Hola dancers,

Excitement is building as it is less than a week until Fuego! Here the details plus info about other events like a special Dips workshop, the return of the highly popular Lunchtime Rueda, and a reminder about lesson times.

FUEGO!

Carnaval del FUEGO is happening this Saturday! (19th of May) Held at the Woolston Club with their shiny new dance floor, Fuego is an unmissable Latin dance party. If you haven't got your ticket yet you can get it in class this week, online or on the door on the night. Tickets are $17 for students and $20 for non-students, with $25 doorsales on the night. There will will be Latin music of various styles including salsa, merengue, cha cha and more. There will also be a live band and some exciting performances! Fuego kicks off at 7.30 and will go till late, with supper provided and drinks available to purchase from the bar. Don't miss out; this is the Latin dance party of the year!

The Return of Lunchtime Rueda

That's right... you've seen us dancing it at class, around uni, out and about, and now Lunchtime Rueda makes a triumphant return. At noon on Fridays, come and join us outside the Undercroft to learn and dance Rueda, the very fun circular Cuban Salsa variant that involves fast feet, fast thinking and a heap of mangled Spanish. It normally goes for over a hour, so don't be put off if you're busy until 1. These sessions are usually pretty informal and you can join even if you haven't done any Rueda before. Basically, come and give it a try. We're all hooked on Rueda and you will be too.

Advanced Workshop Series - Dips in Modern Jive

On Sunday the 27th of May our dips and aerials master Raphael will be holding a special workshop to teach everyone more about the exciting world of dips. Part of our advanced workshop series, this workshop is open to everyone (although you should be comfortable leading and following, and at least happy with the idea of dips - but we'll make it painless!). In this workshop you will learn a selection of dips with a much bigger focus on the technique. These techniques are really useful as they will make your dips look better and make them much easier but most importantly make them much safer. Another important thing we will cover is how and when to integrate these moves into your dancing.

The workshop is Sunday the 27th of May, from 2-5pm in the Education dance room 103 (the smaller room right beside regular classes).

Lesson times

Because the cha cha special class is finished we're now back to the normal Monday lesson times. These are:

• 8pm = Salsa
• 9pm = Modern Jive

with plenty of free dancing before, after and in between classes.

On Thursdays, instead of having the Cha Cha refresher, we'll be using this slot for some 15 minute "technique classes". These are a way for you to get warmed up and practise some elements that are essential for partner dancing. No moves will be taught in these short segments but we might cover things like: musicality, styling, flair, body isolations, interpretation, and leading/following. And if we run out of ideas, there will still be teachers round for you to ask questions of and perfect any moves you have had trouble with!

• 7.45pm = Technique class
• 8pm = Modern Jive
• 9pm = Salsa

Looking forward to dancing with you at Fuego!

Rosie.

Other dancing

• "La Salsa Vive" at Alvarados Mexican Cantina with Matecito Latin band. Fortnightly dining and dancing with authentic food and music from Latin America. All welcome! Facebook event here, including date of the next event.

• Salsa Latina reopens on the 21st of May at their new location, 12 Bath St.

Howdy partners,

In our recent email we told you that the Uni has asked us to come and dance at the Dance-O-Mat in town this Thursday. Unfortunately they got the dates wrong and were meant to tell us that it was this FRIDAY. If you show up on Thursday you'll be dancing for no-one (except yourselves!) (and passers-by!) A core group of us will be demonstrating a couple of different dance styles from 10 - 10.45am, but you are welcome to come along and join in if you can find a partner (for gender balance) and sort out your own transport.

To reiterate: that's THIS FRIDAY THE 11TH. Be there by 10am sharp -> dance until 10.45am.

Your ever-benevolent leader,
Scott

Hey everyone!

Here's the deal with Fuego and some changes in lesson times that will happen after the Cha Cha special finishes this week. Plus: come and dance with us in the city!

FUEGO!

It's only two weeks until FUEGO! UCanDance is super excited to host this massive Latin dance party on the 19th of May at the Woolston club. If you haven't got your ticket yet you can get it in class, online or on the door on the night. Tickets are $17 for students and $20 for non-students, with $25 doorsales on the night. There will will be Latin music of various styles, a live band and some exciting performances! You really don't want to miss out.

Last Cha Cha class this week

This Monday will be the last of our Cha Cha special classes. Donna and Warren deserve a massive THANK YOU for their classes and we hope those of you who took part enjoyed them. Each year we hold two special classes and there will be another one in a different style later in the year. (There's rumours that it might just be Rock'n'Roll...)

That means that after this week we'll go back to to standard Monday lesson times:

• 8pm = Salsa
• 9pm = Modern Jive

with plenty of free dancing before, after and in between classes.

On Thursdays, instead of having the Cha Cha refresher, we'll be using this slot for some 15 minute "technique classes". These are a way for you to get warmed up and practise some elements that are essential for partner dancing. No moves will be taught in these short segments but we might cover things like: musicality, styling, flair, body isolations, interpretation, and leading/following. And if we run out of ideas, there will still be teachers round for you to ask questions of and perfect any moves you have had trouble with!

• 7.45pm = Technique class
• 8pm = Modern Jive
• 9pm = Salsa

Our website has the latest info in case you're ever confused.

Arts Week

Massive thanks to everyone who came along to our Arts Week workshops in the Undercroft. We blew everyone away with our dancing and even got some applause. And congratulations to those who took the opportunity to learn some basic Rueda. More to come once we have a suitable Friday venue!

Dance-O-Mat Expedition

This Thursday, careers advisers from schools all round the country converge on Canterbury University. The liaison team at the university tells us that a major concern for them is that there's no social life in Christchurch following the destruction of the city centre in the quakes. Well, we know they're wrong, so let's go and prove it! At 10am they will be coming through the centre of town, past the Dance-O-Mat - a coin-operated dance floor and sound system put up by the Gap Filler Trust, who are filling in all those vacant spots with awesome community projects. So meet at the Dance-O-Mat (corner of St Asaph & Manchester) at 9.30am and we'll have a wee dance to jump-start your morning and show these people that Canterbury's social life is still alive and kicking (and dancing). Check out the Dance-O-Mat website here.

Have a good week!

Rosie.

Other dancing

• "La Salsa Vive" at Alvarados Mexican Cantina with Matecito Latin band. Fortnightly dining and dancing with authentic food and music from Latin America. All welcome! Facebook event here, including date of the next event.