While some people might consider dancing as their future profession, those who are looking for a nice little hobby, should definitely try social dances. They are very simple, they bring you a lot of fun, they help meeting people, making friends and even find a right guy or a girl.

In my native country Russia the most popular social dance is hustle. It is a mixture of different Latin American styles, ballroom dances and rock-n-roll. I was so involved into it that I ended up as a part-time dancing class teacher. I used to dance almost every day and I felt really worried that I would not be able to do it during my studies in England. I searched for information about hustle in London but I did not manage to find any schools or clubs. However, I found out that English people prefer salsa, another type of social dance. So I decided to try it.

There a large variety of salsa places in London. I tried some of them in the central London and finally chose the one in Moorgate. I like it because of nice and friendly atmosphere and very funny and professional teachers. All of them were Latin Americans. That is to say, salsa movements run in their blood. The classes are divided according to the students’ levels (beginners, improvers, intermediate) and they are followed by the parties during which the students can try new steps with different partners. Having a partner is not a problem at all. During the classes the partners had to change every 3 minutes. So you do not need to bother about staying alone. Besides, I found out that compared to my hustle dance experience in Moscow, the quantity of male partners are not usually outnumbered by female ones.

I felt quite comfortable about dancing but my not all of my university friends had the same feeling. The main argument against trying salsa usually was something like ‘I am useless on the dance floor’. It was long painstaking process to persuade them that salsa is a social dance and, therefore, the movements are so simple that absolutely everyone is able to learn them. Besides, it is not so much about dancing but about socialising. If you feel that you are really useless on the dance floor, find a partner who has the same level and try to help each other. Very soon you will find out that it is much more efficient and fun to learn together and the progress is not far off.

None of my friends regretted about their dancing experience. Some of them joined me in my regular classes and deeply fell in love with salsa. As for me, I find salsa the best cure against stress and the perfect fitness to stay in a good shape. What is more, I made a lot of new friends in salsa who have made my life in a foreign country much more colourful and enjoyable.

There different social salsa classes in London. The most famous ones are Salsateca and London Salsa. The average price for a class is 8 pounds but almost all the places provide students’ discounts. So, do not forget your student ID. 

If you are interested in finding out more about different activities and hobbies while studying abroad read the article about extra-curricular options.

To read more  about student life in the UK follow the link.