Salsa Music, Emotions and Movement

Nicola Lambert, my partner, has been running TNT since my resignation in 2015. Once a month, Nicola invites new students to our apartment to listen to, think about and discuss Salsa music; we believe that all new students should be exposed to Salsa music and have Salsa music demystified as soon as possible. We do… Read more »

The Declining Middle Class of Salsa

I spend time analysing the local and global Salsa scene to identify new trends and opportunities. One observation is the increasing gap between inexperienced and experienced Salsa dancers. Watching the US presidential race Bernie Sanders repeatedly talked about the declining middle class, which I think is a great way of framing what I see in… Read more »

PSS: Building up to the Perfect Social

I have been involved in Salsa events and organisations for the past 8 years. I do not work in Salsa for money but for the excitement and the joy of bringing people together. I do not find much enjoyment in doing the same thing over and over again for too long and I am always… Read more »

A Dark Day for London Salsa

My blog was created to share my opinions about Salsa and to give knowledge to those newer in their Salsa journey. On Monday 24th October 2016, two promoters in London launched one of the most shocking and negative campaigns I have ever witnessed during my 12 years of dancing Salsa. This campaign was littered with… Read more »

The Falling Pound and Salsa

I have been dancing Salsa in London for 12 years now and over the past 8 years, I have been a teacher, promoter, event organiser and general Salsa educator. On Thursday 23rd June 46.5 million citizens cast their vote in the UK Referendum on whether the UK leaves or stays in the EU – this… Read more »

Opportunistic Leading

Many dancers have asked me where I find the time to think about the patterns that I lead; especially given the speed that I can lead. The answer is that I do not think about what moves I will lead next but use Opportunistic Leading. This blog describes the concept of Opportunistic Leading, why I… Read more »

What, Why and When of Salsa

The world of Salsa has changed remarkably over the last decade; from the number of people that dance, to the number of teachers and more importantly the awareness of Salsa as a dance activity.  Ask your colleagues or family members about Salsa dancing and you will get an opinion. However, as Salsa has grown the… Read more »

My Performance Courses

In my blogs, I am quite vocal against the proliferation of Salsa Performance Courses and the impact they have on up-and-coming dancers and the future of the scene. Some of my previous blogs about Performance Courses can be read here: Performance Courses – gives my perspective on the pros and cons associated with taking one of… Read more »

Building a Salsa School (Part 2) Customers

Running a Salsa School is just like running any other business. In the previous article, we talked about the need to understand your own purpose which will give you conviction during the inevitable hard times. In this article, I want to talk about the Customers of the Salsa Scene, how to reach them and the… Read more »

Connection in Salsa

The second part of my leading series is about connection and will cover how I create a physical and emotional connection with my partner. In the physical connection section, I will talk about my ideas behind preparation, initiation, development and finally the lead. In the emotional connection section I will talk about mood, energy, empathy and how this… Read more »

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Latest

  • Preservationist and Evolution

    I have not blogged in a while as I am writing a book on my experiences in Salsa but a recent series of comments regarding to Kizomba (and on my Facebook wall) really hit home. The comments were not new and have been around a while and been applied to Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba and I am sure other… Read more »

  • London Salsa Events

    London Salsa Events will soon be two years old and with over 500 events listed and over 4,000 visitors a month I wanted to tell the story of why and how this project came about and why I feel that it is one of the most significant projects in London Salsa. Origins A little under… Read more »

  • Joel Dominguez and Shani Talmor at Club Cache

    For the past five years, I have been turning to online content to find inspiration from those that are geographically far but have lessons to teach. Although I believe that the London scene is home to many creative dancers after a while you need new input from new places. I do not watch Salsa shows… Read more »

  • Salsa Training Wheels

    Learning something new is never easy. To aid the Salsa learning process instructors use training wheels to remove fear, and uncertainty and to provide a safe and predictable framework for learning. However, eventually, this can act as a restricting chain which must be broken for the sake of your dancing. In this post, I will… Read more »

  • Transferable Skills from Salsa

    Having recently retired from Salsa I decided to try my hand at West Coast Swing. After going to classes I realised that there are some elements of Salsa that really helped me. After thinking about this more I realised that it has nothing to do with Salsa but life attributes that have been heightened through… Read more »

  • Internal Conflict in Salsa

    During my time as a Salsa instructor in London I have worked with many students. Now that I am retired I write these articles to share my opinions and to help, guide or inspire dancers. While this article may not apply to you I will talk about the internal conflicts among Salsa dancers, so why… Read more »