Where to Dance Salsa?
Where can you go Salsa dancing? This is a huge question but there are a few different venues where you can experience Salsa Dancing.
Enjoy Your First Salsa Experience by Taking Lessons
The best place to start Salsa dancing is at your nearest dance school. Hopefully, it’s our dance school. Something I love about Salsa is how accessible it is to everyone. At Toronto Dance Salsa we have students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds and we believe everyone #belongs on the dance floor. So everyone is welcomed and celebrated.
When selecting a dance school, you want to make sure that the dance school has a regular schedule. This feature is important because a regular schedule creates an easy-to-follow routine that facilitates learning and promotes meaningful connections with your classmates and instructor. This way you can build on the skills you learned in previous weeks. You can’t do Algebra if you don’t know basic arithmetic. Salsa dancing is no different. You need to know the basics, build on those skills and advance to more complex skills. But in general, dance schools are the first place to go Salsa dancing.
Find Salsa Classes that are Right for You
The convenience of your neighbourhood school is a big plus but sometimes the best things are a little further away from you. So look around, search on Google and look at schools that have a Google review of 4.7 or above. Read the reviews and feel the vibe. Pick a school that will match your personality and your goals. You are joining a Salsa community and family. But this is a family you get to choose, so make sure it is the right one for you. Salsa classes are still the best place to start dancing, but make sure you pick the right classes. Click here to learn more about what to look for in a dance school.
Social Dancing
Once you have taken a few classes, you are probably ready to go out social dancing. There are three general categories of social dancing and one special category that I particularly love.
- Latin Clubs will play Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Reggaeton. These venues are usually a restaurant or bars converted into Salsa socials at a certain point of the night. People who enjoy Latin music attend these places, but not all have been exposed to actual dance lessons. Knowing their event schedules is a good idea as they feature different dance styles on different nights.
- Events organized by promoters are held in banquet halls or other large spaces. These are Salsa and Bachata events strictly. They don’t play Reggaeton and are focused on intermediate to advanced dancers.
- And then there are socials and parties run by individual schools. They are usually held at the studio where the lessons take place. Attendees are a mix of students, lovers of Latin dancing and professional dancers. A significant advantage of dancing at a dance school social is that you can become a regular, make friends, and be in a safe space of people who are willing to learn and teach and have fun. These socials are almost always alcohol-free and have a cover fee from $15 to $25.
During Toronto Dance Salsa’s events, there can be anywhere from 120 to over 200 people dancing. We offer dance lessons before the socials start. Right now we are running Salsa Loves Bachata parties, so you can experience social dancing in both Salsa and Bachata. Be sure to show up early and bring your dance shoes.
Like me, you may feel intimated by Latin clubs or promoter-run events when you are starting to learn Salsa. My advice is to test the waters of social dancing at a dance school where people usually feel comfortable at any level of dance experience. Social dancing is a lot of fun and a great place to dance Salsa.
Conventions and Congresses
The ultimate dance experience is the Conventions and Congresses. Conventions and Congress happen once a year, and they usually last three to four days. We host many of them here in Canada. The biggest one is held right here in Toronto, The Canada Salsa Congress. It is a four-day event where local and international dancers get together. We also have the Montreal Salsa Convention, the Ottawa Bachata Festival, and many more. There are also international congresses in cities around the world. As a professional dancer, I always look forward to attending these events as they are incredibly fun and exciting.
I look forward to them because it’s my opportunity to grow as a dancer and learn from the experts. Professional dancers from all over the world attend and run workshops. So you get opportunities to learn from the best. Therefore, I consider them the ultimate experience and place to go for Salsa dancing.
As you can see, you have many options for where to go to dance Salsa. You can start with lessons at a dance school, progress to social dancing and move on to congresses and conventions. The most important thing is to get your dancing shoes ready and be open to a night of fun and adventure.
I can’t wait to welcome you to our big family, have you come in every week, have fun, socialize, and let loose to amazing Latin songs. Click here for 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].
