Salsa Dancing Spices Up Thursday Nights
January 29, 2009 • By Gabriel Henriquez, The Breeze
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The Artful Dodger draws large crowds with inexpensive dance lessons
HARRISONBURG, Va.— Downtown’s eclectic coffeehouse and cocktail lounge, the Artful Dodger, spices up Thursday nights with its invigorating Salsa Nights. With the help of an in-house salsa instructor, a welcoming atmosphere and a lively beat, even a would-be wallflower is uprooted and called to the dance floor.
“I love dancing,” freshman Christiana Rueckert said. “I first started coming to the Dodger after I joined Latin Dance Club. They told me it was good practice. The first few times it was really embarrassing until I started getting better… It just gives me a sense of confidence that I didn’t have before. It gives me so much joy to dance.”
With a fully stocked bar, art on the wall and the opportunity to receive free salsa lessons by arriving before 9:00 p.m., it’s easy to understand why The Artful Dodger is a popular place to let loose.
“It gets pretty packed,” bouncer Janna Basye shouted over the music as she collects $5 at the door after 9:00 p.m. “We usually have 150 people; last week we reached maximum capacity by 11:30.”
Despite JMU’s girl-to-guy ratio, Harrisonburg has its share of male salsa dancers who can keep up with, twirl and dip their partners.
Junior Juan Carlos Ortega, a Latin Dance Club member who knows how to embellish beyond the traditional three-step, quick-quick-slow measure of salsa, said, “When I would teach girls how to dance salsa at the Dodger, they would always tell me I have the moves.”
Understandably, Salsa Night is developing a reputation on campus as something even underaged freshman, who are admitted into the lounge but not permitted to drink, can partake in.
“One of my friends goes there often and said it’s really cool,” freshman Ahmad Abdul Ali said. “I find it interesting to explore the Spanish culture. I’m really bad at dancing, so I think it would be a good experience to go there and learn how to dance.”
Contact Gabriel Henriquez at henri2gx@jmu.edu
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