Salsa

In my forrays into the Latin dance scene in Gainesville, I have discovered it is primarily driven by a group called Salsa Caliente. I have been going to the bars once or twice a month to dance, but I was slightly disheartened by the elitist dancers the last time I went. Everyone seemed to be super salseros, dancing only within their small incestuous circle, so I spent most of the night just watching. I danced with a few non-Salsa Caliente guys who seemed to have no rhythm, and when I went to other guys to dance, I got turned down. It occurred to me that if I wanted to improve my dancing and perhaps become a familiar face to potential dance partners, I ought to start taking the classes offered by Salsa Caliente.

I went to an L.A. style class for the first time a couple weeks ago and wondered why I hadn't started going sooner: there are always plenty of partners, no one can smoke inside, I can dance for two hours straight for the same price as going to the bar, the classes meet at a reasonable hour (i.e. I don't have to stay out until 2:00 am), and I'm learning new steps and stylistic flairs. It's good all around. Today I also tried a casino salsa class, which is completely new to me. This is rueda salsa (Spanish for wheel), in which all dancers form a circle and the men progress around the circle, dancing with one lady after another. It's very different from L.A. style, in which all the movements stay along a line of dance and you remain with a single partner for the entire song. However, in casino salsa, like contra dancing, the steps are called out, so that everyone dances in unison. There are also hand signals for the movements, so I got an overwhelming introduction to all the steps with their signals and Spanish names in the beginner class today and was thrown into the wheel at the end of class. It was exhilirating, and I forget how happy dancing makes me.