Salsa in Singapore
by Shawn Cabbell
posted January 8, 2007

I recently had the opportunity to attend my good friend Ibrahim's wedding in Jakarta, Indonesia. While on the other side of the world, I spent a little time in the "fine" city of Singapore. Whenever I first mentioned that I was traveling to Singapore, most people playfully mentioned that it's a "very clean" city that doesn't let you spit or chew gum. I'll have to admit, with this as my initial impression of Singapore, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they have a large, vibrant and actively growing salsa scene. Yang put me in contact with his friend Jean, one of the founders of a studio in Singapore called Two-Left Feet Salsa studio.

Jean invited me to attend their first annual Christmas Party. The party was at the studio and it reminded me very much of the Sunday Socials that we have with IntoSalsa. There were several really good dancers and everyone made me feel warm and welcome. Dancing there was really not much different than here in Indianapolis. Most people danced "On One", cross body style salsa. I danced for almost 4 hours straight at the Christmas party, with the occasional break for food and water. We ended the evening with a gift exchange and a birthday celebration for Jean.

In Singapore, there is a different place to dance Salsa 7 nights a week; however most of the core dancers prefer to dance at club called Union Square. The next day I decided to check out Union Square and find out what all the hype was about. It was incredible. The room was set up into 3 different dance areas. One area for the more seasoned dancers to show their stuff, an area close to the DJ both for the intermediate dancers and a smaller dance floor near the bar where some of the novice dancers liked to hang out. There was a live band from Columbia that played for the majority of the night and plenty of space to chill out and talk in-between dances. Everyone was very friendly and excited to dance whenever asked. Tuesday night was packed, but everyone said that Friday is the best night at Union Square. After I shut the club down, I was invited to hang out with a group people at an Indian restaurant. We laughed, talked, exchanged salsa stories and ate a tasty Indian dish called Pratha! What a great night!

The next day was my last day in Singapore. Since my flight was at 11:00pm, I had some time to meet up with Jean during the day for an impromptu lesson. I had a great time dancing and learning a few things from Jean. She's a really good dancer and you can tell that she really enjoys dancing and sharing her expertise to help dancers at all levels. I most definitely hope to return to Singapore to visit Ib and to hang out with my new friends from the Salsa Scene.