Latin Dance Lessons | Photo by Isaac Warnecke | The Wright State Guardian
Join the student-led organization Amigos Latinos and professional dance teacher Lauri Chaves to learn the moves to four popular Latin dances over the course of March.
The classes
The president of Amigos Latinos, Felipe Perez, believes the classes create a welcoming environment for all. The instructor and student leaders of Amigos Latinos support anyone willing to learn.
“I can relate to other students who may be nervous learning how to dance, but it is important for other students to know that this is a space to grow,” Perez said.
Lauri Chaves is teaching the series of five dance classes. Chaves is a professional dance teacher in the Dayton-area and has traveled the world sharing dance with all kinds of people. She is a wonderful teacher and her warm personality creates a welcoming atmosphere for all to learn. She is easy to talk to and offers corrections while easily maintaining the fun atmosphere.
Chaves starts each class off slowly with basic steps and slowly builds upon the skills, and before you know it, you are confidently dancing to the music as though you had been dancing all your life.
Several dances are taught each class, and Chaves makes sure to educate the room on how to identify salsa music from merengue and cha-cha from bachata. She also educates the class on Latin musicians to look into when practicing at home.
Chaves starts small, and throughout the weeks, she slowly progresses with the skills, making the classes engaging for any level of dancer.
Community interaction
Chaves encourages all her students to forge new friendships through partner dancing and offers many resources for group dancing outside of the university.
For students looking to pick up a new hobby or just broaden their horizons, Dayton is the perfect place to be. The city has so many fun (and inexpensive) places to go dance and show off your new skills, such as Bar Granada in downtown Dayton that throws Latin Beats Fridays and Salsa Saturdays every week.
Chaves herself also has tons of ideas and recommendations of places to dance and learn new moves past these classes.
Amigos Latinos hopes everyone comes out to have fun, make some new friends and learn some new moves every Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m until April 2. Classes are in the Culture and Identity Centers in Student Union 019.
Amigos Latinos is also collaborating with the Black Student Union for the Afro Latino Night on March 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. There will be free food, music and a live capoeira workshop. Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian traditional sport, art form and exciting mix of dance, acrobatics and martial arts.
All students are encouraged to attend. For more information, visit the Amigos Latinos Engage page.
