Salsa Dancing Cuban Style

I have tried many new things since I moved to Israel that I never expected to do, but found very exciting and fun once I did them. On the top of that list is salsa dancing. In the States salsa dancing is not the hottest trend. Dance clubs that I have been to would play a song or two with a Latin beat, and girls would swing their hips and fudge a few steps to pretend like they were salsa dancing. In Israel salsa has been big for quite a few years now and in Tel Aviv there are more than half a dozen clubs that are strictly salsa. Last week Ariel and I went to one such place and I had a blast.

Most clubs have the same format- 1 hour lesson followed by music and open space to dance until the place closes. Wednesday was Cuban night and Ariel couldn’t have been happier. Cuban style salsa, called Rueda, takes the steps that a pair would do in a salsa dance and puts them in a circle full of other pairs. There is a caller who tells you what steps to do and you switch partners every so often. It looks like synchronized swimming on land and feels like line dancing…but in a circle and to much better music.

Once the lesson was over and the dancing really got started, I couldn’t stop staring at everyone around me. The place was pretty full and there were people of all ages and abilities. Ad hoc circles would form and people moved with such ease and grace that I could barely tear myself away. People also danced in couples and it was just as fun to watch them. Ariel has been dancing for a few years now so we also did our fare share of dancing, but I am still a beginner and I’m not quite used to all of the spinning just yet.

By 11:30 I was dead after a day of work, an hour lesson and then dancing; of course, this place was just getting started. I have no idea how these people had the energy, but all I could think of was my bed. The next day I changed my cell phone ring to salsa music.