¨Bailas Salsa Cubana o en liñea?¨

Warming up for a night of salsa with my lovely roomates and our friend Tal! Fall 2012

One of the awesome things about dancing is sharing your passion with others. My friend Lionel and I gave a few lessons in his apartment last year (it had a big wood floor!) and had a blast doing so. This year I've been giving a few informal, basic lessons here and there to friends and co-workers at our lunch break at school!

¨Do  you still dance salsa? Are you still addicted?¨are questions I sometimes get asked. Yes,  I am still addicted to salsa, though perhaps not quite as much as my last year in college. How could I stop dancing  when Madrid offers several salsa clubs (such as the one located 5 minutes walking distance from my apartment), several lessons at various studios and cultural centers, and international dance festivals? I may not always take advantage of all of these opportunities, but I almost always dance at least once a weekend!

Italian instructors at the 2012 Madrid Bachata Festival

Last year, I went to the first Madrid Bachata Festival with Andrea, Laura and Lionel. It was an awesome experience and not too expensive because A) the ticket was much cheaper than it would be in the US (It was 50 euros and could easily start at $100 in SF) and B) I saved money on lodging since I could go back to my own apartment to sleep at night! There were several talented instructors from all over, including Southern Spain, Italy, Mexico, and even Florida! We even met a group of dedicated Americans who had come over from Texas and CA to teach, and we hung out that weekend. The last night of the festival we all went out for tapas afterwards, and I was honestly so sad to say goodbye. But one of the friends I made that weekend, Savan (from Riverside), actually came back to Madrid this December for a kizomba festival! So we got to meet up again, and of course went out dancing! That´s what I love about dancing- how it connects you to people so easily. The dancing community is so small and so big at the same time!

Massage train after dancing= so needed! With new friends from CA, Atlanta, and Texas who flew all the way out to Madrid to teach and dance Bachata. That's dedication!

Besides the festivals, I love being able to go out dancing on any weekend in Madrid. This past December I had one of those Fridays where I decided to go out dancing last minute... at 1 am! Some friends and I had been to a birthday dinner and went out to a bar afterwards to go dancing. It was an awesome bar that had a completely  wood interior, a look-out tower, parrots and treasure chests everywhere- basically, it was the inside of a pirate ship! Anyways, as we were dancing, I decided that I wanted to really dance- salsa, that is! So afterwards when our friend José was driving Laura and I home, I asked him to drop me off at Tropical House on the way- my favorite place to go, since it's free on Fridays before 1:30 and is a 5 minute walk from our apartment.

Getting ready for a short walk to Tropical House! Spring 2012

I was not in the best salsa outfit and had no dancing shoes with me- so my tall leather boots had to suffice. But it worked out, and even on a whim it was a fun night! Tropical House is an awesome place to dance because people are pretty friendly and someone will almost always ask you to dance. There are also people of all levels, and some really good dancer too! But they're not too "pijo" (posh) as some other salsa places can be.

Even though I went by myself this time, I ran into my friend Susie right away (another avid salsa dancer from the states) and her friend who it turns out was also a former Aggie! We danced and soon went out on the floor together to do a common thing in many clubs here that I like to call ¨salsa aerobics¨. During some point in the night, between salsa and bachata songs, the DJ will put on a non-salsa latin or popular song, everyone gets into rows facing the stage, one of the salsa instructors who works at Tropical House will go up front to lead a dance. It´s always a great work out, and the instructor tends to use latin and salsa moves- hence my nickname for it!¨This night they played Gangnam style and used several moves from this video- needless to say it was a hit!

Here in Spain there are 3 common types of latin dances that you´ll find at most salsa clubs- Salsa, bachata, and merengue or kizomba- a very slow, sensual dance that has recently come over to Europe from Africa. In CA, you´ll often find merengue instead of kizomba. Some places, like CATS on Sundays, have completely replaced merengue with kizomba!

With our salsa friend Andrea and her Argentinian, tango-dancing roomie! Spring 2012

Also, when you go out salsa dancing in Madrid, some leads will ask you which type of salsa you dance- salsa en linea (salsa in line) or cubana (Cuban-style salsa). Salsa en liñea is the most common in the US (depending on the region, of course), and is what I learned to dance in Davis. It is more formal (what they dance in ballrooms) has more moves and spins, and is danced in a line or slot (as the name suggests). Salsa cubana has more of an informal feel, is danced to faster music with more energy, and isn´t danced in a slot. You´re always going in different directions and will often kind of turn around your partner. I never learned this formally, but picked it up by watching and just trying it out here. It´s very fun and I love the energy of dancing it. I may start and go to some free lessons I found soon at a nearby cultural center.

Well that´s what there is to know about salsa dancing in Spain! It´s a pastime I love keeping up, as it´s a great way to exercise, express yourself, meet new people, and a fun way to go out in Madrid.