Salsa Club

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Author: Dean DeChiaro

It’s quite a scene to be sitting in the Quad and see young men and women walk towards Lower Herrick dressed in sweatpants, t-shirts and . . . high-heels and shiny dress shoes. However, this is what happens any given Sunday night when the Oxy Salsa Club meets to dance in the traditional Latin styles of Salsa, Merengue, Bacheta and Cha-Cha.

The main focus of the Oxy club, led by Teddy Zou (senior), is to teach a style of Salsa called “Salsa on 1.” Zou said that given how much the club has grown since he joined as a freshman, he thinks it can become an important salsa club in Los Angeles beyond its Oxy affiliation. “L.A. has a big salsa scene,” he said. “I’d like to get the club to other campuses around here and dance with other colleges.”

The students who are part of salsa club strongly believe it is one of their favorite parts of the week. “Salsa is great because I love learning different types of dancing, and then I can take what I learn to Salsa clubs in LA,” said Abby Bossart (first-year).

In addition to simply dancing with other colleges, the club is looking to be involved in some competitions. Last year, Oxy Salsa attended an event called the Los Angeles College Salsa Conference, where they performed with eight other colleges in front of about 500 people. However, salsa jobs are hard to come by. “We’re always looking for more gigs, and paid ones, but salsa is very small in terms of money. That’s why I’m not going to go on to dance professionally,” Zou said.

Zou also explained that the most important thing, logistically, for the club right now, is to continue growing as it has for the past four years. “We really hope to have the same group throughout the whole year,” he said. This way, the club meetings won’t always just be dance lessons, but will involve more choreography work allowing great new dancers to emerge. “I’m hoping to have a prodigy this year, who can lead the club when I graduate,” Zou said.

He might have found this prodigy already in Samantha Figueroa (junior), who explained that salsa is more than the logistics that Zou focused on. “Salsa is good for your self-esteem,” Figueroa said. “You gain a lot of confidence when you learn how to dance.” In addition, Figueroa believes that dancing in other Latin styles, such as merengue and bacheta, become easier once you are an accomplished salsa dancer.

“Salsa on 1” is the most common and basic of salsa styles, and it is also the most prominent style in L.A. However, Colombian, Cuban, New York and “Salsa on 2” are all very important styles of the dance. “They all look like more or less the same dance, it just depends on which step you start on,” Zou said.

To get involved with the salsa club, contact Teddy Zou (tzou@oxy.edu) or Samantha Figueroa (sfigueroa@oxy.edu) for more information.

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