One thing that separates a good dancer from a great dancer is confidence.

You may feel confident in some areas of your life, but less so in others. So, you might be a confident runner or a confident cook, yet you lack confidence when talking to strangers on the phone. A lack of confidence can lead to a fear of failing, or you might doubt yourself. When this happens, negative thoughts might pop into your mind, and you might worry that you’re not good enough - or that people will think badly of you.

Regarding dancing, do you ever worry you aren’t good enough, or people are watching you? Do you hold back for fear of looking foolish? If so, these are signs you could be lacking in confidence.

It’s important to note: Everybody has their ups-and-downs, days when we feel more confident than others, even when dealing with similar

This week BBC Radio Bristol have been in touch with us again to join them on their radio show this Saturday at 10 am to talk about Salsa and the benefits of dancing. I will be joining DJ Phil Hammond on Saturday with this being my 5th time talking about Salsa on the radio.

I hope you will join me in listening in. Wish me luck!

This is a guest post by Laura Pile. Check out her blog at www.letssway.co.uk

Two summers ago, whilst dealing with a pretty tough breakup I convinced a friend to grab her passport and come on a spontaneous adventure to Spain and Portugal. After so many amazing experiences, the one that truly captured my heart and set my soul alive came in the early hours of the morning in Barcelona. One evening, unplanned and unexpected we found ourselves in the backstreets of Barcelona which were strung as far as the eye could see with colourful lights and lanterns, crowded with people and filled with the sound of what would turn out to be Salsa! Before I knew it, I was asked to dance and clumsily tried to follow the lead of a beaming Catalonian. I didn’t know what I was doing and it was all I could do not to stand

This is a guest post by Rob Dodd, a long time salsa dancer and friend of ours here at Salsa Bristol.

I’ve been dancing a little under 10 years – where has that time gone? In that time have attended a thousand plus lessons, many day “bootcamps”, loads of weekenders and the odd salsa holiday!

I would like to share with you some useful tips for keeping well and extending your fun on dance days or long dance nights (and those times when you are blending the two together!)

1: Hydration!

One of the biggest contributors to our physical and mental health is water. Three quarters of which should come from drinks, and a quarter from food. The key component H20 is very often neglected, especially on evening salsa scene. Keep drinking – rather than having a big drink, carry a bottle or 3 and take frequent sips. Best option

We all have favourite tracks that we love dancing to, or even just listening to - these are just a selection of my facvourite Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba tracks. 

Happy New Year from all of us at Salsa Bristol we hope you've had a fantastic festive season.

We've had a great start to the year with a big intake of new and returning students, but we still have a few places left for anyone who would like to come and join our fun, friendly classes.

We have beginners salsa courses starting directly after every 8-week course has concluded, so you never have to wait too long.  We will take new students with little or no experience up to week 3; just let us know and you can come in for a quick catch-up before the main class. After this time, we may only take on new students for the current running course if you've had previous dance experience.

Thursday the 4th December saw our last class of 2017 - this was our end of year class party, and it was a great night!

We are taking a couple of well earned weeks off over the holidays but will return in the new year with new classes and courses.

Thursday 14th December 2017 - Last class of the year (class party)
Thursday 21st December 2017 - CLOSED
Thursday 28th December 2017 - CLOSED
Thursday 4th January 2018 - Open as normal

We return with the usual five levels of salsa - and back by popular demand, our first 8-week "non-salsa" dance course of the year with Alex will be Bachata-Tango!

Save your space(s) and book online now!

With Christmas fast approaching I thought I’d try and give you some inspiration for those who are special in your life.