LC Meridian

Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Student Life

Media Credit: Osjua Newton

If you go to the Student Life building on a Wednesday afternoon, you'll notice the sounds of salsa and eager pupils learning dance steps. Salsa lessons have become a constant on campus and classes have maintained a degree of popularity of the years.

Nelson Flores has been giving free salsa lessons at Lehman College in the Student Life Building for two years. Classes are held every Wednesday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and are available to all Lehman students with a valid student ID.

Flores has been dancing as far back as he can remember, starting with the Luis Zegarra's dance company, Fuerza Latina, and has been competing in competitions since 1991. In 1993 he began teaching different dance techniques such as the mambo and salsa. Flores has been a part of several dance groups and has performed in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Puerto Rico, and throughout South America. He not only teaches classes at Lehman weekly, but he teaches and operates the "Time to Dance Academy" also in the Bronx.

Flores is said to have a very "Bronx street-hustle style of dancing with a Latin flavor."

"I feel that is part of the reason, students like coming to class so much, they style I teach fits this area very well," Flores said.

According to Flores, each semester usually begins with approximately 80 participants and decreases to about 40 to 50 participants per week as the semester progresses. The class begins each week with a review of what was learned in the weeks past and then moves on to new steps. The technique Flores teaches, which has become very popular in New York, is "Salsa Dancing on 2," which was started by Eddie Torres. This method starts and breaks on different beats than the traditional Salsa.

Flores feels that his classes have grown more popular because of television shows such as "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars" as well as by word of mouth. Students who come to the classes enjoy themselves and tell their friends.

"I started taking salsa lessons because I wanted to try something different," said Lori-Ann Bailey, who has been taking Salsa lessons for two semesters. "I like the classes, they have a little bit of everything."

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