiple muscle groups, and burn 300 to 400 calories per session.
“Our routines engage major muscle groups, including the core, thighs, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles, while also activating smaller stabilising muscles around the shoulders, hips, and back that improve posture and overall strength. Since karanas involve dynamic, full-body movements, they naturally help improve cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, and calorie burning,” says Nara Viswa.
