Salsa alternativa

Important!: 1) The event occurs every second Tuesday, but not evenly due to holidays and other events, please check the dates before attending! On December 26th we would have a longer event including a party-like social gathering with especial drinks and music to celebrate the end of 2023!

Important!: 2) Due to the fine properties of the (dance) floor and the embodiment-wise scope of this event, dancing would be allowed only with simple flat shoes like sneakers, tennis, sandals and the like. No high heels, no platforms, no spikes, no barefoot either, and no shoes with too hard heels even if they are flat!

Important!: 3) Event dates beyond the end of 2023 would be possible but are not yet confirmed.

given by dance facilitator Regina LoMío (facebook.com/reginalomio; @reginalomio)

organized by LoMío (facebook.com/lomiosi; eventbrite.de/o/lomio-27002762399)

Everyone knows (about) Salsa, right? But what is it really? Is there more to it than just the standard, mainstream, worldwide available dance style? Oh yes, and I want to show what it is like to be Cuban and miss the authentic dance parties in Havana. This is an event where we understand the “salsa thing” as a dance-friendly music and dance with a history that goes from its Afro Cuban and Latinx roots to current people’s imaginations, interpretations, and influences from all over the dancing world. The event is back at a new location, the Gia Panta (@giapantaberlin): a beautiful, roomy, nicely suited and decorated restaurant-bar with charm and wonderful taste, right at the heart of the Bergmannkiez.

A little intro to the matter in question: The Afro Cuban dances and dance-friendly music styles are ubiquitous in popular culture after having reached global status some 70 years ago. They appear in many forms: original, fusion, and sometimes hidden yet „branded“ forms which you, the neophyte Westerner, may only faintly recognize as Afro Cuban. Salsa, latinx electro, standard mambo, etc., I am sure you get the idea...Therefore, I, a Havana-born/raised dance teacher specialized in Afro Cuban dance, want to help you in journey to fully learn these dances. We would do that through the prism of embodiment, indeed with the explicit goal that you not just learn dance steps but rather incorporate the history, the intention, the spirituality that goes with such dances, and, if possible, FEEL the very essence (soul) of them as something you can authentically relate to.

Back in the 1990's we, the young Cuban people, became very flexible and more individual when dancing to the Cuban Son and Son-derived music styles that had made the most of what is now internationally known as Salsa. Paired dancing is great, beautiful, and useful, but in my opinion it can get a little boring after a while and you would be heading to the Berlin's prolific offer on discotheques, bars, and places where you can dance individually and yet socially until your shoes hurt...So pause your Casino on high heels and get on your sneakers for an evening of Timba, Salsa Cubana, Alternative/Jazzy/Fusion Afro Cuban dance.

Level: level-independent

Dates: Every second Tuesday at 7:00-9:00 pm (19:00-21:00). The event occurs every second Tuesday, but not evenly due to holidays and other events, please check the dates before attending! On December 26th we would have a longer event including a party-like social gathering with especial drinks and music to celebrate the end of 2023! Event dates beyond the end of 2023 would be possible but are not yet confirmed.

Plan of the event: The Gia Panta is open from the morning (9:00 am) and you are much welcome to arrive well before 6:30 pm (18:30), allowing you to try Gia Panta’s offer of dinners, snacks, and drinks especially matching the Latinx-Cuban rhythms that would make up the evening’s theme and atmosphere. At 7:00 pm (19:00) we start with the dance ritual that would last until 9:00 pm (21:00). A dance ritual is not just a dance lesson but rather a facilitated dance gathering for self-expression and interaction with others in a manner that evokes spiritual rites. After the ritual (from 9:00 pm till 11 pm) there will be some more Cuban music to dance and listen to at your will.

Price: Free entrance. We will be glad for your (max. 20 EUR) contribution (donation) to the dance act.

Language: English (German or Spanish on request).

Address: Gia Panta, Zossener Str. 24, 10961 Berlin,Bergmannkiez, Berlin–Kreuzberg

Gia Panta on the web: www.giapanta.de, @giapantaberlin

Event Venue

GIA PANTA, Zossener Straße 24, Berlin, Germany