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Was wondering if anyone can share there own thoughts on the Latin Dance Scene, from social events, festivals, classes in and around Toronto and GTA.
I have found a number of places in Toronto and a few in Mississauga and a couple of festivals.
Any recommendations for group classes. I like Cuban Salsa, Bachate, Zouk, Kizomba and Samba de Gafieira. The latter from what I can see is non existent in Toronto, but surprisingly big in Montreal.
Are girls approachable to ask for dances, or stand offish?
Do people still venture out during the winters for classes and social nights?
Lulu lounge and Babaluu. There are others too. On certain nights they have classes and then it turns in to night club scene. Not sure about the asking girls to dance question. There are many Latin events in Totonto. Just type Latin events Toronto in a Google search and you should pull up several websites dedicated to this. There are regular events in Toronto and I have noticed many in the GTA west ex Mississauga and Brampton.
Thanks, klmrocks. Already done the searching, and found numerous classes and social events. Just looking for peoples feedback on good classes to attend and good social events. I do like the look of a Cuban Salsa Class based in the Yonge area near UofT. Seen a lot of you tube videos they have posted and the teacher is Cuban. I also found a class in the South Missisauga area. Toronto appears to be very LA Salsa based and only recently Zouk and Kizomba are taking off.
As I am based in Melbourne, it is a small but varied scene and approaching girls to ask to dance is very easy. After reading the numerous posts about just trying to approach and date women in Toronto, which appears to be a minefield for guys. Still not sure if this is because Toronto guys are muppets and cannot string a conversation together or just Toronto woman have odd standards!
Festivals seem to be low, but with easy access to the US and Cuba, this is really not that big of a deal.
We have lots of Latin and other type of festivals in Toronto. There is no lack of thing to do. What I do find however at lot of people just do not make the effort or have interested in going to them at least from the people posting on this forum.
Every street festival in this city (which happens from June to Sept sometimes multiple places on the same day) usually has some latin entertainment even if it is not a latin festival. There is stuff going on at Nathan Phillips Squate, Mel Lastman Sqaure, Harbour Front Centre, LuLa Lounge, Dundas Square and on and on.
In this city people also post notices about a lot of events on walls downtown. I have found out about of latin or other ethnic events in Toronto just by posters placed outside locale businesses.
During the year there are many many dance related events hosted by dj or entertainment companies throught the GTA that are latin dance focused.
There are schools that focus on latin dance all of the GTA. I see one every where I turn. Also a lot of Brazilian events. I would certainly say Toronto still more stuck on Salsa then other types of latin dance, but I am sure there is an outlet for everything as school offer other classes that teach other type of latin dance.
So if people tell you there is not much going on in this city regarding latin events or other events sorry I would be happy to challenge them on that as they just do not know what they are talking about.
I am more interested in festivals and concerts, but see ads for this other stuff all the time.
Re the women and asking them to dance I not a man so I cannot be certain about this, but I really do not know a lot of men that are smart enough to go to a dance class to meet women. I would highly doubt that a women trying to learn how to dance if going to turn down an offer to have a partner to practice. I general most of those classes appear to have more females then straight males. So you might actually have a line up.
Once again Toronto never fails to have just about everything ...
stevey_m if you are looking for Cuban Salsa, Bachate, Zouk, Kizomba and Samba de Gafieira dance classes try this place, but I am 100% certain you can find these classes throughout the greater Toronto area.
Lulu lounge and Babaluu. There are others too. On certain nights they have classes and then it turns in to night club scene. Not sure about the asking girls to dance question. There are many Latin events in Totonto. Just type Latin events Toronto in a Google search and you should pull up several websites dedicated to this. There are regular events in Toronto and I have noticed many in the GTA west ex Mississauga and Brampton.
Wasn't Babaluu closed some time last year? Is it re-opened ?
Wasn't Babaluu closed some time last year? Is it re-opened ?
I am not a fan of just about anything in yorkville, with the exception of
Pusateri's Fine Foods and Paramount Restaurant which both have better locations in other parts of the city so I only walk past the area unless I have a specific reason
LOL ... I just had to post this last review of this club... Too funny!!! (Even more funny to me because I know guys that use to go their a lot :P lol).
If you are a woman looking to go out for a fun night of dancing, i'm not sure if babalu will suit your needs. I went with my girlfriend for a fun night out. I'm a very attractive 40 yr old woman and was dressed in a very classy dress and had a great attitude to just get on the dance floor and dance but i soon realized that babalu is about women standing on the sidelines, not putting themselves out there having a good time. The dance floor is exclusively couples, which, of course salsa is a dance for a man and a woman, i understand that. However, why can't a single woman feel comfortable dancing in a club like that? I soon felt totally out of place as i was portraying this confident personae that just didn't work there, plus i never got asked to dance anyways. You have to wait on the sidelines as if you are at a high school prom, and wait for a machismo latino to ask you to dance. Pathetic. I found it very un-exciting, uncomfortable, staged, and demeaning. Plus, the men all looked quite slimy....And not very attractive, seriously! Lots of beautiful woman though
(you surprised? Welcome to toronto
Anyways ladies, my impression is that this is a male dominated and very machismo atmosphere. I guess i should have had the balls and asked some shy latino men to dance lol!!! Good luck and i hope you have more fun than i did
Once again Toronto never fails to have just about everything ...
stevey_m if you are looking for Cuban Salsa, Bachate, Zouk, Kizomba and Samba de Gafieira dance classes try this place, but I am 100% certain you can find these classes throughout the greater Toronto area.
Thanks again KLM, I did find this place a while ago and emailed them. Unfortunately they do not do Gafieira classes, this style appears to not taken off in Toronto, only in Montreal could I find any classes.
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