Theodore Roosevelt once said that “Nothing worth having comes easy” – I’ll expand on that slightly by saying “nothing worthwhile comes easy”.

This is true of learning how to dance.

There are a few, lucky, people out there who pick up the art of dance naturally and breeze through to greatness without blinking an eye (or so it seems). However, for the rest of us mere mortals, we have to work at it.

For me, learning to dance (starting with salsa) has potentially been the best decision I made – I have made many good friends and have a decent social life, I even have my current job through the connections I have made from learning to dance.

The people you meet are wide-ranging, are friendly, open and welcoming.

But to get to the point where you can start getting the most out of dancing through

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.

Christmas is close at hand and the weather's getting colder, so here are a few tracks to help keep you warm...

Oh my days, can you believe it!? November is nearly at an end which can only mean one thing! The Salsa Bristol Christmas Party night is nearly upon us again! Yes, that's right it's time to raid the wardrobe for a sparkly outfit or go in search through the Christmas decorations for that hidden Santa Costume you hide from the kids every year!

As some of you are aware, Alex and Hannah are off on a long holiday for several weeks, so from November 18th to December 6th we will be having guest teachers filling in for them.

Alex and Hannah will be back for our Christmas party on the 13th December.

The holiday season is fast approaching, so to help you prepare, these are our close & opening dates for 2018/2019.

Thursday 13th December 2018 - Last class of the year (class party)
Thursday 20th December 2018 - CLOSED
Thursday 27th December 2018 - CLOSED
Thursday 3rd January 2019 - CLOSED
Thursday 10th January 2019 - Open as normal with a new set of courses, including Bachata-Tango with Alex Fright

We will return with the usual courses and classes - book your places now to ensure your spaces!

At the beginning of the month, we had to close due to the Beast from the East showering us with heavy snow and blowing in icy winds causing many places including South Bristol Sports Centre to close! We haven't had to close our doors since 2010 again which was due to heavy snow and icy conditions.

Although it was only for that one week, I sure did miss my friendly, funny students and having a few dances. Thankfully round 2 of Beast from the East this week missed our Thursday evenings, so I'm very relieved not to be missing everyone and keeping myself fit and warm!

Why -Who – Where – When -Cost – contact – any genre

Nothing will advance your dancing quicker than taking private lessons with a qualified teacher. There are many reasons for taking such lessons, and these can include preparation for a competition; advancing your social dance skills, focusing on a specific technique such as turns & spins, maybe you want to learn the first dance for your wedding, or maybe you want a corporate day.

One of the best things about private lessons is you can often dictate where and when you want them. If the first teacher you contact isn’t available as and when you want them, simply find another that can. Like most things in life, teachers are different. You might remember your school days when you had a preference of teachers, weren’t those classes more fun and didn’t you learn more. Well, it’s the same with dancing,

Following on from my last selection of tracks, here's my second offering of tracks that I hope you'll like...

Don't forget that you can submit your favourite tracks that get you up on the dancefloor- just get in touch with me via the contact page (try and supply a link to a YouTube video if you can as there's often more than one version of a song)!

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.