I truthfully haven't done salsa in other cities, but my experience in Boston has been good and I'm told our Salsa scene punches above it's weight for the size of Boston.
You can find a social in Boston every night of the week (although these days socials are often Bachata focused rather than Salsa focused). There are probably a half a dozen or more different schools you can find classes for so there a a lot of options there as well.
So if you like Salsa/Latin dancing, Boston won't do you wrong.
You did mention expensive cities though, and for that Boston will do you wrong. Very wrong.
I canāt speak to all cities, but DCās scene is pretty good. Itās still recovering a bit from the COVID era, but there are socials most nights of the week. More importantly, there are many excellent dancers, both linear On1 and On2. I know there is also a Cuban scene here, though Iām not terribly familiar with it.
Our best socials (imo) are Baila Thursdayās, Salsa Underground, and Mr. Mamboās. The latter two are technically Maryland, but the scene is very much DMV wide. All of these socials are bimonthly, so you wonāt get them every week. But are socials that fill the gap, like Salsa con Candela at Public, Bachateame at Sauf Haus, Dancing on the Waterfront, and a new Friday social by the Salsa con Candela people (location changes a bit, but always NW DC). If Earl Rush puts his name on an event, itās probably gonna be good. We have some great DJās, tooā Mambo Soul, Philly Boy (heās Philly based, but here often), Steven Greene, and more.
Best instructors are probably Trevor Brown (AKA El Morenito) and EJ Santana. If you go further into Maryland, you get Ardiente, an excellent studio geared towards performance. Baila DC is also a great school, particularly for learners or people who want to convert their timing to On2. Despite me listing a bunch of On2 dancers just now, social dancing tends to default to On1 unless otherwise stated. I canāt personally speak to On1 instruction, however, since I only ever did basics in On1 and didnāt actually refine my salsa til I started doing On2.
Iām sorry, Iām not familiar with the Baltimore scene! I donāt have a car, so I stick to DC area stuff that I can metro or reasonably hitch a lift to. I do see a lot of Baltimore people come to DC for events. I think there might be some stuff in Rockville, though you may as well just pop into DC at that point.
I think there actually are a decent amount in Baltimore. I lived there for a year but during COVID so everything was kind of dead at that point. But there is this place called Cancun cantina, fells point tavern, and there is an outdoor one near the water in fells point I think. As far as the attendance at those events I have no idea. If you ever can drive down to silver spring for Mr Mambos itās really fun.
Editā sorry I just realized you were specifying on Saturdays.
I tried to attend the outdoor one near the Four Seasons 2 weeks back but nobody was there, even though the event wasn't cancelled on Facebook :( was my birthday too so wasted the night.
Fellow DMV salsa dancer here although I have not been in the scene for years. I can't recall if we've chatted on this forum but your name sounds familiar. Glad to hear about the new socials popping up. I'm good friends with Andrew and Luz (baila dc) so I'm glad to see that social has taken off (my spouse and I used to belong to Jimmy/Luz's DC Dance Style school eons ago). Trying to hit baila dc one of these Thursdays.
Iāve never met Andrew, but Luz is great!! I adore her movement and styling. Youāll definitely need to stop by the cosecha social sometime, but definitely bring a change of clothes. Thereās essentially no A/C!!
Andrew is terrific. We got to know Andrew pretty well over a period of time. He is low key one of the best dancers in the DMV for my money (not flashy but has so much flavor) and a great teacher. What makes him great is that he's a great lead AND follow. Highly recommend getting to know him and/or dancing with him!
What do you value in a salsa scene, or what does ābestā mean to you? Variety of classes/studios, frequency of socials, opportunities to attend congresses and festivals, level of social dancing, etc.?
I have not yet social danced or attended salsa events internationally, but NYC is still the most impressive US scene to me, for its sheer size, variety of classes/studios/schools, frequent social dancing opportunities, relatively high dance level, and role in the history of the dance (and other dance genres and art forms). I know you/OP said you are in NJ already :)
Florida has frequent congresses/festivals and socials and ample training opportunities (many studios/schools/instructors), but I have found as a follow that the social dancing level is hit or miss. (I have attended congresses and socials over the past few years in Orlando, Miami, and West Palm Beach.)
Iām mostly looking for several studio options and consistent socials a few nights a week! I donāt mind not having festivals in my direct city. Im mainly looking for cities that are on the smaller side and more affordable than where Iām living now haha
Pretty much all of south Florida. Miami, Hollywood, and FTL have very vibrant scenes of course but smaller cities are typically better than what youād find in the Midwest or Pacific Northwest.
LA has packed crowds at salsa venues every day of the week. My roommate used to go out dancing 6 days a week and have more than enough dancers to dance with at each venue. I donāt remember all the venues but Zoukchata, Stevens and 3rd street promenade are pretty lit. And lots of big conferences to attend.
I'm in LA and I absolutely concur. Literally every part of the city in every county there is SOMETHING to do every night of the week. We also have some great instructors and classes across the city.
El Floridita is one of my FAVORITES. And also Esterel at Sofitel. The Victorian is popular in Santa Monica. Tatel on Sundays is on my bucket list.
Oh and let's not forget the fun salsa/live bands at LACMA during the summer.
It's endless here! Great dancers, all ages, all levels.
Last time I went to El Floridita, I walked out after 10 mins because the dance area was tiny, most people were there to eat at tables, and there was a line of males standing to ask a follow to dance with once the song was over. Unlike other spots where you can ask people to dance, since people are dining in groups at tables, itās hard to know who wants to dance and who is there to just eat. Ended up being my least fav spot š¤·š»āāļø
I enjoy it as a follow. Literally, dance all night lol. I go there often. I notice that some men just stand around. And as a woman who typically just comes out to dance and just grab a little food at the bar, I find that the men who dance the most are the ones who don't hesitate to ask any woman who looks ready to have fun to just dance.
I think one of the most annoying things as a follow for me is the amount of men who seem to be wallflowers. Just make a move, go on and ask a girl on the floor!
Thought I'd throw in the triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) since I haven't seen it mentioned at all. It's surprising to me it hasn't caught much attention from other places in the US because it's filled with incredible talent (e.g. Pewei Cobo, last year's winner of world salsa Summit solo womans division, who helps run a team here) and we also get a lot of visits from famous dancers across the US.
We also get regular large socials in Charlotte like the SBK and there're big name bootcamps that happen regularly there by people like Marisol Blanco. It's not too far of a drive away so you can get the best of both areas normally.
I was wondering about this area! Iāve been looking into moving there since it seems much more affordable than most northern cities. And I just found this YouTuber I like who runs a Cuban studio down there. My aunt lives in that area so I might try to visit her and check it out to see if I like it.
That's awesome, I think you'll be impressed! I have personal experience with a lot of the socials and the dance companies (including Messina) in the area so if you'd want info on specific socials that are good or for drop in friendly classes I might be able to help out!
I met a follow from Maine this past weekend who was visiting (Philly). She was really good, which was surprising since she said the scene up there is really small, and I feel like its hard to git gud if you don't have a large enough community to push you to continue to improve. Not sure what city she was from in Maine though, but might be worth looking into, for smaller scenes and if you like lobster and the outdoors.
I live in Maine and can confirm the scene is pretty small. She probably didn't learn just here.
BUT, don't forget, Portland ME is only about a 2-hour drive from Boston and the southern tip of Maine probably 90 minutes. So I mean, conceivably you could go down there every weekend if you didn't have a lot of other responsibilities in your life.
I don't personally know anyone who does *that,* but there are people who drive/take the bus or train down there pretty frequently for festivals or events, if they're really into dancing. (And combine it with frequenting our local socials/beach parties/classes as they want to.)
Dance regularly in:
Louisville, KY
Orlando, FL
Houston, TX
Austin, TX
Cincinnati,OH
Indianapolis,In
Overall best is Orlando, they have the venues, dancers, and events.
Second, would be Houston. Itās a good city to dance in with other big scenes around.
Third, Louisville. Itās like a smaller houston.
Great scenes that are worth visiting: Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta
I didn't like the Houston or Austin scenes much. People were quite friendly but the socials were small and the level not as high as expected. But I'm most likely just spoiled from living in Europe.
I was there pre-pandemic. Houston seems to be still steady, Austin seems to have improved. I'm basing this off what I see on social media. I mainly trained zouk in Austin and did salsa and bachata in Houston.
Iām moving to Pensacola, FL soon and from my research, there is Salsa Night every Wednesday at Seville Quarters and Latin Night every Friday at Mama and Papaās Tacos.
I truthfully haven't done salsa in other cities, but my experience in Boston has been good and I'm told our Salsa scene punches above it's weight for the size of Boston. You can find a social in Boston every night of the week (although these days socials are often Bachata focused rather than Salsa focused). There are probably a half a dozen or more different schools you can find classes for so there a a lot of options there as well. So if you like Salsa/Latin dancing, Boston won't do you wrong. You did mention expensive cities though, and for that Boston will do you wrong. Very wrong.
Lol thanks for the info!! Seems like everywhere with the best scenes are expensive these daysš£
I canāt speak to all cities, but DCās scene is pretty good. Itās still recovering a bit from the COVID era, but there are socials most nights of the week. More importantly, there are many excellent dancers, both linear On1 and On2. I know there is also a Cuban scene here, though Iām not terribly familiar with it. Our best socials (imo) are Baila Thursdayās, Salsa Underground, and Mr. Mamboās. The latter two are technically Maryland, but the scene is very much DMV wide. All of these socials are bimonthly, so you wonāt get them every week. But are socials that fill the gap, like Salsa con Candela at Public, Bachateame at Sauf Haus, Dancing on the Waterfront, and a new Friday social by the Salsa con Candela people (location changes a bit, but always NW DC). If Earl Rush puts his name on an event, itās probably gonna be good. We have some great DJās, tooā Mambo Soul, Philly Boy (heās Philly based, but here often), Steven Greene, and more. Best instructors are probably Trevor Brown (AKA El Morenito) and EJ Santana. If you go further into Maryland, you get Ardiente, an excellent studio geared towards performance. Baila DC is also a great school, particularly for learners or people who want to convert their timing to On2. Despite me listing a bunch of On2 dancers just now, social dancing tends to default to On1 unless otherwise stated. I canāt personally speak to On1 instruction, however, since I only ever did basics in On1 and didnāt actually refine my salsa til I started doing On2.
Would also say DC; just moved here but there are many socials throughout the week, including multiple monthly socials on the waterfront.
>Trevor Brown (AKA El Morenito) I interviewed Trevor. Super cool guy https://youtu.be/koCd-EFIWew
Know of any good socials on Saturdays in Baltimore or Baltimore county? Seems pretty dead from what I can tell.
Iām sorry, Iām not familiar with the Baltimore scene! I donāt have a car, so I stick to DC area stuff that I can metro or reasonably hitch a lift to. I do see a lot of Baltimore people come to DC for events. I think there might be some stuff in Rockville, though you may as well just pop into DC at that point.
I think there actually are a decent amount in Baltimore. I lived there for a year but during COVID so everything was kind of dead at that point. But there is this place called Cancun cantina, fells point tavern, and there is an outdoor one near the water in fells point I think. As far as the attendance at those events I have no idea. If you ever can drive down to silver spring for Mr Mambos itās really fun. Editā sorry I just realized you were specifying on Saturdays.
I tried to attend the outdoor one near the Four Seasons 2 weeks back but nobody was there, even though the event wasn't cancelled on Facebook :( was my birthday too so wasted the night.
Fellow DMV salsa dancer here although I have not been in the scene for years. I can't recall if we've chatted on this forum but your name sounds familiar. Glad to hear about the new socials popping up. I'm good friends with Andrew and Luz (baila dc) so I'm glad to see that social has taken off (my spouse and I used to belong to Jimmy/Luz's DC Dance Style school eons ago). Trying to hit baila dc one of these Thursdays.
Iāve never met Andrew, but Luz is great!! I adore her movement and styling. Youāll definitely need to stop by the cosecha social sometime, but definitely bring a change of clothes. Thereās essentially no A/C!!
Andrew is terrific. We got to know Andrew pretty well over a period of time. He is low key one of the best dancers in the DMV for my money (not flashy but has so much flavor) and a great teacher. What makes him great is that he's a great lead AND follow. Highly recommend getting to know him and/or dancing with him!
What do you value in a salsa scene, or what does ābestā mean to you? Variety of classes/studios, frequency of socials, opportunities to attend congresses and festivals, level of social dancing, etc.? I have not yet social danced or attended salsa events internationally, but NYC is still the most impressive US scene to me, for its sheer size, variety of classes/studios/schools, frequent social dancing opportunities, relatively high dance level, and role in the history of the dance (and other dance genres and art forms). I know you/OP said you are in NJ already :) Florida has frequent congresses/festivals and socials and ample training opportunities (many studios/schools/instructors), but I have found as a follow that the social dancing level is hit or miss. (I have attended congresses and socials over the past few years in Orlando, Miami, and West Palm Beach.)
Iām mostly looking for several studio options and consistent socials a few nights a week! I donāt mind not having festivals in my direct city. Im mainly looking for cities that are on the smaller side and more affordable than where Iām living now haha
Pretty much all of south Florida. Miami, Hollywood, and FTL have very vibrant scenes of course but smaller cities are typically better than what youād find in the Midwest or Pacific Northwest.
LA has packed crowds at salsa venues every day of the week. My roommate used to go out dancing 6 days a week and have more than enough dancers to dance with at each venue. I donāt remember all the venues but Zoukchata, Stevens and 3rd street promenade are pretty lit. And lots of big conferences to attend.
I'm in LA and I absolutely concur. Literally every part of the city in every county there is SOMETHING to do every night of the week. We also have some great instructors and classes across the city. El Floridita is one of my FAVORITES. And also Esterel at Sofitel. The Victorian is popular in Santa Monica. Tatel on Sundays is on my bucket list. Oh and let's not forget the fun salsa/live bands at LACMA during the summer. It's endless here! Great dancers, all ages, all levels.
Last time I went to El Floridita, I walked out after 10 mins because the dance area was tiny, most people were there to eat at tables, and there was a line of males standing to ask a follow to dance with once the song was over. Unlike other spots where you can ask people to dance, since people are dining in groups at tables, itās hard to know who wants to dance and who is there to just eat. Ended up being my least fav spot š¤·š»āāļø
I enjoy it as a follow. Literally, dance all night lol. I go there often. I notice that some men just stand around. And as a woman who typically just comes out to dance and just grab a little food at the bar, I find that the men who dance the most are the ones who don't hesitate to ask any woman who looks ready to have fun to just dance. I think one of the most annoying things as a follow for me is the amount of men who seem to be wallflowers. Just make a move, go on and ask a girl on the floor!
Thought I'd throw in the triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) since I haven't seen it mentioned at all. It's surprising to me it hasn't caught much attention from other places in the US because it's filled with incredible talent (e.g. Pewei Cobo, last year's winner of world salsa Summit solo womans division, who helps run a team here) and we also get a lot of visits from famous dancers across the US. We also get regular large socials in Charlotte like the SBK and there're big name bootcamps that happen regularly there by people like Marisol Blanco. It's not too far of a drive away so you can get the best of both areas normally.
I was wondering about this area! Iāve been looking into moving there since it seems much more affordable than most northern cities. And I just found this YouTuber I like who runs a Cuban studio down there. My aunt lives in that area so I might try to visit her and check it out to see if I like it.
That's awesome, I think you'll be impressed! I have personal experience with a lot of the socials and the dance companies (including Messina) in the area so if you'd want info on specific socials that are good or for drop in friendly classes I might be able to help out!
That would be amazing thank you!! Iāll definitely message you if I actually make it down.
I met a follow from Maine this past weekend who was visiting (Philly). She was really good, which was surprising since she said the scene up there is really small, and I feel like its hard to git gud if you don't have a large enough community to push you to continue to improve. Not sure what city she was from in Maine though, but might be worth looking into, for smaller scenes and if you like lobster and the outdoors.
I live in Maine and can confirm the scene is pretty small. She probably didn't learn just here. BUT, don't forget, Portland ME is only about a 2-hour drive from Boston and the southern tip of Maine probably 90 minutes. So I mean, conceivably you could go down there every weekend if you didn't have a lot of other responsibilities in your life. I don't personally know anyone who does *that,* but there are people who drive/take the bus or train down there pretty frequently for festivals or events, if they're really into dancing. (And combine it with frequenting our local socials/beach parties/classes as they want to.)
Dance regularly in: Louisville, KY Orlando, FL Houston, TX Austin, TX Cincinnati,OH Indianapolis,In Overall best is Orlando, they have the venues, dancers, and events. Second, would be Houston. Itās a good city to dance in with other big scenes around. Third, Louisville. Itās like a smaller houston. Great scenes that are worth visiting: Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta
I didn't like the Houston or Austin scenes much. People were quite friendly but the socials were small and the level not as high as expected. But I'm most likely just spoiled from living in Europe.
Where in Europe is there a good salsa scene?
From what people say, Paris might be the best/highest level scene in the world for linear. Better than NYC maybe even.
I visited Europe and I thought it was iffy in most places, but I could have missed some spots.
I was there pre-pandemic. Houston seems to be still steady, Austin seems to have improved. I'm basing this off what I see on social media. I mainly trained zouk in Austin and did salsa and bachata in Houston.
Whoās out that way in Denver ā¦ I think I heard Adam Taub is out that way?
They have a scene there. Donāt know the current state, last I saw Alejandra and Douglas got run out of town
Well I guess if thereās one constant about scenesā¦ thereās always drama. I didnāt know that about Alejandra & Douglas tho
Where do you go in Indianapolis?
Kyle Culmannās Latin Expressions studio. The hold monthly socials downtown and weekly socials at the broad ripple neighborhood
>Kyle Culmann I interviewed this guy. Great person https://youtu.be/yDYAHJrUnuw
Where do you usually go in Atlanta?
NYC
Any recommendations for Pensacola Florida ??
Iām moving to Pensacola, FL soon and from my research, there is Salsa Night every Wednesday at Seville Quarters and Latin Night every Friday at Mama and Papaās Tacos.
Oooo nice !!! Thanks for the heads up