Mambalsa Summer 2019 Newsletter

Mambalsa Summer 2019 Newsletter

NEWS FLASH: 
Tomorrow 24th July, is the last Daytime Dance at the Three Compasses before September so come if you can.

Daytime Dance N8 restarts on Wed. Sept 4th 11am

Hello everyone,
It’s been a great start to the year for Mambalsa :

Daytime Dance Success:

The Daytime Dance project has been a success. A massive thank you to everyone who’s taken part and supported Mambalsa.


Launching a class in June is the worst time of year as numbers inevitably drop off during the summer, so any group that’s kept going is doing well and we have done well. Two special thanks to Richard and team at the Three Compasses, and to Kimberley who’s personal and group’s support helped me get things going.


As a proof of concept Daytime Dance has succeeded well enough to start to look for several more venues for the Autumn. Hopefully: Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Highgate and Bounds Green. The advantage of nearby venues is that marketing overlaps and becomes more efficient. It also offers more choice in participation.

“One Small Step”

From a teaching point of view I’ve learnt so much about teaching Mambalsa over the past six weeks. 
Did you know that Daytime Dance N8 was the world’s first ever weekly Mambalsa Class?


There’s a lot of new ideas being rolled in: The general class structure and pace; Getting everyone to lead and follow; The ‘dance off’ cool down; Referencing the emotional experience as we learn; Peer to peer instruction (getting those with little experience to show newbies the basics); Adapting to the group rather than forcing all the pegs into my preconceived hole, Finding the words to get the concepts across.


It’s been a steep learning curve and I thank everyone once again. In the words of Miranda Heart’s sidekick character “Bear with!”


I welcome any feedback and ideas, just email me at info atinfo@mambalsa.com 

Tesco Fun Last Thursday’s:

As part of Tesco’s Dance Beats charity project I was invited to Tesco Colney Hatch Lane to get the dancing going. It was a heap of fun with staff forming the core and shoppers hopping aboard to ‘have a wiggle’. We were certainly an unexpected item and it took me back to 2015 when I took Mambalsa to the Edinburgh Fringe and danced with the public in the Royal Mile.

Future:

Apart from expending Daytime Dance this Autumn, I aim to start a Central London evening class. I’m already tagging a taster on to my Saturday Salsa Rapido 1-Day Intensive Salsa Course and with a little marketing it should succeed. I’ll also run Sunday workshops that should feed into the classes.

Along the way I’ll build a new Mambalsa.com web site.
In a couple of weeks I’ll start filming the new Mambalsa Clips for Youtube, based on the Salsa Rapido clips I filmed last year.
My aim is to get the website, videos/materials and proof of concepts ready to licence Mambalsa to a network of teachers in 2020.

Combined with my existing salsa teaching, corporate entertainment, psychotherapy training, voluntary counselling, architectural CPD presentations plus Stand up gigs and DIY projects I feel as if time is going to fly. Welcome to the gig economy :-)

Events:

This Sunday 28th July we've the Thames Salsa Cruise so visit www.streetbest.co.uk/tsc
Sunday 4th Aug Salsa Clasica at The Three Compasses N8
Oooodles of salsa courses at www.streetbeat.co.uk


See you soon
Alastair