HomeSecret Salsa's Teachers
Mark Winterford: "I knew that dancing was what I had been searching for."
I went to my very first salsa class at the beginning of 2004. I was expecting to hate the whole experience, but I was in for a big shock. I LOVED it!
I had only gone along to keep a friend company, as they didn't have anyone else to go with. I had already decided to just go for a week or two and then quit because for my whole life, I'd had an intense dislike for dancing of all kinds.
But within the first two weeks, I knew that dancing was going to become a huge part of my life. I realised that the reason that I didn't like to dance, was that I had never been shown how to! Usually when someone suggested that I dance, I was just supposed to "know" how and if I said I didn't know, they'd just say something like "Don't worry, just get up and move!" and the thought of doing that and looking stupid, (which I definitely would have looked!) was FAR too horrible to contemplate.
Going to a class was completely different. Everyone there was a beginner, so I didn't feel like everyone knew what to do apart from me.
I was shown how to do each step starting right from scratch.
Having been self-employed in various businesses since leaving school, I'd always been searching for a vocation that I'd love, as the business that I was running at the time, I really didn't like at all. Within the first 2 or 3 weeks of salsa classes, I knew that dancing was what I had been searching for.
After about 15 months of classes, I decided to jump in and start teaching my own classes. This was quite a scary decision, as I'd been dancing for such a short time but I was determined to learn and become the best teacher I could be.
I taught (very nervously) my first class on 5th July 2005 and ever since that time, I've been working to refine and improve my classes into what they are today.
Coming from a non-dance background, I know
how hard it can be for
some people to pick up even the most basic steps, so when I teach my
classes I like to bear this in mind and break things down in a logical
and clear way.
Janis: "I am lucky to be able to teach people something I love."
I started salsa dancing because I didn't really like the gym.
While leaving the gym one night I noticed a poster for salsa dancing and thought that would be so much more fun, as a way of exercise than the treadmill. I was right!
Not only did I love it, I did start to lose weight and get a lot fitter. If you ask me I will tell you how much I have lost!
I started teaching salsa when Mark decided it would be a good idea, and I am lucky to be able to teach people something I love.
I have made so many fantastic friends of all ages and backgrounds. The people really are what make salsa so much fun for me.
P.S. I was the one who made Mark go to his first class. So it's all my fault. :)
