YA Salsa celebrates fourth anniversary, metro Detroit's largest dance social

FARMINGTON, Mich. -- One Sunday each month, hundreds of people from all walks of life file into American Legion Post 346, transforming it into a hot house of dance and culture. This December marks the fourth anniversary of the YA Salsa Social, which has grown from a small group of volunteer organizers hosting 30 or 40 dancers, to a headline event hosting between 300 and 400 dancers each month.

"When we first started hosting socials, we had no idea that four years later it would become such a popular event. We have so many committed people working hard to keep this going month after month. Because of the organizers and local salsa dancers, it keeps getting bigger and better," says Jamin Williams, YA Salsa volunteer and one of YA Salsa's original organizers.

Originally intended to provide dancers with a little extra practice time so that they could improve their dancing for the clubs, the YA Salsa Social now draws salseros from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Ontario and beyond. Many may associate salsa dancing with popular TV shows and movies or with Caribbean culture, but salsa has become popular the world over, across all cultural backgrounds.

"While my life-long training has been in Indian classical dance, I sought to broaden my horizons and understanding of dance by learning other dance forms, such as salsa. In my training, I found that it combines cross-cultural elements and that salsa enhances other dance forms and visa versa," says dance instructor Malasri Chaudery.

YA Salsa supports the idea that salsa is a social dance that brings people together and that one does not need to be a professional dancer to have fun, according to George Gardiner, YA Salsa volunteer. "YA Salsa is about bringing new people who have never danced into the dance scene, which means that people of all levels come to socials to dance together," he says.

To ensure attendees meet these goals, YA Salsa Socials feature ambassador dancers who are there to dance with newcomers, and snowballs, a group dance activity that begins with two dancers who've never met and switch partners every 45 seconds until all event attendees are dancing.

"I started attending the socials about four months ago. I attended a workshop the day before given by international performers who really helped me understand the depth of the dance and I was hooked," says Livonia resident, Jessica Soulliere. "I had taken a salsa class at a local college but never had an opportunity to practice. Now I'm feeling like I can do just about anything. The combination of excellent instruction and a welcoming atmosphere at the socials, along with other events that YA Salsa members host, keeps me coming back - it's the highlight of my month."

YA Salsa is Detroit's largest salsa dance community group whose mission is to grow salsa dancing in southeast Michigan; to make everyone in metro Detroit aware of the great dance opportunities they can experience for themselves right in their own community.

"Can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday evening? No one at a YA Salsa Social would want to be anywhere else," Gardiner says.

The next YA Salsa Social will be from 5:30 - 10:30 p.m. Sunday Dec. 16, and will feature free salsa dance instruction to both beginner and intermediate-level dancers beginning at 5:30 p.m. DJ Cisco of www.salsadetroit.com will spin salsa, cha-cha and merengue until 10:30 p.m.

Cost is $10 and includes light refreshments; free if you bring two new guests. The social will take place at the American Legion Post 346, 31775 Grand River Ave.

To learn more about YA Salsa, watch video clips and view photos, visit the YA Salsa Web site at www.yasalsa.com.

Members of the media are welcome to attend.