We met at 6pm at Peridot Resto Lounge. It was great to finally taste some of the great food that Peridot has to offer as we always hold outings there. We enjoyed a three course meal and many of the helpers got to know one another better.

We then hustled to the AMC at Yonge & Dundas to see the movie FAME! I grew up on this tv show and was really looking forward to seeing Kerrington, a favourite of mine on SYTYCD Season 4, in her debut performance.

I definitely wish there was more dancing in the movie. The little that was seen was actually very good and I really enjoyed the Kerrington piece half way through the movie. But for a dancer it wasn`t quite enough and I think the group of us were left wanting more.

Overall a great evening though. Thanks to all the instructors, assistants and helpers who made the evening so much fun and made the summer semester a great one. Can`t wait to do this again in December!

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David joined Toronto Dance Salsa in 2006 and very quickly moved up the levels and joined the helper group. Since then he has demonstrated an exceptionally warm, giving and helpful personality. He is always ready to assist, whether it is to take on more helper shifts, lend a CD at outings, providing T-shirt slogan ideas, dancing with students in the social and more. I have received many comments from students and instructors about David. He was mentioned several times in the 2008 summer semester feedback and because of all of this David is our first Helper of the Semester!

As well David has given us the slogan that we will be using on our salsa t-shirts that will be coming out shortly. David will be the first person to receive a t-shirt for his contributions. In addition, as Helper of the Semester, David will receive a free TDS class for next semester and a discounted rate for all TDS classes for an entire year.

Make sure you congratulate Dave when you see him!

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It has been a long time in the making but we are so excited to announce that Toronto Dance Salsa is finally moving into our own studio! We will be throwing our doors wide open June 1st, 2008, just in time to begin our summer semester.

Our gorgeous new studio is located in the heart of North York on Yonge Street between Finch and Sheppard at Empress Walk Mall right on top of the North York Civic Centre Subway. Parking is free for 1.5hrs for students in the underground parking. The studio is extremely large and airy at 1600 square feet!

We will still be holding classes downtown at the Adelaide Club and the Toronto Athletic Club so that we can provide convenience and flexibility to our downtown students.

We have just posted our summer schedule and registration is open inclusive of our new location called “Empress Walk”. For all the senior students who have been asking we have a level 6 class and a specialty styling class. Adelaide Classes will be posted very shortly.

For more information or to register please click on the following link:

http://torontodancesalsa.ca/salsa-classes.php

We will be holding regular weekly practice sessions at Empress Walk once we move in and will let you know the details as they come.

We look forward to welcoming you to our new home!

Sharon

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We started off by celebrating the arrival of Bachata singer Alex Bello with a beginner and intermediate Bachata lesson. Sara and Kimberly taught the beginner lesson and by the end of it people didn’t even look like beginners! Evan and I challenged the seasoned dancers with a complicated intermediate Bachata pattern. The lessons had over 200 people in attendance which was a huge number. Everyone was very respectful and tried to keep quiet so that everyone could hear the lessons. The feedback from the lessons was amazing – I think we need to add a little bachata spice more often!

By 11:30 the house was full with people dancing the evening away awaiting the arrival of Alex Bello. He began his performance at close to midnight and in no time at all people filled up the dance floor and began dancing to his live tunes.

It was a great evening – thank you to everyone who came out. We are taking a break for the next few weeks and will resume classes and outings in mid September….have a great summer!

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We met at Bevermead Beach in the Kawartha’s – it is about 1.15hrs drive from Toronto. To my surprise people were early and assisted us in setting up the volleyball net on the beach. By 11:30am over 25 helpers were in attendance playing some seriously competitive beach volleyball, frisbee, kiteflying, and relaxing by the water. We even had some brave souls jump in the lake for a dip.

2 hours later we jumped in our cars and made a 9 vehicle driving line to Evan’s parents Lakehouse. It is an unbelievable home right on Lake Shemong with all the toys (hot tub, boat, tubes, floating toys, etc). We had an amazing BBQ lunch there with home made hamburgers, BBQ chicken, salads and corn and then wasted no time in taking turns boat riding, trying to dunk the passengers behind us on the inflatable hotdog, dipping in the jacuzzi, swimming in the lake and much more.

By 6pm everyone gathered around the karioke machine and proceeded to sing to the oldies and John Radke took out his guitar and serenaded us with some cool tunes. Annamarie (Evan’s mother and the hostest with the mostest) made everyone shakers and we were able to sing and rattle our shakers to the music.

We followed this off by a BBQ dinner of Italian Sausages, salads and an ice cream sundae bar. During dinner we had some Toronto Dance Salsa trivia and after dinner we retired to the bunkey which is a great area overlooking the lake for some games.

There was a huge amount of laughs and it was a very exciting day. I am so happy and proud to have such an amazing group of helpers and I thank everyone for their energy, enthusiasm and participation. Photos to be posted very soon!

Final huge thanks go to Annamarie, David and Evan for making the day unforgettable.

Oh no, the pressure is on to beat this outing…what to do next???

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