Came dancing!

A new fever is sweeping the capital city leaving dance rooms steamy and crowded and people hot and breathless. Yet, they can’t help climbing to their feet and going back for more. The reason? Salsa!

Salsa is more complicated and it has special rhythms that are not always easy to hear.

The man leading the craze is Raoul Imbach, the Vice Ambassador of Switzerland to Vietnam, who admits when he arrived in Hanoi, back in March 2002, he was disappointed to find no salsa action around town.

“Coming from Latin America to Hanoi was a real culture shock and from the beginning I missed the Latin music and dancing, which was unknown in Vietnam at that time. So I took advantage of private parties at my house and at friends’ to play and dance to Latin music.

Then, some people asked me to give them some classes and that is how I started to teach,” Raoul recalls.

Salsa is referred to as a tree with many roots and many branches, but with one trunk that unites all. Salsa music can be heard throughout the Hispanic world and has evolved with influences from all over.

New York, where salsa is perhaps most popular, is the city that coined the word “salsa”, though the dance originated elsewhere.

The term was used to describe a variety of different music of Hispanic origin, such as the rumba, mambo, or cha cha cha.

So, in different clubs, one style may dominate, which is why, along with salsa, “merengue” and “reggaeton” are two styles of dancing Raoul also teaches.

Merengue originates from Dominican Republic and its moves almost look like walking, while reggeaton is influenced by hip-hop. Both are easy to learn, says Raoul.

“Salsa is more complicated and it has special rhythms that are not always easy to hear. Not only your body moves but your head must always think about the beat when you dance Salsa.

So you need a good ear and some Latin feeling to dance to it. It is sometimes difficult to teach to people who are good ballroom dancers, as they easily fall back to Mambo,” said Raoul.

Raoul’s real passion is actually singing and in France, he’s well known with two albums My Life and Children of the World under his belt. But dancing has clearly always been in his bones, as he won second place in a 24 hour non-stop dance contest when he was just 19.

“I love to share the happiness of dancing with other people. I like to make people happy and to see that they are having a good time and, in some cases, I can feel that I am bringing passion to their lives. I have seen some very depressed people coming to my class and a few weeks later they had changed and that makes me happy,” says Raoul.

Twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday nights from eight to ten, at the Sheraton’s Nutz Bar, Raoul brings the hot spirit of salsa to the floor. When the music is on he, and everyone else, unites to the rhythm of the music.

“Salsa is good for human health, it is like doing exercise that keeps you healthy and flexible. That is why after two hours dancing, I am probably full of sweat and have to change my shirt three times,” says Raoul.

Though, Raoul says salsa is not an easy dance and is quick to stress dancers must have confidence and patience to dance it well.

A third album entitled Urban Gypsy by Raoul has just been finished and will be released during his charity solo concert, accompanied by The Wild Tortillas at the Hanoi Opera House later this year.

“I am happy to see salsa growing in Vietnam and I will be happy that when I leave, people may continue what I started,” says Raoul.

Salsa Club at Nutz Bar, Sheraton Hotel, Wednesday and Saturday nights, 8-10pm.