Salsa City Forum » News and Chat » Salsa Risa

Hi Pip

All the info you need to know about what to wear etc is under the FAQ section at the top of the main page.

How about badges/stickers saying ‘I’d love to dance or Ask me 2 dance’

Hi Jules,

I think this approach was tried in O’Neill’s but I’m not sure how successful it was. Nevertheless it can be a bit frustrating if you’re itching to dance and you don’t get asked or feel you can’t pluck up the courage to ask someone. It took me almost three months after I started classes to begin asking partners to dance.

If you read my comments on page 2, message 17 of this thread you will find my suggestion of how to ensure you get to dance after the classes.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Got back to Risa at Jongleurs Thursday and was so great to be there dancing again. I so love it there, the music is great, the girls are fantastic dancers. The beginners too were really going for it, as always danced with as many as I could. Love to pass on my enthusiasm to as many people as I can. Thanks for a great night, well worth travelling from Bristol. See you next week!

Hey I’d like to start salsa and these classes look good. I’ve never done it before so I don’t know how it works but baisically none of my mates are interested in doing it. Would it be a problem if I came on my own? I don’t wana be the only one without a partner! Thanks

Hi Rachel,

Coming on your own is no problem, the classes regularly rotate partners.

Good luck have fun!

It’s gone dark again at Risa!

For the last few weeks at Risa the venue has turned down the lights for the social dancing after the classes, which used to be the case when it was held upstairs.

On the one hand it could be considered that by turning the lights down it creates a better latin style club atmosphere like La Tasca, however it doesn’t encourage social dancing with new partners.

For those lacking a bit of confidence to ask new partners to dance, (we’ve all been there) they can too easily be left on the side lines in the dark and get frustrated when no one asks them to dance, consequently they end up going home early, which is not a good thing for helping the Salsa community to grow.

If the lights are turned up to the level they are for the classes, there is a better chance that people on the sidelines will be noticed and they will also subconsciously have more confidence to ask someone to dance.

PS excuse the pun from my codename Blackout.

Yep. For safety and entertainment, salsa dancers need to see and be seen!

I didn’t think it was too dark last night, and less hot than last week. The atmosphere is better with the lights a little lowered. There seemed to be loads of new faces though - is this because the students have returned (sits dreamily thinking of his student days in Cardiff)?

Give it a couple of weeks, and there will probably be a really big swell when it’ll be freshers week at the end of the month. I remember when this happened last year, the beginners class more than doubled in size.