Rhythms of the Core: Salsa Class Brings Dance and Community Together
When entering the halls of the third floor of the Core Performance Center (CPC) on the main campus of Santa Monica College (SMC) at around 12:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, it is full of dancers talking amongst one another, stretching, and getting ready for class.
It also had numerous dance studios, with signs that said no shows allowed inside. Most students wore the traditional leotard with dance shoes, but within this group, students were wearing more conventional workout clothes.
A few minutes later, Bernard Ceballos, a dance instructor at SMC who's been teaching for 15 years, let these students into a dance studio. Later, Laura Canellias, a fellow dance instructor who's been teaching at SMC for 25 years, joins Ceballos. They teach Dance 26A and 26B, Beginning and Intermediate Salsa Dance.
“This is our first semester to co-teach,” Canellias said. “I’ve been teaching (salsa) in LA for 40 years, but I’ve been dancing it longer than that. Probably over 50 years for me.”
Ceballos first got his start in dancing through ballroom in the mid-1980s. “Salsa is a part of my dance world,” Ceballos said. “I’m just now getting the opportunity to further it through Laura’s teachings.”
The class started with Ceballos leading students with stretching exercises. Then, afterwards, Canellias took over. Canellias played music, leading the students to do various salsa steps. The dance heels clicking on the wooden floor filled the room while the class did these movements.
Afterwards, students were instructed to pair up to learn a new combination. There was a noticeable difference in the number of females and males in the class, with some female students having to go solo and practice alone.
Canellias and Ceballos first reviewed the new combination and demonstrated how it goes. Then, they went step by step, explaining in detail everything they did. Some students opted first to watch, while others tried following along immediately.
Canellias played music again and counted for the students to start. Some people immediately had the movement down, while others were struggling. But the class was shown to be tight-knit, as those who had it down often helped and led others through the motions, frequently stopping and showing step by step what to do.
At this point, Canellias and Ceballos split off and went to partner up with students, seeing what the students needed help with and clarifying any confusion. To ensure that everyone gets a partner at some point and that an instructor reaches every student, Canellias called out for a rotation of partners very often.
Canellias wants to help spread the word about the class and encourages current students to tell their friends about it. “We’ll be co-teaching again in the fall,” Canellias said. She also shares this advice with students considering joining: “Just come and have fun. It’s a social dance. [It’s] more of a community, a culture, where we all dance together and celebrate life together. ”