Merecumbre is one of the premier dance studios in Liberia, Costa Rica! The Villa crew decided to strap on our dancing shoes and test our rhythm in a few different latino dances. Our instructor, Andres, first shared with us his story: his mother Flori has owned this studio for many years, and he grew up already practicing the moves. With many years of experience under his belt, he did not hesitate to show us how it is done in Costa Rica – expertly dancing Tico swing with his partner.

After a short warm-up, we started testing out our own moves. Throughout the lesson, we experimented with merengue, bachata, salsa, and Tico swing. With emphasis placed on the movement to the music, everyone began to look the part of expert dancers within no time. After some solo moves in front of the mirror, Andres partnered students and leaders together to take our skills to the next level. Now learning a new dance can be tricky when one is solo, but the joy of the dance is increased when we dance with a partner. Especially when your partner is Charlie. He rocked’n’rolled and covered almost every inch of the dance floor. Whether it was merengue or salsa, Charlie was dancing his heart out. Meanwhile, partners Mely and Sophie; Shreya and Vivien; and Eloise and Harper added grace and infinite smiles.

Salsa, probably the most well known latino dance, was actually invented in New York City. With emphasis on partners and movements in the hip, salsa is not only enjoyable, but a great way to build up a sweat in a 90 degree dance studio. When the time came for us to salsa, Zoe, Henry, Betsy, Paul, and Pierce showed a few of us their ways. They picked up the moves quickly and was perfectly in time with the music no matter what the song. We may have future salsa instructors in our midst!

We all had such a great time that we were sad to see our short lesson come to an end. Andres thanked us profusely and asked us to come back again. We know that the skills we walked away with will add to our entertainment for the final party in Silencio.