Inside record stores, gyms,  restaurants, senior centers, and Lutheran church recreation rooms - almost any hour of the day a dance class is going on with two cool Angelenos stepping on each other's feet and putting their arms around complete strangers. Accountants cha-cha with agents, bikers tango with socialites - dance classes are the city's great equalizer. There are couples prepping for their wedding reception and singles scouting the terrain. For some it's all about the moves, while others just want a more creative (and cheaper) alternative to the gym. One perk
of living in the entertainment capital of the world is its wealth of professional choreographers and dancers. When they're not choreographing shows, two-stepping on Providence, or doing the flamenco in Jones soda commercials, they're making beginners worthy of a Saturday night at
the Mayan. Another perk of living in Los Angeles is the rich, multiethnic stew of classes available from Afro-Cuban to Polynesian to Irish step. These days dance genres are a bit like the bands
on MTV. They're constantly borrowing from each other. West Coast swing oozes into country-western, jazz into hip-hop, and salsa into just about anything Latin. We put on our dancing shoes and twirl up and down the city to find the best dance classes, led by instructors whose passion and skill can inspire even the most left-footed among us. Many places offer single lessons, but the best way to learn is as a repeat customer.

"Salsa is what? A sauce you eat," the late Tito Puente said of the current incarnation of Latin dance and music. It's hard to get anyone to agree on what salsa is exactly or where it comes from - Cuba? Puerto Rico? - but this jazzy update of the mambo (with some hustle thrown in) evolved in the '70s. Along with hip-hop, it's the biggest thing around. Every club has at least one salsa night, and every studio offers at least a couple of salsa classes. Laura Canellias, who leads "Salsa I" at 3rd Street Dance, has been teaching and performing for 20 years (she appeared in The Mambo Kings) and can make even the stiffest dancer loosen up as she demonstrates how to wiggle the hips. "Salsa is like the Cuban song 'La Sandunguita,' which means 'little bug,'" says Canellias. "When you hear the music, something starts inside and you start to move." Alex Da Silva, who is the reigning champ of the Mayan's annual international salsa competition (he teaches advanced lessons at the club on Saturday nights before the floor opens), has a warm laugh and a subtle technique. His classes at Millennium Dance Complex
blend ballroom and street salsa styles. He's especially good at making sure that newcomers get as much attention as he says. Michael Kuka, who got his start working for Arthur Murray Dance Studios, completes nationally, is a consultant to film studios, and coaches privately. Whereas most instructors focus on the lead, Kuka concentrates on both roles, and he's the only male instructor we found who will take the follower's part to get a point across. Teaching at the Hollywood Dance Center, he has an almost regal bearing - which may be from all the years of ballroom - but his beginning salsa classes will set you in the right direction. At all three venues the crowd is mostly single and men outnumber women.

LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE - FEBRUARY 2003