Salsa Dance Instruction

If you've been salsa dancing for awhile and are looking for some new moves, or want to improve your style and technique, give me a call. If you're just beginning and don't know where to start, I can help. And if you've never done it, what are you waiting for? Salsa dancing affords you the opportunity to enjoy good music, good exercise, a safe social environment with good people, and it's just a heck of a lot of fun. So, get out there and enjoy yourself. You'll love it!

Private Instruction

• Individual
• Couples
• Small group classes
• Salsa, Cumbia, Merengue and other styles
• Beginning to advanced

Skills Covered

• Frame and posture
• Basic step and variations
• Technique of step and of movement
• Connection with partner — eye contact, finger contact, mental and emotional
• Turns and cross-body leads
• Moves and combinations
• Dips and other cool ctuff
• Leading vs. following
• Timing
• Balance, torque and body ergonomics
• Salsa music — clave pattern, rhythms, etc.
• Styles, shines and styling
• Demeanor and etiquette
• Personal presentation and attire
• About other classes, instructors, dance clubs, etc.

Background

I've been a music instructor for 30 years. And right up there with music is my love of dancing. Maybe it's because they go so well together. So, when I teach salsa dance, I'm in heaven, because I get the best of all three worlds: music, dance and teaching. And, I get to meet a lot of great people, as well.

My initiation into salsa dancing came in the late 1980's. I was performing keyboards in Monterey, California, with Orquesta Gitano, a 12-piece salsa band. As much as I enjoyed playing salsa music, I felt this strong urge to get out on the dance floor with everyone else.

Learning the dance came easy to me, perhaps because I knew the music so well, had a few years of experience in ballroom dance styles, and was a dance accompanist for over ten years — ballet, jazz, modern, Israeli folk, African, samba and Middle Eastern. Or maybe, I just really enjoy it. Without a doubt, salsa dancing is my favorite dance form.

I have studied with over two dozen instructors, including:

• Dedelle Barbanti (Yemaya)
• Roberta Garcia (Yemaya)
• Alex da Silva
• Michelle Castro
• Ricardo Sanchez
• Angel Figueroa