Salsa Dancing at Habana Village

This past Friday, Erika and I decided to attend a salsa dancing class at a Cuban restaurant located in Adams-Morgan. Habana Village offers group salsa lessons Thursday through Sunday, and we decided to go Friday in order to take advantage of the unusually warm weather that particular night. Habana Village offers two classes, beginner and advanced, that are simultaneously taught in the same room. The instructor began with some basic salsa moves to gauge which class would be more appropriate for the student. Once the two classes split, Erika and I decided to head to the beginner side only to be stopped by the instructor who encouraged us to remain on the advanced side. We were obviously flattered, seeing as this was our first salsa dancing experience ever. Men and women were divided into two separate rows, and we would face our partners. We would rotate partners every five minutes, giving us the opportunity to dance with everyone. There were a wide variety of ages and personalities in the class, from the very awkward to the very confident alpha-male. The instructor, an older Cuban man, was hilarious and very helpful. In his Cuban accent, he would urge the women to let the man lead, and he would encourage the men to be assertive. I learned a couple of moves and only stepped on a man’s feet twice (I consider that success in my book). After the lesson, Erika and I decided to have dinner downstairs in the restaurant. The food was amazing! Although my mother’s Brazilian rice is my favorite dish, the Cuban rice at this place was a close second. After the lesson, the room upstairs becomes a salsa dancing club where people can practice their new moves or where experienced dancers can show off their moves. We returned upstairs, but did not stay for a very long time. The room was packed, and the options for male partners weren’t that great. For example, I danced with a man who was three inches shorter than me and another man whom I am almost certain was older than my father. As Erika perfectly expressed: “I like that age, just not in that way.” We will certainly be returning for another night of salsa dancing, and we will definitely be bringing more people from our group.

--Samanta