Alix Shriner fell in love with ballroom dancing years ago, but after time began to feel it lacked a certain “social element.”

 

Since that time her dancing feet have lead her onto a completely different kind of dance floor – and she hasn’t looked back.

Shriner joined a club in at the University of Lethbridge years ago and remembers getting salsa fever.

“We would sneak around the university and look for empty rooms to practise in. We would YouTube videos and just      practise the moves together.”

Shriner has been teaching salsa for the past four years in Lethbridge and has had the opportunity to watch it grow and flourish into a tight community of people who just love to dance.

Danilo Rodriguez moved here from Central America when he was nine, and has been salsa dancing since 2002.

He often frequents the salsa nights hosted at Henotic Lounge and believes it’s a great was to stay connected to his Latin roots.

Both Rodriguez and Shriner have been with the Lethbridge salsa infusion since Shriner was first approached by the restaurant Suede.

After it closed, Shriner asked Henotic if she could keep teaching salsa to the community through them.

“Henotic accepted, and it’s been growing. . . people should come down and check it out. The people are so friendly and you don’t need to have a partner,” says Shriner.

Later, Ric’s Grill asked Shriner if she would be interested in teaching in their lounge.

“It’s a little quieter at Ric’s, but it’s definitely started to get busier,” Shriner added.

Salsa dance is done to a form of Latin-American dance music, characterized by Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Cuban big-band dance melodies and elements of jazz and rock.

Shriner teaches at Henotic every Monday night at nine and also at Ric’s Grill on Thursday nights at nine, free of charge.

Shriner welcomes all levels of dancers to come out and enjoy themselves.

 “It’s a great place to learn. The people are great and it’s a very non-judgmental environment for people to learn and have fun.”