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Salsa Foundations — a twelve-week cohort for adult beginners

Foundations is where every one of my students starts. Twelve weekly sessions of two hours, with the same ten people from the first week to the last: five leaders, five followers. You do not need a partner and you do not need to have danced before.

How I teach. Technique built on body mechanics — how weight moves, where a turn comes from, what a frame is for — so the dance is easy on your body and you can do it for decades. The aim is not to make you a backup dancer who can copy a routine. It is to give you the tools to dance socially, to perform if you want to, and to express yourself in your own way, in a room where it is safe to be a beginner.

The twelve weeks

The body (weeks 1–4)

• Body mechanics and the basic step
• Rhythm and musicality
• Body movement and isolations
• Turn technique and frame

Footwork and connection (weeks 5–6)

• Footwork; connection and floor etiquette
• Footwork; lead and follow

Partnerwork (weeks 7–12)

• Stationary turns
• Traveling turns
• 360s and the backspot
• Recap week — everything so far, at speed
• Whips and wraps
• Copas

Each week builds on the last. Miss a Sunday and you make it up with the cohort that started four weeks after yours, or in a private lesson.

Prerequisites

• Foundations: none. You do not need a partner and you do not need to have danced before.
• Each week builds on the last, so you join a cohort in its first four weeks (W01–W04); after that, the next cohort.
• Level 1 (weekly Footwork and Partnerwork) requires a completed Foundations cohort — all twelve weeks.
• Level 2 is by invitation after time in Level 1.

Logistics

• Cohorts start four weeks apart, on Sundays. This autumn: 11 October, 2–4 PM and 8 November, 12–2 PM, at Cre8ive NYC, 134 W 29th St (the room is told to you on arrival). You can join a cohort during its first four weeks; after that, the next one.
• Twelve sessions of two hours
• $390 for the cohort, or $140 every four weeks for three payments ($420 in total). Contact me if you intend to pay in cash.

After Foundations

Foundations is the door. Students who complete a cohort are invited into the weekly Level 1 classes, which run on a monthly membership; Level 2 is by invitation after time in Level 1. There are no drop-ins at any level, and the rate you join at is the rate you keep as you progress. If you would rather try a night of salsa before you commit, come dancing at a MAMBROSO or Met Dancing event — that is the drop-in.

About me

I have danced every day for ten years and have been teaching clients since 2022. I teach salsa the way it is danced socially in New York, On2, with the music first, and I have performed with the Mambo Royalty All-Star Dancers at Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden.

"Much needed focus on the fundamentals to help you be a better dancer. Loved Xavi's attention to detail and emphasis on the connection of body to self." — Denise D.

"Great experience and instruction with much attention and patience." — Maya M.