HOT Salsa Dancing for Fitness

Has your fitness routine become boring and predictable? How about trying something different than the conventional aerobic exercises such as running or step classes and taking up something fun and social like salsa dancing.  The cool thing is you sweat as much doing salsa as you would climbing a stair climber, but you get to wear something sexier than sneakers to participate in it.

As a woman, I get excited about getting all dolled up and wearing high heels to go salsa dancing. It’s part of the art, part of the ambience, part of the excitement.  Men generally take a bit more effort to look debonair as well.  Who doesn’t want to go out and look and feel sexy? Most of us do and who knew that it also counts as a great workout even if it involves a possible mojito and rhythmic, sensual, upbeat music with lots of friends.

Salsa music first appeared in New York City in the 60’s  as a rhythmic fusion of Cuban Son with Guaracha, Montuno and Guaguanc.  It also has a strong American jazz influence and Plena and Bomba from Puerto Rico creating a unique urban sound that just penetrates through your veins and makes you want to move and shake it. Oh yeah! I always look forward to my salsa workouts.

Salsa's popularity began to heat up in the early 70’s in Latin neighborhoods and soon spread into New York's ballrooms and dance halls. Although it’s become standardized for dancers who wish to enter professional competitions, most people dance to it in a spontaneous and highly energetic way true to its original form.  The lively and variant musical style allows for alternating very slow and very furious dance movements.

The sudden bursts of frenzied dancing can help to improve the anaerobic fitness essential to other sports such as basketball, sprinting and swimming. I find that I’m able to engage in other activities with ease due to the aerobic and agility gains that I’ve made from salsa dancing, stretching and some light strength training. Elasticity from dancing will help your overall range of motion, power and coordination.

 Salsa dancing merges aerobic and anaerobic training, working your leg strength and endurance. Dancing in general is a great way to build the perfect body shape- well; I can aspire to it, right? The continual movements and use of your whole body build up aerobic endurance while steadily burning calories over the course of the evening. This helps to strengthen and tone your legs at the same time you are shedding pounds—salsa is fantastic for this. And although I may not have the perfect body, my legs often receive great compliments.

According to experts,  dancing salsa can burn up to 10 calories a minute, without the potential cause of injury and jarring of the knees that high impact exercises such as running can cause. You can learn salsa with or without a partner, at home or in a dance studio or club and integrate it into your fitness program. As you learn and engage in more salsa activity to get fit, you’ll not only look and feel great, you’ll end up having a blast and forming a whole new facet to your social life.   Life is too short to waste on boring, traditional aerobics and group classes. Ladies, put some sexy heels on and learn how to dance HOT salsa to look and feel great!

Marcella Castellanos teaches salsa at Yoga Vallarta. And also teaches bachata. You can contact her via Facebook or Twitter at Latin Motion PV or at www.latinmotionpv.com or visit her blog at http://latinmotionpv.blogspot.com/.

Where can I go Latin dancing?

Sometimes local venues will give salsa socials a try at least one night a week, but unfortunately if they don’t see profits or a big draw of people in about a 4-6 week time-frame the effort will come to a halt. As a result, it’s a bit difficult to know where to go, because at times, just as you’re beginning to find out about a new place, the social night disappears. However, there are a few venues that are dedicated to this genre of music. Included is  the always lively Cuban hang-out La Bodeguita del Medio located on the Malecon.  The live music begins at 10 p.m Tuesday through Sunday with a Cuban band playing on a yearly contract. The atmosphere is cheery and reminiscent of being in a smoky dive bar in Havana. The only drawback is that the dance floor is tiny and lends itself to lots of bumping bodies or tight squeezes when bachata or salsa dancing. Besides that, it’s a great place and the staff is always friendly, and there is no cover.

Candela Pura is one of the newer places in PV located at the turn-off to the libramiento and across the street from Mega. On Thursdays and Fridays they’ll have a salsa band or a DJ play Latin tunes from 10 p.m.  into the wee hours of the night.  The dance floor is expansive, the place has a dark, nightclub atmosphere and the loungy sofas and tables are comfortable for long hours of socializing with a cocktail. I like this place mainly because they seem to like and support salseros although I generally prefer tropical-like or beachfront atmospheres when wanting to Latin dance- it’s just more inspiring. Here the sultry Dulce Mireya Palacios Prado teaches salsa in Spanish Thurs. and Sat. from 8:30- 10:00 p.m. and the cost per class is 50 pesos. No cover here.

Then there is J&B Nightclub, one of the oldest dance venues in PV.  This place looks like a 70’s disco and plays different Latin tunes almost every night.  The biggest advantage here is the hardwood dance floor, perfect for dancing and there almost always seems to be enough room for freedom of movement.  The last Friday of every month, they present what’s called Fiesta Latina when different dance schools –instructors and students alike perform on stage. This place stays open until the early morning and is located at Francisco Medina Ascencio. It’s not one of my favorite places, simply because I would prefer to hear more salsa, bachata and cha cha cha music than cumbia which is what they love to play, but many seem to really enjoy it. The Latin Brothers teach salsa class in Spanish on Tues., Thur. and Fridays from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.  Each hour class costs 50 pesos. They are a talented, well-liked brother and sister team. Sometimes there is a cover of up to 100 pesos.

Next up, the Twisted Rose in Bucerias. Now this is a tropical gem tucked about two or three blocks from the beach, it’s easy to miss if it weren’t for the vibrant sounds of the live Cuban band emanating from the inside. The dance floor is great and the eats and drinks are inexpensive. There is usually a cover charge of about 50 pesos and the band plays Saturdays from 9ish until midnight.  This is one of my favorite places due to the outdoor, tropical atmosphere.  More specifically, it’s located about two or three blocks from the central plaza.

Last, but definitely not least, is Don Pedro’s in Sayulita. Beachfront and fabulous! Many PV peeps drive an hour there and an hour back every Monday just to get there dancing fix and hear the fantastic Cuban band. It’s a great mix of foreigners out to have a good time with salsa obsessed locals.  The oceanfront vibe here is always worth the drive and I hear the food is really good. Sayulita is so small that you can just arrive and ask where it is so that someone will point you in the right direction. The band starts playing at 8 p.m. until eleven. About 30 pesos gets you through the door.

Marcella Castellanos teaches salsa at Yoga Vallarta. You can contact her via Facebook or Twitter at Latin Motion PV or at www.latinmotionpv.com or visit her blog at http://latinmotionpv.blogspot.com/.

Candela Pura Salsa Social

Candela Pura was insane on Saturday. This salsa event was organized by Dulce, Carlos and Ricardo of PV.  We had many salsero friends visit us here in Puerto Vallarta from Guadalajara. DJs Mambo, Salsa Vice, Brus and Tony Salsero were playing some hot, rhythmic salsa and bachata songs and keeping the vibe going.
Ricardo Zaragoza  was great as an MC and Cocoache as always never disappoints. There must have been approx. 400 people in one infectious room getting really sweaty to Latin beats. If any nightclub doubts that salseros and bachateros can be good business, this was the best evidence that they're wrong. Viva la salsa!

Candela Pura fue una locura el sabado. El evento de salsa  fue organizado por Dulce, Carlos y Ricardo de PV.  Muchos de nuestros amigos salseros nos visitaron aqui en Puerto Vallarta de Guadalajara. DJs Mambo, Salsa Vice, Brus y Tony Salsero tocaron musica caliente y ritmica   de salsa y bachata para que la vibra siga con fuerza.
Ricardo Zaragoza fue el MC y el grupo Cocoache nunca nos decepciona.  Fueron casi 400 personas  para estar en un cuarto infeccioso sudando con los ritmos latinos. Si algun club duda que los salseros y bachateros no son buen negocio esa noche fue evidencia que estan equivocados. Viva la salsa! 

Salsa and El Dorado

I'm so excited to be collaborating with El Dorado on Los Muertos Beach for Salsa nights on Friday!
It's a beautiful, beachfront restaurant with a lot of potential to be the SPOT for Latin Dancing. Every Friday from 9p.m. to 1 a.m. we'll be playing Latin rhythms and people can dance the night away or eat dinner and have drinks while they watch some of the most amazing dancers in Puerto Vallarta show off their talents. The goal is to have salsa, bachata, cha cha competitions, performances, and live music events. We also want to collaborate with charity organizations to help raise awareness for their causes. So excited about all of this coming together!

Salsa at El Dorado

I was sick as a dog on our first Salsa Social at El Dorado on Friday. I wanted to start that Friday ongoing series with a bang, but had been battling the flu or some but that knocked me onto my bed all week. The place needed better lighting and sound, but we're working on improving those two areas. El Dorado is a casual, fun, beach club-like restaurant with a lot of potential. I'm hoping to make our Fridays socials  fun, salsa, bachata, cha cha cha dancing   something people look forward to. Our first night attracted about 35 people. Not bad for a first night...

The Salsa EWW Factor

So... I'm going to skip all the rambling today about starting out with Latin Motion and it's progression.What I do want to mention  today is how unsettling people's egos and attitudes can be in the salsa world. Salsa, bachata and all of the other Latin dances evoke sensuality, passion , a joie de vivre-if you will- but then it's unfortunately  peppered with unsavory people that just want to show-off, think they're the best- and their style is the best because all the rest are out of style or not worthy of mention. They think that our lives are suddenly glorified because they SHOWED UP  on the dance floor or area where we reside. These are the people that give salsa that EWW!!! factor (will not ever mention names here). Dance, salsa dance specifically--call me am idealist-- should be about getting together, having a good time, and learning from each other's styles. Some that become very enamored with the dance will choose to go on and compete in local or national competitions, some will  perform and train to do exhibitions and shows, and some simply want to social dance  and enjoy the infectious music with their friends or significant others. All are valid reasons and really should there be a reason to dance?!.  It's so much nicer when we don't have to say, EWW!!

Latin Motion PV

So that's why I decided to start the page, mainly just as a means to communicate with other fellow dancers and as an attempt to provide visitors and new residents a forum from which they can find out where they can take a class or go dancing.When I started the page, it was exciting because dancing is exciting--it became a new hobby/ diversion. I don't have the tube so it became my diversion and from there I began to think of all of the possibilities with dance, my unfulfilled dreams, what I love to do, what I've been too afraid to try, what I have been denying myself, the changes the I wish I could make in the world, the fact that time passes by so quickly, etc. I've always been a risk-taker and a think outside-the-box kind of a person and as a result have had many failures. Call me a masochist, but this is the only way I challenge myself to grow-falling down on my face and getting back up. I suppose each time, I learn to get better at it so why stop trying? That is when the real visualizing began...