Transform the experience in your accommodation 🏠 Be a Hall Community Officer Sign Up Now

Join now

Welcome to UCL Salsa Society 2024/25!

Salsa Society aims to bring people together through a love for all the different flavours of Latin music and dance. All levels of dancers are welcome, from complete beginners to advanced! No dance shoes, special equipment, or partner is required. 

General Information

We offer weekly classes, workshops, lots of trips to London Latin clubs for social dancing, and the opportunity to join our performance teams. We also attend several salsa festivals around the UK and Europe every year.

  • Weekly crossbody, Cuban salsa and bachata classes run by professional teachers catering to different levels, from beginner to advanced.
  • Regular workshops in other Latin dance styles such as reggaeton, Cali salsa and cha cha.
  • Chance to audition for our performance teams and perform at dance congresses across the UK (and maybe even Europe). Previously, we have attended DCL Latin Dance Fest in Birmingham, Liverpool Latin Festival, Reading Inter-University Competition, Paris International Salsa Congress, and the Croatian Summer Salsa Festival in Rovinj.
  • Regular socials at university or Latin clubs around London so it’s a great opportunity to meet new people and practice your moves!
  • Salsa Society Outreach volunteering programme, teaching salsa to kids and older adults.
Committee By-Elections!

Nominations for the Club & Society Term 1 By-Election are now open!

From this year, only non-taster UCL student members are able to stand and/or vote in elections. You will also not be able to stand or vote in our election unless you have held paid membership of UCL Salsa Society for 28 days (see below the timeline for rules and exceptions). If you are interested in running for election, please purchase your UCL Salsa standard membership (£3) as soon as possible.

We have 4 committee positions available (see the attachment for more information):

The timeline for the election is:

  • Nominations open: 12:00pm (Midday), Wednesday 30 October
  • Nominations close: 12:00pm (Midday), Wednesday 13 November
  • Voting opens: 12:00pm (Midday), Monday 18 November
  • Voting closes: 12:00pm (Midday), Friday 22 November

Please email us a copy of your nomination to [email protected].

We will hold Hustings for nominated members to speak to the society on Wednesday 20 November. Keep a look out for more communications about this.

Please refer to the Club and Society Election webpage for further information, including the Club and Society Election Rules. If you have any elections complaints, they must be submitted through our Club and Society Elections Complaint form no later than 1:00pm on Friday 22 November. Anything submitted after this deadline cannot be reviewed.

If you would like to stand for election but have not been a member of UCL Salsa Society for 28 days, you can submit a request for an exception via the 28 Day Exception Request webform.

  • You must hold a paid membership before requesting an exception - the SU will check!
  • All exception requests must be received no later than the close of nominations (Midday, 13 November).
  • Exception requests via email are NOT accepted. They must be submitted via the webform.
Classes Info + Weekly Timetable

Classes have returned once more!

Regular (paid) classes are available to book by scrolling to the end of the page! To join you will need:

  1. Standard Membership (£3)
  2. Whole Term Class Pass (£25 per term for unlimited access to our classes)
    OR

    One-Off Class Ticket (£4 per 1 hour of class)

  3. "Book a ticket" to secure your place in advance in the class you want to attend.
  • Arrive 10 minutes early, so we have plenty of time for registration

    OR

  • Cancel your booking by 5pm on the day of the class if you are not going to attend.

Classes will take place Tuesday to Thursday 6-9pm, in the order of bachata, Cuban salsa, crossbody salsa. We hold different levels of classes (beginners, improvers, intermediates) and each level is 1h long.

This year, at the end of each term we are going to hold bridging classes (1.5h beginners to improvers and 1.5h improvers to intermediates) to give you a better idea of what moves you need to be comfortable with prior to advancing to the next level. If you feel you are ready to move up prior to these sessions, or vice versa if you'd like to stay in your current level longer, that is absolutely fine. If you'd like some more guidance, feel free to speak to our lovely instructors after class 🙂.

Workshops

This year we aim to have weekly workshops on different Latin styles and salsa history. To attend a workshop you just need our Standard Membership (£3 for the academic year).

Socials

Social dancing can be intimidating at the beginning, so we have planned an introduction to social dancing session with the committee to go through good social dancing technique, to make sure everyone feels comfortable, and to give you a chance to practise in a UCL campus setting. We have already held 2 of these sessions and will have more during the year!

We have partnerships with multiple Latin dance events happening around London, providing discounted classes and socials - get your Standard Membership (£3 for the academic year) for access to the discounts.

During classes this week we will be handing out UCL Salsa Society stickers (to standard members). Please keep them on the back of your student ID as you may be asked to show them for access to external socials.

See the "Events!" tab below for info about the Boat Party this Friday 15 November!

Teams + Audition Sign-ups!

Auditions for the Bachata Team and Salsa Team were held in the last two weeks of October. Final team selection will be communicated by Wednesday 6th November for both teams.

The Ladies’ Styling Team will be our 3rd competitive team this year, with auditions to be held on Wednesday 13th November, 6-8pm. Sign-up here!

At the end of this term we will share more info about our Rueda Performance Team (doesn’t compete), which will start in Term 2.

Volunteering

Last year the Salsa Society Outreach project began, where we trained interested volunteers to teach salsa. We partnered with AgeUK and brought the joy of salsa to a truly lovely group of elderly.

This year we are looking to expand our volunteering opportunities to other groups as well. A sign-up form will be sent out with more information about the project within the next 2 weeks.

Events!

Rhythm is back!

Join us for our inter-university salsa and bachata Boat Party, RHYTHM 2024, on Friday 15th November. You can book here, once sold out there will be no more tickets available!

How do I join UCL Salsa?

To join any of our activities, please buy Standard Membership (£3) which includes access to our workshops, socials and social dance events. Classes are offered on a termly basis by purchasing a Term Pass (£25) that includes ALL our weekly classes (4-6 hours of Salsa and 2-3 hours of Bachata) so you can attend as many sessions as you like! You can also try our classes by purchasing a One-Off Class Ticket (£4).

For more information, check out our FAQ, website and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

UCL Salsa Society has signed the Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment Pledge.

Events

Bachata Beginners
12/11/2024 | 18:00 - 19:00
Bachata Beginners
12/11/2024 | 19:00 - 20:00
Bachata Improvers
12/11/2024 | 20:00 - 21:00
Ladies' Styling Team Auditions!
13/11/2024 | 18:00 - 20:00
Cuban Salsa Beginners
13/11/2024 | 18:00 - 19:00
Cuban Salsa Improvers
13/11/2024 | 19:00 - 20:00
Cuban Salsa Intermediates
13/11/2024 | 20:00 - 21:00
Crossbody Salsa Beginners
14/11/2024 | 18:00 - 19:00
Crossbody Salsa Improvers
14/11/2024 | 19:00 - 20:00
Crossbody Salsa Intermediates
14/11/2024 | 20:00 - 21:00
🎆 RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT - UCL SALSA BOAT PARTY 🎆
15/11/2024 | 18:30 - 23:00