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.

Committee By-Elections! (updated)

Voting for the Club & Society Term 1 By-Election is now open!

• Voting opens: 12:00pm (Midday), Monday 18 November
• Voting closes: 12:00pm (Midday), Friday 22 November

From this year, only non-taster UCL student members are able to vote in elections. You will also not be able to vote in our election unless you have held paid membership of UCL Salsa Society for 28 days.

We have 4 committee positions available:

• Social Secretary
• Performance Coordinator
• Communications Officer (x2)

We will hold Hustings for nominated members to speak to the society on Wednesday 20 November see more info here.

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.

Classes Info + Weekly Timetable (updated)

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 (new!)

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!

This week only Standard Membership is needed to join the class, you can secure your spot here.

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

Workshops (updated)

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).

We are registering instructors for workshops! Please bear with us ❤️

Socials (updated)

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.

Join us at Bachata Flow on Monday 18 November. See the WhatsApp group chat for discount info. 

Vibes social on Tuesday 19 November after bachata classes @ Phineas or Institute Bar.

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

Volunteering (updated)

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. 

Sign-up form will be sent out tomorrow (Monday 18 Nov)!

Events! (updated)

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at the Boat Party! Hope you enjoyed it 😊

🎄End-of-Term Ball?... Maybe keep the 7th December free 😉 [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.