Every week, teacher Brenda Smith watches men and women sweat and sway to pulsating Latin music.
This isn’t Club Rio, though. It’s ASU.
Through the dance department, many ASU students are honing their after-hours dancing skills mid-day in a classroom. One of the popular classes this semester is salsa dancing.
Smith teaches nine salsa classes at ASU, ranging from Latin 1 to 3 as well as her Latin Team and Competition/Exhibition classes. She has been teaching for 26 years and has 427 students this semester.
Her flamboyant teaching style is a fan favorite. She is known to motivate her students by shouting things such as, “if you don’t get this move right, you have to touch the callus.”
Sure, salsa dancing can be rough on your feet. But it can also give you a fun elective to take instead of a traditional lecture class. By learning how to salsa dance, you suddenly become more socially popular and find your schedule crammed with various engagements.
OK, so it doesn’t make you more popular, but it does allow you to go out dancing in clubs and bars practically every night of the week, which could potentially make you more popular. Taking a salsa class is also beneficial to your health and provides a good cardiovascular workout.
Students who don’t take salsa for its social appeals likely do take it because of Smith, the unforgettable and sometimes wacky teacher. Smith is a former U.S. and Canadian champion, and has held titles in International Latin, American Style Smooth & Rhythm, Theater Arts and Hustle.
Smith says she likes her classes to be large, especially her Latin 1 classes, so that the male students feel less intimidated. Smith also says she purposely adds humor to each lesson and acts crazy in order to make students laugh so they will relax and be comfortable in their learning experience.
Smith also teaches salsa Sunday nights at the Bash on Ash.
“I enjoy teaching (at the Bash) because it helps the community as well as my ASU students who are having difficulty learning the steps in class,” she said. “It gives them some added practice.”
In a Latin 1 class, you can expect to learn the basic steps of salsa, cha cha, meringue and rumba dance styles. Students also learn the correct styling of each dance, how to work with a partner and how to differentiate between the various music types.
Latin 2 students work more intensely with their partners and do more group orientated moves, such as rueda, which involves passing partners in a circle.
After Latin 2, students can move onto Latin 3, Latin Team or both. Latin 3 is an extension of both Latin 1 and Latin 2 classes, while Latin Team students need to register with a partner to be in the class and have usually taken both Latin classes. No audition is necessary.
The Latin team focuses more on learning different formations, choreography and routines. Latin team members are usually first-time formation competitors and do various performances.
Next, students can audition with a partner for the Competition/Exhibition team. ComEx (for short) have usually been to competitions before and have previously participated on the Latin team. ComEx does more performances, and works at a faster international Latin style of dance including jive, rumba, cha cha, samba, and paso doble.
Any level salsa student can also be involved in the Show Team club on campus, which fundraises and performs throughout the Valley at public events. Upcoming events include “La India” at Gammage Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 3. A few Show Team members will assist Smith with dance instruction before the show.
Currently, Smith’s Show Team is raising money to send some of its members to Ohio for a competition next month. The next fundraising event will be Wednesday, October 24, at the Bash on Ash, and all proceeds will help students attend the competition.
The Ohio Star Ball takes place Nov. 17 and 18 and will include two competitions in which both ASU teams will perform. A part of the competition will be televised.
Although Smith admits learning how to salsa dance is difficult, she added that anyone can do it.
“If you can walk, you can do this,” she said. “All you need to do is practice.”
If you would like to learn how to salsa dance, sign up for Latin 1 next semester or head down to the Bash on Ash every Sunday night for a free lesson from Smith, starting at 8 p.m. and lasting until 9 p.m. Cover is $5.
