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Warren Eaton leads salsa dance lessons at The Habitat during the summer. (Photo contributed)
By Holly Miyasaki
You’ve seen it on TV and now you can learn Latin dance moves in a fun and relaxed environment.
The Habitat hosts Twisted Saturday Salsa Lessons several weekends this summer with dance instructor Warren Eaton.
Eaton, owner of Latinesque Ballroom and Latin Dance Studio, says the city lacks opportunities for ballroom and Latin dance.
“We don’t have an overabundance of cultures here,” he says, adding the evenings are a chance for locals to be exposed to the Latin dance and music.
The class Eaton hosts is called Fresh Off the Couch, so almost anyone can learn basic steps within 30 minutes.
“When people come out we start the night with a salsa lesson for them,” he explains. “Throughout the evening we’ve got the music on … because it’s The Habitat and they’re a restaurant and are licensed, they can come and have a drink and watch.”
Eaton encourages men to take part in the dance style — it really gets the ladies.
“It’s a girl magnet,” he says. “Where girls are, guys are not usually far behind, if we can make them more comfortable while they’re here.”
Actually, it’s the women that swayed the dance instructor to get involved. A construction worker at the time, he saw an ad in the newspaper looking for dance teachers, no experience needed, and he decided to check it out.
“When I looked in the class and saw there was 12 women and one guy, I thought this is pretty good,” he recalls. “Guys need to get it through their head that women would dance.”
Eaton’s was trained to be a dance instructor in Edmonton and taught there for six years. He then moved to England where he danced competitively and received certification for teaching.
It wasn’t until his family moved to the Okanagan that he discovered there was a market for dance instruction.
Twisted Saturday Salsa at The Habitat happens tonight at 8 p.m. and runs until midnight. The lesson is $5.
It also happens on July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15 and Aug. 29.
Tags: salsa dance, The Habitat, Warren Eaton
