The Peterborough Festival - 2007

"everybodysalsa.com" is a group of Cambridgeshire-based salsa mad dancers and dance instructors, who have joined forces to raise public awareness of salsa dancing and its health benefits; to introduce salsa dancing to a wider audience; to raise hopes, dreams and expectations of local salsa dancers; and raise money for good causes.

 

Patti Amos and Alan Bull are the regular teachers and are United Kingdom Alliance of Dancing Instructors (UKA) accredited instructors. They are joined by other trained members of the team, regular assistant teachers include; Dennis and Tracey; Howard and Gemma; Hans and Kathryn; Erica; Les and Jaqui; Rob and Jo, who help us provide a high teacher/pupil ratio enabling us to offer, excellent value to our students.

 

WHERE IS MY NEAREST CLUB?
everybodysalsa currently run 3 weekly classes, Monday nights at Edwards Bar, Broadway, central Peterborough PE1 1RS; Wednesday nights at the Olde Griffin Hotel, High St March PE15 9JS, and every Thursday night at the Hospital Social Club, off Thorpe Rd Peterborough PE3 6DA.

 

A proportion of the entrance money collected at all everybodysalsa.com weekly classes is set aside to underwrite our twice yearly Charity Salsa Balls.

INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS
Our enthusiastic team of teachers/dancers provide an action packed programme throughout the year, including intensive workshop's every eight weeks, aimed towards dancers with a minimum 3 weeks experience. Each two hour intensive class is taken exclusively by Pattie Amos (UKA) and Alan Bull (UKA) and numbers are restricted.

 

Currently we only run two of the five levels of class available at each intensive workshop and with a lot of interest registered for these events, which take place at St Mark's Church Hall, Lincoln Rd, Peterborough, PE1 2SN. Classes are chosen on a first come first served basis, i.e. the first two classes to attract the maximum number of participants go ahead, so pupils are encouraged to get their names down early to stand the best chance of their class being featured.

 

DANCE DISPLAYS                                                            
everybodysalsa also have a salsa dance display team, chosen from our teachers, who perform at local charity events, private functions, including Weddings, parties and have been very well received as guest performers at other salsa promoters events around the country, even featuring on BBC Look East in June 2006, preparing to take part in the Peterborough Festival.

 

The display team perform as a single pair of dancers, two pairs of dancers, or the full, six person team and provide an interesting blend of both cross body and Cuban styles in their performances. Introduction to salsa taster sessions:everybodysalsa.com also perform, "introduction to salsa", taster salsa and/or Merengue classes, which are designed to encourage people to try out this exciting partner dance, and see if they like it, which they invariably do!

 

These taster sessions, which are always good fun and sometimes include a dance display too, are usually 30 minutes long and are very popular at local charity events, private functions, including Weddings, Christmas parties and celebrations of every kind, as well as also forming part of the everybodysalsa team building events which we provide for businesses.

PARTY NIGHT'S
Everybodysalsa.com hold regular special party night's and ball's, in and around the Peterborough area. Usually on Saturday nights, these large events usually involve five hour's of salsa fun and frolics with a full range of dance classes, guest teacher's, and optional fancy dress! The party nights which are open to all three of our weekly clubs, as well as dancers from elsewhere usually have a theme, and dancers are encouraged to dress up, or wear something related to the theme of the day and prizes are awarded to the most interestingly dressed Man and Woman present.

 

Guest teachers are chosen from across the UK, for their teaching style and manner, and bring with them a wealth of talent, from both cross-body and Cuban styles of salsa dancing.

 

The next everybodysalsa.com Party night will take place on Saturday 14th April at the Peterborough Hospital Social Club, by the Maternity Unit, Thorpe Rd Peterborough PE3 6DA and comes with the theme of  "Spring" and dancers are invited to don a voluntary dress code with the word spring in mind, whether that be cute little bunny rabbit's, or a Zebbadee style bouncing device, anything goes, as long as it fits in some way with the theme! Prizes will be available for the most interesting dress, and will be handed out by special guest teacher Irfan Rehman, of Latin Motion fame who will be taking the Intermediate class on the night.

Advance tickets are £8, or £10 on the door, and are available from any of our everybodysalsa weekly club's.

CHARITY BALLS
The next everybodysalsa.com Ball which will be our sixth, takes place on Saturday 7th July at the Hospital Social Club, by the Maternity Unit, Thorpe Rd, Peterborough PE3 6DA and comes with the theme of  Myths and Legends and dancers are invited to don a voluntary dress code with this theme in mind, whether that be Cuba's` revolutionary hero Fidel Castro, or our very own Robin Hood, anything goes, as long as it fits in some way with the theme!

 

Prizes will be available for the most interesting dress, and will be handed out by our special guest teacher, who will be taking the Intermediate/Advanced class on the night, we also plan to have a fabulous live salsa band. Advance tickets are £12, or £14 on the door and are available from any of our everybodysalsa weekly club's or our website www.everybodysalsa.com

PRIVATE TUITION
There is nothing that you or we are doing that cannot be improved! And whatever you concentrate on, inevitably improves! So if there is anything about your dancing that you are not happy with, one of the quickest ways of overcoming it might well be a private lesson. We are receiving increasing interest in our private classes, which can be very useful for improving any aspect of salsa dancing that you are not entirely happy with. Whether it is leading correctly, following well, timing, turns, tricks, spins or dips, a private lesson may well do the trick. Our charges are modest, they won't make you groan, £40.00 for a couple, or £25.00 on your own.(Prices do not include travelling costs, which are free if we can slot you in before a regular lesson and also do not include any venue hire, if required). Private classes are taken exclusively by Pattie Amos(UKA) and Alan Bull(UKA)

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO?
Building on the success of our debut charity salsa ball "The Ball at the Hall" held at Peterborough Town Hall, in December 2004, (which sold out 5 days before the event), all profits being donated to the Mayor's charities - Sue Ryder and Muscular Dystrophy we held our Salsa Extravaganza, in July 2005, which, raising much needed cash for Save The Children.

 

Our "masquerade" Christmas ball, which took place on December 17th 2005, enabled us to help out the cash starved St Theresa's day care centre for the homeless, and the Fenland and Marshland branch of the Alzheimer's Society, received all profits following our, Mid Summer Salsa Ball, which was held back in June 2006. Dec 2006 saw a very popular pirates theme ball in aid of Peterborough Samaritans, which helped pay for essential phone lines to remain open for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

 

With your help, we have managed to raise over £5,000.00 for charity so far and are currently working towards our next `Myths and Legends` Summer Ball which will take place on Saturday 7th July 2007, to be held at the Hospital Social Club, Thorpe Rd. Peterborough.

WHAT IS SALSA?
Salsa is nothing less than a ceaselessly evolving multicultural musical miracle! It is a fast and passionate partner dance involving six steps over every eight beats of rich, multi rythmed Latin music with a fiery tempo. The wonderfully rich and lively Latin music becomes practically irresistible and it becomes difficult to keep your feet from moving along to the rhythm of modern stars like Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, or Gloria Estefan, or classic oldies such as Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Santana. Either way the dancing becomes irresistible, the more you do it, the more you want to.

 

The Salsa music that we hear today probably originated in Cuba, although it was not until many years later in New York, that it was given the name Salsa. Cuba, and shortly after other countries including The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Columbia provided a hotbed, from which artists of different cultures came together and merged the beautiful flamenco guitar music of the Spanish troubadours, with the hypnotic Rumbas and drum rhythms of West Africa, and the Anglo/French Danzon, (Country Dance). It was not until the early 20th Century that this new music and dance spread across to Mexico and New York cities where it really began to take off, aided by commercialisation.

 

The name Salsa began as a New York nickname that appeared in the early 1940s.The term was applied, not only to Salsa music, but to any music emanating from Hispanic Countries, and so many distinctive styles of music and dance, for example, The Cha Cha; Cumbia; Danson; Gurache; Mambo; and Merengue etc also became known as Salsa until quite recently! The US embargo against Cuba, following the popular revolution led by Martyred Hero Che Guevara and the living legend Fidel Castro, prevented the natural spreading of salsa to the rest of the world and it was not until the last decade or so that salsa dancing has really taken off around the world, aided in no small part by Rye Cooder's close involvement with the legendary Buanavista Social Club.

 

Salsa has the potential to become the football of the dance and night club world, even now offering a friendly and truly multicultural, music and dance experience that is accessible to everybody, no matter what country you are in, all over the World, helping break down barriers and improve the quality of live of everybody involved.