These gigs at Rollerworld, Mansfield Road, Derby DE21 4AW are run by Lee Hunter of Absolute Salsa.They are held about once every 3 months or so, and are big events where all the stops are pulled out.Absolute Salsa used to also run smaller scale, monthly gigs on the months in-between Rollerworld, at The Asterdale Club, but unfortunately the Asterdale has now closed.
Entrance at 8pm for the classes is £12 or £10 in advance, and £8 after 9.30pm.Dancing carries on until 3am.The venue has plenty of free parking at the back of the building.
This venue is a dancer’s paradise – the dancefloor is not just HUGE, but perfect too.It reminded me a lot of Pontins ballrooms because of its size, and the arcade games and fast food bar also reminded me of Pontins.
There is also a separate bar area, which is more like going into a pub.Outside in the main room it’s dark and club-like, but in the ‘pub’ it’s bright and airy, which makes it a nice place to relax and cool off between dances.
The sound system really packed a punch, though at times it was a little too loud, especially if you were close to the speakers, and during the classes especially it was so loud that Moe’s voice was being distorted.
The night I went was the Summer Ball in June with DJ’s Mauricio Reyes, Dr. Salsa and Lubi on the decks.Guest Teachers were Moe Flex, and Brigitte and Franklyn.There were also shows by Moe Flex and Angelique, and Seraphim Dance Company.The shows were good and to keep the crowd entertained there were also a couple of line-ups led by Moe.
Despite the size of the main room and the height of the ceiling, it still got hot quite quickly, and after only a few dances we were already getting a bit uncomfortable.
This wasn’t the biggest problem here though – it was the bar.The actual ‘bar’ itself was small and even with three staff members, they struggled to cope with demand.It was very busy all night, with a long queue which stretched right out of the bar area.This was a real pain, and the only answer was to buy two drinks at a time, which really wasn’t ideal. To be fair though, the organisers did make an announcement to apologise for the problems at the bar, so hopefully they will be able to alleviate the problem next time.
There was a good mix of music played, and the fact that dancing goes on until 3am is a big plus.There was plenty of space on the dancefloor, so no foot injuries, which is always a bonus.
In general the dancing style seemed to be predominantly cross-body, so being a dancer of Cuban tendencies, I would have preferred more of a mix of styles.That said, I did still have some good dances.
As Derby is a fair way from home for me, I was able to catch up with some dancers that I don’t see so often, which is always nice.
For details of future events at Rollerworld, visit the Absolute Salsa website. www.absolutesalsa.co.uk
