Salsa is a Latin American dance with a strong Afro-Caribbean influence. It is hot, passionate and fun, and is done mostly with partners. It is derived from "mambo" which is featured on "Dancing with the Stars."

Wear something comfortable for you. Ladies usually wear flats, dance shoes or high heels. Guys wear leather soles or dance shoes. Rubber soles/sneakers are not recommended. Footwear should allow you to spin easily. As far as clothing, guys and gals wear jeans or slacks, and a light top that keeps you cool. No sweaters, you'll get too hot! Sometimes ladies come right from work or plan to go out dancing afterwards so they sometimes wear dresses or skirts. Anything goes as long as your comfortable!

This varies depending on how much you put into it. Practice makes a huge difference. We have seen students look good on the dance floor after four-six classes if they practice during the week and attend socials or go out to salsa clubs to practice. Other students who don't have the time to practice and/or have no dancing experience at all will feel confident on the dance floor within about eight classes. Even people who say they have "two left feet" become great dancers if they keep coming. The first couple of classes might seem difficult, but after awhile you won't even have to think about it. When you get to that point, it's such a rush! If you develop a passion for salsa, you will become a GREAT dancer.

Since the state of Connecticut has a greater demand for it, we teach primarily on "the one." Most salsa venues throughout the U.S. and Europe dance on "the one." Periodically, we host special "on two" workshops. Our philosophy is that it is beneficial to learn both styles if you plan on going out dancing in New York City. Otherwise "the one" is much more popular.

No. People come to our class as partners and as singles. We rotate partners so students can practice with more than one person, however if you come with your significant other, we make sure that you spend most of the class time with that person.

Everywhere!! If you like the nightlife, there are popular salsa clubs like Vandome, La Casona, Azucar, Teddy's, and so many other salsa venues all over the state. When Bob and I travel, we always search online for the salsa venue in the area. We've danced salsa in Spain, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, and even Martha's Vineyard! It's all over the place and salsa is a common language! Plus we hold socials where students can meet up and dance the night away. Platinum Salsa has networked with other dance studios so we will keep you informed with all the hottest salsa socials and meetups in the area.

Oh! On a side note, if you are ever at a wedding or party with no salsa music, just do your salsa moves to almost any genre of music. It looks good even to hip hop or disco!

No. We teach beginners right from scratch and we also teach seasoned dancers. Once you become advanced, you also have the opportunity to perform on our dance team.

We are salsaholics and we can never get enough of it. Once you get into it, you'll see why. But we do teach other dances like merengue, cha cha, bachata and hip hop. I (Candi) am also ACE certified in group fitness so I teach highly popular dance fitness classes all over the state as well as at our Southington studio. We also host special workshops like "Spinning" or "Styling" classes.