It’s all done in an incredibly polite and terribly English way, but truth be told, but there’s little love lost between the worlds of ballroom and club salsa.
         For club salsa dancers, traditional ballroom seems stiff and formal, mannered and prescribed. When it comes to BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and all its spin offs, salsa ballroom style is unrecognisable to the club dancer.
         Club salsa, with all its many variations, is a quest for authenticity, allowing for huge individual self expression, difference and freedom on the dance floor.

Sensuality

           PThere are two big turns offs about ballroom for the club dancer; the choice of music and a perception that it lacks sensuality.
         For the regular club dancer, one of the big challenges is getting a feel for the rhythms and flavas of Latin music. The holy grail is musicality - getting to the point where dancers freestyle, losing themselves to the music, interpreting and improvising as the music unfolds.
         The range of music embraces everything from salsa’s heyday in New York in the early days of Fania in the 70’s; the best of past and present Cuban music - Los Van Van and Charanga Habanera (just over in the UK at Carnival de Cuba in June 08); the world’s top international bands - including Venezuela’s veteran Oscar D’Leon and his Big Band and new boys on the block Colombia’s La 33 (both bands are performing this week in London); plus top UK outfits like Alex Wilson and Jonny’s Enright’s Grupo X.

Lacks a Pulse

         In comparison, the music of the ballroom scene seems old fashioned, plain boring, irrevelant. To lovers of Latin music, the ballroom version lacks a pulse.
         At the heart of club salsa is a partnership where the man has attitude – machismo – while the woman’s role in the dance is to express ultra femininity.
         In ballroom dancing, the aesthetic appears much more about two becoming one, as gender differences are played down to show off a unified partnership.

Pull the Plug

         In this climate, running the UK’s only salsa and Latin American ballroom fusion weekender takes vision. The Hilton Hotel Group will vouch for this; they planned to host two Latin American Ballroom and Salsa fusion weekenders in London and Birmingham earlier this year.
         Despite a great line up with top Strictly Come Dancing stars Andrew Cuerden and Hanna Haarala and Marchant Birch and Davina, a full on publicity campaign in the nationals, they had to pull the plug on both events due to lack of bookings. 
         The UK’s only combined salsa and Latin American ballroom weekender is the brainchild of Club Cubana’s Cressida Childs. Cressida is a pioneer on the UK salsa scene, running the first ever salsa holiday for Pontins in 1997.
         Currently, Cressida runs a raft of salsa weekenders at Pontins holiday resorts across the UK every year.
        

               These include Club Cubana’s East Coast Latin weekend at Pontins’ Pakefield resort, Suffolk in June. Bringing together salsa with ballroom rumba, cha cha cha, samba and more, Cressida has set out to break the mould yet again.
         There was plenty on offer for hardcore salseros – Miguel de Puerto Rico & Mayana and Moe Flex are strong contenders, sure to pull in a good crowd.
           UK Salsa Champions Miguel and Mayana are two of the most effective and sought after instructors around while there is nobody better at getting at party going than Moe Flex. The line up also featured rising UK Latin American Ballroom stars, Ben Hardwick and Lucy Jones.

Hardcore Salsa

                 Typically, these weekenders are for hardcore salsa lovers who live off an exclusive diet of dawn-til-dawn salsa, with all day salsa workshops, followed by all-night party dancing.
         With the worlds of ballroom and club salsa set to collide, it looked as if Ben and Lucy were facing their toughest audience yet.
           That was until they started to dance. Former stars of the UK and US Strictly Ballroom shows, Ben and Lucy brought pure Latin passion, fire and sensuality to their performances.
           Their showcases on rumba, pasa doble, cha cha cha, jive were spiced with smouldering swivel-hipped body movement, fluid upper movement, pin sharp timing, Lucy’s red hot ladies’ styling and Ben’s corkscrew spins that left him in danger of drilling through the floor.      

Missing Link

               This was the missing link between the worlds of freestyle club salsa and the ballroom scene. Ben and Lucy - ranked no 3 on the UK amateur Latin Ballroom scene – wore their hearts of their sleeves.                 They danced for the pure joy of it, with all the heat of lovers, leaving nothing unsaid, with romance, soul and drama. The 600 strong crowd gave their verdict – a spontaneous explosion of applause that got louder with every show.   

Baby Steps

               This is a breakthrough weekender. It’s all there, including great music – Ben and Lucy led a rumba class to Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.
           This wasn’t the stiff, posh world of ballroom dancing I’d expected. It was fun. And I wasn’t alone. Seeing this couple perform was a big enough incentive. Their workshop sessions were packed out.
           It made a cute picture, as experienced salsa dancers took their first, uncertain baby steps into the steamy, sensual world of ballroom rumba, cha cha cha, samba, tango and more. And enjoying every bit of it.

           Club Cubana’s East Coast Latin break ticks a lot of boxes. This isn’t one of those all or nothing intensive, dance holidays and Pontins dance holidays are reasonably priced.
             Friendly and chilled, offering three late night parties, this is the place to bring a crowd of friends. There are workshops for all levels, so less experienced dancing friends and family won’t feel out of it.
           The Pakefield resort is right on the coast, and the weather this time round was stunning, so there are plenty of opportunities between classes for sun bathing, relaxing on the beach and hanging out.        

           This weekend has huge potential for opening up the UK salsa scene to a whole new universe of rhythms, flavours, music, dance genres and dance instructors.
           Club Cubana’s East Coast Latin event brings together some of the best salsa instructors on the UK scene, as well as up and coming talent the salsa dynamo Niko Valiente and impressive newcomers El Nico and Niarena.
           Fused with the best of the Latin American ballroom world, there are opportunities for salsa dancers to venture out of their comfort zone without suffering salsa withdrawal.