Updated March 7, 2001

New Year Resolutions -- Part I

Due to the volume of emails we get asking us about where is the best place to take salsa classes, it was obvious that a lot of our readers were making that part of their New Year Resolutions. So it just seemed appropriate that it would be the perfect topic to discuss so I don't have to keep repeating myself. Also, please remember that this information is based on my own experiences and/or from talking with fellow dancers and instructors over the years. I have always loved dancing since I was a kid, but never took dance classes until I got into salsa 3-1/2 years ago. Since then, I've taken lessons and workshops in salsa, international-style ballroom, and Argentine Tango; plus I've travelled to various dance conventions and seen the calibre of the instructors from various cities. From these experiences you learn for yourself, what you like to see in instructors and their pluses and minuses. I've been lucky to have picked some of the "best" for me. Hopefully, this will be a "guide" to help you find what's best for you.

But before I go into detail, let me set a few things straight:

1. There is no such thing as the "best" dance instructor. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses; we all learn and react differently to different teachers. Also, each instructor has their own teaching style which may or may not suit you, i.e. some break it down technically and others not so technically dependent on their dance background. Also, some instructors are really only able to teach advanced dancers as they do not know how to break it down and those dancers really don't need that info -- they just need to know how to get into that move.

2. "There is no best place to go and have a good price", you need to shop around. Also remember that having a cheap price does not mean you'll get your money's worth if you don't learn how to dance well or properly. For starters, you can check our list of established instructors with regular dance classes we have listed on our website.

3. There is such a thing as dancers who pass themselves off as teachers and don't have any understanding of how to teach dancing at all. How can you tell? Well, not always by the size of the class as some good teachers are just starting out, but by whether the students are picking up the moves and/ or by how the instructors teaches it. For example, if the instructor only knows the guy's part and says to the girls, just follow. Then he doesn't have a good understanding of how to teach the woman's part. Or if you don't get how to do a certain move, and they just keep demonstrating without breaking down the move in detail, then again, they don't know how to teach. As I mentioned earlier, this may be fine for advanced dancers as they usually become quite good at "copying" the moves without the breakdown. But if you are just starting out, then you should make sure that you get someone who can explain it to you in a way you can understand it as we all learn differently.

Before you start taking a regular set of classes or workshops, call and check out their classes and see which instructor is right for you.

For Beginners to salsa and are "serious" about learning to dance properly, I recommend that you take regular weekly dance classes to get your basics.

Most of the instructors listed below are continually upgrading their skills in salsa by travelling and/or learning from other interna-tional salsa teachers. Here are the instructors who are predominant in the salsa scene (in alpha order):

Dancing Thru Life
Dance to Live
Los Salsamanos
On Beat
Rhythm & Motion
Simply Dancing
Soles Dance Studio
Strickly Salsa
Toronto Salsa
United Salseros

Also, don't think you'll become an expert in just 10 weeks! It's a learning process for most dancers that can take up to a year with regular dance classes from beginner to advanced to have a good grounding. Plus practice practice and more practice. You need to be consistently practicing what you learned.

If you can't afford dance classes or don't take it as seriously, then take a class at one of the clubs, i.e.

Mondays -- Smokey Joe's with Frank Bishun
Tuesdays -- either Berlin w/Los Salsamanos OR Tequila w/United Salseros
Wednesdays -- Babaluu with Frank Bishun
Thursdays -- Ivory with Los Salsamanos
Fridays -- Courthouse
Saturdays? hmm... Instructor's Night Off?!
Sundays -- Left Bank with United Salseros

The lesson is usually part of the cover charge, and you can practice after.

For more experienced dancers (minimum one year usually) and after much practice, you may want to check out the drop-in workshops by various dance instructors in the City and occasionally, from international dance instructors who are visiting Toronto. Salsa Workshops are classes which you can drop into at any time and learn a certain no. of new moves in an hour or two. What's great is that if you want to expand your repertoire into shines on "1" or "2", men or women's styling, dips and/or tricks, then these are for you. We list all the workshops on the right or in our Events section. Note: More tips on becoming a better dancer are given in my response to the "Shy Salero" emails.

Hope this helps...
Rose Knows

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