Last night we went to our second private Latin dance class and our first group Latin dance class in Alajuela. Randall, our private instructor does a great job, in my opinion. He speaks English quite well, which makes the classes less painful for us and he’s very patient. Though he teaches at the Merecumbre studio, he also teaches privately at people’s homes and is willing to travel.
Below is the contact information for Randall, our private dance instructor. He teaches Salsa, Merengue, Swing, Criollo (Cumbia) and Boleros. If you’re in Costa Rica near San Jose and you want private Latin dance classes from a good instructor contact:
Randall Vargas Guido
El Roble Alajuela
San Jose, Costa Rica
Phone: (Home) 506-2441-3455 or (Mobile) 506-8819-4590
Email: randallbaile@hotmail.com
The group lessons were also worthwhile. They started at 6:00 PM and lasted until 7:30 PM. We were very sweaty and tired by the time the classes ended, but it felt good. Lydian switched from partner to partner but John and I were able to stay together in the class, which was nice. Lydian didn’t really enjoy the switching a lot, she told us later. None of her partners really tripped her trigger except the one she danced with first, who was an instructor. As a twelve year old, she really isn’t all that interested in getting close to men, even the nice-looking ones, she just wants to learn how to do the dances and the instructor was the only partner she had who was able to provide her with instruction.
“They kept saying, ‘Tranquila’ to me every time I would try to ask them a question.” She told me later. We decided that this might be just a nice way of saying, “Shut up, woman!”
The group environment was fun and I would definitely recommend it, but not necessarily for a 12 year old unless they have a partner they’re comfortable with. For now, we’re probably going to stick with private lessons with Randall to finish learning how to dance (at least well enough to feel comfortable doing it in public).
