What we’re about
Introduction to Salsa Lessons -
- Phase 1 - Online Salsa Lessons Monday evenings, Jan 6 to Feb 3rd, 2025, 9-9:30 pm (with exception of Jan 20 as I’m competing in salsa world championship). Message me for more info.
- Phase 2 - In person salsa lessons beginning in spring 2025 - location to be determined.
Phase 1 details:
Join me online on Monday evenings in the new year from January 6th to Feb 3rd from 9-9:30pm to learn the rhythms and techniques of salsa dance (N.B. Except Jan 20 I will be away at a world salsa competition). No partner required! Please message me for registration and the zoom link.
Phase 2 details:
In-person location to be determined. I would love to host an evening in Orleans or the Ottawa area.
About me:
Rebecca Lloyd, PhD (https://function2flow.ca/home-7/rebecca-j-lloyd/)
Instagram: dr.rebecca.lloyd
I am an avid Latin dance competitor, educator and researcher who would love to share my passion for salsa dance with you. I live and breathe salsa dance and am continually learning new ways to move to salsa music on the social and competitive dance floor. In the past year I have won 13 gold medals in Calgary, Montreal, Las Vegas and Toronto. My next competition is the world salsa competition (The Summit Championship) Jan 20-26, 2025.
I approach the teaching of salsa dance in ways that build individual body awareness as well as a relational awareness for how we may communicate with others through posture, gestures, expressions and rhythm. The online classes with introduce salsa rhythms, body awareness, and tips for moving with others. The focus of the lessons will be directed toward those interested in learning basic steps, however, experienced dancers are also welcome as you will see that what I will share is based on years of experience, theorizing and what I have learned from studying with world champions.
Here are a few articles I have written about salsa dance:
- Lloyd, R. J & Smith, S. J. (2023). Salsa Rhythms and Soul Connections. Qualitative Inquiry, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004231176094
- Lloyd, R. & Smith, S. (2022). Leaning into Life: A Motion-Sensing Inquiry into Becoming InterActive for Life through Partnered Practices. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, 14(1), 91-108. Retrieved from https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jdsp/2022/00000014/00000001
- Lloyd, R. & Smith, S. (2022). Becoming InterActive for Life: Mobilizing Relational Knowledge for Physical Educators. Frontiers in Sports & Active Living, 3, 1-11. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/46472
- Lloyd, R. J. (2021). The power of interactive flow in salsa dance: a motion-sensing phenomenological inquiry featuring two-time world champion, Anya Katsevman. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(6), 955-971. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/46474
- Lloyd, R. (2021). Dancing Salsa Solo: Somatic Shimmies & Sways of Awakenings in the Midst of Pandemic Death. Education Review, 7(2), 35-45. https://education.uottawa.ca/sites/education.uottawa.ca/files/uo_fefe_educrev_fall2021_acc.pdf
- Lloyd, R. J. (2017). The feeling of seeing: Factical life in salsa dance. Phenomenology & Practice, 11(1), 58-71. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/46473
- Lloyd, R. J. (2015). Learning to let go: A phenomenological exploration of the grip & release in Salsa dance and everyday life. The Journal of Dance, Movement and Spiritualities, 2(2), 119-140. doi:ISSN: 20517068
- Lloyd, R. J. (2015). From dys/function to flow: Inception, perception and dancing beyond life’s constraints. The Humanistic Psychologist, 43(1), 24-39. doi:10.1080/08873267.2014.952416
See also two documentary videos created with my InterActive for Life research team:
- Our current world champions Adriano & Samantha talking about how rhythm connects dancers: https://vimeo.com/786445887/1ab9bc17f7
- Two-time world salsa champion Anya Katsevman talking about body motion and music in salsa dance: https://vimeo.com/285842351
Dancing is a great way to connect with other people who share a love for rhythm and moving to music. According to Izzy Sanabria, the man who rebranded mambo jazz in the 1970s (Renta, 2014): “Salsa is flavour and spice. Salsa is Latin soul. Salsa is Ritmo, rhythm. It started in Africa with the conga, skin on wood…” (go to youtube and search: Izzy Sanabria - What is Salsa? to hear the full description).
No matter what salsa song is being played, it will carry signature rhythms from the conga ("boom-boom" on beats 4 and 4½ and 8 and 8½, and a "slap" on beats 2 and 6), bass and clave (i.e., the son-clave 3-2 rhythm: 1- 2&-4-6,7). These Afro-Cuban and Caribbean rhythms define both the music and dance of salsa.
Depending on where you are in the world, the way these rhythms are expressed in the body changes. Dancers typically move their feet to the beats: 1,2,3 5,6,7, yet a dancer from Cuba, Miami, Columbia, or New York, will vary the way these beats move forward-&-backward, side-to-side or cross behind. To dance “salsa on 1” means a follow’s right foot moves backwards on count 1. And to dance “salsa on 2” means that a follow’s right foot moves forward on count 1. Before one attends a salsa class or accepts a dance with a partner, it is a good to know that there is no one universally accepted or “correct” way. Being open to different ways the 1,2 3 and 5, 6 7 are interpreted is key to enjoying the relational dance moment**,** Once the 123, 5,6,7 rhythm is established in the feet, a person shifts from “walking’ to “dancing” by feeling the sway between the beats, particularly the space on “4” and “8”. With practice, various melodies and baselines will also animate knees, hips, shoulder blades, and head in ways that exude “flavour & spice”.
If you are curious to read more about connecting meaningfully to other through salsa music, read:
Lloyd, R. J., & Smith, S. J. (2024). Salsa Rhythms and Soul Connections. Qualitative Inquiry, 30(2), 175-181. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004231176094
If you prefer to learn from a video, see this video I directed which features our current world champions Adriano & Samantha. They talk about how rhythm connects dancers: https://vimeo.com/786445887/1ab9bc17f7
