Barb Bernstein, our resident salsa instructor, wants you to know that you, too, can master the art of salsa dancing.
“I want people to gain confidence from learning to dance by absorbing this simple lesson: Everything is hard ’til it’s easy,” she said.
The director of DanceInTime Productions, a DC-based dance company that specializes in salsa and Latin dance instruction, Barb has been teaching and performing for 16 years and admits that teaching gives her a buzz.
“It’s a high,” she said. “It is so much fun to move to music and share this joy with others. I enjoy explaining the principles that make partnership dance moves work comfortably and gracefully.”
Barb has always had deep relationships with music and movement. Though she’s earned her keep working in heady professions such as mathematics and publishing, her right brain was never left wanting: She sang in quartets, studied folk dances from around the world, and eventually fell in love with ballroom dancing. She cut her teeth on the classics – foxtrot, cha cha, waltz – before eventually discovering salsa. It changed the world as she knew it.
“I like to joke that I moved to funkier and funkier dance styles. Discovering salsa – that was when I really fell in love!”
If you’re new to salsa dancing or just want to keep your skills fresh, Barb’s classes on the second floor offer a funky and informal environment for getting the moves down. All levels are welcome, and Barb’s philosophy is that it all comes down to stepping in the proper rhythm with full weight change from one foot to another. Fancier feats, like holding the rhythm while doing turns, just require a bit more love and dedication.
“I have seen people who advance slowly but steadily wind up as top flight dancers because they kept working at it,” she said. “What really matters is having the heart for dancing.”
Do you have the heart for dancing? Join one of Barb’s classes every first and third Friday of the month and see if you’re a top-flight-dancer-in-training! After the lesson, Alfredo Mojica Group heats up the first floor with live red-hot salsa classics for you to try your moves out on. ¡Sabroso!
story © yillah 2017