Salsa
Off the Table and Onto the Floor!

By Meryl Logue

“I’m going to really splurge and have a piece of this cheesecake for dessert!” I smile at my friend and agree. Yes, it looks quite tasty, and I’ll have one too. But for me it’s not a splurge. I have the luxury of making that decision with little regard for the calories I’ve eaten that day. But how is it that I can afford such a luxury?

It’s because I have found a form of exercise that fits my temperament. I absolutely do not (will not) jog. Or work out in a gym. Or use a treadmill in my spare bedroom. (I don’t have a spare bedroom, but that’s beside the point!) I don’t even “walk,” although I will hike with a group of friends any time someone makes that happen. Instead, I “do salsa.”

Salsa! It’s no longer just a spicy sauce for Mexican food! It’s an incredibly fun, calorie-burning, cardiovascular workout. It combines mental (lots of moving parts to keep track of) with physical (lots of moving parts to keep track of), with coordination (did I say lots of moving parts to keep track of?). It’s social; you have to have a partner to dance salsa! It’s addictive; once you’re hooked, if anyone asks you what you are doing these days, your reply will probably be along the lines of, “I’m doing salsa now. How are you doing?” In fact, if you are truly bitten by the bug, you will arrange your life around dancing salsa!

Salsa is a partner dance that focuses on smooth, gliding steps, with lots of spins and turns to keep things interesting. While it’s true that the salsa of yesteryear took very little energy compared to today’s salsa, the dance has evolved in the last 40 years. As one retired salsera put it, “We didn’t do all that fancy stuff! We danced for hours and hours, so we had to conserve our energy.” Hers was more like Latino-style salsa still is. But today’s American version of salsa incorporates spins, turns, and “lots of stylin’!”

The basic step is a “forward and back” motion, interspersed with spins and side-to-side moves. The “lead” moves the “follow” up and down “the slot,” stepping in and out of the slot to allow her to pass. He guides her through spins, direction changes and, if they are really good, aerials! Occasionally the lead takes a step back and disengages, and then both the lead and the follow “solo” and show off some styling: hand movements, hair tosses, hip shakes, and fancy footwork. By the end of the song, both of them are sweating, their hearts are pounding, and the calories are fairly sizzling away!

But neither feels like they’ve worked out. Says salsera Jenny Ostoj, “After I’m done dancing I’m sweating like I’ve run five miles. I sweat more than I ever do working out. But with salsa, you feel great after you’ve danced a few fast songs; it’s almost like an adrenalin rush! You feed off of the music. It energizes you, and you don’t feel like you are exercising. When I run, I can feel that I’m working. But with salsa I don’t feel that. It’s like interval training! You dance for five minutes, then stop for a few, then dance a few, and then stop, and you can do it for hours if you want. I can do it for hours if I want!”

Indeed, when I first started learning salsa, I lost 12 pounds in the first month. It was with mixed feelings that I went shopping for new clothes. I wasn’t sure I would stick with it. Would I spend money on new clothes only to lose interest in dancing, and slowly inch back up? But instead, I “got the bug” and began taking more classes. Soon I was taking classes several times a week. In fact, the biggest challenge was in finding classes on enough nights of the week! But eventually I discovered that one could take salsa classes nearly any night of the week in the Portland area. Offering classes in North Portland is DanceMode Studios at Scarlett Ballroom; in the Inner East area is Viscount Studios and Paradise Studios. Numerous clubs and ballrooms offer salsa dancing nearly every night of the week. An excellent online resource for all types of dancing, including salsa, is www.portlanddancing.com.

So who takes salsa classes, or dances salsa socially? Nearly anyone! Some studios find that children’s classes are a popular offering. Adult classes attract dancers from 20-something to 60-something. The dance is low-impact, so nearly anyone can benefit from it. And, surprising to some, salsa is not more popular with any particular race or culture; the salsa community draws dancers from every category.

Nor is it expensive. Most dancers wear jeans and a light top, although the salsa fests are an excuse to break out the fancy clothes. And most dancers soon find that a pair of dance shoes is extremely helpful. While the shoes range in price and style, one thing common to salsa dancing shoes is their suede sole. The suede provides enough grip to let you stop when you need to, but with enough slip to let you spin freely. In the Portland area, both Leotard and The Glass Slipper provide shoes for women and men in a range of prices and styles. Many shops exist online; a Google search on salsa shoes yields over a half-million hits.

Brenda Collins Krstanovic, founder of DanceMode Studios at Scarlett Ballroom, who used to be a walker and a runner, sums it up best: “It doesn’t sound like a chore. It doesn’t feel like a chore. You’re energized by the music and the people around you. It’s so much fun you forget that you’re exercising!”

So go ahead, eat that cheesecake! Then grab your shoes and a water bottle, hop in your car, and meet me at the hop! Uhhh… meet me at the studio!

Meryl Logue is an enthusiastic convert to salsa as a lifestyle choice. She works as a writer in the Portland area to support her salsa addiction. She dances whenever she can with anyone who knows the basic salsa step.