Queer Salsa | Complete Beginners Salsa Class

The Untraditional Pub - Pillars Brewery
35 Saint James Street, London, E17 7FY (view map)

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Queer Salsa | Complete Beginners Salsa Class

Details

✨ Complete Beginners Salsa Class ✨

Style: New York-style Salsa (aka Salsa On 2)

🎟️ Spots are limited, when we sell out we will put the waitlist on

🍂 Class Summary

We loved our previous New York-style salsa class so much that we are doing it again!

Covering the very basics of Salsa rhythm, the basic step, styling and partner work, this class is suitable for complete beginners AND experienced Salsa dancers that have never tried Salsa-on-2 before!

🍂 Cross body salsa

Salsa dancing began in the streets, shaped by many communities across Latin America and the diaspora. Over time, shared styles developed so people could dance together, each one shaped by its own history, music, and context.

Crossbody Salsa, also known as En Línea, developed in LA and New York, where Latin American and Caribbean diasporic communities were influenced by local dance styles like Swing, Hustle, and Ballroom. It’s danced in a line, with partners facing each other and switching places back and forth. In contrast, Cuban and Cali styles are danced in more circular movements.

🍂 On 2

In salsa, the music has a steady beat, and dancers choose which count in that beat to start their step on - this is called "timing." On 2 is one of the main styles of timing, alongside On 1.

On 2 developed in New York, shaped by Puerto Rican and Cuban dancers dancing to the mambo bands of the time. Instead of stepping forward on the very first beat of the music (like On 1), you step forward on the second beat to emphasise the contratiempo timing. This lines it up more closely with some of the percussion underneath the melody, giving the dance a different groove.

Don't worry if none of that makes sense yet - we'll teach the timing from scratch, so it's just as easy to pick up as On 1, even if you've never danced before.