Salsa Society

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.

Classes Info + Weekly Timetable

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 🙂.

UCL East Classes

We'll be at UCL East Marshgate on Tuesdays 6-7pm starting this week for all-level salsa classes with our very own, Alex Birrell!

For Term 1 only Standard Membership is needed to join the class, you can secure your spot here.

For Term 2, if you are only attending classes at UCL East, please buy the Whole Term Class Pass (East) here, OR if you are attending classes on both campuses, please get the Whole Term Class Pass here. You don't need both passes!

There more interest there is, there more sessions we will do! Bring a friend :)

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).

Great line-up of workshops coming in Term 2, including Men's Styling, Bachata, Cuban Salsa Partner-work, Samba, Reggaeton and more!

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.

Teams + Audition Sign-ups!

Auditions for the Bachata , Salsa and Ladies' Styling Teams are now over. Keep a look out for team performances and competitions!

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

Volunteering

Last year the Salsa Society Outreach project began, where we trained interested volunteers to teach salsa. We partnered with Age UK 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.

Events!

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at the Boat Party, and to those who joined us at the Winter Ball! Hope you enjoyed it 😊

We'll be back on Friday 17 January with our New Year's Party at Mully's! More info coming soon.

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.