Spicin' it up, salsa style

Fresno State's salsa club gains popularity, mirrors growing trend in Fresno dance scene

By Cindy Gonzales

She turns away from him, he pulls her back, beads of sweat form on her forehead and she grabs his arms.

“Nice! There it is! Good! Good!” yells Belinda Lozano, president of Fresno State’s salsa club.

The Fresno State performance team is practicing its new salsa routine and Lozano, a senior criminology major, is watching their every move.

“Salsa dancing is big everywhere now,” said David Gutierrez, a senior geomatic engineering major and vice president of the club.

There are two nightclubs in Fresno that recently began to feature salsa dancing.

On Tuesday nights, King Tut’s, near the airport offers salsa dancing from 9 p.m. to midnight. On Thursday nights, The Starline in the Tower District has lessons for all salsa dancers 18 years and older for salsa night.

“I love teaching people how to salsa dance,” Lozano said.

Lozano began dancing ballet and tap then turned to salsa dancing when she received free lessons for participating in a salsa performance showcase team.

Lozano said there are two types of salsa dancing: on-one and on-two. Both have basic salsa steps but begin on different counts of time.

She said salsa dancing has Afro-Cuban roots and is called “mambo” on the East Coast and “salsa” on the West Coast, but each style is very similar.

“Everyone uses the basic techniques,” Lozano said. “They just add their own style to salsa dancing.”

Lozano said there were more than 60 members in the salsa club last year, and they anticipate more members this year. She said they welcome anyone interested in salsa dancing.

Fresno State’s salsa club performance team uses the on-one style of dance.

Sophomore Gloria Rubio has been salsa dancing since March of last year and is a team performance dancer.

She said she teaches her friends and co-workers to salsa dance whenever she gets a chance.
“I practice by myself in my mirror at home, or with my co-workers at work,” Rubio said.

Every Friday the performance team offers salsa lessons for $3 a session or $18 a semester.

Members also receive a membership card that offers a discounted entrance fee to The Starline for salsa night.

Lozano said all dance styles, including hip-hop, Polynesian and modern dance, are personal styles people have developed after they have learned certain steps, adding that salsa is no different from other styles in that you have to learn the more basic steps before you get to the more advanced styles.

The salsa performance team, made up of four couples from the general membership, teaches the other club members new dance routines.

“It doesn’t matter if you have never danced; we’ll teach you all the steps,” Lozano said.

The performance team also dances at events throughout the school year. Performance team members practice three to four nights a week for two hours each session.

“Salsa dancing is a part of my life now,” Rubio said. “It’s a part of me. I need to dance.”

Learning to dance the basic steps, Lozano said, makes beginners realize they can learn the more difficult steps.

She said most beginners will become “hooked” and will want to be better dancers than they had ever thought they could be.

The salsa club meets Fridays in the Peter’s Building, Rooms 11 and 13 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“Dancing isn’t hard, it’s challenging to learn something new,” Rubio said.

Rubio, who will be teaching new members, said salsa dancing is a way for her to relate to her heritage.

She said when she listens to the music, she gets wrapped up in the moment and forgets everything around her.

“Salsa dancing is so sensual and innocent,” Rubio said. “I just lose myself.”