[EVENT REVIEW - LA Influence Monthly Social, Long Beach, CA | February 4, 2011]
Last month, I made a rare discovery. I attended a salsa social that had every good thing that seems to be lacking in the regular salsa scene. I present to you --- The Get LAI'D Salsa Social.
The name is playful and somewhat misleading for some...but take note, LAI stands for L.A. Influence. Maybe the name isn't misleading at all...isn't a really great dance even better than sex?? Well okay...not really...but I digress...LOL
The Location:
The Long Beach Dance Center is on Ocean Blvd in Long Beach. I'm not sure if there was more to the complex, but the room/studio where the social was being held was HUGE. There was ample, free parking in the lot across the street — not sure if it's free during the week, but it's free on Friday night.
The Lesson:
Since this was my first time attending this social. I showed up a little early. Imagine my surprise to find the place packed with dancers. My first reaction was to look at my cell phone and check the time because I wondered if it was actually later. But no --- I was early, and this was just THE DANCE LESSON!
There were two classes going on. The large class in the main room was bachata and the smaller class in the back room was (I believe) salsa. The size of the class was astounding --- close to 100 (?) students all paired up and forming a large circle around the room. And as LAI co-founder/director Peter Araiza taught the class, several things stood out to me:
1. He kept the class in order - This is NOT an easy feat when dealing with so many students at once. I've been in classes and helped teach classes with a mere fraction of that number and even then, it was chaos.2. He danced with (almost) every lady in his class. During the rotations, he would not only get the lovely Lyssin to help demonstrate the ladies' moves in the pattern, he grabbed ladies out of the circle to run the patterns during the class.3. He TAUGHT THE LEADERS ABOUT DANCE ETIQUETTE. This was a beginning class and what most teachers in LA (or anywhere) fail to do is teach basic dance etiquette. It only takes a few minutes to explain how to ask a lady to dance, how to lead her onto the floor, and how to lead her back to her seat (or where you found her). Peter does this in ALL of his classes. There have been times when someone won't even ask me, they'll just grab my hand and start tugging me towards the floor and after the dance, they'll hug me and then just walk away. I was so surprised and pleased to find an instructor out there who injects basic etiquette into his lesson. And not only does he teach it, he SHOWS BY EXAMPLE....which leads me to #4...4. He took the time to dance with as many ladies during the social as possible. He had his dance team and many friends in the crowd, but instead of sticking to his group, he took the time to ask several different ladies to dance. I watched as he asked them to dance, held out his arm to lead them to the floor, dance with them, and then offer up his arm again to escort them back to their seat. It was so reminiscent of Fred Astaire and quite lovely to witness. If every man in his class took that one etiquette lesson to heart and practiced it, dancefloors all over Southern California would improve by leaps and bounds.
The Social:
To quote DJ Mambo T, "If this is just the size of the class, the social is going to be psychotic!!!"
When the social began immediately after class, people were STILL coming in. It was crowded, but there was still plenty of room to dance. It was quite interesting that, though the place was packed to capacity, there weren't very many familiar faces. Usually, that means I'll be fighting the ladies for the one or two guys that I know are good leads. But at this social, the unfamiliar faces meant more new chances to get that great dance! Gone were the cliques and groups of friends huddled together --- only dancing with each other. It was refreshing to be asked to dance at every turn. Most in the crowd were beginners, but it was easy to get lost in the music and just have fun, despite the usual basic-CBL-basic-right hand turn patterns. It was great to see everyone having a good time.
The Music:
If DJ Mambo T is at the helm, it's safe to assume the music is going to be great. He's one of the rare deejays that actually watches the crowd and plays songs to accommodate the vibe. He pulled out great gems from his vast collection and kept the dancefloor moving without missing a beat. In between sets, there was additional awesome live music by Meneao (?) --- their covers were on point and not overly-long --- giving everyone a chance to get their boogie on and then take a quick breath before the next song lured them back to the floor.
The Floor:
As a dancer, I need to make a comment on the actual dancefloor itself. Most who dance on the regular will know what I mean when I say, "the floor was fast, and there wasn't a bad spot in the place."
The Extras:
Being a dance studio and not a club, there wasn't a bar providing refreshments and cocktails, but in the back room, there were cups and jugs of drinking water (free) and delicious $1.00 tacos. In the side room close to the entrance, there were free* massages (ala The Clave Lab social - every 2nd Saturday of the month).
*Massage therapists work for tips. Please be generous. :)
All in all, it was a FANTASTIC social --- boasting everything that seems lacking at other socials and club scenes. It's definitely something to look forward to every first Friday of the month....who WOULDN'T look forward to getting LAI'd on a friday night?
The next LAI social is THIS FRIDAY. Hope to see you there!
