The evening started at 9pm with our lessons. Tracie and Mark taught the beginner lesson and Evan and I did the intermediate lesson. Although the space was small and the classes were packed as usual it was still so much fun to see everyone learning and practicing their turn pattern.

At about 10:30pm the band came on. The name of the band is Conjunto La-ca-lú and this was the first time I have seen them perform. They were awesome. Crisp sound, plenty of energy and great unity. Here is a bit about them:

Conjunto La-ca-lú is one of Toronto’s newest salsa bands. Rooted in the Cuban sonora tradition, this group couples a dynamic three-trumpet horn section with a rhythm section featuring Afro-Cuban hand percussion, piano, bass, and tres. This particular instrumentation allows the group to achieve a classic sound while being sufficiently versatile to appeal to the myriad tastes of their contemporary audience. Conjunto La-ca-lú’s repertoire borrows heavily from its predecessors—such as Conjunto Clasico—yet also includes a number of original arrangements of salsa and pop standards as well as a growing catalogue of original compositions. Conjunto La-ca-lú! is co-directed by pianist Sean Bellaviti and percussionist Luis “Luisito” Orbegoso, and features some of this city’s most talented and hard working musicians.

The band had 3 sets which went on to almost 2am. Needless to say it was great to see familiar faces and to meet new students and TDS friends.

Our next outing is Saturday Feb 21st at 9:45pm at Peridot Resto Lounge at 81 Bloor St E at Yonge. Can’t wait to see you all there!

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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!

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The evening began with a beginner lesson downstairs with Sara Sharifpoor and Velina Sotirova and an intermediate lesson with Evan and myself upstairs. We had a great turnout for the lessons and I was happy to see that the students picked up the combination with greater ease than last week at Plaza Flamingo.

DJ Evan then got the night started with lots of great salsa, merengue and bachata. I saw plenty of faces of new students and past students so it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. I had some fun dances myself – thanks to Frank, John, Vince, Mark, Rob and anyone else I danced with for the fun times!

Our next outing is on Friday October 17th at 9:30pm at Plaza Flamingo. Also keep Saturday November 1st open as that is our traditional Halloween Dress Up Salsa Party, this year at Peridot!

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Velina and Mildred taught the level 1 lesson upstairs and had a full floor of students. Evan and I taught downstairs a complicated turnpattern and even with the packed floor everyone seemed to get the combination.

It was great to see some old faces of past students as well as so many new students who were attending their first outing. I also loved seeing all the helpers and instructors in attendance showing some amazing new moves and styling – go team!

Our next outing is scheduled for Friday January 29 at 9:30pm at Plaza Flamingo. This will also be a huge outing as the helper team is performing at 11:15pm so come out to support them, learn new moves and have a blast!

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Each class was so enjoyable and the time just flew by. With about 40 people in each class plus 8 awesome helpers, there was great energy and enthusiasm. The level 1 class was a bit worried in the first few minutes but within 15 minutes they were Merengue dancing and meeting new people. It is really great to start with Merengue because there is little pressure to coordinate. Even if students don’t get the hip/knee movement they can still start to understand rhythm and start to memorize choreography of turn patterns. I was so proud of the group. They got the moves easily, executed well and made it a blast.

With my level 2s and 3s, I noticed they were really worried that they had been off for so long and had forgotten some of the syllabus. Not to worry if you are in this situation. I always say it takes 2 classes to get back on track. The first class back you may feel a little forgetful and self-conscious but the review makes a big difference and so when you come in to class #2 you are ready to learn and feeling much stronger. By the end of class #2 you are back on track!

By the way we have confirmed our first outing for Friday January 18th at 9:15pm at Plaza Flamingo and will email the evite tomorrow.

Can’t wait to see more new students tonight at Eastminster!

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Well it turns out someone read his blog and has offered to convert Doug into a musical marvel – all over the medium of email/internet. Check out The Unlikely Salsero. Don learned to dance salsa at age 40 but has been a musician since childhood and teaches instructors about musicality. He took on the challenge of teaching Doug about salsa music.

I think this is wonderful. I am curious to see how Doug progresses in his learning. If any of my students want to follow Don’s exercises, it would be great – we can keep track on this blog and follow your progression too !

Let me know how it goes and I will keep you posted on Doug’s progress.

Good luck Doug and Don!!

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Pease don’t sign up fo the level you believe you are ready for – it is rarely an accurate level because every school has a different syllabus or moves in every level. Our level 1 will not be the same as another dance school’s level 1. As well there are so many different styles of salsa. I have so many students who are preficient at the circular Columbian style of salsa but have no experience with the New York/LA style salsa which is definitely a different style and needs to be taught properly.

Instead, email us to set up a free assessment. We will gladly meet with you after class for 5 minutes and dance with you and let you know which level you belong. Sometimes it will disappoint a student to know they are not as advanced as thy originally thought. Please don’t be disappointed or upset to go back a level. It will only make you stronger and if you learn the first two levels properly you will have a very solid foundation and no serious issues when developing into an advanced dancer. However, if you rush your initial learning and skip crucial steps, you will always struggle and wonder why you keep hitting plateaus and can’t advance properly.

So always remember that every instructor teaches differently and to go back to level 1 can really only make you stronger.

Keep dancing!

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