IntoSalsa, Indianapolis

IntoSalsa’s Latin performances have graced Governor Mitch Daniels’ inauguration ball and won accolades from Nuvo, and its dance classes have honed thousands of students’ senses of rhythm. Weekly classes stratified by skill level guide dancers through Latin modalities such as traditional salsa and salsa rueda, a variation that requires frequent partner switches. Instructors also lead sessions in burlesque, belly dancing, and other sultry non-Latin performance arts. These kinesthetic learning experiences take place in the 1,500-square-foot studio, where sun from skylights and windows glints off the hardwood floor. Alternatively, weekly Latin and salsa nights at local nightclubs teach twirling and dipping choreography and feature informal lessons set to beats from IntoSalsa’s three-person DJ team.

IntoSalsa’s leadership, Yang Xiao and Erin Lamb, founded the dance haven a decade ago, and in the interim they have spearheaded the outfit’s philanthropic efforts, including raising more than $10,000 in disaster-relief funds and many a roof.