It Takes Two to… Salsa

The hips don’t lie. If you heat up the dance floor with someone, you’ll have some hot chemistry in the bedroom, too.

From ballet to hip hop, sensuality is in every dance because each dance provides an outlet of personal expression, says Michael Beck, a salsa instructor and mastermind behind MidwestLatino.com. Salsa dancing provides a particularly intense sensuality because it is a partner dance with sexy movements.

As a partner dance, salsa requires its dancers to depend on each other. “You’re doing a lot of patterns, a lot of movements, so you have to depend on your partner,” Beck says. And teamwork accompanies that interdependence. Dancers want their partners to look good and perform well, so they work with them to ensure that outcome.

Both dependence and teamwork directly translate from the dance floor to the bedroom to support the saying that “Good dancers make good lovers.” Lovers want their partners to perform well just as much as (if not more than) dancers, and dancing instills that natural urge to help your partner achieve a perfect score.

Salsa dancing itself also spices up the sensuality in your life with the movements. “Salsa – or Latin dancing in general – is one of the sexiest dances,” Beck says. “Many of the movements are very sensual as well as sexual. The different movements and the way you move your hips makes you feel more sexual, so you feel sexier.” Feeling sexier on the dance floor leads to more self-confidence, which leads to a more fun and passionate time when dancers are in a more intimate setting.

The best part about salsa? Almost anyone can do it. Salsa music itself blends Cuban and Puerto Rican music, which stems from African rhythms, Beck says, so the music itself crosses cultures. “You can see salsa all over the world,” Beck says. “It’s cross-cultural. It’s everywhere!”

And that does not exclude Cincinnati. The Greater Cincinnati area has five live salsa bands. “For the size of the city, that’s amazing,” Beck says. (Columbus has one or two and Cleveland has two.) Also, nearly every night of the week, salsa aficionados can get their hip-shaking fix around the Queen City.

Mondays: Visit The Mad Frog to enjoy a live band and free salsa lessons at 9 p.m. for a $5 cover charge.

Tuesdays: Head over to The Blue Wisp Jazz Club to salsa dance to a live band for a $5 cover charge.

Wednesdays and Thursdays: Check out Havana Martini Club to heat up the dance floor with your salsa moves, or learn some moves at 8 p.m. with free lessons and no cover charge.

Fridays and Saturdays: Check the Havana Martini Club calendar for select Friday or Saturday Salsa or Latin nights. Check out MidwestLatino.com for salsa nights at Javier’s Mexican Restaurant, Brewske’s Paraiso Nite Club and Ballet Tech Cincinnati.

So whether you go with a group of girlfriends to enjoy a fun, friendly and welcoming atmosphere or you head out with your man to heat things up, be ready for those sensual salsa moves that will show just how sexy you are!

PHOTO CREDITS
Photographer: Neysa Ruhl Photography
Model: Michael Beck, Midwest Latino
Location: The McAlpin