In March 2013, over a year ago, I took a series of salsa classes at Extreme DanceSports in Cambridge, MA through a LivingSocial deal. It was a beginners’ 4-week series for club salsa for about 50 mins each week, regularly $60. We learned the footwork and timing for the steps, and then were able to practice with a partner. However, what it was lacking was putting the moves into practice. The class was taught in a classroom with mirrors so we could watch ourselves and we simply practiced the steps with a partner until we “got it” or until time ran out. Needless to say… I forgot how to salsa after my last class and we never really had a chance to try it out again.
Fast forward to March 2014, my friend who is part of a team and actually performs in salsa and bachata convinces a group of us to try it out. So we opt for Monday night bachata lessons at the Havana Club in Cambridge since it’s less crowded than Friday or Saturday and I’m promised that bachata would be easy to pick up. Off the bat, what I like about these lessons is that it’s actually held in a club that’s open late and that after the lessons, you’ll be able to DANCE and try out what you learn. The lessons themselves start off similar to Extreme DanceSports except that after learning a few basic moves, the teachers actually teach us dance choreography where we keep rotating partners until we all master the moves. So at the end of each hour long lesson ($5 cash), you could keep practicing what you learned on the dance floor or just do social dancing (also $5 cash) if you want to be more adventurous and free.
Each week, you get to practice the basic steps over and over again, while picking up a couple new steps. The teachers have been really good in creating a different and fun dance routine in both the weeks I’ve gone so far. They’re even nice enough to let us record them so we can go home and practice as mannnny times as we want. Luckily for you, I’ll be posting them here so you can save $5 on the lessons and just pay $5 to join the dancing after the lessons (though I do highly recommend going in for the lesson if you’re a beginner like us). The music they play includes both salsa and bachata so there is some variety. From what I can tell so far, there’s been a great ratio of guys and girls – just come on your own, no need to bring a partner.
For now I’ll just stick to salsa and bachata, but who knows what I’ll try next! 🙂 If you have some recommendations and where to try them, please comment below.