Yesterday we joined a beginners salsa class with latin dance instructors Tigin Aytaçoğlu and his fiancée Semra Hoca. The class is held every Thursday from 19:00-20:00 at ST Dance Centre in Lefkosa.
Every Wednesday they also hold a 2-hour practice class where students can come and train what they have learnt the previous Thursday.
The monthly fee is 120 TL per person and 200 TL for a couple.
We enjoyed the class very much and the instructor couple was very sweet and helpful.
Afterwards we headed to Sinema Nostalji bar, that is located just around the corner, for the salsa and rumba night that is also held every Thursday. Doors open at 9pm and admissions is priced at 20TL, which includes a drink.
Mr Aytaçoğlu, who is a graduate of Girne American Stage Arts faculty, said: “There is only one rule: come early, have fun early!” The majority of the beginners class students were present last night and when the professional dancers took the stage we were all in awe. We spotted Orhan Dinlemez and his partner Damla Turgut, that hold latin dance classes at Little Pub & Bistro every Wednesday in Girne, and they impressed us with their exotic dancing. It was nice to see the professional dancers invite the beginners up to dance and encourage them to dance and most importantly have fun!
To read more about the Latin Nights at Sinema Nostalji bar, click here.
Mr Aytaçoğlu discovered Social Latin dancing 2006 before winning top place one year later in the Turkish Dance Sport Federation competition.
He has won many awards and tours the international salsa circuit with his group Salsa Beats.
The dancing duo also told us about the upcoming event Antalya Mediterranean Latin Dance Festival with the slogan: ”Sea, sun, beach, dance! All in one festival!”. The event is held from 14-17 May this year in Antalya and the couple will participate with a group of 20 dance lovers. Last night they had a raffle with the winning price being a ticket to the Latin Dance Festival and the lucky winner was Yekta Caferoğlu.
We are now longing to next week when we will practise what we learned yesterday and learn some new, hot dance moves!
