“Dancing is life”: How salsa encourages human connection

Ana Maria Cadena

It is a Tuesday night inside the bright and open Terminus space at the University of Ottawa. The air is warm, bags are scattered around the room, and people chat amongst themselves while others take a breather to prepare for the next part of the night: the salsa class.

“For salsa, we dance on only six of the eight counts,” says Élodie Ouellette, University of Ottawa Salsa Club instructor. “We step on 1-2-3 and on 5-6-7.” At first, people seem hesitant. They apprehensively step forward, step back, do a turn and slowly get the hang of it. With each step, people move with more confidence and let the rhythm take control.

Strangers introduce themselves as they hold each other’s hands to practice the combo before moving on to the next person. The learning dynamic continues until it is time for the dancing social. Salsa music from different eras blasts through the speakers. Someone holds out their hand and invites another to the centre of the room, and for one song they communicate without words.

Every Tuesday night, the University of Ottawa Salsa Club hosts beginner and intermediate-level bachata and salsa classes for the general public. Around 40 to 60 people from different nationalities gather each week at the Jock Turcot University Centre to practice salsa among strangers.

Social dancing has become an important way to physically connect with others. Raphael Roy-Laurore, a former instructor, said that after the isolation of the pandemic, people were coming out because they had “lost that sense of touch” due to physical distancing. He believes salsa’s social dancing aspect makes it different from other dance practices and describes the feeling of dancing with a partner as connecting with one’s own body, mind and spirit and then connecting the same way with the other person. “Dancing is life,” he says.

Laura Celis-Bertin, the vice president and instructor at the salsa club, completed her first year of university online. Feeling disconnected from her university experience, she started following the salsa club on Instagram. “Even though participants are usually dancing with strangers, they share a mutual understanding that they will be connected for the duration of the song while they practice the moves they learned. It’s just like those three minutes—it might start off a little bit awkward because you don’t know them, but it’s just like towards the end of the song, you’re both just kind of having fun,” she explained.

Shiva Moin, a Carleton University graduate, started attending the salsa club’s classes in early January. Moin said people are stuck in “little bubbles,” which makes meeting people and having physical interactions with them less common. She said it is important to learn how to communicate with others beyond words and in this case, through social dancing.

Celis-Bertin says salsa is an important part of Colombian culture. “Salsa is very important to me because of the tether it has to back home with my family,” Celis-Bertin said, adding that the nationalities of people who attend the salsa club’s events are “all over the place.”

“At this point, salsa is everywhere. While the style and influence may differ, the heart of salsa is there,” Roy-Laurore said.

Ouellette’s focus is on growing the club’s community by fostering connections and organizing events. “Humans are very social creatures. We like to connect with people, we like to meet new people, and we like to interact and share interests,” she said. “So, if you’re in a room with a bunch of other people that like doing what you do, you’re bound to connect.”

Follow the club’s Instagram page

@ uosalsa (where they post updates, information, and the steps learned in class) or check out the website at:

https://uosalsa.wixsite.com/uosalsa