1) Peridot Lounge – Saturday February 21st – 81 Bloor Street East (at Yonge)
Beginner and intermediate lessons from 10:00 – 10:30pm

2) Plaza Flamingo – Friday March 6th – 423 College Street (at Bathurst)
Beginner and intermediate lessons from 9:30 – 10:30pm

3) Acrobat Lounge – Saturday March 21st – 2464 Yonge Street (at Eglinton)
Beginner and intermediate lessons from 9:00 – 10:00pm
Debut performance by the TDS Professional Dance Team at 11:30pm

As usual we also have our weekly Sunday practice sessions called “socials” at Empress Walk from 6-9pm so come out and make new friends, practice your moves and get a great workout.

Hope to see you all at these events!

Sharon

The post Upcoming Outings appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Welcome to all our new students and welcome back to our returning students. It is great to see and feel the excitement of students back in class, meeting new friends, getting a great workout and really feeling the fun and joy of dancing. For me, I really missed dancing as I have been also away from it for a couple of months spending time in Hawaii and trying to get through the first trimester of my pregnancy. I feel so much better on the dance floor physically and mentally and I know everyone feels similarly after a low key holiday season.

Our first outing of 2009 is this Friday, January 23rd at 9:30pm at Plaza Flamingo. Get there a bit early so that you can check your coat and be ready for the lesson from 9:30pm – 10:30pm. Velina and Mark will be teaching the absolute beginners lesson and Evan and I will be teaching the intermediate class. As a special treat our Toronto Dance Salsa Helpers Performance Class will be performing their choreographed routine that they have been working on for the past few months at 11:15pm so come out to support them!

The Sunday Social time has changed to 6-9pm. Every Sunday (excluding long weekends) we dance the Sunday evening away at Empress Walk. Over 100 students and friends come out weekly and it is a ton of fun and very comfortable.

We also have non-salsa classes available at Empress including Zumba which is an amazing fun workout on Wednesdays with Tracie, Belly Dance level 1 and 2 with Ece, Hip Hop with Ece (Sold out), Yoga with Pamela and Pilates with Elizabeth. Check out details on the Class Schedule Page.

I have been asked where students can buy our new Toronto Dance Salsa sloganed T-Shirts. They are available every Sunday at the social. You can also email us and we can try to bring you a shirt to your own class. T-shirts are only $20 taxes included.

That is about all the news for now. See you on Friday at the outing!

The post Welcome back everyone! appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

We started the evening with a beginner and intermediate workshop. Kimberly and Nina taught the beginner class and along with the salsa basics covered Cuban inside turns and sexy styling. Evan and I did the intermediate class and really challenged the group. Just remember when you are doing a club class that the quality of the class will not be at the level of a group class. It is harder to hear, there are more students of all types of skill levels and the combination is longer. So just keep in mind that it is not necessary to get the whole combination. Whatever you can remember and feel comfortable executing is fine. And don’t leave the club without reviewing the combo at least ten if not twenty times so you commit it to memory.

After the lesson the lights went down and the social dancing began. The DJ played non stop salsa for 1.5hrs which was a great opportunity to really practice and get into the swing of things. I loved seeing beginners dancing with intermediate students and vice versa. It was also great seeing old students I haven’t seen in a while and I encourage everyone to get back into the salsa groove even if you have taken the summer off as this fall and winter will have plenty of dancing opportunities and a chance to meet great new friends.

Our next outing is this Saturday Sept 27th at 9pm at Peridot…see you all there!

The post Friday at Plaza Flamingo appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

The Salsa for Singles class is geared towards single people between the ages of 20-35yrs who want to meet other singles in their age range. It is not just for the point of meeting a potential romance. It is also to make new friends and enlarge your social network. The syllabus (what you learn) is exactly the same as our level 1 class. However, with this class everyone rotates so you get to dance with everyone in the class and it is a more social setting. Many students will form groups after class and go dancing on their own.

The 7 week salsa class that we have available occasionally is just salsa so it doesn’t have the Merengue and Bachata classes that the 9 week class has. The salsa syllabus is exactly the same but it is missing the other two dances.

Hope that helps clarify your questions!

The post Singles Class Vs Regular Level 1 appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

So yesterday I discussed the pros and cons of private lessons. Here is the same for group salsa classes:

Group classes – The main benefits to group classes is that they are a more realistic environment. You are dancing with those at approximately the same skill level so that there are no surprises when you get to the clubs. Also the pace is usually slow enough that there is a lot of time for practice and muscle memory. Repeating each new move or exercise throughly really is the key to progression. The class environment allows you to meet other students which is especially useful if you don’t have a dance partner. You can meet a potential future dance partners or even new friends to go salsa dancing with together. Group classes are also really fun. The energy of the group can really inspire you to improve and continue and it is really a fun, relaxing environment.

Now there are cons to group classes when compared to privates. You can develop bad habits with regards to leading/following. The pace is not catered to you personally so you have to go to the group pace. Lastly the schedule is not flexible as private lessons – you will usually have to attend classes at the same time weekly.

So which is better? Well it depends on your budget, schedule and personality. My best suggestion in general is to do the group classes and after every semester take a private lesson to clean up your bad habits, firm up your skills and be prepared fully for the next semester. It is a great strategy that several of my students use and it really assists them in their progression.

The post Private Lessons vs Group Lessons – Pt 2 appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.