Spicing it up

House of Dance offers some salsa to region’s mix of dance instruction

Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff Photo by Stacy Sneed Jonathan Tejeda, left, and Sneyder Muñoz, House of Dance instructors, teach salsa steps to men at the ‘‘Salsa! The Dance of Passion” event at the College of Southern Maryland’s La Plata campus. Below, Donna Jordan and Tejeda show some moves. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Donna Jordan, owner of House of Dance in Hollywood, and her instructors, gave one-on-one lessons to nearly 30 attendees, helping them get into the groove and feel of Latin music.

‘‘There aren’t too many things going on in the area and people like to dance — everyone likes to dance,” said Sonia Fernandez, the CSM club adviser. ‘‘People like the salsa dancing. It is something that brings people together. It brings the communitytogether.”

Fernandez who is from the Basque region of Spain, said this is only the second time the club has had salsa lessons; last semester the club had a salsa class from another instructor. However, she had her dancing shoes on and a partner in hand ready to learn more.

‘‘I don’t salsa. But having a partner is completely different from trying the dance solo. The woman has some steps and the man has some steps — each one can learn their separate steps. This dance is for a woman and a man,” she said.

Thanks to Jordan and her staff of two males and one female instructor, no one had to stand against the wall. Everyone was able to have a partner to help gain the extra flavor that was needed to shake it up in the class.

Linda and Bob Miller of Lexington Park were among the participants.

‘‘My husband and I love to dance. We learned a lot — the crossover, salsa Suzy-Q — a little flirtation move,” Linda Miller said.

But the Millers are used to boogeying, with dances such as the fox trot, rumba, swing, hustle, tango and merengue already under their belts. As a matter of fact, Linda Miller said that’s how she lost 60 pounds — with dancing.

‘‘It’s just so much fun. We love the Latin spirit and fun,” Miller continued. ‘‘And [dancing] is what I love to do to keep [the weight] off.”

Jordan said salsa is quite a workout, as she saw some students taking breaks to wipe the sweat from their faces and to catch their breath.

‘‘Salsa is very freeing and exciting. It depends on openness and freedom. It’s something for all different ages. It’s quality dancing that’s fun,” she said. ‘‘For some of the students, it may be their first time they have to work with someone else’s energy.

‘‘We can take anyone and show them how to dance. Look at what we taught in an hour.”

As the students danced hand-in-hand with bodies close together, spinning and twirling, it wasn’t difficult to see the room heating up. Jonathan Tejeda, one of the instructors, partnered with a few of the female students in class to demonstrate the moves to everyone.

‘‘It’s about the opportunity to have fun. People see shows like ‘‘Dancing With the Stars” and nine times out of 10, they enjoy it when they do it themselves,” Jordan said. ‘‘They get together and interact with the community. It’s good to have diversity and this is a beautiful way to show diversity with the culture, music, dancing and language.

‘‘Everyone needs a release to have fun. It constantly refreshes you. People must have an outlet to distress.”

With students already persistent about another class, Fernandez said she’s considering the option. As of right now, she hopes to plan something around Valentine’s Day.

Student Carlos Torres of Lexington Park said, ‘‘I do salsa often, already for a couple of years. It’s just fun and you get to interact with people. I like the creativity to come up with different moves. You become addicted when you try it.”

Jordan’s House of Dance offers lessons and also operates a touring organization — the Bodyshakers. While Latin dancing was featured at last month’s event, the House of Dance also offers hip hop, modern, belly dancing, ballroom, step and cardio dance.

‘‘People get bogged down with the demands of life and they need an outlet,” she said in an e-mail. ‘‘More and more people are turning to dance as that outlet.”

But, Jordan views dance as more than exercise and a means of stress relief, she said. ‘‘We really focus on the freedom associated with dance,” she said. ‘‘It’s really about completely letting go and feeling free of the inhibitions that impact us daily.”

E-mail Stacy Sneed at ssneed@somdnews.com. Staff writer Susan Craton contributed to this report.