Oh the trials of being a roving reporter......

I mean it's hell having to attend all of those clubs. It's torture having to rub shoulders with all of the shining lights of salsa on these (and other) fair shores. And as for having an excuse to ask questions, be nosey, and find out what makes 'em tick. Pure and unadulterated horror.

- Yeah Right!!!

Anyway. Mike approached me to write some pieces on the teachers and promoters whose clubs we all frequent so all of our visitors can. - ahem, let me see if I can get this right; "Find out what each of the think about what makes a good Salsa venue, what they try to teach, and how, and what they feel is important. And Martin, YOU are just the man to write it".

Again "Yeah Right!" - I was the only one not able to get out of the way fast enough!

But he did have a good idea, and I do have too much time on my hands, so here we are.......

I figured that I'd start off with one of the most popular clubs that I frequent and go from there.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Hilary Clarke, and "Danzon".

The venue has been in the Garda Club on Harrington St. in Dublin for the last two years or so. It is one of the more popular clubs in Dublin for may reasons, not the least of which is the large sprung dance floor. (got to get that one in, because it's a bit of a pet hate of mine.) I cornered Hilary one evening and asked for an interview. Which she very graciously agreed to.

Q. Hilary, your bio on your website says that you first learned Salsa in Italy. What were you doing there, and how long ago was it?

After I finished school in 1992, I decided to take a year out before going on to university. I ended up going to Florence and learning Italian in a language school. There were students in my class from all over the world, including one from Colombia, who persuaded us all to go out to a salsa club. I had been an absolute wall-flower until then, but when I heard the music, I just had to get up off my chair. So it was the music that inspired me first, and the dancing came a few years later, in my third year at university in Leeds, when I discovered that salsa could be found in the UK too.

Q. What made you move to Ireland, as this is a country without a great history of Latin dance?

Having lived in Italy, and also in Spain for a few months, I was keen to experience more of Europe and Ireland seemed like a good choice because of the English spoken here. I came over in 1998 with the intention of pursuing my academic career further, and that was indeed my primary focus until around 18 months ago, when I decided to go into salsa full time. Besides, my friend from home who lives here assured me that there was salsa I could go to in Dublin - Salsa Palace at the Gaiety and shortly after I arrived, Latin Bop at Mungo Jerry's...those were the days!

Q. Your club (The Garda Club, Harrington Street, D2) is a great venue, I notice that the dance floor is pristine, Do you feel that venues in Dublin should do more to maintain their facilities?

I think it is a great bonus when there are good facilities at a salsa club, but practically speaking, venues have other priorities, and most other groups who use the facilities require a well-stocked bar and very little else. It is therefore up to the promoters to try and seek out venues with a good, large dance floor. This is getting increasingly difficult, as dance floors tend to get smaller each time a venue is renovated due to the insurance risk associated with drunk people and a slippery dance floor. Ideally of course, venues would be more accommodating to salseros by maintaining an excellent dance floor, providing air conditioning and not minding about relatively poor bar sales, but unless (until?!) salsa becomes bigger business than the pub scene, I'm afraid that's unlikely to happen. In the meantime, I am very happy with the way the Garda Club is maintained: the dance floor is great, the room is relatively airy and the bar staff line up the glasses of water at the bar.

Q. Cardio Salsa. What is it?

CardioSalsa is a cross between aerobics and salsa. It is designed for you to have fun learning new salsa steps while at the same time having a full aerobic workout. It is an excellent option for people who want to get fit but are bored with going to the gym. Different teachers conduct classes in different ways - anything from a normal aerobics class done to Latin pop, to a something resembling an ongoing salsa warm up. My first love is salsa, so that is the focus for me, although I am also a qualified fitness instructor unlike many of the people who are teaching cardiosalsa. The music has been carefully chosen, such that there is a merengue for the warm up, then salsa for the main aerobic section, from slow paced to very fast towards the end of the class. The cool down is done to a cha cha cha, and then the stretching to a slow cha cha cha or danzon to finish. So, while the structure of the class is in a traditional aerobics format, it is all done with salsa steps, chosen to work both sides of the body, with some high impact moves among the more usual low impact ones, and all done with the emphasis on energy rather than grace as compared to a normal salsa class.

Q. There are many different types of dance which are roughly grouped into the category "Salsa". Do you concentrate on any specific type, or do you teach others?

I like teaching and dancing salsa per se, more than any of the other dances, but enjoy the opportunity to teach merengue, bachata and cha cha cha once in a while, which I do in workshops (e.g. at Ritmo - the salsa, tango & more monthly events). I often teach merengue in beginners classes too, as it helps people to relax and get started, learning the principles of leading and following before having to worry about footwork. At the Garda Club on Thursdays I have started leading an informal five minute class in the above dances when the DJ plays them, so that people have an idea of how to dance to them.

I concentrate on teaching LA style salsa (cross body 'on 1'), leaving Cuban style and New York 'on 2' for workshops. I believe that people should know one style of salsa from another, by being taught one style consistently in a class; it can get confusing if a move uses a mixture of two or more different types of salsa. It is then up to individual dancers to choose to learn the several different styles to dance to the different styles of music, if they wish.

Q. If there was a new venue opening up somewhere and the promoter came to you for advise, what would be the first thing that you would tell them. And also if a person was taking their first lesson what you tell them?

To a new promoter, I would suggest that they get out and about and known by the salsa community: known to be friendly and welcoming, and to enjoy dancing for its own sake. Many times I have had people coming up to me with a flyer for a new salsa night saying 'who is this guy?' with a look of scepticism. It might be the best run club in the city, but people are unlikely to go unless they know something about the promoter - at least to know that they know their Ricky Martin from their los Van Van.

For someone taking their first lesson, I would say 'Have fun! Don't get too hung up with getting the steps right, meet some new people and enjoy the music.' My aim in teaching beginners is to get them to have a good time and start incorporating salsa into their lives. While I will stress certain fundamentals at this stage (such as changing the weight correctly from one step to the next), it is in the improver class, that I look to tidy things up.

Q. We all have dancers that we look up to, if you could name some people who have influenced you, who would they be.

Susana Montero has had a big influence on me both in terms of dancing and teaching. It was when I brought her over as a guest teacher in 2001, that I decided to switch from teaching Cuban style to LA style. I like the way she breaks down her moves and has lots of tips for improving the flow of a figure.

More recently, 'Jazzy' who is based in Norway and teaches at congresses around the world has impressed me very much, and I have started incorporating some of his moves into my dancing and classes.

Q. What do you like most about their dancing?.

Susana's dancing is very 'grounded'. She has a lot of style, but it never seems contrived: it is more like an expression of how she feels in the moment with respect to the music and interaction with her partner, than trying to look good, or fit in a certain bit of ladies' styling. She also looks like she is having a great time which gives a great atmosphere about the dance.

Jazzy comes from a background of ballet and jazz and has a precision of technique, a repertoire of spins and a jazzy style, which reflect that, and to which I would aspire.

Q Do you have any Memorable moments of your time here that you'd like to share with us?

When I first arrived in Dublin and started exploring the salsa scene, I remember my joy at discovering Mungo Jerry's, with DJs Sean and Robert and dancers such as Toni Oscar, Rico and Abel.

More recently, my most memorable time of being at the Garda Club was at the Strictly Salsa Christmas party with over 200 people dancing up a storm, the 'Not Strictly Santa's performing and an atmosphere to dream of.

Q. When your in a club, what is it that makes you WANT to dance.

The music! When a particular song comes on that I love, or a new one that sounds fantastic, I just have to grab the closest person to me and dance.