Revolución de Cuba

Wow, Revolucion de Cuba is a great venue. It's been expensively decked out as a marketing man's idea of a pre-revolutionary Havana bar. It has a nice atmosphere, good lighting, a great wooden floor and a good sound system.

The classes are pretty busy and the dancing after the classes is good. Numbers for the free dancing could be better, but there are always some really nice dancers there. I had a lovely dance last night with a recent arrival to Cardiff who's amazingly expressive and fun to dance with.

The music mixes LA/NY and Cuban style, plus some bachata and a bit of lambada/zouk (but not too much). If you're a Cuban-style dancer, that's no problem - go to Sabina's class in La Tasca first and then come on afterwards, Revolucion is open until at least midnight. There is occasionally some rueda.

Quick final point: after 10pm it's free to get in for the dancing, but please buy a drink or two at the bar - it helps to secure the future of the venue.

Christmas week

Sabina's Tuesday and Thursday classes are running as normal this week. Roger is running a party in Revolucion de Cuba on Friday night and Misael is DJing and promising some rueda as well.

All change, part 2

The last remaining salsa night from when I started dancing has now moved. Live Lounge (formerly Bar Cuba) on Tuesdays is no more. The night has now moved to Peppermint, formerly Zync, at the corner of St Mary Street and Mill Lane. Classes start at 7.30 upstairs, and there's dancing from 9.30 onwards downstairs. Tomorrow is the first night, and it's Andy's birthday as well - Katy claims to be putting 50 candles on his cake :)

Revolución de Cuba is a really nice venue - the sound was a bit harsh on the first night but was fine last week. In addition to Andy's Thursdays, it's also hosting Roger's monthly Friday night, plus a series of classes he's running on Monday nights with guest teachers for different dance styles (Cuban salsa tonight, kizomba next week, beginners' Cuban the week after).

Revolución de Cuba

At long last Andy's found a decent Thursday night venue. Revolución de Cuba is just off Womanby Street. Nice wooden floor, nice ambience, good sound system. Last night was buzzing and the most fun I've had out dancing for a while. Looks like the shot in the arm the Cardiff salsa scene needs.

Changes

A couple of quick changes. Misael's giving up his Wednesday night with immediate effect, which is a shame - his rueda class was great and he's a clear and patient teacher. But the good news is that next week Andy's main night moves back to Thursdays and a venue with a proper dancefloor, Revolución de Cuba in Womanby Street. This is great news, hope it works out.

Changes

Cuban Salsa Weekender

Big Cuban Salsa Congress from Tropicalentura (Misael and co) in Newport (you’ll find their website is slow if you try and visit it now, but it does eventually load). The programme looks really good and there are some excellent teachers including Osbanis and rueda queen Farah from Glasgow (I went to her class there back in 2004). There are still places available, including day and party passes. I'm going on Saturday.

Latest info

Sorry I haven't posted much for a while. I've been busy, and the Cardiff salsa scene doesn't seem as exciting as it did a while ago - particularly as several of the people I most like dancing with (like Andrea and Idy) have recently left Cardiff.

Tiger Tiger has now moved to Wednesdays - same times as before. A bit strange as I've been used to dancing regularly on Thursdays for years, though since the move to Tiger Tiger I haven't been much - my dodgy toe joint doesn't like the hard floor. I've been mostly going to Misael's remarkably funky rueda class on a Wednesday.

There have been a lot of changes to salsa in Cardiff lately: it's no longer possible to dance six nights a week. I'm not sure if O'Neills, the most recent incarnation of the longest- running salsa night in Cardiff, is still running - someone went last week and said it was closed.

Lots of dancers seem to be more interested in kizomba. I've been told that the best kizomba class is David Flor's Monday night in Missoula, 84-86 St Mary Street.

Major event coming up on 7-9 October is the Cuban Salsa Congress in Newport, which has an impressive roster of teachers.