Everyone is equal. Everyone is approachable.
Any one who is asked to dance will be more than happy to say yes!
This sound strange, but unfortunately some clubs can be filled with dancers that feel that once they have become advanced they belong to an elite group. Obviously this is not true. We can all learn from dancing with everyone, and accomplished dancers need to remember that they were once beginners.
At Strictly Salsa, members are encouraged and helped to reach their dance goals, whether its to relax, enjoy the music and have fun, to dance with a level of skill and style, to be a teacher in the club, or to aspire to the level of a show and competition dancer.
There are no limits, only your own level of desire and self-belief.
The dance teaching is second to none.
We teach with passion, enthusiasm and love for the music, displaying an extremely high technical ability and knowledge of salsa.
The style of dancing is closest to the LA style (Los Angeles, Hollywood style), combining salsa dance (Afro-Cuban and Jazz) with the techniques of classical ballet and America tap dance, to present a professional interpretation of the music, showing clean lines and texture to the dance. The explosive movement matches the music, delivering high speed spins and footwork, with a balance of slow medium smooth paces, exhibiting all the control of ballet but with the fluidity of jazz and Afro-Cuban movement.
LA style is recognised for the high levels of skill, technical ability and passion required, each dancer's enjoyment and individual personality shining through for the enjoyment of onlookers, without the hindrance of self-consciousness.
We say "Shyness and self-consciousness is the worst kind of vanity". Being self-conscious means that you think everyone is watching you !
Of all the characteristics in the LA style, dancing to the music is the most important. This sounds like a strange thing to say: doesn't everyone dance to the music? The simple answer is a resounding "No!".
Most people are so concerned with performing impressive moves that they don't listen to the music. The paradox is that if they truly listened to the music then the moves would materialise themselves, if they have very good basics. Dancing to the music is the hardest skill to achieve. To lead, dance on time and think of moves to execute is hard enough to achieve. However, to be inspired to improvise and choreograph dance patterns, whilst at the same time maintaining rhythm, positioning and leading requires very high levels of skill in the basics, a very good understanding of the salsa music and the ability to feel the music from the heart.
We have founded the teaching on these principles: the basics are the most important consideration. To dance to the music, this must be the desire, as we are, afterall, salsa DANCERS!
All of this is obtainable but it takes hard work, correct teaching, self-belief and the ability not to be self-conscious on the dance floor, all of which is learnable.
As a club, Strictly Salsa does not aim to make a profit, only to make enough money to enable the club to invest in top class bands and DJs, in quality advertising to gather all the dancers in one place and enble us to pay our top teachers a decent wage for their professional services. We keep the prices for classes and clubs as low as possible but overheads are high.
Our aim is only to unify salsa and increase the level and understanding of the dance and the music, with the people that we teach and those that dance in our clubs.
*Prices subject to change without notice.