TORONTO – Is Toronto becoming just another big city full of people rushing to get to work, suffering until quitting time, battling to fight traffic home, and being totally indifferent to the others around them?
What happened to us being understanding, tolerant… and friendly?
One local business, Toronto Dance Salsa, is trying to change that, one person at a time. Located in North York across from Mel Lastman Square inside the Empress Walk mall, they showcase videos of people performing acts of kindness on their main TV.
Owner Evan Carmichael explains, “Our theme is #Family. We want people in Toronto to feel connected to each other again. I believe Toronto can be a model city of achieving size in both population and soul. I love this city. We can make it a model for the world.”
Walking past Toronto Dance Salsa you won’t see promotions about their classes, special offers, or high pressure sales tactics. You see a video of a man stopping his car to help an old lady cross a busy street. You see another clip of a girl who did 20 random acts of kindness to celebrate her 20th birthday. You see a homeless man put the only money he has to pay for the meter parking for a stranger’s car so he doesn’t get the ticket. At the bottom there is a consistent message: “Help Someone Today.”
“At first people were confused,” says Carmichael. “What do random acts of kindness have to do with salsa? ‘Why don’t you post our class schedule up?’, they would ask. But to me, this school isn’t just about dancing salsa. It’s about building a Family. We need more community and connectivity in Toronto. If I can inspire people who walk past my store to stop, think, and help someone else out today… I don’t care if they ever take a class from me. I’ll have done my job to make this city just a little bit better than it was yesterday.”
Read what InsideToronto.com had to say about it.
About Toronto Dance Salsa
Toronto Dance Salsa is Canada’s largest salsa dance school. It specializes in turning absolute beginners into dancers. It introduces students to the fundamentals of salsa, bachata, merengue, kizomba, and tango, and also offers workout classes like Zumba. Its new semester of classes is beginning now.
