The other night, my new female acquaintance had downed a "ballena" and was twitching to the Cumbia music in this bar. I wanted to dance with her, but I have two left feet (and one of the legs is a lot shorter).

Does anyone know a "dance lessons" resource in Tijuana ?

I'm interested in:

Inexpensive

Low music level - I can't hear speech in bars

Some (or all) individualized instruction

Lessons in 1-3 basic dance types

Weekend availability

(Social contact with lovely instructors would be OK too, but I'm not looking for a disguised sex resource, nor an ordinary ficha bar.

I speak some spanish but would probably need to acquire a "dancing specific" vocabulary.

Thanks.

I wanted to dance for a long time and did not have the nerve. I finally got the nerve(I was drunk) and danced when a girl asked me. I did OK the first time, but stumbled around the second time, so I knew I needed some help.

I told a girl, I was having drinks with at Tropical, I wanted to learn to dance better. I asked her if she would lead when we danced. She had no problem with that. I learned a lot by just that one session.

When I was in Ensenada I asked a girl to lead and we danced off and on for 5 hours. That session was a big help to my confidence to continue on in my new hobby.

So my suggestion is this, go to one of the bars that tend to specialize in dancing, such as Tropical or Las Chavales, and tell a waiter you are interested in dancing with a girl who would be willing to be patient and lead you in some dances. Tell the waiter you would be willing to pay and extra amount above the normal $1 per dance for her services. I bet you would have some luck doing this. Also, you will find that Mexican dancing is very easy once you get out on the floor and get over your nervousness about doing it. You will discover you will be dancing around the floor with ease, melted into the body of a lovely girl. It is a lot of fun and it is well worth pursuing.

If you know any girls at AB you might ask them to dance a couple of dances with you to show you how. You can use that one very small floor behind the second bar so very few people will be seeing you. You will feel more comfortable doing that.

Also I suggest you start off by dancing just the slow dances until you get more confidence to do the faster two step dances.

If you want to learn the more complicated Latin dances, such as Salsa, you can take lessons in San Diego. I know of a couple of classes going on. But you do not need to know Salsa to have fun. Few of the Mexican know Salsa, so that is not a handicap.

dt

hey
free dancing lessons where i go
i will hook you up with a chica that will teach you

daytimer your invited anytime to mi casa
take care
milky

Milky....Free dance lessons? Hooking up with a chica? Those are two lovely thoughts. I could use more instruction. I still feel a little apprehensive, especially asking girls at Pulgies to dance. For some reason I have no problem asking the pros in the Coahuila territory, but asking the non pros at Pulgies is a little scary when I am not an a good dancer yet.

It is obvious to me the way to meet the non pros is to dance. If you don't dance you have very little chance of meeting a lot of girls quickly. It is that way in the US also. Dancing is the name of the game when it comes to the single scene.

I can see that you, Milky, are operating in the "groove" when it comes to the chicas.

dt

So how do we get nephew Milkdud to take some of those free dance lessons?

He may look like a Mexican but he sure dances like a white guy LOL

uncle jo who thinks it's the family gene cuz he's also got 2 left feet on the dance floor but fortunately has the right one for the bed.

The problem is finding girls to teach you if you don't speak fluent Spanish. I speak OK pidgin Spanish, well enough for most communication. I even had a girlfriend who spoke no English, and we could communicate just about any thought with a little work. Even so, she could not teach me how to dance due to the language barrier. I just could not understand her fast enough when she told me what to do.

I found a place that might do it.

I asked the concierge (Ok, desk clerk) at my "edge of the zona" hotel.

He told me about "Estrella", a "Salon de Baile/Cantina" that is frequented by factory workers, not whores.

Location: 6th Ave just east of Revolucion on the south side (mid-block, big sign with a big star).

I checked the place out (in the daytime).
Monster dance floor. The best I could figure out is that there is a one-drink minimum and no admission charge. This is subject to independent verification due to my shitty spanish. But I know that factory workers aren't rich, so it couldn't be too much.

I told the manager that I wanted to met a woman who could teach me to dance in private, but that I didn't want to meet a whore. In private because
I hear poorly and because of my bad spanish.

He said I could meet one there.

Seems to me that a factory worker making $75.00 U.S. per week wouldn't have to charge me a million bucks to teach me to dance. Does anybody have a suggestion on what I should offer her ?

Pauncho

Hey Tough guy !
I used to go there a lot.
Most chicas are in the 30 plus range.
1/3 of the girls that go here are working.
The factory working girls that go here are also looking for some pesos.
there are a few that just come to dance I would say about 40 to 50 percent are just out for a good time looking for a Milkman to sweep them off their feet.
On ocassion you may find a few chics with dicks.
You want to talk about a kill whitey place go there at night -lol
they charge a 1 drink cover on Saturdays.

the girls in this place are about a 2 or 3 out of ten for looks.
lots of 40 plus women too.
Dress here is laughable they think i am an Entertainer when i show up in my disco duck uniform
pauncho if you want to check this place out let me know and I will go with you.
i have scored before with a few gems in this place.
Next to me you may be the youngest person in there

Not a place to be taught how to dance tho
sorry

Milky who is waiting for hippie to rebutt his response

"re-butt"?

Sorry, Milky, I'm just not into that. (He says with a shudder.)

Here's how it is; I went to a small (50 people) birthday party and the girls were really trying to get me to dance. It was Durango style music, and like much Mexican music, incomprehensible to me.

But I realized that to dance in Mexico would be a great social skill. Pero tengo dos patas isquierdas.

I'm almost 57, so a 30 + age range suits me just fine. The idea of pros and TV's does bother me, though.

When you say "Kill Whitey" are you implying anti-gringo sentiment ? I am slightly assimilated.

Last Sunday morning around 9AM I noticed a bunch of drunks near Club Diamonte (1st between Revolucion & Constitucion) on the sidewalk and some (bottom tier) banda musicians.

I approached the group, requested the song "La Que Se Fue" (She who went away) and was instantly part of the group. (In an environment where the musicians know it, "Mujeres Divinas" will do about as well.)

Of course I bought another song or two, but had to ask the people there what to ask for (No hablo "banda"). As I was nearly broke, I paid for the last two songs in coin.

But I won't tell you that I can always fit in.
(especially in the states) But my level of spanish has recently reached the "they ask you where you learned it" stage. I just wish that I could understand it better.

I'm looking for a woman to teach me to dance, at some other quiet place. I would be happy to pay her (a little). Does anyone know what I should pay.

I'm not adverse to meeting someone if it happens that way. I've given up on Lady Lap-Dance. I won't even go to her house when she's not home.

I'd just as soon be around women that aren't rich, so that if we hook up, my few pesos would look like more. Factory workers suit me just fine.

Would my "Palenque Texcoco" ball cap fit in well here ?

Thanks, Milky

Pauncho

It has been several months since I posted about dancing. I never did find the perfect situation of hooking up with a girl who knew English and who would be available to teach dancing on a regular basis.

The problem is that there is nothing regular in TJ it seems. Things and people change almost on a weekly basis. Twice I made appointments with girls to dance the next week and they did not show, so I gave up on finding anything predictable.

I then just started taking it week by week. I started asking ficha girls at TJ's finest bars to dance. If things did not go well I would pay them a couple of bucks and go look for another.

Usually I will find a good girl to dance with after asking no more than three different girls to dance. After awhile, I could predict my chances with girls. Staying away from the top tier girls is good advice. They expect their dance partners to be good and are not very patient or forgiving if you are a beginner.

I have hooked up with some very good girls the past few months for dancing with. When I find one, I stick with her for an hour or two and pay her at least $20 plus ficha drinks.

There are some girls who are very good dancing with beginners. If you tell them you want to learn they will be very helpful. I have found that the Mexican people are very respectful of Gringos who want to learn their language, culture, or dances.

I was hoping for that perfect dancing situation, but I don't think it exists, unless you have a full time Latina girl friend. There seems to be no magic way to learn to dance quickly.

The only way to do it is just to watch, get your nerve up, then ask a girl to dance. Learning to dance to Mexican music is not as easy as it looks for a guy who does not come from a dancing background. It takes months of dancing every week to get to a level of "getting by". But, what great fun it is to dance with pretty young girls while learning!

It is very easy to get discouraged as a beginner. I fight off feelings of frustration at times. But, at least I am in the ball game, while most guys are on the sideline watching and wishing they were dancing with the sexy ladies.

So Pauncho....good luck in your quest to learn to dance. See ya on the floor soon I hope.

dt

English isn't necessary. I'd rather learn a "spanish dancing vocabulary".

Well, I got a hold of a phone book and xeroxed the pages on dance classes.

Seems nobody teaches just dancing, although one school teaches "salsa".

I'm thinking about an ad in the "Oportunidades" weekly paper (like San Diego's "Pennysaver").

Pauncho

Pauncho

Salsa takes a long time to learn and is very difficult and most places in TJ play very little salsa & chips.
Your better off learning Cumbia and Norteno.
Cumbia and Norteno count for like 88 percent of the Music played in the zona and 74.5 played in TJ

Good Luck
Disco Duck

try this

salsaweb.com city guides San Diego

www.cannibalbar.com
www.catamaranresort.com

this should get you started

Milkman is right about Salsa in TJ. There is very little danced that is really Salsa. I am taking a Salsa class now in San Diego, and what I have learned and what I see is not done in the bars I go to in LZN.

The most common dances are Norteno, Cumbia, Corridos, and Swing. The Swing dancing looks fun, so I am taking a 12 week course in the east county (San Diego) through Adult Education, starting next month.

There is a good opportunity coming up to learn Salsa, Cumbia, and Merengue at a half day class in El Cajon on September 21. The cost is $20. The class is being offered through the Adult education program and is open to all adults living in San Diego County. If anyone is interested, contact me and I will be happy to give sign up details. I plan on being there.

Of course, you will not be an expert after just three hours of lessons, but learning some basics can help overcome some fears of dancing in TJ.

BTW, Merengue dancing is the same as Norteno dancing. Norteno dancing is just done to a particular style of country music popular in northern Mexico. The basic Merengue step can be taught in minutes. The interesting thing about Norteno dancing is the wide variety of styles seen in clubs using the same basic step. The great appeal of Merengue (or Norteno) is the fact it can be learned quickly, then months and years are taken to develop style.

Daytimer,
Please e-mail me at Srpauncho@hotmail.com
(Please note the "U" in "pauncho")

Thanks.

A couple of years ago, I took my girlfriend to a dance studio near the Westfargo Bar, SE of Tijuana's Centro (downtown). They offer mostly Salsa classes, but also Merengue and Cha cha cha and likely others on request. Or, they can probably put you in touch with someone. At that time, the price was $5/hour/person as part of a very small class (perhaps 3 others were there when we got there late). Some of the instructors speak English well.

Machito Dance Academy, Calle Durango #301, Colonia Cacho. You should call first: Cell, (044-664)174-4852 [I believe from the U.S. it is 011-52-664-174-4852]; information is at (from the U.S.: 011-52-664) 687-4982. machito_inc@yahoo.com or sabrosondancecompany@hotmail.com

In So. Cal, adult ed. classes are a good option, as Daytimer indicated. Also, physical education departments at Community Colleges, and City Recreation Departments. In San Diego, there is a Latin Dance newspaper, mostly in English, La Sonrisa Latina (The Smiling Latina). It lists a lot of instructors and nightclubs. http://hilapronet.com/ (The web link is nothing like the name of the periodical).

Googling "San Diego Latin Bailar" gets a bunch of places. Such places are organised by distance from SD by http://Local.com/Latin dance (I am not able to get "dance" underlined).

I believe I can say, in Spanish, "I need a dance instructor, please." ("Necesito una maestra de bailar, por favor"). How do you say, in Spanish, "Please, you lead, and I'll follow"? ("Necesito una maestra de bailar, por favor"). As with Hippie's case, even when my dance instructor was willing, I had a tough time, 'tween her Spanish and the loud music in TB. So, I too need more formal lessons.

By the way, Daytimer, how well do your Latin dance skills carry over to your latest love nest, AC, in the Philippines?