Project X: The Salsa Foundation
I had 32 days in Melbourne.
And what came across my mind weeks before my holiday comes was this question:
"What the hell am I gonna do for a month?"
I don't think I'd enjoy myself in a wake up - eat - sleep routine everyday.
But don't get me wrong, I enjoy that routine! Just, not for an entire month :))
So shortly, I browse the internet, trying to find interesting stuffs in Melbourne. Then I came across www.meetup.com, which is a website providing informations regarding certain meetup groups in a specific place. You can search the groups by keyword, and trust me, there are lots of interesting meetup groups around Melbourne!
One of the meetup groups I found was The Salsa Foundation (TSF). TSF offers dance classes such as salsa, bachata, and zumba. Beginners' classes are always free, every Wednesday and Thursday on their venue in Stella Maris, on 600 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. So the beginners' classes are considered as salsa level 1, and then it steps up into level 1.5, 2, 3, and competition levels. I joined two beginners' classes in TSF, and I really wanted to do level 1.5! The 1.5 course is a progressive 4 weeks-course, and afterwards TSF organizes a graduation party for the 1.5 students! How fun is that! :D
Too bad, I couldn't join the 1.5 course, cause I spend a week in Sydney for holiday. Trust me, I was devastated :((
But that didn't necessarily cut off my spirit of learning salsa (wow hahaha). My mom then suggests on taking private salsa lessons. She thought by taking them I'd learn more and at the very least, be able to do a bit of salsa on social dancing nights. Well, she was right, as always :))
So I booked on private salsa lessons at the TSF, and I got to do 4 sessions. I met and danced with various guys at the sessions. In my sessions, usually there's a girl and a boy as my instructors. The girl would give the details on footworks and styling, and the boy would be my partner. They'd give feedbacks on how I dance, and help me improve :) So anyway there was Angeline, Diane, Aref, Willow, and Soren. Diane stayed with me for 3 sessions, and she's helped me so much throughout it all. I've always had trouble with my turns (losing balance, wrong footwork, etc), but she's been very patient with me. She repeats it every step of the way, and I'm actually a bit disappointed with myself for not being able to do the turns properly. But I promised her that I'd practice even more here, and I hope when I see her again, my turns are gonna look better :')
Anyway, TSF also held lots of social dancing events! One of it was the TSF Potluck Party which I got to attend. It was my first time on a social dance event, and trust me, I know nothing about salsa except the basic moves Jai taught us on beginners class. I danced with a lot of guys, and they tend to do massive turns and footworks I've never done before. I HAVE NO IDEA WHATSOEVER.
But it was a great night, and social dancing really is fun (even for me haha)! Despite my 1% dancing skill, all the guys were really nice. I danced with one Indian guy, who ended up teaching me the salsa footworks! HAHA! I also danced with a Mexican guy named Damien. The thing is, he didn't really dance salsa. Or the normal salsa. Well, it was a bit different, but he said it's the way they did salsa back in Mexico. I danced with him a couple times, and it's just really fun :))
Anyway, being in the TSF for a month is a great experience for me. From zero to, umm, well, a quarter maybe? Haha! Salsa's really fun anyway, and even when I'm back here in Jakarta, I'll find my way through salsa social dancing nights. And of course PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!
So thank you for all the lovely people in TSF! I really enjoyed my time there, you guys are fantastic. I'll certainly visit TSF again the next time I come to Melbourne! xxx
And what came across my mind weeks before my holiday comes was this question:
"What the hell am I gonna do for a month?"
I don't think I'd enjoy myself in a wake up - eat - sleep routine everyday.
But don't get me wrong, I enjoy that routine! Just, not for an entire month :))
So shortly, I browse the internet, trying to find interesting stuffs in Melbourne. Then I came across www.meetup.com, which is a website providing informations regarding certain meetup groups in a specific place. You can search the groups by keyword, and trust me, there are lots of interesting meetup groups around Melbourne!
One of the meetup groups I found was The Salsa Foundation (TSF). TSF offers dance classes such as salsa, bachata, and zumba. Beginners' classes are always free, every Wednesday and Thursday on their venue in Stella Maris, on 600 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. So the beginners' classes are considered as salsa level 1, and then it steps up into level 1.5, 2, 3, and competition levels. I joined two beginners' classes in TSF, and I really wanted to do level 1.5! The 1.5 course is a progressive 4 weeks-course, and afterwards TSF organizes a graduation party for the 1.5 students! How fun is that! :D
But that didn't necessarily cut off my spirit of learning salsa (wow hahaha). My mom then suggests on taking private salsa lessons. She thought by taking them I'd learn more and at the very least, be able to do a bit of salsa on social dancing nights. Well, she was right, as always :))
So I booked on private salsa lessons at the TSF, and I got to do 4 sessions. I met and danced with various guys at the sessions. In my sessions, usually there's a girl and a boy as my instructors. The girl would give the details on footworks and styling, and the boy would be my partner. They'd give feedbacks on how I dance, and help me improve :) So anyway there was Angeline, Diane, Aref, Willow, and Soren. Diane stayed with me for 3 sessions, and she's helped me so much throughout it all. I've always had trouble with my turns (losing balance, wrong footwork, etc), but she's been very patient with me. She repeats it every step of the way, and I'm actually a bit disappointed with myself for not being able to do the turns properly. But I promised her that I'd practice even more here, and I hope when I see her again, my turns are gonna look better :')
Diane & Soren
Anyway, TSF also held lots of social dancing events! One of it was the TSF Potluck Party which I got to attend. It was my first time on a social dance event, and trust me, I know nothing about salsa except the basic moves Jai taught us on beginners class. I danced with a lot of guys, and they tend to do massive turns and footworks I've never done before. I HAVE NO IDEA WHATSOEVER.
But it was a great night, and social dancing really is fun (even for me haha)! Despite my 1% dancing skill, all the guys were really nice. I danced with one Indian guy, who ended up teaching me the salsa footworks! HAHA! I also danced with a Mexican guy named Damien. The thing is, he didn't really dance salsa. Or the normal salsa. Well, it was a bit different, but he said it's the way they did salsa back in Mexico. I danced with him a couple times, and it's just really fun :))
Anyway, being in the TSF for a month is a great experience for me. From zero to, umm, well, a quarter maybe? Haha! Salsa's really fun anyway, and even when I'm back here in Jakarta, I'll find my way through salsa social dancing nights. And of course PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!
So thank you for all the lovely people in TSF! I really enjoyed my time there, you guys are fantastic. I'll certainly visit TSF again the next time I come to Melbourne! xxx
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