For this term’s first Hi Society, SCAN sat down with Lancaster University Salsa Society’s (LUSS) President and Social Exec, Marie Bettini and Greta Jankauskaite to tell us more about the society and what they have to offer.
What aims does LUSS have?
Our aim is to teach salsa, for the past four years it has been students teaching students, but for the start of term one, we are trying to get a teacher to teach Salsa. There are many moves that we don’t know as we are not professionals, we only do it as a hobby. So it will be nice to have a teacher to teach us more elaborate moves. A lot of dance societies are very competitive whereas we just want to keep our society friendly and have fun. Salsa is a very social dance, if you do salsa you can do it in a club, with others you can’t. We want to teach people how to dance, and lead properly. We want to help people learn how to dance and have fun while doing it.
Who is LUSS aimed at and is there any experience needed?
It is aimed at anyone at University and there are even people who aren’t at university who come too. There is zero experience needed and the dance is easily taught. People can easily learn and catch up. People who are beginners who have never done dance before have ended up being in shows and in the performances we have put on.
When are your classes?
In first and second term it was on Wednesdays 6-8pm and Saturdays 4-6pm. In term 3 there are no classes because of the exam period, but we’ll be starting up again next term.
What socials do you have?
We have dinners together, three or four a term. It’s really good to get to know the people you are dancing with. We have mostly dinners and meet ups. There are quite a few Latin Parties during the year so we usually get together before to have pre-drinks and then all go out together and dance to Latin songs.
How would a student who is interested in LUSS get involved?
You can just turn up, first session is always free and the membership fee is £6 for the whole year. That might increase slightly next year when we have a teacher.