| It sounds a bit odd, but I started salsa in the unlikely | | | | saxophone for a short period of time without being a |
| location of Heidelberg, Germany. | | | | German citizen. It wasn't the best instrument and |
| While, traveling there for a study abroad program for | | | | some of the lower notes didn't work so well, but we |
| university, the summer program included a bit of | | | | decided on me playing 'Tequila' before running |
| salsa. The teacher, Voytek, hailed from Poland. | | | | backstage to regroup |
| On the first day of class there were Georgio, the | | | | We kept up our practice of the choreography that |
| Italian student that every girl I met there seemed to | | | | Voytek put together which included an improv |
| know, an associate of Georgio, myself, and about | | | | section towards the end. The dance instruction was |
| thirty girls. | | | | interesting since the people who could dance the |
| I wished I had a camera. | | | | best didn't necessarily speak German the best. And |
| With those odds, it did not matter that I had never | | | | when Voytek spoke in English a few of the Russians |
| danced salsa before. | | | | could not understand. One misunderstanding that |
| On one of the days a number of the men dancers | | | | stood out was when Voytek told us to get in a |
| decided to play soccer instead of practicing, which | | | | Kreise (circle), a word of which many of us had no |
| didn't quite fly with Voytek. I played a bit of soccer | | | | clue of the meaning. |
| myself, but during non-salsa time since I was having | | | | At first I danced with a girl from Croatia, but she |
| fun getting better at it. | | | | didn't make all the practices so for the performance I |
| The practice schedule started at twice a week and | | | | was with a girl from Kazakhstan. (This was during the |
| increased quickly until the week before the end of | | | | pre-Borat era). |
| the program we practiced every day. For the first | | | | The night of the Abschlüssfest was my first |
| week we drilled the basic steps and then we worked | | | | salsa performance ever. It wasn't perfect, but the |
| into combos. Voytek wanted to put on a good | | | | show was a lot of fun and I think we danced pretty |
| performance for the Abschlüssfest (closing | | | | well. |
| party) so he spent a lot of time creating the | | | | Dancing salsa was not exactly on my planned |
| choreography and splicing music together. | | | | activities for my time in Germany, but it ended up |
| Since the beginning of the program I had also been | | | | being a great experience. It was a great way to |
| looking for a saxophone. I decided to approach | | | | meet people throughout the program and after I |
| Voytek, since he lived Heidelberg and spoke German | | | | returned to the states became a skill that I have |
| better than I did. Once he heard that I played, he | | | | worked on and improved. The dancing environment is |
| got this idea in his head of using it for the Salsa | | | | very friendly and a fun way to socialize and get a |
| performance. He called something like twenty places | | | | little exercise. |
| and finally found one that would let me rent a | | | | |