Salsa - Spice it up.

In grade school I took Latin. I went to a prep school where the headmaster also taught Latin - so it was obligatory. Now I'm into Latin again. This time it's Latin Dancing. Since I found myself single again, I started looking into new interests. Some just fell by the wayside (like working out ... not a gym guy). But one thing that has stuck is Salsa. My parents are avid ballroom dancers, and one evening I followed them to a Salsa class. What I found was that I really enjoyed the partnering aspect of social dancing. I was raised in the 80's so I grew up dancing to the music stylings of Madonna, Duran Duran, The Cure etc. But I never learned more structured dance, the art of the lead, and how fun learning new combinations can be.

Thanks to my salsa instructors, Grace and Hugo, I know enough to make it through a song without totally boring my partner - simple turns, cross body leads, a few fancier things, enough to make it a fun evening. I used to feel intimidated with only knowing a few combinations. It took me a while to ask anybody to dance when I went to a latin club. It doesn't help that I'm basically shy about the club scene. But now my confidence is budding and I'm starting to get out there more.

Living right in between DC and Baltimore, I'm surprized at how many places there are to dance Salsa in the area. You can find a "Latin Night" almost every day of the week. The best in the area is Gardel's near Baltimore's Little Italy. An upscale dinner club with Salsa on Saturdays, Gardel's features terrific dance floors on three levels. In D.C. there are a lot of options. Some of the most popular are Zanzibar, Carribean Breeze, and Cecilia's (incl. NoVA to be exact).

So come on. Spice your life up. Find those hidden interests and get out there!