How, why and when did you get into salsa?
Deej: It was almost by chance I attended my first class. I saw an advert in the local paper and thought I’d give it a go. I didn’t really know what salsa dancing was at the time but I enjoyed it and someone there told me about another local class so I went to that too. This one was run by Nicolai Vigneswarren but the beginners’ lesson was taught by a lady called Caroline Hanson. After watching her bum wiggling in the warm-up I was hooked. I spent about two months doing classes twice a week but not actually doing any dancing outside of the classes. When I started to realise there was more to it than this, and that ladies love a guy that can dance, I made it my mission to learn, and to learn well. Consequently I sought out all the salsa I could find and for several months was out dancing four, five or six nights a week.
Trisha: I’d been looking for an alternative to the nightclub scene and a friend of mine attended a class and told me about it. One lesson and I was hooked.
Who first taught you to dance salsa?
Deej: I went to loads of classes with loads of teachers – wherever I could find salsa – but I’d say the person with the most influence early on was almost certainly Tony Piper of Salsa York. Tony was the first person I came across that explained the concept of leading and following in any detail. Taking this on board, at other classes where teachers would be more intent on demonstrating moves than teaching how to lead or follow them, I was often the annoying bloke who asked “How do you actually lead that?”
Trisha: Tony and Mary Piper at Salsa York.
Did you have any dance training prior to salsa?
Deej: I did a few months Latin and Ballroom when I was about 11 years old, and the obligatory Greek dance whilst on holiday in Corfu. I’m not sure that either really counts.
Trisha: I did Ballroom and Latin American dance from the age of seven until I was fourteen when boys who’d been creeping up my list of priorities, took over.
Tell me a little about Strictly Salsa. When, why and how was it set up?
Deej: Back in Summer 2004 I was teaching regularly with Caroline and we were asked to cover a class for another local teacher. Caroline couldn’t make it on the evening concerned so Trisha, who I’d been seeing for about a year, joined me instead. The teacher concerned was running an eight week course and then emigrating to Argentina, but his students wanted to continue after he’d gone so we looked into the possibility of taking over the class. We decided from the beginning we wanted to try and take the best methodologies from all the different classes and club nights we’d attended, and make every effort to be the best we could. We took (and still take) great pains to provide a friendly social environment where people can enjoy themselves freely whilst learning sound dance technique.
Did you two meet through salsa?
Deej: Yes - I’d been dancing about four months when I first met Trisha at a Salsa York club night. It was her second week. One dance with me and she was mine forever, though Trisha might tell it differently. I was actually dating someone else at the time but it didn’t last and over the next five months Trisha and I flirted on and off the dance floor before eventually, she demanded to know if it was just a salsa flirtation thing or I if actually liked her. I liked her. A lot.
Trisha: Deej toyed with my affections for those five months though really I knew he’d fallen in love with me at first sight.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Deej: Nicolai Vigneswarren, for his style, and for his encouragement and support when I first started teaching. Patrick Mussendijk and Lee Hunter are also names that spring to mind for their dancing and teaching respectively, but truly my best inspiration is from our students. Their eagerness, hunger, successes and failures all drive us to wanting to do the very best we can for them.
Trisha: Difficult one; I’m inspired by all dance performance – just watching dance of any sort makes me want to dance. I was watching “Step Up” last night and wanted to get up and start doing the splits and stuff, though as I’m currently 8½ months pregnant it’s not really practical at the moment.
Who do you admire?
Deej: Whilst there are many I look up to in the salsa world, I most admire the dancers to whom salsa doesn’t come naturally, but who stick at it and improve bit by bit through sheer grit and determination.
Trisha: Susanna Montero – she has such a relaxed style but with great technical skill and a warm engaging personality.
What’s your favourite track at the moment?
Deej: Hmmm - possibly Sting’s “Fragilidad” from the Rhythms Del Mundo (Cuba) album. It’s beautifully flowing and sensual but has loads of scope for playing with the rhythm to add in syncopations etc. to mix some light and shade into the dance. Gotta have the right partner to make the best of it, though.
Trisha: I’m with Deej on this. Sting’s Fragilidad is a beautiful piece of music.
What are your all time favourite tracks?
Deej: Merecumbe (Los Titanes version), Montuno Street, Salsa Rica, Ran Kan Kan, and Christina Aguilera’s “Infatuation” – not strictly salsa I know, but a beautiful song to dance too.
Trisha: Thinking of You,by Lenny Kravitz. Very cheesy but it’s got special memories for me.
What are your favourite albums?
Deej: I tend to pick and choose tracks from here and there rather than home in on any particular album, though recently I’ve been listening to the “Bar Salsa” compilation album quite a lot. And the “Dirty Dancing 2” soundtrack album is well funky, though again, not strictly salsa.
Trisha: I’m not particularly knowledgeable on the music side, but the Rhythms Del Mundo (Cuba) album has made salsa music so much more accessible for beginners and non-hard-core salsa dancers. It’s a fabulous introduction to salsa for the non initiated.
What was the last CD you bought?
Deej: Gotan Project ‘Lunatico’ – Okay, I admit it; I dance Argentine Tango as well as salsa.
Trisha: Leona Lewis ‘Spirit’. Not strictly salsa. Okay, not salsa at all but I do have other interests.
What music is in your car/cd player/tape player at the moment?
Deej: Today it’s actually a non-salsa compilation I put together myself, though yesterday there was a Salsa Fever compilation in there. It tends to be salsa most of the time. Either stuff I know I like or music I’m checking out with regard to using in classes or selling to students.
Who are your favourite artists?
Deej: Like I said, I tend to pick and choose tracks from loads of different artists. There have been occasions when I’ve found a track I think is great and hunted down an album by the artist concerned, only to be disappointed.
If you were not a successful Teacher, what would you be doing instead? Or if you also have a full-time job, what do you do?
Deej: I’ve currently got a day job working for a software provider, implementing computer systems. I’d much rather be dancing full time.
Trisha: I’m an extraordinarily hard working domestic technician, taking care of our two year old boy, Luca. With his brother on the way in about a week’s time, I suspect I’m going to be working even harder.
Tell me something most people wouldn’t know about you?
Deej: I used to play bass guitar in a swing band. The music was all written arrangements, but I used to have to improvise most of the time as I couldn’t sight read music fast enough to keep up with the rest of the band, most of whom could actually play their instruments properly. Fortunately no-one seemed to mind.
Trisha: I was a London based theatrical costumier in the late eighties and I made (amongst other things) Anneka Rice’s jumpsuits for the Treasure Hunt and Challenge Anneka TV shows.
What’s your all time favourite salsa club/event that you have played/taught/danced?
Deej: Eagle Activity Tours’ salsa holidays are brilliant. I did six of them over the course of three years and would still be going twice a year if we could afford it. Sadly we can’t, but we’re secretly hoping Michael and Lindsey might ask us to teach for them one day. Hmmm, I guess that’s not so secret anymore, now.
Trisha: Bar Med in Leeds (no longer used) will always hold memories for me. It was my first exposure to the bigger salsa scene and I was transfixed by teachers Nicolai and Helena.
What has been your most memorable moment?
Deej: It’s a tie between winning the 12th Night Award this year, and reading an email from Lee Hunter asking if I was interested in teaching at one of his (now discontinued) Asterdale nights. Following in the footsteps of names like Susanna Montero, Leon Rose, and Robert Charlemagne, I felt like I’d really hit the big time! This opened a couple of doors for me teaching wise, and throughout last year the guest teaching really started to take off. If it continues, maybe one day I’ll be able to give up the day job!
Trisha: Receiving the 12th Night Award in front of our own students and friends. This meant so much to us as the award was voted for by our dancers, who apparently feel we’re getting it right.
Have you had any embarrassing/nightmare-ish moments in salsa?
Deej: Yes. Just a couple of months ago I had a serious wardrobe malfunction at a social where mid-dance my trousers split from the bottom of the fly to half way down my inner thigh. With two hours dance time left I didn’t want to throw in the towel just yet so I just ignored it and carried on dancing the night away. I’ve no idea how many people actually noticed.
Trisha: I had a couple of occasions where my boobs have fallen out of my tops before I started buying clothes with salsa in mind. These days I tend to be rather more astute about what I wear.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Deej: A few “thank you” mentions, if I may…
Particular thanks to Nicolai for getting me into teaching salsa in the first place and his encouragement and support since.
Thanks to all the promoters who book us for guest teaching spots and give us a chance to shine outside of the comfort of own club nights.
Massive thanks to our brilliant “staff” Phil and Kate Moores who are an invaluable help on our club nights, and to our lovely Sarah Saynor who helps me out teaching guest bookings when Trisha can’t make it.
Most of all though, thanks to our students whose continued faith is us is sometimes frightening.
www.strictlysalsa.co.uk
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