Tickets are now on sale for the Summer Thames Salsa Cruise on Sunday 17th August
It seems only 5 mins ago since our sell out Spring Thames Salsa Cruise, but summer is here and tickets are now available for the summer Thames Salsa Cruise on Sunday Aug 17th!
This year is the 27th anniversary of the Thames Salsa Cruise! and we’re celebrating 30 years of Streetbeat so it's gonna be a goodie and hot on the dance floor, don't miss out!
Book online at streetbeat.co.uk/tsc
To give you an idea here's a video clip of the Spring Cruise


For a lazy August evening, the cruise is simply perfect :-) Dance, chat, chill, whatever you wish...
It's on Sunday 17th August and tickets are already available from this website. Get them early because we will probably sell out.
Groups (5+) cost £18 and the regular advanced price is £20. (£25 cash on the day)
Groups text me to set up a discount code ASAP Alastair 07939 012231

Come and salsa the River as we cruise from the Festival Pier Southbank to the Barrier and back. Watch the sunset as you sip a drink on the back deck, then see the River sparkle as the city lights up; all the while listening to some great salsa music to entice you back on the dance floor.
Four hours of dancing and fun; what a great way to spend an evening!
Departs Festival Pier by the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank at 6.45pm, returning at 10.50pm

Last week I received the sad news that Bar Salsa! aka Salsa Soho is permanently closing this summer.
It’s being closed as the whole block is being redeveloped to form New Compton Street which will cut through to Shaftesbury Avenue.
I've posted a full blog including picture of the redevelopment and my achieve at bar Salsa Blog

This means there is now only one course to run at Salsa Soho before the closure:
Sun 20th Mambalsa workshop 10:45-4:45 £30 per person BOOK HERE

Mambalsa is a dance worth checking out as I believe it will play a significant part of the future of social partner dance!
It’s new and works to any music AND has well-being and self-development at its core. mambalsa.com

I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved at Bar Salsa:
I first ran a Salsa Rapido course at Bar Salsa back in 2003 and they've been a constant part of my life ever since. It has been the longest running and most successful course of its kind anywhere in the world. I estimate conservatively that over 60,000 people have attended!
No wonder The Salsa Rapido 1-Day Intensive introduced the term ‘Intensive course’ into the dance lexicon.
On a personal note it’s not only put a roof over my head, but inspired me to explore the psychology of dance, which in turn led to my becoming an accredited psychotherapist and relational counsellor. It’s also led to my hobby of stand up comedy and five fabulous shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. All that psychology, fun and teaching experience will not be lost as it is already upcycled into the Mambalsa Project.
I was tempted to run a final good bye Salsa Rapido course but have decided not to as the last group was absolutely fabulous and I couldn’t wish for a better course to end on. Sometimes it’s better to leave before the party ends :)

A recent article showed that monkeys drum rhythmically on tree roots using sticks.
I've taken this as a starting point to explore how we view monkeys, apes and dance within our culture and of course the implications of rhythmic apes.
Possessing rhythm is an essential building block of music and dance. The implication is profound: rhythm and, by extension, dance may have deep evolutionary roots shared by humans and other primates.
Culturally we tend to see dance and primates as a child like expression but there are darker themes hidden within.
I hopefully offer this as serious content, but with a sprinkling of humour. Enjoy :)

............ Continue to blog

This April 2025, I clock up 30 years as a salsa teacher. It’s something I’m proud of and as part of that celebration, I wish to offer some personal reflections on my life in salsa starting with the birth of The Streetbeat Salsa Co. ........ Continued

In my latest blog post "Me and Bar Salsa!" I write about why this long standing venue is very special to me on the eve of my thirtieth wedding anniversary.
There's also a potted history of London's salsa scene.
Me and Bar Salsa!

It was 8am and Fliss and I were in bed watching the winter solstice sunrise over Stonehenge live streamed onto my phone and I thought wow! For some reason unknown to me, I found myself making a connection to the traditional and probably ancient wedding saying of: Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.....
An end of year blog that includes many themes from 2024
............ Continued

In this blog I highlight The Chinese New Year Dragon Dance, it's origin and connect it to my life lived in London teaching Salsa.

2/2/2025 Spring is coming and about bloody time!
I'm sitting in Cafe Nero watching crowds of people walk by towards Leicester Square to see the Dragon Dance of Chinese new year.
I first saw this by change when I was 18 and travelled up to London to visit my then .......
The story goes that a lady from the village of Lotus, named for a pond full of lotus flowers, that presumably was next to a village called Duckweed! ...........
Link to blog post

In this blog I reflect on the late Jack Vettriano's most famous painting:
The Singing Butler 1992
and his position within the art world as a mirror to Salsa's position within the dance world.

7/3/2025
A few days ago on March 1st 2025 the painter Jack Vettriano died aged 73. I’m sure to a younger generation, his name won’t mean much, but to those who’s ‘back in the day’ was the nineteen nineties, Jack’s paintings were ubiquitous. It seemed that every coffee shop had a print of his hanging somewhere.........
Link to blog post

I’ve just finished another six week Mambalsa course at the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre in Enfield and what a lovely group it was.
I was aiming for a gentle introduction to Mambalsa without too much emphasis on the well-being aspects of Psych. Ed. but they came up anyway.
Often the classes would end in a group discussion about recovering from cancer and I have to admit it was great to share those stories and feel a paid up member of that club.
Every group teaches me something about dance and life. This group showed me that like a hummingbird, beauty has no relationship to size. We took the lid off our creativity and relaxed and moved freely within the ethos of Mambalsa dance. I’m being deliberately cryptic but confidentiality prevents me from sharing any detail.
I will take the chance to share the last two tracks we danced as a way to illustrate that Mambalsa is danced to any 4:4 time music:
- Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen - complete with head banging and Zimbabwean Wellington Boot dance! (I’ll just leave that to your imagination)
- Would You Be Loved by Bob Marley - A perfect song to end on.
I’m already missing all my Mambalsa Dancers from the Nightingale and can’t wait for the next group.
Alastair

Yesterday I received an email from TripAdvisor informing me that I had been awarded a Certificate of Excellence.
I had no idea that there was such a thing but now I've got one I'm a big fan.
It's the chance to thanks to everyone who's taken the time and trouble to say some kind words about my Salsa Rapido 1-Day Intensive course.


Click the image to visit TridAdvisor


Reflection: (You may prefer to read this on the Salsa Rapido Blog)
When I embedded TripAdvisor into my site I was hoping for praise but open to the possibility of harsh and unfair criticism, and in fairness I've received a one star review from someone who wasn't on the course and a two star review from someone who enjoyed the class but didn't enjoy the fajitas at lunch! May I just add that fajitas are not compulsory and anyone can eat wherever they wish. Lunch isn't even part of the deal so bring a packet of crisps in if you wish but don't blame my course if they didn't have your favourite flavour! (I'm so over it now)
Anyway, I overcame my fears and gave it a go, realising that feedback is good and TripAdivsor offers a third party review that's useful for the pubic when booking.
Many months later and I've received mainly five star reviews.
This tells me that:
My presentation is engaging and entertaining.
People are way nicer than I deserve.
Salsa Rapido is a mature enough method to stand comparison to traditional classes.
I'm really good at asking for five star reviews.

On the last point my hobby of stand up comedy led to five shows at the Edinburgh Fringe where at the end of a show we would have a 'bucket speech' to encourage the audience to give a tip (our only source of income)
Cliched line like "Take some change, fold it and put it in the bucket" were common.
One time I got a waif-like act to kneel down holding the bucket while looking as mournful as a Dickensian child.
Another time a showed the audience picture of my cats on my phone and asked "which one should I 'economise' first?" Well it works for charities!
The result was seldom any different. It was the show that counted.

Dance school says ballet is racially problematic and too gender binary!
I saw this article in the news and throught I'd offer a few thoughts so here's my latest Mambalsa blog blog posts titled: Dance school says ballet is racially problematic and too gender binary

I've decided to share my recent experience of cancer in a personal blog.
This may be upsetting for many people and I advise caution as to whether you read on.
First I need to address the question: why blog about cancer on a salsa dance website?
Like so many brands on the salsa scene, behind the Streetbeat/ Rapido/ Mambalsa brand is an individual person, who made the jump from dancer to dance teacher. My treatment will affect every aspect of my life including the Salsa Rapido courses and Mambalsa Project. I may physically change as a result of chemotherapy and when someone asks a question about these changes I'd like to answer in a brief and polite way with an invitation to read my blog to get my personal insight if they wish. In other words cancer affects me but it doesn't define me!

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The blog is a continuation of my 2022 Brighton Marathon blog hosted on Blogger.

24/01/2024 The Last Post

05/11/2023 Round Five Biddy Beep

18/10/2023 Round Four Round Up

01/10/2023 Round 3/4 Review

30/09/2023 Happy birthday Homewood School

05/08/2023 Round Two Update

26/07/2023 Would You A&E it!

26/07/2023 Labels, Trauma, PTSD and Self-diagnosis

21/07/2023 Sepsis vs Sadler A Week in Hospital

06/07/2023 Icky

02/07/2023 Day Three Sitrep (Situation Report)

26/06/2023 Three days to Chemo C-3

24/06/23 Capitano Chemo
In the run up to treatment starting I find myself getting silly to offset the anxiety.

07/06/2023 Scanaxiety
When the prospect of chemo becomes a reality.

24/03/2023 Who's Lynne and what's she FOMO about?
A catch up post from 2019 to 2023. Probably the best place to start :)

Summer's a great time for a wedding and this wedding was a wonderful fusion of dance styles.

Here's my latest Mambalsa blog blog posts titled: mambalsa-wedding