Tickets are now on sale for the Summer Thames Salsa Cruise on Sunday 19th May
It's Springtime! Flowers and blossoms galore and with daylight returning, we're really looking forward to the 1st Salsa cruise of the season, hurrah! It's on Sunday 19th May so spread the word. Four hours cruising the Thames, seeing the sights and enjoying the classic salsa sounds of Dj Felicidad

This Spring is the 26th year of the Thames Salsa Cruise! We know what we're doing so join us for a lazy (or not so) beautiful May Spring evening :-) Dance, chat, chill, whatever you wish...
It's on Sunday 19th May 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)
Group leaders please text me ASAP to set up a discount code ASAP Alastair 07939 012231

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 classic salsa music to entice you back on the dance floor.
Four hours of dancing and fun; what a great way to spend a spring evening!
Departs Festival Pier by the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank at 6.45pm, returning at 10.50pm

How better to spend your end of May Bank Holiday Monday other than learning something extraordinary! Come into London’s Salsa Soho for a full day of dance development.

It’s three courses rolled into one!

1) As part of the Mambalsa Project, it’s an opportunity to learn this new and incredibly versatile partner dance called Mambalsa. It can also be danced solo or in groups and looks similar to other popular Latin partner dances but with a little extra sizzle and giggle. It has a bunch of U.S.P’s:
- It’s Fun! We utilise the psychology of fun to have more fun, more often and more intensely!
- It’s danced to almost any music at any speed, Acid house to Zydeco, Bolero to Beyonce! Whatever you like and you’re into.
- Everyone leads and follows, so you can show your friends in minutes.
- At the core of the dance there’s an ethos of Fun, Confidence, Respect, Empathy, Self-Development and Well-being.

2) As a CPD for dancers of any kind. There’s so few Continual Professional Development courses that explore the psychology of dance, let alone the psychology of partner dancing! One problem of any CPD is getting people beyond their expertise and into new territory. Using Mambalsa, everyone can re-experience being a beginner on a level playing field. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to meet other dancers of other genres and collaborate.

I’m bringing my thirty years experience as a professional dance teacher. I’m also an accredited psychotherapist and will bring the psychology of Dance, Well-being and Self Development. Mambalsa is a space for you to bring your experience so together we can all steer towards success.

3) Mambalsa is an opportunity £££.
Get in at the start!This is the trial of the Mambalsa Dance Master program, which will licence the first generation of Mambalsa instructors. Whether it’s a sidebar or part of your professional dance portfolio, Mambalsa shifts social partner dance towards becoming a well-being practice. We bridge the markets of: dance for entertainment and dance for well-being. We’ve all seen the growth in yoga, mindfulness and aerobic fitness practices, now it’s the turn of dance!

Who’s this course for?
Anyone! If you're into dance, movement, fitness or well-being come! You must be 18+ and Ok with being filmed. (We desperately need media so the group will be filmed)

What we’ll cover:
The Basics of Mambalsa including the fundamental rules that define the dance.
Event based moves e.g. spins, travelling steps leading to small combos.
Five categories of moves and 100,000 combinations.
How to lead and follow with presence. (In Mambalsa everyone learns to lead and follow)
Using empathy and respect to build confidence within the dance relationship.
Working with the music.
The psychology of having more fun more often.
Research: Each workshop is a research laboratory to develop Mambalsa
The Mambalsa community and business model.

The workshops are presented by Alastair Sadler MBACP(Accred) creator of Mambalsa, professional dance teacher since 1995.

What to Bring
I would ask every participant to choose a track they would like to dance to but not from a genre they already dance e.g. a salsa dancer should not choose a salsa track.

Cost:
I’ve reserved a number of tickets at the Early Bird price
Early Bird £25 per person (limited availability)
Regular Price £49 per person
10:30am-4:30pm Salsa Soho, 96 Charing Cross Road.
Click to book

See also the Mambalsa Blog

Mambalsa Daytime Dance returns to the The Nightingale Cancer Support in Enfield and I'm so proud to support this wonderful charity.

This is the second year I’ll be running a Mambalsa course in-house at the Nightingale for client’s who have been affected by cancer.

My aim is to use Mambalsa as a platform to collaborate with the group to hit the three Fs: Fun, Friendship and Feeling Fabulous!
(Ok that four Fs) Read more on the Mambalsa Blog


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I'm delighted to release the Salsa Rapido 1-Day Intensive dates for April to August 2024.
They are almost weekly on Sundays and I strongly recommend you book ASAP to save disappointment.
Notice there's also some Mambalsa workshop dates. Mambalsa is not salsa so please click here for details

Here's a permanent link to the dates page so you can check them at any time:
https://www.streetbeat.co.uk/dates

The i.2.i. Knock the Rust Off is the Salsa Rapido Improvers course.
...not forgetting The essential Thames Salsa Cruise

There may well be a few adjustments to the schedule as 2024 comes into focus.
I haven't confirmed dates out side of London yet!

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!

Follow this blog: Use this link to add you email to my blog following list:

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 :)

Tickets are now on sale for the Summer Thames Salsa Cruise on Sunday 20th August

As we approach the second cruise of the Thames Salsa Cruise’s on on Sunday 20th August 2023, I’d like to offer a few reflections of this very special event that’s been part of the London Salsa scene for quarter of a century....

Continued in the Salsa Rapido blog at:
Salsa Rapido Blog

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

Mambalsa is not just an alternative partner dance, it's an exploration of culture and self.
Dr Dance AKA Dr Peter Lovatt got a crowd at a festival to do a F%&k Cancer Huka. This resonated with my journey personally and with my counselling work at The Nightingale Cancer Support Centre.
I borrowed his Huka and placed it into the Mambalsa framework and used it as a way of expressing anger in a positive way.

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

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

Well I did it! I ran the Brighton Marathon 2022
Here's my latest marathon/ lockdown blog posts titled: Alastair's Marathon
If you want to sponsor me here's the link to the charity fundraising page (open until end May 2022): www.justgiving.com/alastairsadler
Salsa Rapido Method has it's own blog at Salsa Rapido Method
and not forgetting Mambalsa at: Mambalsa

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.

I've set up a new section on the site for Tripadvisor reviews of the 1-Day Intensive Course.
If you've been on the course recently and would be kind enough to review it please go to
link
Thanks in advance :-)
For suggestions and suggestions please email me at salsa@streetbeat.co.uk

I've publish more articles on the Salsa Rapido blog.

streetbeat.co.uk/blog

Other Salsa Rapido articles include:
Top Tips for Pre-Beginners in Salsa 10/25/2017
Counts Commonly Used in Salsa 10/18/2017
Salsa Rapido method- Fast, Fun & Progressive 28/09/2017
Travelling steps 30/04/2017
The Mechanics of Spinning 20/04/2017
What is Salsa Style? 08/02/2017
How I got into salsa 11/01/2017
Welcome to the Salsa Rapido Method 09/01/2017