Dancing is the second-best way to let the body do the talking, just short of being born with a mouth in your bellybutton. Speak from the feet with today’s Groupon to Hot Salsa Hawaii, with locations in Aiea and Honolulu. Choose between the following options:
- For $39, you get 10 Latin dance classes (an $80 value).
- For $79, you get 20 Latin dance classes (a $160 value).
At Hot Salsa Hawaii, Greg “The Salsaman” Henry and a team of instructors teach the steps and movements of salsa, merengue, and bachata dance styles. With a 10- or 20-class pass, students can attend any of the studio’s daily group classes while satiating the hole punch’s bottomless appetite for card stock. Beginner sessions hone in on the fab 5 dance moves, familiarizing students with salsa foundations such as the basic step, outside turn, and cross-body lead. To upgrade existing dance skills, students can enroll in intermediate classes, where instructors build on the basics with more intricate maneuvers that involve twirling rather than stepping on the floor’s toes.
Hot Salsa Hawaii
The son of a Californian flamenco dancer, Greg “The Salsaman” Henry was captivated by dancing early on. At the age of 3, he joined in on performances with his mother’s dance troupe. Years later he went on to found the Hot Salsa Dance Company, which puts on interactive latin-dance shows throughout Hawaii and California. Henry and other company members also lead the company’s instructional arm, Hot Salsa Hawaii, teaching group classes to beginning and intermediate dancers.
In these classes, you can learn the basic steps of Dominican Republic–style merengue, a more energetic version than its Haitian counterpart. You can also work toward mastering the sideways footwork of the bachata. Classes are limited in size to ensure that each student gets plenty of attention from the instructor.