Dance while you still can

Ballroom dance may be a mainstay in Taiwan, but a variety of new dance classes are spicing up the social dance scene in Taipei.

Catering to both the local and foreign communities, with classes in English and Chinese, several dance studios in Taipei are now offering salsa, tango, hip-hop and swing.

"Salsa is becoming quite popular in Taiwan. A lot of places are starting to hire live Latin bands and there seems to be a big salsa community emerging here," said Godfrey Zwygart, a director and instructor at Taiwan Yoseikan Bodu, a martial-arts center in Tienmu.

Hoping to cash in on the recent rise in popularity of Latin-style dance, the Yoseikan center has employed professional instructors to teach salsa, flamenco and belly dancing. "These are natural and sexy dances. People like to get dressed up and go out to the clubs and dance. The girls really love it," Zwygart said.

While beginner-level classes in flamenco get underway this coming Wednesday, both belly dance and salsa began last week. However, interested persons can still register and -- if demand permits -- additional classes will be added later.

Elsewhere in the city, well-established studios such as Wu Yi (舞藝) are upgrading their existing list of classes to include more recently popular forms of dance such as funk and hip-hop. Professional dance instructor, Andrea Chiang (蔣苑卉) says while several Taipei studios have classes in modern dance, few offer as many styles or as wide a schedule as Wu Yi.

Classes at Wu Yi are open to the public and the center encourages people to drop by the studio and observe a class before making any commitments. It offers a wide range of classes from classical Chinese to salsa and caters to all levels, but English instruction is not always available. For some, however verbal language is nonessential to a good dance lesson.

"You don't need language. You just need to watch what the instructor does and follow, you can use body language to learn," Chiang said.