“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them” – Vicki Baum

On Tuesday, Shelley, Becky and I went to Crawley Salsa to trip the light fantastic.

We arrived at Pizza Express, on the Boulevard in Crawley, at 7.45pm for an 8pm start. As we arrived, Jon, the owner of Crawley Salsa, welcomed us and we stood on the sidelines, nervously waiting for the warm up to begin.

Getting started

Shelley and I stood at the end of the row of eager dancers, hoping our videographer, Becky Fuller, wouldn’t film too many of our misguided steps! (See below for videos).

As the warm-up commenced, we quickly got into the rhythm of things and were swaying our hips in time to the music. Sadly, our feet had other ideas…

Once we’d done our five minute warm-up, we broke up into two groups – the initiated and the beginners.

The great thing about Crawley Salsa is that it’s open to everyone; even, as their site’s FAQ proclaims, those with ‘two left feet’. This was music to my ears, as I regularly trip over, even when completely sober.

Three steps to graceful dancing

Duncan and Lucy, the teachers assigned to the novices, expertly guided us through three basic dance moves. The first, ‘Son’, was a simple back-and-forth movement. When we were asked to pair up, Shelley and I immediately went to dance with each other. However, we were soon politely coerced into dancing with one of the four available men.

Dancing with a stranger

I paired up first with Aaron, 21, an electrical engineer from Crawley. As I learned later, this was his second lesson and he was attending with a friend who was dancing in the more advanced group. Aaron told me that he came to the lessons because he wanted to meet new people and add some variety to the working week. When I enquired as to how long he planned to come to the lessons, he grinned and exclaimed that he hoped he would be coming ‘for a very, very long time’. Obviously, Jon and co. had made a good impression.

Shelley paired up with Arturas, a Lithuanian chap, who told me that he was a keen and experienced ballroom dancer. This much was clear, as he demonstrated some great control over the ladies and moved like a pro.

Dance move one: Son

After a few giggles of embarrassment and looking at the floor, we were soon dancing the ‘Son’. In Cuban Salsa Dancing, the man is in control, which caused a little confusion as we were all new to this sexy, passionate choreography. Some of the more dominant women (read: Shelley and I) were a little uncomfortable at letting a man take the lead, but we soon got used to it.

Dance move two: Enchufla

Once we’d got the hang of the basic steps, we moved on to the ‘Enchufla’ (shuffle). The Enchufla includes a turn, which meant a little more co-ordination than the steps we’d learnt before. Stepping back and then forward, both partners must then turn 360 degrees and return to the normal position.

Dance move three: Dile que’no

Once Duncan and Lucy had decided that we were ready to move on to the last dance move for the evening, we were shown the Dile que’no (tell her no). When I learnt this move alone, I was fine. However, when a man was added into the equation, I found it difficult to grasp. It must have just been me, because everyone else seemed to pick it up quickly.

Swapping partners every few minutes added variety to the class and we met lots of new people. The ratio of the class is generally 60:40 women to men, yet as we rotated on a regular basis, we always managed to dance with a partner of the opposite sex.

Advanced dancers

As Shelley and I were so engrossed in sashaying across the glossy floor with our lovely partners, we didn’t see too much of the advanced class. However, from what we did observe, everyone seemed to be having a fantastic time.

I later interviewed Synnove from Norway, and Rachel, from Crawley, who told me that they’d been attending the classes since January. Although Rachel had been ‘dragged along’ by Synnove, who took the lead in finding a Salsa class, Rachel soon started to realise the benefits of attending Crawley Salsa as she had ‘lots of fun’ at the class and had met ‘loads of really great new people’, some of whom are now good friends.

Crawley Happy Times says…

Shelley and I really enjoyed our night. Not only did we have great fun, we learnt some wonderful new moves and have been practicing them around the office! We really recommend that you visit Pizza Express on a Tuesday night, partake of their lovely food, (which we sampled ourselves) and then head upstairs for some saucy, spicy footwork with Jon and all the team at Crawley Salsa!

Watch Shelley and I in the beginners’ class in the video below:

What should I wear?

Some people dress up for the class and some people come in what they were wearing at work, so it really doesn’t matter what you wear, as long as it’s comfortable and doesn’t restrict your movement too much.

Jon says that the best type of shoe to wear is one with a sole that will turn well on a wooden floor. Trainers, whilst comfortable, usually have a rubber sole that will prevent you turning properly, so avoid those if you can. Ladies who wish to wear heels should find ones with a lower heel. I suggest kitten heels for comfort and style. More from Jon, in this video, below:

Get involved

For more information on Crawley Salsa, including up-to-date prices, you can visit the website, join the Facebook group, call Jon on 07944 513544 or email jon@crawleysalsa.co.uk*

Or, of course, you can just turn up at Pizza Express [map] on a Tuesday night at 7.45pm.

* As Jon gets a lot of spam, he uses ‘Spambot’ which will reply to your email, asking you to confirm your membership of the human race by clicking a link.