My Salsa Journey: Zero to One

Disclaimer: I do not receive any compensation from Salsabor for writing this article. This is purely my personal experience.

#salsatuesday #cbr

A video posted by Cheng Yu (@chengyu_au) on Nov 10, 2015 at 12:10am PST

When I was a kid, I always got laughed at for missing easy passes during soccer and basketball games. Never did I see myself as nimble or flexible. During dance parties, I was usually a wallflower on the side.  

One day Jackson told me about Salsabor, my childhood fear of getting laughed at kicked in. But Jackson told me, "People in the Latin dance community in Canberra are positive and supportive. Even though you are a beginner, experienced dancers will still dance with you."

So I signed up for beginner salsa and never turned back. Instructors at Salsabor are passionate. Amy Walker would always give me nice tips on improving the moves, "make sure your hands are holding up." JP told me, "basics are important." Other instructors, such as Hamed, James, Jenny, Jasmine..., impressed me with their moves. Their stories prove that it is absolutely possible to learn salsa at any age, regardless of background.  

And the learning experience was fun. During lessons JP would substitute the music lyrics with his own improvisation while using Spanglish for steps "uno dos tres, cinco seis site". In ACT, there are a few Latin dance events such as the Thursday night social at Corazon, and monthly Salsa on Saturday (SOS) events. 

According to the Paul Zak in his TED talk, dancing increases oxytocin levels. Plus it is much more fun to dance than to just sit and drink. 

One thing is certain, I will keep learning salsa in 2016.