The Spring Thames Salsa Cruise is fast approaching!
For a lazy May evening in the late spring, the cruise is simply perfect :-) Dance, chat, chill, whatever you wish...
It's on Sunday 17th May and tickets are already available from this website. Get them early because we will probably sell out.
Groups (5+) cost £18 and the regular advanced price is £20. (£25 cash on the day)
Groups text me to set up a discount code ASAP Alastair 07939012231

This is a very special cruise as your hosts, The Streetbeat Salsa Co. AKA Alastair and Fliss,celebrate 25 years of teaching salsa
Come and salsa the River as we cruise from the Festival Pier Southbank to the Barrier and back. Watch the sunset as you sip a drink on the back deck, then see the River sparkle as the city lights up; all the while listening to some great salsa music to entice you back on the dance floor.
Four hours of dancing and fun; what a great way to spend a spring evening!
Departs Festival Pier by the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank at 6.45pm, returning at 10.50pm

As of 18/03/2020 Due to the Coronavirus pandemic:
All courses are suspended until further notice.

With regards to the Prime Minister's announcement at c.5.30 today March 18th 2020:

As schools will close this Friday I feel it's the right time act regarding my salsa courses.
I will be suspending all Salsa Rapido courses at Salsa Soho and Salsa Temple until an appropriate time to restart.

Meanwhile I'm going to move to a new venue called Online :-)
As many of you know, last year I started the SalsaRapido playlist on YouTube.
These short concept clips will be expanded into the Dance Salsa at Home :-)
They'll be detailed and fun and completely Free.
You can also follow us on the Salsa Rapido blog salsarapido.blogspot.co.uk
and of course Facebook

This April, Fliss (my wife) and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary of setting up The Streetbeat Salsa Co. so we've no intention of going anywhere.

All current bookings will be placed on a holding list and I will contact everyone individually in due course.

Thank you for your support and I wish you and yours good health.

SYOTOS - See you on the other side :-)
Alastair

Re Coronavirus (as of 13/03/2020)
Last night the government indicated that their response to the coronavirus pandemic had changed from ‘Containment’ to the ‘Delay’ phase.
I thought I’d update my position regarding the Salsa Rapido Intensive Salsa Courses.

Salsa is a self selecting group of healthy and energetic people. There is nothing about partner dancing that puts us at greater risk than any other social activity. Like other activities, we do all need to take one or two simple precautions in the light of coronavirus.

We all have to balance our personal needs with those of society and I imagine no two positions are identical. Here are mine, and I promise to respect those whose views differ:

All courses will go ahead as planned unless I am prevented from running a course by:
Government restrictions, which I will follow completely and any imposed by the venue.
My personal ill health. I promise to self isolate immediately.
Lack of demand.

At the course:
Please take every opportunity to wash your hands thoroughly upon arrival and during the day. I do :-)
I cannot guarantee hand sanitiser will be available, please bring your own if you wish.
Please understand that the balanced numbers will not be guaranteed, but I assume the bug affects men and women equally. I can guarantee you’ll have fun and learn loads.
Wearing face masks will not be allowed whilst dancing.
Couples may not stay together all day as per my usual T&C.

Before the course:
Should you feel unwell due to Coronavirus symptoms in the days before the course please contact me and confirm you are self isolating. I will transfer you onto a holding list, where you can rebook at a later time. No transfer fee will be charged. All other reasons for transfer will be dealt with as usual.

My experience tells me that it’s highly unlikely that you will wake up on the morning of the course feeling unwell, so I ask you NOT to leave it until then. Note there is no requirement to self isolate for a hangover!
Seriously, ask yourself if you’re 100% well and decide. Everyone's health depends on people making honest, adult decisions to self isolate sooner.
Please note that saying “I’m not sure if I'll be able to....” is not a decision.

In the event of a course being cancelled by me, I will offer the choice of holding your booking or a full refund. I will make every effort to contact you by text and email, please help by confirming you’ve received cancellation messages promptly.
As per the usual Terms and conditions: ‘No shows’ i.e. those who do not attend without prior notice will not be transfered or refunded.

I hope these precautions are reasonable and proportionate and I look forward to seeing you on the dance floor.
Link to regular terms and conditions
Regards
Alastair 07939012231

I never thought I'd be saying this but I'm running the Brighton Marathon!
It's on Sunday 19th April 2020.
What's this got to do with salsa? I've no idea!
For those who are interested in my curious journey to run my first marathon aged 54 I'm writing a blog at:
www.alastairmarathon.blogspot.com

And of course there's a JustGiving page at:

I’ve posted the Mambalsa Summer newsletter on the Mambalsa Blog.
It includes my thoughts regarding the success of Daytime Dance project and my plans for the future.
Just in case you haven’t heard of Mambalsa, it’s a new partner dance that I created in 2014. I’ve been using it for various projects so take a look and get ahead of the game :-)
mambalsa-summer-2019-newsletter.html

Yesterday I received an email from TripAdvisor informing me that I had been awarded a Certificate of Excellence.
I had no idea that there was such a thing but now I've got one I'm a big fan.
It's the chance to thanks to everyone who's taken the time and trouble to say some kind words about my Salsa Rapido 1-Day Intensive course.

Click the image to visit TridAdvisor


Reflection: (You may prefer to read this on the Salsa Rapido Blog)
When I embedded TripAdvisor into my site I was hoping for praise but open to the possibility of harsh and unfair criticism, and in fairness I've received a one star review from someone who wasn't on the course and a two star review from someone who enjoyed the class but didn't enjoy the fajitas at lunch! May I just add that fajitas are not compulsory and anyone can eat wherever they wish. Lunch isn't even part of the deal so bring a packet of crisps in if you wish but don't blame my course if they didn't have your favourite flavour! (I'm so over it now)
Anyway, I overcame my fears and gave it a go, realising that feedback is good and TripAdivsor offers a third party review that's useful for the pubic when booking.
Many months later and I've received mainly five star reviews.
This tells me that:
My presentation is engaging and entertaining.
People are way nicer than I deserve.
Salsa Rapido is a mature enough method to stand comparison to traditional classes.
I'm really good at asking for five star reviews.

On the last point my hobby of stand up comedy led to five shows at the Edinburgh Fringe where at the end of a show we would have a 'bucket speech' to encourage the audience to give a tip (our only source of income)
Cliched line like "Take some change, fold it and put it in the bucket" were common.
One time I got a waif-like act to kneel down holding the bucket while looking as mournful as a Dickensian child.
Another time a showed the audience picture of my cats on my phone and asked "which one should I 'economise' first?" Well it works for charities!
The result was seldom any different. It was the show that counted.

I got Hacked on Facebook
I wanted to ‘boost’ my post for our new monthly Sunday night event Salsa Clasica (plug plug here’s the link ) I hadn't used it for a year and so wasn’t checking for any activity but found my FaceBook advertising account had been hacked last March......
read more on the Salsa Rapido blog

I've set up a new section on the site for Tripadvisor reviews of the 1-Day Intensive Course.
If you've been on the course recently and would be kind enough to review it please go to
link
Thanks in advance :-)
For suggestions and suggestions please email me at salsa@streetbeat.co.uk

I have sad news to share as after 13 fun filled years, we will not be continuing Salsa Camden.
For those following the ins and outs, you'll know that a deal was done re bands and promotion for Tuesdays.
That deal has not been honoured.
I will post a full account / rant in my Salsa Rapido blog in the New Year, sufficed to say, that given the toxic environment and despite my best efforts, I have had to let Salsa Camden go.
I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who's supported us, for your friendship and energy, and more recently, patience. Plus, of course, for the loyalty and support of the current team, so much appreciated. It's been a blast and there are so many good memories ????
However, tis the season to be jolly, holly, mince pied to the eyes and tinselled around the edges. So,
I and the Salsa Camden Crew would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
....posted by Alastair Sadler Dec 2018

I've publish more articles on the Salsa Rapido blog.

streetbeat.co.uk/blog

Other Salsa Rapido articles include:
Top Tips for Pre-Beginners in Salsa 10/25/2017
Counts Commonly Used in Salsa 10/18/2017
Salsa Rapido method- Fast, Fun & Progressive 28/09/2017
Travelling steps 30/04/2017
The Mechanics of Spinning 20/04/2017
What is Salsa Style? 08/02/2017
How I got into salsa 11/01/2017
Welcome to the Salsa Rapido Method 09/01/2017