What we teach
UCanDance teaches a variety of styles in an easy, fun, social atmosphere. Club members teach Merengue, Salsa, Rueda and Modern Jive, and
guest teachers are invited to teach a variety of dances. Examples of styles we've dabbled in recently are Swing, Cha-Cha, Bachata and
Tango.
Classes are held throughout the year in the UCSA building (note: due to the 2011 earthquakes, we are currently running classes off campus). See our where to find us page for details. We meet on Mondays and Thursdays during term time, and if you come on Monday and get your card stamped you can come again on Thursday for free! For more information see our when we teach page.
Merengue and Salsa are the most common Latin street dances. Merengue is very easy to pick up, whereas Salsa is a little move involved... But not as hard as it looks! Merengue is more commonly taught at the start of semesters, and then we get more into Salsa after that. In 2012 we will be introducing you to a little introductory Bachata as well, a common social dance that you will often see done at the various Latin social nights around town.
Modern Jive is a flashy and fun dance set to modern dance music. Based on a regular beat, it allows plenty of fancy-looking spins, dips, and drops, without complex footwork. Moves can be (and often are) adapted from other, more established dance styles such as Swing, Rock & Roll and Salsa.
A recent addition to our classes is Rueda. Rueda is Cuban salsa (instead of the linear version we teach in our main classes), and is danced in a circle. A caller yells out instructions for everyone else, resulting in a Simon-says-like dance in which dancers synchronously perform flashy moves and swap partners.
In the second semester:
The classes follow a progressive course that begins at the start of each term. People often join the classes later in the term without too much difficulty in catching up because we review the basics in every class.
If you have any queries about this, or think you can cope with the improvers' syllabus feel free to have a chat to us at lessons.
Classes are held throughout the year in the UCSA building (note: due to the 2011 earthquakes, we are currently running classes off campus). See our where to find us page for details. We meet on Mondays and Thursdays during term time, and if you come on Monday and get your card stamped you can come again on Thursday for free! For more information see our when we teach page.
Merengue and Salsa are the most common Latin street dances. Merengue is very easy to pick up, whereas Salsa is a little move involved... But not as hard as it looks! Merengue is more commonly taught at the start of semesters, and then we get more into Salsa after that. In 2012 we will be introducing you to a little introductory Bachata as well, a common social dance that you will often see done at the various Latin social nights around town.
Modern Jive is a flashy and fun dance set to modern dance music. Based on a regular beat, it allows plenty of fancy-looking spins, dips, and drops, without complex footwork. Moves can be (and often are) adapted from other, more established dance styles such as Swing, Rock & Roll and Salsa.
A recent addition to our classes is Rueda. Rueda is Cuban salsa (instead of the linear version we teach in our main classes), and is danced in a circle. A caller yells out instructions for everyone else, resulting in a Simon-says-like dance in which dancers synchronously perform flashy moves and swap partners.
Class Format
We usually have two classes per night. Each class is usually 45 minutes. The style of the class depends on the individual teacher but often the students are arranged in a circle with the teacher at the centre. Partners change every few minutes, and after the classes we have some free time for dancing, asking questions, and socialising. More information can be found here.Class Difficulty
In the first semester, Monday and Thursday are both open to absolute beginners!In the second semester:
- Thursday is aimed at beginners, with no experience necessary.
- Monday is aimed at more intermediate dancers; we recommend that you have attended about 10 of our beginner lessons before attending these.
The classes follow a progressive course that begins at the start of each term. People often join the classes later in the term without too much difficulty in catching up because we review the basics in every class.
If you have any queries about this, or think you can cope with the improvers' syllabus feel free to have a chat to us at lessons.