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What happens at your first salsa class
This page is for the person sitting in the car park at Robina deciding whether to come in. Here is exactly what is going to happen.
The big one
You can come on your own
Yes, and most people do. You do not need a partner, and turning up alone is so normal that nobody will notice, let alone comment.
We rotate partners all the way through the class, so you will dance with everyone in the room rather than standing at the side. Plenty of our regulars turned up alone the first time and now they are the ones welcoming the new people.
The first fifteen minutes
You arrive at Robina Community Centre a few minutes before 6:30pm. Someone says hello, takes your $15, cash or card, and points at where to put your bag. You do not sign anything and you have not booked, because there is nothing to book.
Parking is on site, and it is a short walk from Robina train station.
If you get there at 6:00pm there is free social dancing already happening. Nobody is teaching, people are just dancing. You are welcome to watch it from a chair for half an hour. That is a completely reasonable way to spend your first night.
The class itself starts with everybody in rows facing the front, learning the basic step on their own. No partner, no contact, no pressure. It is a weight change, and it takes most people about four minutes.
Then we pair up, and you dance the same step you just learned with one other person. Then the music goes on. That is the first fifteen minutes.
What you do not need
- A partner. Come alone.
- A booking. Any Monday works.
- Experience. The class includes a beginner level.
- Dance shoes. See what to wear.
- Coordination. Genuinely.
- A membership. There is none.
The part people worry about
Partners rotate, and why that helps
Every few minutes everybody moves on to the next person. It sounds like the part to be nervous about and it is the part that makes the night work.
Cuban salsa is improvised. There is no routine to memorise, which means the whole skill is communicating with the person in front of you through your hands and your timing. You cannot learn that from one partner. You certainly cannot learn it while worrying that you are holding somebody up, which is what happens when a beginner is paired with one person for an hour.
It also means nobody is watching you. Everybody in that circle is concentrating on their own feet.
Age, and everything else
Is it too late to start?
No. Adults across a broad age range come to Monday classes, and there is no upper end to it.
If it helps to hear it from a student rather than from us: "Nikoletta and Stephen are the most amazing Cuban salsa and Dominican Bachata teachers here on the Gold Coast. They welcome everyone so warmly to their classes and social dancing and their community is just so wonderful." That is Jeannie.
What you are actually learning
Cuban salsa, known in Cuba as casino, danced socially rather than as a routine. If you want to know more about it before Monday, we have written about the dance you will be learning.
Before you come
- Wear something you can move in.
- Bring water.
- Read what to wear if you are unsure.