Many moons ago, a friend of mine was doing a Teacher Training course, which involved him teaching foreign students English. He thought it would be a good idea to get his students together and take them out for a night on the town. He called me and asked if I would like to tag along with him and I agreed asking where he intended to take them, he replied Salsa!
.
My first thought was What is Salsa?
, he explained that it was some kind of Spanish dance and it was supposed to be fun. I have always loved listening to music and dancing too so I thought I would give it a go and find out about this so called dance. Mauricio Reyes was the instructor at the time and I must admit I absolutely loved every minute of the night even though I did just 1 or 2 basic steps all night
I had been dancing salsa for about 2 years before I started teaching. From the first class I participated in as a student, I could not stop myself from helping people after the classes with dance moves (turn patterns) they had struggled with during the class and I would always take time out to help beginners on the dance floor. I received numerous compliments on how I broke things down and about my patience whilst helping others and so someone suggested I should start teaching. I just laughed it off, thinking Your having a laugh mate!
, this was until the day I was thrown in at the deep end without my arm bands!
I started salsa dancing "Cuban" style with Latin Motion but was introduced to New York fairly shortly after which I found as a new challenge. Rueda De Casino was also another craze that was taking Birmingham by storm during the early years of my time within salsa. Reueda De Casino is again "Cuban" salsa but Salsa danced in a wheel with numerous couples doing synchronized moves called by an instructor.
Henry Vina and Val Kirk of Salsa Kings had started a Sunday Salsa night in Birmingham at a club called The Glee Club
. This was a very popular venue on the salsa scene for it's "Rueda De Casino" classes. The Rueda teacher at that time was Cuban born, Homero Gonzalez, a Salsa Instructor based down in London who specialized in Rueda De Casino. Everyone really enjoyed the Rueda classes Homero taught in Birmingham on Sunday evenings and we were always practicing after class during the salsa social party.
Anyway, one Sunday, Mr Homero Gonzalez decided he wasn't going to turn up and so Henry and Val were left with a problem, so they turned to me and asked if I could teach the beginners Rueda Class and Henry would teach the Intermediates. I was flattered but I was also scared to death, I had never really taught before but as they were in an awkward position I said I would try my best and help them out. So there I was, this young man, standing in the centre of 60 complete strangers thinking What the hell am I going to do?!
Butterflies were eating away at my insides and I am sure I broke into a major sweat too! In my head I kept saying to myself Potty, it's too late, your now in the situation so just deal with it
, and so I did. Kicked all the butterflies out, wrung the sweat out from my t-shirt, composed myself and got on with it.
At the end, I was so paranoid thinking that I had done a bad job that I went around to a few people and apologized, explaining it was the first time I had ever taught. To my surprise everyone I had spoken to really enjoyed it and couldn't believe that it was my first class. In-fact, people enjoyed themselves so much that they flooded Henry and Val with compliments about my class. That same night, Henry and Val offered me a teaching position in their team.
A little while after teaching for Henry Vina & Val Kirk I decided to continue teaching salsa forming the "Salsa Addicts" .
The "Salsa Addicts" were 3 guys with a passion for salsa, Wesley Prince, Gary Thomas and myself Michael. As the "Salsa Addicts" we had a small following but Latin Motion held the salsa monopoly in Birmingham as they had been established for many years prior to us, teaching Cuban Salsa.
In fact Gary, Wesley and myself started our salsa lives with Latin Motion but then we were introduced to "New York" style through a guest teacher that Latin Motion brought to Birmingham. From that day on the passion took over, the three of us had decided to pursue this "New York" style salsa with London being the best option.
Whilst we were attending classes in London I decided to teach "New York" style salsa in my local area with the help from Gary and Wesley, operating under the name "Salsa Addicts".
To be honest , I must admit that everyone in Salsa is an inspiration to me regardless of whether they teach or not but I have listed those that influenced me during my first few years of dancing.
I would also like to say a special thanks to Special Tee and his sister Rukè as they have played a major role in Maxine and my development within salsa for a number of years. Keep doing the good work guys!
Special Tee receiving an award at THE 4TH ANNUAL WEST COAST SALSA CONGRESS 2002