Vancouver salsa school dances this Thanksgiving to send kids to camp
Some Vancouver dancers will spend part of Thanksgiving weekend dancing salsa, and the money they raise will help send children to summer camp. Rueda de la Vida Dance Society, a non-profit school that teaches salsa and bachata, is hosting a Thanksgiving Fundraising Social on Sunday, October 11, at The Anomaly Studios, 76 West 6th Avenue.
Things get going at 5 p.m. with a one-hour introductory class for people who have never tried salsa. From 6 to 9 p.m. there’s open social dancing to salsa, bachata and rueda music for every level. You don’t need a partner or any experience. Tickets are available online.
Math through dance
The money raised goes to the society’s Math x Movement Summer Camp. The camp uses Latin dance and music to teach children aged 5 to 8 basic math. It runs four week-long sessions every July.
Proceeds from the social will pay for scholarships for children from low-income families and for neurodivergent children. Both groups have spots set aside for them in every week of the camp.
Free beginner classes move to Thursdays
The society has also moved its free beginner classes to a new night. As of this month, Salsa Beginner runs Thursdays from 7 to 8 p.m. and Bachata Beginner from 8 to 9 p.m., with an hour of social dancing after that. Improver and intermediate classes stay on Sunday evenings, but the regular Sunday classes are cancelled on October 11 to make room for the fundraiser.
A dance built for meeting people
The society takes its name from rueda, a Cuban form of salsa danced in a circle. A caller shouts out moves and couples trade partners as they go around the ring, so over a single song you can end up dancing with most of the people in the room. The society says its aim is to build social connections by getting people dancing together.
Source: Rueda de la Vida Dance Society
