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7pm
Salsa Class
8pm
Bachata Class
TUESDAYS / THURSDAYS
Jonna & Diana Ale
Jonna & Nastya
*Special discount for locals with ID
Great Instructors
Learn from friendly and knowledgeable instructors
Excellent Social Activity
Meet and connect while rotating partners throughout the class
All Ages Welcome
Salsa & Bachata dancing is very healthy and fun for the entire family
Jesse, USA
“Such a beautiful place for a class. The instructors were extremely helpful and had a great attitude. I will definitely be recommending these classes to my friends."
Denise, CANADA
"I finally tried dancing late in my life. The class was fantastic! I had such a great time and met a lot of nice people."
Luis, MEXICO
“My girlfriend talked me into taking salsa lessons because she likes to dance. Diana and Jonnathan made learning very easy for me and I really liked their personalities.”
Basic Salsa Dancing Information
Salsa music is composed of phrases, and each phrase is divided into 8 beats. The majority of salsa dancing basics include 6 weight changes on the beats 1-2-3 and 5-6-7. On the beats 4 and 8, there is a shift of the hips from one side to the other, which straightens the leg that you most recently used and bends the knee of the other leg so that you can then use the leg with the bent knee. The leader generally begins with the left foot and the follower generally begins with the right foot. Some of the most common salsa basics include the in-line basic (front and back), the lateral basic (side to side), fifth position or “quintas” in Spanish (the basic of Colombian style salsa), and double or “doble” in Spanish (the basic used for romantic salsa). There are many styles of salsa dancing. Among them are LA or Los Angeles style (also known as salsa on1 because it is danced beginning on the first beat), New York and Puerto Rico Style (also known as salsa on2 because it is danced beginning on the second beat), mambo, Colombian style salsa, Cali style salsa, salsa callejera (not formally a salsa style, this is a variation of Colombian style salsa, generally learned informally/empirically), Cuban style salsa, Casino/Rueda (also Cuban style, danced in a circle by several couples while a leader calls out the moves and partner changes). Once you have more experience, you can begin to learn about new concepts, such as how to better understand your own weight on the floor, how to better understand the rhythm/music, how to isolate your individual body parts (knees, hips, shoulders, chest, rib cage, etc.), cross body leads, how to turn yourself and your partner, spinning, illusions, launching of an arm (“lanzada” in Spanish), shines, dissociation, footwork and legwork (points, kicks, lijas, cha-cha-chas, etc.), and how to give subtle, clear indications to your dance partner (if you are the leader) and how to feel and follow (if you are the follower).
Basic Bachata Dancing Information
Bachata is a style of dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. It is danced widely all over the world but not identically. The basics to the dance are three-step with a Cuban hip motion, followed by a tap including a hip movement on the 4th beat. The knees should be slightly bent so the performer can sway the hips easier. The movement of the hips is very important because it’s a part of the soul of the dance. Generally, most of the dancer’s movement is in the lower body up to the hips, and the upper body moves much less. In partnering, the lead can decide whether to perform in open or closed position. Dance moves, or step variety, during performance strongly depends on the music (such as the rhythms played by the different instruments), setting, mood, and interpretation. Unlike Salsa, Bachata dance does not usually include complex turn patterns but they are used more and more as the dance evolves. The leading is done just like in most other social dances, with a “pushing and pulling” hand and arm communication. Hand and arm communication is better conveyed when most of the movement is performed by the lower body (from waist down); i.e. hips and footwork. Bachata is commonly known by many as a very sensual dance. To most it may seem that way, however, that is not what it is intended to be taken as. Bachata is a dance, done by a person with another, to express the feelings one has for a specific other. It is believed by most, that the more smoothly and more frequently the hips are used and moved, the more feelings the individual has for the other. With that said bachata originated as a sort of “mating call,” if you were selected for a dance of bachata, you were chosen as a mate, two dances with the same individual, “sealed the deal.” The original dance style from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean is a basic dance sequence is a full 8 count moving within a square. Dancers in the Western World later began developing a more simple pattern, also in a full 8 count, but with a side-to-side motion. Both Styles consist of 3 steps normal and then a tap step. The tap is often accompanied by a “pop” of the hips, and is sometimes substituted with syncopations (steps in between the beats – some similar to cha-cha-cha steps and others much different). Bachata music has an accent in rhythm at every fourth count. Often, this is when dancers will tap-step & pop their hips – this is called dancing bachata to the music (because the first step after the pop falls on the 1st beat of the measure). But bachata can be danced to different timings as well if it’s danced to one particular instrument instead. The tab or ‘pop’ is done in the opposite direction of the last step, while the next step is taken on the same direction as the tap or pop. The dance direction changes after the tap or fourth step.