The following text has been contributed by Judith B. from Cambridge. So, guys, you thought salsa was for sissies, and you wanted to know what women think about dancing males... Just read further.

Men and Salsa

These few lines are addressed to you gentlemen and might change the way you think about salsa. I have taken the time to look for answers to that lingering interrogation, that same question which always comes back at the end of the night :

“Where were the salseros while so many pretty women were waiting by the side of the dance floor?”

Last month I bet with a mate about the outcome of a tennis match to try and start him up on salsa. For a month, if he was loosing he was bound to take salsa classes once a week, and if not I was bound to cook once a week. Even such a deal didn’t work… Yet my cooking is far from being bad!

There has always been more women than men at salsa parties, that is a fact. For some reason dancing is thought to be mostly a female thing, but don’t you believe it! One can be very male in the dance. In actual fact, there is nothing more macho than salsa since the man is leading, choosing the routines and deciding upon each step, and the woman is bound to follow. No way to escape a double turn even if her head already spins after the first one!

You will tell me that salsa is for sissies. Quite the opposite, it is a real sport: if you fully commit to it, it is a very good exercise, as tiresome as jogging in the park. Watch the six packs of long-term dancers, and you will understand what I mean. Plus, it comes with some added benefit: you will be able to meet scores of pretty ladies in a relaxed environment, and to dance tight and more if there's chemistry… Oooops, was I just rambling? Well, with a little bit of luck and boldness, between two dilequenos, a setenta complicado and a sacala, you might actually be able to whisper an invitation and find a partner to come with to the next salsa congress...

Thus why spending the night in front of a screen watching 11 blokes running after a ball, while you could be dancing all night long to hot and devilish rhythms, moving your body like a stud, meeting people and inviting pretty damsels who aren’t waiting for anything else… If after this you are still not convinced, come try a lesson with Leandro. Easyyyyy! Just dress casual, bring a pair of comfy shoes and join the rueda to the bewitching sounds of the Cuban salsa. You won’t regret it, guaranteed!

- Judith B. (a.k.a. Manzanita) from Cambridge

Many thanks to Judith for contributing this text. Feel free to send your own texts using the contact form in the main menu. If your text gets selected for publication you will earn a bottle of Havana Club rum!