London Salsa: Salsa Clubs, Salsa Classes, Salsa Beginners

The Best of London Salsa Classes, Salsa Clubs, Salsa Events in London & the UK
Founder of the Official Fan Club for Latin Music & London’s Carnival de Cuba

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Best of London Salsa: BEGINNERS’ GUIDE TO SALSA


	GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING: SALSA IS ADDICTIVE AND MAY SERIOUSLY IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH!


	By Kid Kuba. Photos by Miguel del Foto. To join our FREE Beginners Online Salsa Course with Mauricio Reyes - CLICK HERE!!! London Salsa Post, Tuesday 26 June


	This warning should be over the entrance to all salsa clubs, classes and events! If you’ve never tried it, you’ll think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Salsa dance and music changes people’s lives. So, don’t say you weren’t warned, writes Kid Kuba, the London Salsa Scene, Mon 18 June


What makes salsa addictive? First and foremost, there’s the music – sensual, life affirming, uplifting, earthy. The salsa groove – like the Siren song of the Iliad – is irresistible. Once you hear it, you’ve got get on the dance floor, get down and shake your bootay. Salsa is great exercise and gets all those happy neurotransmitters rushing around your brain strutting their funky stuff. You look better (mainly because you’re smiling more), lose weight, get fit, feel great and make new friends. You start going out when everybody’s coming home, go clubbing ‘til the wee hours and shoot off at the weekend on salsa dance breaks. But salsa is not just about physical exercise, there is the magic of the dance and music that lifts the spirit; salsa has a positive impact on mental and emotional well being. Girls; salsa is a tough one - you’ve got to glam up, buy gorgeous new dance shoes, a new wardrobe, new make-up, have nights out with the girls and enjoy yourself. Guys; you won’t need 26 pints of lager to get on the dance floor! Salsa is a grown up guy’s equivalent of a Meccano set; you’ll need to work on dance technicalities, practise new moves and develop your repertoire. So ladies, you can be sure of getting a dance. Typically, men are in the minority, so guys, salsa is a fantasy come


		true: women will queue up for you!


	Right now, if you want to learn to dance salsa, you’re probably in luck - clubs seem to be springing up everywhere. There are more clubs per square inch in places like London, Manchester and Birmingham but wherever you are in the UK – anywhere from Land’s End to John O’Groats – there’s likely to be a salsa class or weekender you can get to. Going to your first salsa club can be intimidating. For a start, will there be people like you there? Salsa is a great leveller – it attracts people of all ages, sizes, nationalities and religious belief so you’ll be fine. What should you wear? There is no dress code in salsa – jeans and t-shirt are fine, as are smart work clothes, or dresses. It's up to you – wear what you feel comfortable in. For the blokes, you can’t go wrong with a snappy shirt or black shirt with black trousers. Dance shoes can be expensive so make sure you can buy something that is comfortable and you can actually walk and dance in! For guys, Bloch trainers are comfortable and practical – but not cheap. You don’t need a partner to go to a class. Don’t worry if you’re on your own – salsa is a friendly scene and you won’t be for long. The etiquette is women can take the initiative and ask a guy to dance as well as vice versa! At first, this tends to be a little outside the ladies’ comfort zone but the rule is that nobody gets turned down. Salsa means “sauce” and there is a whole array of styles that add their own distinctive flavour to this hot and spicy dance in the UK. Currently, most clubs teach “cross body” or Los Angeles (LA) style, oftenblended with spicy Cuban flavour. But, depending on the teachers and where you live, you’ll also find 100% Cuban style, New York Mambo

(On2), Colombian, among other styles and genres. This can all be a bit confusing for beginners - but this all makes up the heady, crazy flavours of the salsa sauce that keep all of us coming back for more.
Unlike other dance genres, there is no governing body in salsa so there are no hard and fast rules on what is taught in a salsa class or how it is taught. Nonetheless, salsa retains a distinctive flavour that sets it apart it from other dance genres.

   Salsa is a walking dance, so if you can walk, you can dance. The main ingredient is the basic, mambo step – a kind of walking on the spot. If you can execute this step in time with the music you’ve mastered 95 per cent of salsa.
   Salsa is a free dance. The objective of salsa is to learn basic techniques that enable dancers to do their own thing – to improvise to music – on the dance floor or to freestyle. The Cubans talk about dancers having “sabor” - dancing salsa is simply a way of freeing up your own creative self expression, to breaking free from technique and do what the music makes you feel. In other words, salsa is about learning how to play and have fun on the dance floor.
   Salsa is a social, partner dance; it is also a Latin, macho partner dance. This means the man leads and the woman follows. This doesn’t mean the man is in the more important and the woman a lesser role. Salsa is a partnership; the man and woman’s roles on the dance floor are equal and different.
   Learning to dance salsa is a very different experience for men and women. To be honest, the leader’s role is much tougher. For the man, salsa is about multi-tasking, understanding how moves work, building a repertoire of moves, developing lead techniques, dancing in time with and to the music.

For the follower, the task is mainly one of understanding signals that initiate moves and allowing the man to lead. This being said, following is a subtle skill that usually takes time to learn. For both men and women, the secret of salsa is having arms that while being as light as a feather are braced sufficiently to initiate and respond to leads.
Salsa music has an eight beat count to the bar and this dictates all salsa footwork and body movement. This 8-beat bar is determined by the rhythm of the clave (wooden sticks knocked together in a regular 2-3 or 3-2 rhythm). Typically, in the UK we dance On1 and learn to dance on the 1-2-3, 5-6-7 beats, pausing on the 4th and the 8th beat. In Cuban style, dancers tap on the 4th and the 8th beats, so there is no pause. NY Mambo style is danced On2 to the slap of the congas.

   The main feature of cross body/LA style is the Cross Body Lead. This is simply a matter of the guy and the girl changing places, with the guy ending up occupying the original place occupied by his partner and vice versa. In LA/Cross Body salsa, this move is executed by dancers “holding the line”. Cross Body/LA salsa is linear in style, with leaders and followers constantly going back and forth on the dance floor.
   In contrast, Cuban style is a circular, usually with the man revolving around the woman.
   This all sounds very complicated and technical but salsa is simply a variation of walking on the spot, using the same contra-body movement that we all use instinctively when we walk (ie walk up and down as you read this and you’ll find when you step on the right, your left arm swings in the opposite direction, and vice versa). Men and women’s steps mirror each other, allowing the man to walk forward as the woman steps back and vice versa. Without this – there would be some terrible accidents!
   While salsa is a partner dance, there are opportunities for individual self expression and styling in all salsa styles (salsa has its roots in Cuban rumba and Cuban women aren’t known for holding back). This is best known in LA style, where leaders and followers break off from partner dancing to “shine”, or

execute individual footwork. During a track, leaders can lead the woman into a “kerpow” – giving the lady a chance to “shine” or do her own improvised thing while the leader watches. LA style also allows for the lady to take over the dance from the guy at certain points, or “hijack” her partner (a la Edie the Salsa Freak, the world’s best known female salsa dancer). This is all huge fun and once you get into this, it’s probably going to account for some of your best times on the dance floor. Just get on the dance floor, find out for yourself and discover your own individual flavour.
The only really important things to remember are these: the only thing you can do wrong is not have a good time, you’re there to relax, have fun and enjoy; the most important thing you take onto the dance floor is your personality and individual flavour/sabor; the most important move in your repertoire is your SMILE. Kid Cuba

Best of London Salsa: SALSA ONLINE 4 BEGINNERS


	TEACH YOURSELF SALSA FOR BEGINNERS WITH MAURICIO REYES

Want to try salsa but scared you’ll look a prize berk? www.LondonSalsaScene.info’s new, COMPLETE beginners’ salsa course will help you learn basic salsa steps and moves from the safety of your home or office!
   It doesn’t matter where you live - anyone from Land’s End to John O’Groats and across the globe can join in these online lessons!
   If you’re new to salsa or want to recap on what you’ve learned, this is a comprehensive course to get you shaking your booty Latin-style!
   To view the 1st clip on the basic mambo step, RIGHT CLICK HERE and click on “save target as.” To view 2nd clip on rumba/side step, RIGHT CLICK HERE; RIGHT CLICK HERE to view 3rd clip on back step, to view 4th clip on cross body lead, RIGHT CLICK HERE; to view 5th round-up clip; RIGHT CLICK HERE to view 6th clip on basic right turn, RIGHT CLICK HERE, each time, clicking on “save target as.”
   These are big files so they’ll take a while to download and are only suitable for broadband users. Next, click and watch as many times as you like!
Thanks to Mauricio Reyes for his kind help - you are a star! Visit Birmingham’s Mauricio Reyes (above right) at www.latinmotion.co.uk
Promoters are welcome to link to LondonSalsaScene’s online Beginners’ On1 Beginners’ Course but these clips are copyright LSS and may not be posted on your website.
This is a LondonSalsaScene Production by Miguel del Foto.


	Les de Films de Miguel del Foto - Cannes Film Festival Directeur de film: Miguel del Foto - Directeur de Photographie: Miguel del Foto - Starring Mauricio Reyes, La Senorita y Miguel del Foto. “Enchanting” - The Times “Miguel’s best film yet” - Evening Standard “It was pants” - Pet Hamster Monthly LONDON SALSA FOR BEGINNERS updated WED 4TH JULY.

©London Salsa Scene is an online, independent magazine guide covering salsa and the Latin lifestyle in London and beyond. The views published are not necessarily those of the Editor. All rights reserved. London Salsa Scene retains Copyright over all the articles and photographs published on this website - it is an infringement of that right to use this material elsewhere without our written permission. Disclaimer: London Salsa Scene publishes information on behalf of promoters, organisers, dancers and others in good faith but is not responsible if these events are cancelled, altered or if performers and instructors billed not not appear; this is exclusive liability and responsibility of the event organiser.


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