Some Salsa Winter Break News - subscribe to our blog - outreach opportunities

Hi,

some salsa news & announcements

- We are finishing the details on our Lesson schedule, which will be announced soon! As a sneak peak, I can tell you that we will offer the three basic salsa levels (three 1.5hour lessons/sequence, starting Mon Jan 26) , plus beginners Rueda, and new club chacha & bachata sequences (starting Thu Jan 15). More soon!

- For Beginning & Continuing students, we'll have a review lesson on the first monday of class! it's important to come since you will be evaluated to be admitted to the Cont & Intermediate levels.

- We'll have two parties this quarter! dates & times will be announced soon!

- We'll have auditions for the new Salsa Performance Group members. They will be: Wednesday Jan 28, Feb 4th, in the Shoreland ballroom, starting at 8pm. Also on Monday, Feb 2nd, at Open Salsa. Please email salsa@uchicago.edu if interested in auditioning and your preferred date.

- Check our Blog at http://ballroom.uchicago.edu/Blog.html We are posting there the last pictures, performance videos, news and tips for salseros. You can subscribe via google reader or email to get the latest news!

- On February 12-15 it's the Chicago International Salsa Congress! check their website at http://www.chicagosalsacongress.com/home.html. It's a wonderful event, full of workshops, performance & music. There's discounted rate until Jan 9. There are also volunteering opportunities: usually you can volunteer for half a day and enjoy the rest for free! If you are interested in volunteering, please email me to salsa@uchicago.edu to put you in contact with the organization.

- Finally, we'd like to ask for volunteers for our Outreach Program: One of the most important ways that BLDA serves the community is by sending instructors to local schools to bring ballroom and latin dance opportunities to southside students. If you are a student with dance experience interested in joining our team of volunteer instructors, please contact me at salsa@uchicago.edu. It's a great way to introduce yourself to the club, gain experience and share the joy of dancing!

Happy Holidays, and go dancing!

Salsa Opportunities Over Winter Break

by Gal Oppenheimer,

A number of students have emailed asking if we will be having Salsa over winter break. Unfortunately, since many of our instructors are out of town over the breaks, we are unable to offer any salsa classes. We plan to resume classes the second week of winter quarter (January 11). While we would like to tell you exactly what our schedule be, we have not yet received our room schedule from the University, so therefore we are unable to schedule our classes. As soon as they are finalized, I will email all of you, and post them online at http://ballroom.uchicago.edu/Lessons.html.

However, there are many opportunities to go Salsa dancing and take lessons in Chicago over the break. Also, if you are going home for break, just google Salsa dancing and your city, and you'll definitely find something.

Lessons:
Most studios in Chicago also teach their classes in sequences, and unfortunately, it is too late to sign up for new classes. However, Latin Street Dancing is having what they call "Boot Camps" where you come in for 3.5 hours and learn a bunch of new stuff. Their classes will be the week of December 15th. To view the schedule, please visit: http://www.laboriqua.com/welcome/class/schedule.html.

Private Lessons:
Some of our instructors will be in town, so they might be able to give private instruction. Email salsa@uchicago.edu for availability and questions.

Dancing:
There are a bunch of places to go salsa dancing if you are over 21, however, for those of us under 21, locations to go dancing are limited. Therefore, I've split the list:

All Ages:
Latin Rhyms: Salsa mixers on December 20th and January 3rd (http://latinrhythmsdance.com/mixer.html) This is Gal's favorite place to go Salsa dancing in Chicago as the dancers are amazing.

Latin Street Dancing: They have a bunch of classes, some dancing opportunities, and a list of a bunch of places around chicago. View it all here: http://www.laboriqua.com/welcome/dance/index.asp

Images: Mix restaurant and dancing, on Mondays and Fridays. It might be 18+ since I went there when I was 18, but call to make sure. (http://www.imagesrestaurant.com/entertainment.html)

21+:
Here is a website with listings for what's going on every night:

http://www.salsachicago.com/n_nightclub.htm

Here's links to places our instructors go sometimes:

Buzz (http://www.buzztheclub.com/) Sundays and Wednesdays
Alhambra (http://www.alhambrapalacerestaurant.com/) Tuesdays
Green Dolphin (http://www.jazzitup.com/) Tuesdays
Excalibur (http://www.visionnightclub.com/) Thursdays
Rumba (http://63.134.220.8/) Fridays & Saturdays

We hope this lists helps everyone out!

Salsa Performance Sneak Peak Video!

The Salsa Performance Group presented a sneak peak of their performance tonight, Monday Dec 1st, at Open Salsa.

Congrats to Mary & Neal, Ioana & Konrad, Fanny & Antonio and Melissa & Stephen!

The Choreography was created by Felipe & Sheila. Check the YouTube video below!



Enjoy!

If you cannot see the video, you can go to the original location clicking here.

Board Meeting Tomorrow!

We ar inviting everyone to our Board Meeting on Tuesday. It will be this Tuesday, at 7:30pm in the Ida Noyes West Lounge (on the Second Floor).

If you have any interest in getting more involved with the club, including teaching or assisting administratively, or would like to share your suggestions for how we can improve our classes and workshops, feel free to join us.

The Agenda will include the following (in addition to other items):
- Setting our schedule for next quarter.
- Discussing our parties and workshops for next quarter.
- Fundraising ideas and development
- Designing the Winter 2009 budget

I hope I'll see many familiar faces. If you have any questions, feel free to contact anyone on the board, email to blda@uchicago.edu, or speak to any of the instructors tomorrow.

New Shoe Advice & Info!

Hello,

Mary Caldwell, our Salsa Instructor, has written a very nice article on the importance of bringing adequate shoes to the dance lessons, tips to select your ideal dancing shoe, and information and links on where to buy them, in stores and online.

Check it out at

http://ballroom.uchicago.edu/Shoe_Info.html

if you have additional questions, do not hesitate to ask Mary or email to danceshoes@uchicago.edu for more info and advice.

Cheers,

F.