Detroit Salsa Dancing Scene
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The Detroit salsa dancing scene is one of the most vibrant and inviting social scenes around. Extending all the way from Windsor to downtown to the surrounding suburbs to Ann Arbor, seven days a week something’s happening. Just show up ready to have fun!
Getting Involved
Its easy to get involved in Detroit salsa, just check out the clubs where salseras and salseros ring the dance floor looking for their next spin. Whether they come as a group, solo or as couples, most dancers are interested in dancing with a lot of different people. Even as a beginner, if you have a nice smile and a good attitude it’s pretty easy to fill up your dance card.
Styling
Stylistically most dancers dance on1 but the clubs and socials play a healthy amount of mambo for the on2 dancers and also throw in some cha-cha, bachata and merengue. One can not fail to mention the Cuban style dancers and you'll regularly see a rueda pop up -- if you know casino de rueda, its generally OK to jump right in. If you're dancing in the "D", it helps to learn several different styles including rumba, jazz, modern dance, hip-hop, samba and cumbia so that you can adapt to any partner you might encounter and any music the DJ or band might play.
Salsa and Everything Else
As in most cities, the scene can be divided into three main categories: Salsa, Latin and Ballroom with the Salsa scene being very focused on the clave-addicted who take lessons and frequent the clubs and socials. Locally, there are bands, performance teams led by studio instructors and some accomplished competitive dancers. Detroit is steadily gaining a reputation as a dance destination and along with visiting instructors and performers, it’s not uncommon to have out of state dancers visit from the East and Midwest hit some of the local events.
The Next Next Thing
Since its fairly universal in the salsa world that with all the turns and crazy patterns dancers don’t drink enough to keep the clubs happy, the best salsa nights are usually during the week or Sundays -- which is why there are a lot of socials. However to all rules there are the exceptions and one needs to remain ever vigilant on the watch for the next big event such as a weekend workshop, new club night opening, or out of town pilgrimage.
Erasing the lines
Age wise and culturally, Salsa is all over the map. The fact that Detroit is very multi-cultural means that salsa is not a Latino thing and it really crosses all the preconceived boundaries. Most of the regular dancers are between 25 and 60 but, even with that said, there are enough exceptions to make it hardly worth a mention.
Summing it up
In the end, Detroit Salsa is about the variety of clubs, events styles and cultures and the familiarity of the hard-core dancers who are out there shaking it night after night.
"90% of life is just showing up" - Woody Allen
Getting Involved
Its easy to get involved in Detroit salsa, just check out the clubs where salseras and salseros ring the dance floor looking for their next spin. Whether they come as a group, solo or as couples, most dancers are interested in dancing with a lot of different people. Even as a beginner, if you have a nice smile and a good attitude it’s pretty easy to fill up your dance card.
Styling
Stylistically most dancers dance on1 but the clubs and socials play a healthy amount of mambo for the on2 dancers and also throw in some cha-cha, bachata and merengue. One can not fail to mention the Cuban style dancers and you'll regularly see a rueda pop up -- if you know casino de rueda, its generally OK to jump right in. If you're dancing in the "D", it helps to learn several different styles including rumba, jazz, modern dance, hip-hop, samba and cumbia so that you can adapt to any partner you might encounter and any music the DJ or band might play.
Salsa and Everything Else
As in most cities, the scene can be divided into three main categories: Salsa, Latin and Ballroom with the Salsa scene being very focused on the clave-addicted who take lessons and frequent the clubs and socials. Locally, there are bands, performance teams led by studio instructors and some accomplished competitive dancers. Detroit is steadily gaining a reputation as a dance destination and along with visiting instructors and performers, it’s not uncommon to have out of state dancers visit from the East and Midwest hit some of the local events.
The Next Next Thing
Since its fairly universal in the salsa world that with all the turns and crazy patterns dancers don’t drink enough to keep the clubs happy, the best salsa nights are usually during the week or Sundays -- which is why there are a lot of socials. However to all rules there are the exceptions and one needs to remain ever vigilant on the watch for the next big event such as a weekend workshop, new club night opening, or out of town pilgrimage.
Erasing the lines
Age wise and culturally, Salsa is all over the map. The fact that Detroit is very multi-cultural means that salsa is not a Latino thing and it really crosses all the preconceived boundaries. Most of the regular dancers are between 25 and 60 but, even with that said, there are enough exceptions to make it hardly worth a mention.
Summing it up
In the end, Detroit Salsa is about the variety of clubs, events styles and cultures and the familiarity of the hard-core dancers who are out there shaking it night after night.
"90% of life is just showing up" - Woody Allen
the one millione dollars question
I was thinking that some salsa clubs sometimes are to far for me to go to since i live in detroit, for example,i would not go to ann arbor because is just to far only if there is en event that really atracts my atencion, any way the question is : how far are you wiling to go for a good night of salsa every week? please reply.
it depends
What day of the week? Is the location safe? Will there enough people there to dance with? How much to get in?
Response: Million Dollar Question
I live in the Lansing area, and there is not much here. I would definitely drive an hour or more - and the Detroit scene is great, one of the best around. I get tired of people slamming our state, and salsa dancing is one of the fantastic things in this area. My advice: if you can drive, drive. If you lived somewhere else, you wouldn't have it like you do now.
I clock the miles and it's worth it
Heck, I even know of a person who drives from Kalamazoo to get to the socials! If it's something you love enough, you'll go out of your way to get there, and it doesn't have to be a really special event. The people I know and the friends I have made are worth traveling around to see. Besides, as long as the floor is smooth and the music is good, salsa dancers will make the event totally worth the drive. All you have to do is show up!!
~ Jess
Agree. I drive from
Agree. I drive from Flushing: an hour drive, 10.00 gas money, 10.00 cover charge. Attending a Salsa function, Priceless :)
Elizabeth