What type of dancer are you?

From my time in the Latin dance scene I’ve noticed various paths and progressions of dancers. There are different levels of involvement within dance and I have created some definitions and a diagram to help organize my thoughts. There is a progression from when someone starts learning how to dance, to how much they social dance and/or continue to develop their dancing. This path is fueled by each dancer’s own personal goals.  For example, for someone dancing may be purely recreational and they enjoy social dancing whereas others may want to build up their dance skills and potentially perform or compete.

There is no distinct path and many dancers can fall into multiple categories at any point in their dance lives. From my own experience, early on in my dance days I was a devout social goer, but because of my goal to further develop my dancing I began training and performing.  Due to the additional hours, commitment and energy required for performance I started cutting back on social dancing. I am currently working on redefining the balance between social dancing and training. I definitely think it’s important to find the proper balance of dance to meet your goals as a dancer and a person in general. Reasons I believe the balance is key because:

• If it’s not balanced, something that once made you happy can easily make you unhappy and start to feel like work.
• Social dancing is a key part in practicing and developing your skills as a dancer. True following, leading and free-styling is tested when you are not working on choreography.

What kind of dancer are you? What has your dance experience been like? Feel free to share your thoughts or comments below.

Go social dancing in Toronto any day of the week

[Updated March 31, 2016]

Before I started Latin dancing I had no idea how active the community was or that it even existed. Did you know that you can find somewhere to dance practically every night of the week?  Below I have compiled a list of places that you can dance throughout the week. The below list does not include special events, workshops or congresses. If you know of any other weekly/regular places to dance, please feel free to comment below or email me so that I can add them to the list. Happy dancing!

Social dancing at an iFreestyle.ca social. Source: iFreestyle.ca

Sundays

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
Sunday Salsa Social	6 – 10:30pm	Dovercourt House (805 Dovercourt Rd, Toronto)	Lessons available before the social starts. Cost includes social admission.	$8 w/o lessons	2 floors (Salsa with a sprinkle of bachata, Kizomba)
TDS Sunday Salsa Social	7 – 10pm	Empress Walk Studio (5095 Yonge Street, 2nd floor)	N/A	$7	Mostly salsa
Kizomba Sundays	8pm	Alleycatz Restaurant Lounge 2409 Yonge St., Toronto	Free lesson, 8 or 8:30pm	?	Kizomba night
Zouk no T.O.	7:30-9:30pm	Trinity St. Paul United Church, 427 Bloor St West Toronto		$7

Mondays

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
Salsa Mondays	8:30pm	Alleycatz Restaurant Lounge 2409 Yonge St., Toronto	Free lesson at 8:30	$8	Salsa night W/DJ Romantico. No cover before 9pm.

Tuesdays

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
Salsa at the Den	9:00pm	Nest, 423 College Street	9pm	$10	2 Rooms (A Strictly Salsa l Bachata Room and a Strictly Kizomba Room)
Bachata Tuesdays	8:30pm	Alleycatz Restaurant Lounge 2409 Yonge St., Toronto	Free lesson at 8:30	?	Free before 10:30
Tantra Tuedays (Every other Tuesday)	8:30pm – 1:30am	Tantra Lounge 1157 St Clair Ave W, Toronto	N/A	$5	DJ NS spinning the best Kizomba, Semba, Tarraxinha and Zouk
“Zouk Me” Tuedays	9:15pm – 11:30pm	Mazouka Dance, 527 Bloor St West (2nd Floor), Toronto	N/A	$5

Wednesdays

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
TDS Wednesday Bachata Social	10pm – 12:30am	Empress Walk Studio (5095 Yonge Street, 2nd floor)	N/A	$5	Mostly bachata with some salsa and kizomba
Latin Wednesdays		&Company Resto Bar, 295 Enfield Place, Mississauga	Free lesson at 10pm	?	MAIN ROOM DJ MECHON HOSTED BY NICO P (TOP 40 LATIN / SALSA / MERENGUE / BACHATA) GALLERY ROOM DJ ARISTOTLE (HIP HOP / HOUSE / TOP 40) COMPLIMENTARY DANCE LESSON AT 10PM LADIES FREE ALL NIGHT

Thursdays

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
Mas Thursdays	9pm-2am	El Rancho, 430 College Street, Toronto	2 workshops at 9pm	$10	3 rooms salsa, bachata, kizomba

Fridays

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
Toronto Salsa Fridays	10pm-2am	Dovercourt House (805 Dovercourt Rd, Toronto)	9pm	?	Toronto Salsa Fridays puts on different events, please confirm on FB for exact dates. Salsa All Stars 90% Salsa and Cha cha 10% Bachata Fusion 85% Salsa and Cha cha (from CD and Vinyl, new and old styles) 15% Bachata
The Uptown Loft Salsa Fridays	9pm	Uptown Loft, 2464 Yonge St, Toronto	9pm	$10	Latin dancing on Friday nights. Primarily salsa. Check for event details. TDS typically has bi-weekly outings and other Fridays are typically hosted by other latin nights.

Saturdays

Note: Saturdays are typically governed by socials hosted by dance schools that are held monthly/biweekly.

Event	Time	Location	Lesson	Cost	Details
Dame Tu Bachata	9pm-2am	Dovercourt House (805 Dovercourt Rd, Toronto)	8pm	$10	Hosted by Araguacu 70% Bachata 30% Classic and Romantic Salsa Twice a month.
iFS Monthly Social	9pm – 2am	Dovercourt House (805 Dovercourt Rd, Toronto)	8pm	$10, $8 on guestlist	Hosted by iFreestyle.ca Latin Dance School, monthly social. Link to event schedule and guestlist.
CDC Latin Social	9pm-1am	489 Queen St West, Toronto (3rd floor)	Free lesson, 8 or 8:30pm	9pm	Hosted by City Dance Corps, monthly social
Toronto Salsa Practice	3:30-5:30pm or 5:30-8:00	Trinity St. Paul United Church, 427 Bloor St West Toronto		$5 per session

Salsa, the Gateway Dance and the Trifecta Connection

From my experience salsa is one of the most well-known dances amongst non-dancers. For example, when any type of Latin music plays it’s often mistaken for salsa. When I tell people I dance bachata I often get a confused look, then I say it’s a Latin dance like salsa and this is followed by an “ah” of acknowledgement. Even though many people may not know exactly what it is, most people have heard of it and know that it’s a dance.

When people enter the Latin dance world, most do so through salsa. This is why I consider salsa as the gateway dance. Once you’re in the Latin dance world you get exposed to and learn about other dances like cha cha, bachata and kizomba.

What’s the difference between these dances?
Each of these dances are danced to different types of music and have their own set of basic steps. Some of these dances more easily lends itself to be remixed with mainstream hits and becomes more recognizable to those outside the dance scene.  I often find that the best dances are when you achieve the trifecta connection between you, your partner and the music. Without getting any more technical about each dance/their music I would say that each dance has its own character.

For me personally, I fell in love with bachata and kizomba early on because of the trifecta. Many songs have the nuances of my favourite genre of music R&B and the dancers are more likely to achieve that connection.  Salsa and cha cha, I find to be the most forgiving dances, all the while being the hardest and most technical. What I mean by forgiving is when salsa is danced in open hold there is a lot of space and room between partners and often tension is not fully transferred between the arms so even if there is slight timing issues the dance can be still go on. For kizomba, which typically requires a closer hold between partners, if there is a miss step you are likely to bump into one another or step on each other’s toes.

Below I’ve included links to some salsa, bachata and kizomba social dances:

Salsa

 

Bachata

 

Kizomba

I’ve been dancing salsa for just over 3 years now and I feel like it is my weakest dance. I know the basics – however the trifecta in salsa often eludes me. Reasons of the elusion could be my own confidence and that I don’t social dance salsa enough and salsa is generally more difficult to get that connection with your partner. My goal is to continually work on my salsa, to be confident and realize the trifecta connection.

I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences or advice about the trifecta connection.

The Beginning of my Dance Journey

Dancing at a young age
Often when kids are young, parents and family members teach them things and new tricks that they can show off to their friends.  In Filipino culture, the common ones are “beautiful eyes” and “where’s the light?” When I was younger my parents would play music (sometimes it would just be to sound of my Dad’s voice) and I would start to dance. Now 20+ years later, I am witnessing the same thing with my nieces and nephews, with songs on the radio, soundtracks of their favorite movies or even us directing them to “Dance! Dance!” when the music comes on (YouTube video below).  So I guess I can say I started dancing at a very young age.

Introduction to Ballroom
When I was about 8 years old a member of my church who was also a ballroom instructor started to offer group ballroom lessons to help raise money for the church.  My parents signed up to take lessons and in lieu of getting a babysitter I just stuck around the church auditorium and watched them as they took their lesson. As weeks passed, my parents would practice what they learned at home, and one day they were having difficulty remembering how something went and I apparently began to demonstrate to them how it was done. It seems that as I was watching them take their lessons I was picking it up as well.

Other dances
For about five years I was a member of Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe of Canada where I was able to learn and share the culture of the Philippines at various cultural festivals including but not limited to Carassauga, Carabram, Caravan.  Also during this time I pursued ballroom dance, participating in youth group classes where I learned dances such as the jive, rumba and cha cha.

Dancing sabbatical
When I was in university, dance seemed to take a back seat. It wasn’t something I decided conciously, but it wasn’t something I was doing regularly. There were periods of times where I took a salsa class at the rec centre, but nothing seemed to stick. When I first joined the working world full time, my routine would often consist of going to work during the day and sitting on the couch on the evening. I know that this may be the norm for most, however it was becoming boring to me and I was searching for something interesting that might also keep me active.  This is when I thought about dance.  At this time, my search for dance schools was limited to Mississauga, and location and convenience were key factors. I didn’t end up finding a school that suited my schedule and once again dance was put on the back burner.

Reigniting the passion
It was not until I transferred downtown that I found classes that were in a convenient location and fit my schedule.  Since then I’ve rediscovered my passion for dance and it is now a large part of my life, hence this blog about dance and food (my other passion).

Enough about me, what about you? Please feel free to comment on your dance journey and share how you started to dance.