Darwen Cuban Salsa Group Celebration

Darwen Cuban Salsa Group celebrated their 1st anniversary last night with a special family social evening at Sudellside Community Centre.

The doors opened at 8pm and the party was still alive at midnight. The event was held to celebrate the group, which teaches local people of all ages and abilities how to dance salsa, being one year old.

Dance tutor, Florentin, volunteers his services to help teach people the basics of salsa dancing. He told Darwen Online 'Many people in Darwen lack confidence on the dancefloor and it seems they only start dancing once they've had plenty of drink! I was taught how to dance as soon as I could walk and salsa isn't that difficult to pickup once you start learning."



"I'd like to help local people of all ages to realise that they can have the confidence to dance without being drunk. I have a beginners class and an advanced class which I run on Wednesday evenings and at the weekends. People of all ages attend - from children to pensioners."

"Dancing is great fun, it gets people out of the house, exercising and provides an opportunity for people to meet each other. Whenever possible I try to encourage people to change dance partners when they attend my classes but nobody is ever forced to do anything they're not comfortable with."



The classes, which are held at Knott St Community Centre and St Joseph's Church Hall in Darwen are only £1 per session with a Beez card so it's very affordable and each class lasts for at least an hour and half.

When asked about the difficulty of Salsa, Florentin told us "In the beginners class we just teach five basic salsa steps including the meringue. The Cuban form of salsa, which we teach, is simply based around movements to the drum beats, so it's usually in beats of 4."

"I just start people off slowly then eventually people build enough confidence to start attending of advanced classes - it's been a very successful first year for us and everyone seems to enjoy themselves!"

When introducing the night Florentin thanked everyone for coming and for all the support he's had during the past 12 months. He also reserved special thanks for Joyce Baron, who has been attending the classes since they first started in January 2008.

Although the salsa party was a one off celebration event residents are encouraged to attend on of the classes to start learning salsa. For more information contact Florentin on 07784 290181 or Knott St Community Centre.