This is a long, long overdue review so what I'm about to write may no longer apply…read more..
Anyway, way back in the day I was REALLY into salsa. This would have been in the timeframe of 2007-2010 perhaps... I had already taken classes at lots of other dance schools in Manhattan. I would say I was at a high intermediate level. I took my dancing very seriously, and I was more inclined to like the 'dancer's dancer' type studios....where it was all about carrying oneself like a professionally trained dancer.
Eventually, of course, Santo Rico came onto my radar and I decided one day to brave it, and go for a group lesson there, all on my own. Now I'd already heard this would be a 'tough school', but....I was so not prepared for what I encountered.
Perhaps I should first say that I already knew that the NYC ON-2 scene could be extremely competitive. I'd attended classes and socials at all the usual places...Carlos... Jimmy...Joe...Frankie....YSBD, etc., and had a few privates with Magna, Griselle, etc.
When I first walked into Santo Rico, I naturally saw a bunch of other dancers in the studio who'd either just finished a class or were there for the next class. You could have cut the tension with a knife. (Or was I simply projecting, based upon what I'd already heard about this place??)
Anyway, when it was time, I joined my group lesson. I recall the group was on the smaller side...there were maybe just six or so women and a more or less equal number of men. The teacher was a young latin male....perhaps in his late 20s at the time?
As they say, a female salsa dancer is only as good as her lead. ;-) The man is supposed to give clear cues, and the woman is supposed to know how to interpret them. Up until this point, I normally had never had problems in group classes. But with this instructor, when it came time for us to rotate partners, and HE became my partner, it seemed that during our routine practice, I didn't 'interpret' a cue that he'd given me, 'correctly'. Most would say that HE was in the wrong...that he must not be a very good lead. But he, being the very small-minded man that he apparently was, actually 'yelled' at me, saying something like 'why did you do that....I didn't want you to turn!' (or something like that). I was so embarrassed and shocked that...I probably just blurted out something like '...I thought that's what you wanted me to do...'.
In retrospect, his behavior was brutish, inappropriate and uncalled for. I, being so immersed in the NYC salsa scene at that time, however, allowed myself to feel embarrassed... as if maybe I DID do something wrong. But in fact, that's why we supposedly attend such schools...to LEARN. And I mean, it WAS my first time there, as this instructor full well knew.
I understand that Santo Rico is all about creating the best of the best salsa dancers...that it's all about precision...and that their female dancers can spin on a dime. (It was their 'gangster' video from around 2008 or so, that inspired me to want to train there.) But, you can still try to create an atmosphere of excellence without having to be mean and embarrassing students.
My experience there was such that I had no desire to return.
