When will Salsa Dancing Start Again?
Here’s a simple answer. Now! It has already started and it’s actually – believe it or not – been going on through this whole COVID pandemic. Dance schools and events are opening. Everything is slowly opening. Here are three things to help you navigate this new world we’re living in.
- Safety.
It’s changed a little bit and I think it’s for the best. Many dancers will carry and use hand sanitizer and as of this writing about 15 to 30 percent of dancers will wear masks. Definitely pick a mask you can still breathe through. You don’t want to get overheated and out of breath. Masks are part of the world we live in now but it shouldn’t stop us from connecting and having fun! When you go out social dancing, be respectful of other people’s choices and go to your comfort level. If you’re taking classes or going out social dancing and you are feeling under the weather, just skip the night. It keeps everyone else safe. And there’s always another night to come and dance. That’s the amazing thing. Dance may have paused for a little bit but at the same time it will never stop! And those connections we build in dance are more important than ever.
- Social Dancing
At Toronto Dance Salsa we have already started socials. We have Salsa loves Bachata socials every other Saturday, with anywhere from 120 – 200 people. And I’m really blessed and happy that so many people have come out and continue to come out – both our students and people from the greater Toronto area. I would encourage you that when you do go social dancing, whether that is at our socials or other socials in Toronto or elsewhere – you take it slow. Make sure you go social dancing to your comfort level. The last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed because you are no longer comfortable in crowds. And here is a hack – if you feel that you’re not used to big crowds or being around lots of people and dancing yet – take a class.
- Classes
A lot of our students who have been dancing for a while started to take classes first because the groups are smaller, the distance between couples is a little bit larger, and there’s just more breathing room. That is a great place to start dancing. Sign up for a class and build momentum and confidence. We have levels one through six Salsa at our school and Bachata level one to level four. Some of our advanced level six students came back and repeated classes simply to be around other people, to be around positivity, to be in a space of Latin music but not be crammed in and overwhelmed.
Bonus.
So how can you find a place to dance? Besides dance schools, Facebook meetup, even Instagram are great places to search for events and event spaces. Also, if you Google “Salsa dancing near me”, you’ll find a ton of places to go at your own pace and know that dancing never left. Even when our school was physically closed, I was doing virtual classes. Free virtual classes. Lots of things were happening. Heck, you can go on YouTube and put on a dance video and dance at home. The answer is – dancing is everywhere and anywhere you want it to be and I hope at some point you walk through our doors and join us.
I can’t wait to welcome you to our big family, have you come in week to week, have fun, connect with new friends and let loose to amazing Latin songs. Click here to check our current schedule.
If you have any questions you would like me to answer here are some ways you can contact me: message me on Instagram (torontodanceSalsa), on Twitter (#torontodanceSalsa), on Facebook (Toronto Dance Salsa) or email me at [email protected].
