CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
About Salsa Styling
Class Description:
Salsa is a Latin dance, associated with the music genre of the same name, which was first popularized in the United States in the 1960s in New York City. This all-levels class dives into the most unique and beautiful characteristics of salsa dance without the complications of dancing with a partner. Movement focuses on building fundamental salsa footwork patterns, and then adding embellishments that will elevate your Latin dance style. Class begins with an easy warmup that progresses into a fun, choreographed routine with variations offered for different skill levels Each routine will be built as a progression throughout the month, so that all students will have time to play with movement quality, polish their technique, and progress into more advanced variations of the choreography as desired. Heels are optional, but the fun is guaranteed!
Suggested Footwear:
Leather or smooth soled shoes are suggested
Suggested Experience Needed:
No prior dance experience recommended
Related Classes:
Salsa, Bachata
Meet Sara
Instagram: @coqui.sf
Sara is a choreographer, teacher, and dancer born and raised in San Francisco. She started her professional hip-hop career at sixteen, dancing with Culture Shock S.F. and L.A. and guest performing with independent artists throughout the Bay Area. While earning her dance degree at Loyola Marymount University, Sara expanded her training to include ballet, modern / contemporary, and dunham technique, and also began a focused re-engagement with salsa and other Latin dances connected to her Puerto Rican heritage. It was during this time that Sara truly honed in on her passion for choreography and teaching, and the ways in which the intelligence of different dance techniques could cross pollinate for the benefit of the artist. Sara has performed alongside notable hip-hop artists Allan Frias and Jesse Lee Santos, and has done commercial work with musical groups Blue Boy and Spanish Fly. Locally Sara has performed and presented work at Dance Mission Theater and ODC, and is blest to have trained with exceptional artists across disciplines including Janice Garrett (modern), Robin Dekkers (ballet), Brandi Chun (jazz funk), Pat Cruz (hip-hop) and others. Most recently, Sara choreographed the Center Repertory Company’s sold out Spring 2023 musical production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights and continues to teach a variety of dance forms around the Bay Area.
Sara strongly believes in the joy of dance, and is dedicated to fostering a safe and playful space where students can work on sound dance technique while feeling motivated to grow. When Sara is not in the studio teaching or choreographing, she is experimenting with dance for film, and running her online dance merchandise store ObjectsForArts. Besides dance, Sara is an ardent, 20-year practitioner of Iyengar yoga, and a strong believer in massages and chocolate.