Borders Down with Salsa!

Walls, borders, barriers, barricades, frontiers… The whole world seems to become more and more obsessed with exclusion, division, anti-immigration, starting with Brexit and finishing with Mr. President of the United States and his infamous wall between US and Mexico.

I’m sorry… I know we are all sick of politics. The point that I wanted to make with such a grim introduction is that Stirling University Cultural Arts Exchange Society is praising completely the opposite – borders down! By teaching each other about other countries, cultures and traditions, members of the society are opening their minds to bigger and better things… for example SALSA!

After weeks of learning salsa and bachata steps in a tiny classroom, members have decided that it’s time to go out there and show the world what they’ve learned so far. So on the 3^rd of November they went to the Salsa Sin Fronteras (for those whose Spanish is limited to “una cerveza, por favor” that means “Salsa without borders”). This social event is organised every Thursday in a bar called Arta in Glasgow and it’s the 5^th time the society went to show their moves since the start in 2015.

Salsa is a social dance – you can’t dance it alone. Therefore, the night is all about socialising and having fun. There are no teachers and no judges, everyone is there to enjoy it and meet new people from different cultures and backgrounds. And it doesn’t matter if you come in groups, couples or alone, if you’re a pro or a complete newbie, if you’re from Mexico or USA – you will end up dancing with many different people.

And no, no one is expecting you to be a professional dancer. Even if all you know are basic steps, at this event you have a great opportunity to improve. The founder of the society Papoula Romao commented on the importance of the night:

Dancing salsa is about adapting to the unknown and people will find themselves dancing with new people and being able to do a move they’ve never done in class, just by trying it.

This was the first Glasgow salsa night this year, however, the society is planning a few more trips to Salsa Sin Fronteras and they’re expecting more people to join later in the year, when everyone becomes a little bit more confident.

If you’re interested in joining the society, learning salsa and dancing with no barriers you can get more information by emailing the president Nikolas or asking to join their group on Facebook!

Be open, relax, dance and let’s put those borders down!