2Guangzhou

Alberto's Miami salsa dance group, which had been without a permanent location for its first two years, recently acquired a dance center near Garden Hotel. Alberto expects an explosion in Latin dance in Guangzhou, seeing the next ten to fifteen years as instrumental. “Guangzhou is embracing new things,” says Alberto. “Dance culture is one of them.” Alberto also sees this city's nearness to Hong Kong as an advantage in laying the groundwork for the upcoming years. Hong Kong has Latin dance every night, and many top level teachers. Going back and forth between the cities to show up at each other's dance festivals, or to host visiting teachers, takes only a couple of hours.
Miami Salsa attracts a wide range of age groups, from young men and women to middle-aged professionals. Although we usually think salsa is much more popular among Westerners, the ration of foreign students to Chinese is only about sixty-forty. Alberto's teaching style varies depending on whom he is teaching. For men, he says, “I try to develop a confidence level...it is hard for a lot of men to approach a woman and ask for a dance.” He also finds overcoming shyness a part of the process in teaching women. “Expressing themselves does not come naturally for most Chinese women. I show them how to express themselves on the dance floor.” Beyond overcoming his students’ innate shyness, Alberto focuses his lessons and dance nights on simply having fun.