What to Expect in Your First 6 Weeks of Beginner Salsa Classes in Sydney | R&M Latin Dance
Never danced before? Perfect. Our six-week beginner salsa and bachata courses in Sydney are designed to help you learn from scratch, build real dancing skills and discover just how much fun learning something new can be.
You've probably watched people salsa or bachata dancing and thought, That looks amazing… but could I actually do that?
Maybe you love Latin music but have never known how to move to it. Maybe you want a hobby that gets you out of your usual routine, helps you meet new people or gives you something exciting to look forward to each week. Or maybe you've wanted to learn to dance for years but kept putting it off because you thought you weren't coordinated enough.
At R&M Latin Dance, we hear these thoughts all the time. We're Mariano and Rhian, and we've built our dance school around helping complete beginners discover the joy of partner dancing. We know that starting something new can feel a little intimidating, which is why we've developed a structured six-week learning experience that takes you through the fundamentals step by step. You'll learn how to move to the music, dance with a partner, develop your coordination and start putting your new skills together. And along the way, you'll get to know other people who are starting the same journey.
Here's what your first six weeks with R&M Latin Dance in Sydney can look like.
First, what makes learning at R&M different?
We don't believe that great dancers are simply born with natural rhythm or coordination. We believe that the way you're taught makes a huge difference. That's why our beginner courses is based around 6 lessons and aren't just about memorising a sequence of steps and hoping you remember them the following week. Our teaching approach combines a logical progression of movements with technique, musicality, body movement and partner connection. We break things down so you can understand what you're doing, why you're doing it and how each new skill builds on what you've already learned.
Another important part of our approach is having both of us teaching, one for the follower role (usually female) and the leader role (usually make). As a dance partnership, we can demonstrate and explain the perspectives of both the leader and the follower, helping you understand how two people communicate through movement.
Leaders will find clear instruction for how to lead and move their partner around while keeping their steps, and followers will work on their following skills of course, but also how to start to add their personality into their dancing with styling.
Rhi & Mariano make the classes such a joy to attend, you will learn to dance but along the way you'll laugh, you'll smile and you'll feel comfortable with your teachers and with your class mates. It's great to be among people your same age in your 20s and 30s, you will learn all at the same pace, you'll have the same sense of humour, you'll all enjoy hanging out and dancing at the parties together!
Our beginner courses run for six weeks, with one structured one-hour class each week. Each session builds on the previous one, giving you time to practise, improve and gradually put the pieces together. The time over 6 weeks is the perfect time to absorb the rhythm, the instructions and put it into practice in a real life dance! We even include mini tutorials to help you practice at home or if you missed any classes. R&M is truly the whole package!
You don't need any previous experience. You just need to start.
Your six-week journey for Salsa Beginners classes in Sydney:
Week 1 — Your first steps: discovering the rhythm
Your first class is all about getting started. We'll introduce you to the music, the basic rhythm and the foundational steps of your chosen dance (Salsa or Bachata). You'll begin learning how to coordinate your feet with the beat and become familiar with the movements you'll use throughout the course. If you've never danced before, some things might feel unfamiliar at first, you might need a little time to get your feet moving in the right direction, or you might find yourself concentrating so hard on the steps that you forget to listen to the music!
That's completely normal.
We break the movements down and guide you through them so you can begin building a foundation without feeling that you need to know everything straight away. You'll also start getting comfortable in the class environment, meeting your fellow students and discovering that everyone is there to learn. We'll cover the base of how to hold your dance partner correctly and how to put the first steps together. We know that most people walk in nervous so we definitely ease the atmosphere with light jokes and funny moments, this gets everyone smiling straight away!
Your goal this week: Begin understanding the rhythm, learn your basic steps and take your first steps into the world of salsa or bachata.
Week 2 — Partnerwork and connection: learning to dance together
In your second week, we'll recap what we learnt in your first week and start to build on your next moves, you'll start developing the fundamentals of partnerwork and learn how leading and following work together. Partner dancing isn't about forcing someone through a sequence of movements. It's about communication, timing and responding to another person. Very similar to learning a new language!
We'll get you moving with some turns, develop your coordination and begin applying what you've learned to dancing with a partner. At R&M, we teach both sides of the partnership, so you can see how the movement works from different perspectives.
If you're attending on your own, you'll have opportunities to practise with other students through partner rotation. If you're joining as a couple, you can learn together and develop your skills as a team.
And yes, you might get a step wrong or turn in the wrong direction. That's part of learning!
Your goal this week: Start connecting your basic steps with partnerwork and understand how two people move together with turns and other exciting moves.
Week 3 — Combinations: putting the pieces together
By the third week, you'll start to feel confident on what you know and excited to add more. You'll repeat your turns, and explore new combinations and ways to link movements together.
Instead of thinking only about your basic steps, you'll begin exploring how to transition between movements and create more variety in your dancing and feel more confident with the beat. You'll still be practising the fundamentals, because good technique starts with understanding the basics. But you'll also be challenged to apply them in new ways. Some movements might click immediately. Others may take a few more repetitions. That's why we build the course progressively, rather than expecting you to master everything in one lesson.
Your goal this week: Expand your movement vocabulary and begin combining your foundational steps with turns and other partnerwork.
Week 4 — Musicality and body movement: finding the flavour of the dance
This is where you begin discovering more of what makes salsa and bachata special. Learning steps is important, but dancing is also about how you move, how you interpret the music and how you connect your movements to the rhythm.
In week 4 your repertoire of moves starts becoming larger an you'll start to learn mini combos to introduce into your dancing when you practice. The girls will work on some hand movements to spice up their basics and add personality into their dancing! Gradually, the focus starts shifting from simply remembering the movements to enjoying how they feel.
Your goal this week: Develop a stronger connection with the music and begin bringing more expression and personality into your dancing.
Week 5 — Putting it all together: building flow and confidence
By now, you'll have explored the foundations, partnerwork, turns and musicality. Week five gives you the opportunity to bring those elements together. You'll work on combining movements into longer sequences, improving transitions and becoming more comfortable dancing with a partner. The music will become slightly faster (but not too much) and you can remember a combination more easily. You will recognise these moments of progress. We want you to understand what you're doing rather than simply copying movements. As your steps improve, you can start developing a more natural flow and preparing to use your skills beyond the classroom.
Your goal this week: Connect your skills into longer sequences and become more comfortable moving with a partner.
Week 6 — Bringing it all together: your next step as a dancer
Six weeks can make a real difference when you give yourself the opportunity to learn consistently. In your final beginner class, you'll bring together the skills you've been developing throughout the course and work towards dancing more comfortably with a partner to the music. We always remind our students to think back to their first lesson when the steps needed more concentration and now how they are able to chat and dance at the same time! We even train their memory capacity to remember all the moves in a cool choreography that fills the song and gives them freedom to dance!
You'll understand more about the rhythm, have movements and combinations to work with, and have started developing the skills needed for social dancing. Girls will build up their confidence to express themselves dancing!
Everyone progresses differently, and you won't be expected to become a perfect dancer in six weeks. The aim is to build a solid foundation, recognise how far you've come and feel ready for your next stage of learning. If you've discovered that you love dancing, this is where the journey can become even more exciting.
Your goal this week: Bring your skills together, celebrate your progress and discover where you want to take your dancing next.
Beyond the course— Dancing
Most of the students who take our 6 weeks course find themselves craving more - and yes, we provide! R&M has many levels to move forward, grow their repertoire of routines, develop their body movement skills and of course continue along our social events as well!
What happens outside the lessons?
R&M is known for holding extra activities alongside our courses that are bonus activities - that could be spontaneous beer at the local pub after your weekly class or a more official R&M social mixer at a Sydney bar, beach Bbq dance days together, going out together as a group to a Sydney Salsa event as well. People can definitely spot when R&M dancers go out!
At the end of your course, you'll experience an R&M Latin Party and honestly it may just blow your mind, we call this your "Graduation" Party where you are ready to show off all your amazing new moves learnt in the 6 weeks!
One of the things we love most about teaching at R&M is watching the experience grow beyond the weekly class. When you join a progressive six-week course, you see familiar faces each week. You learn alongside people who are working on similar skills, and you get to share the little victories that come with learning something new. Sometimes it's the moment a turn finally makes sense. Sometimes it's laughing together after everyone goes in a different direction. Sometimes it's chatting before class or discovering that you have more in common with your classmates than you expected, and as students continue, there are opportunities to experience more of the R&M community through social events, themed parties, practice opportunities and further dance levels and even dance trips overseas!
Some students simply enjoy having a fun activity in their weekly routine, while others want to keep improving, explore more challenging partnerwork or eventually take part in performances and other dance experiences. There's no single path you need to follow. You can enjoy learning at your own pace and discover what you want dancing to become for you. For us, that's what makes this experience so rewarding. You're developing a skill, but you're also giving yourself the chance to try something different, connect with people and create new memories.
Can you really learn salsa or bachata if you've never danced before?
Absolutely, you can begin learning without previous dance experience. You don't need to arrive with natural coordination, a background in dance or an ability to remember complicated sequences. Those are skills you can work on as you learn.
Our courses are specifically designed for complete beginners, and we build the learning process step by step.
What helps most is attending consistently, listening to the explanations, practising the movements and giving yourself permission to make mistakes.
You may find some parts easier than others. You may have a week when everything seems to click, followed by a movement that takes a little longer to understand. That's all part of learning. The course is designed to be easy to follow and pick up by still keep the students challenged at the right pace for their level, a method and structure R&M have developed over many years of teaching!
Our job is to guide you through the process, help you understand the technique and give you a clear foundation to keep developing. You don't need to be confident before you start. Sometimes confidence comes from giving yourself the opportunity to learn something you once thought was beyond you.
What if you don't have a partner?
You can join R&M on your own or with a partner.
If you're attending individually, partner rotation gives you the opportunity to practise with other students and become more comfortable dancing with different people.
If you're joining as a couple, you can learn together and share the experience. You also don't need to arrive knowing anyone else. Everyone is there to learn, and the class gives you a shared activity that makes it easier to start conversations and get to know people over time.
Our community is particularly popular with adults in their 20s and 30s who are looking for a fun, social way to learn something new. If finding a similar-age community is important to you, you can check the age eligibility for the current intake when registering.
What should you wear, and what do you need to bring?
Keep it simple for your first class. Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely, and choose comfortable shoes with soles that allow you to move without gripping the floor too much. You don't need to purchase specialist dance shoes before getting started, but if you are looking for Salsa or Bachata shoes down the track, we work with a beautiful brand Havance to provide the best priced shoes for our students.
Bring some water, or drinks are available to purchase in the shop next door.
Our classes take place at Havance Studio in Chippendale, at 154–160 Broadway, a short walk from Central Station, or with plenty of free parking in the area. Check your booking confirmation for the details of your class, including the correct day and time.
And remember: you don't need to prepare by learning steps from YouTube beforehand. We'll guide you through the foundations in class.
Why we teach in six-week courses
We could simply teach unrelated movements each week, but after many years teaching beginners we believe that learning to dance is much more rewarding when you have a clear progression. A six-week course gives you a structured starting point. Each lesson builds on the previous one, allowing you to revisit what you've learned while gradually developing new skills.
It also gives you time to become familiar with your classmates, get comfortable with partnerwork and experience the satisfaction of seeing your dancing develop. Rather than attending a single class and being left wondering what to learn next, you have a pathway to follow and a goal to work towards. Much of our feedback speaks about how we are the most enjoyable classes and that we are the best to follow along, things are explained properly and we are approachable if you need to ask questions!
Our beginner courses are pre-booked, progressive courses rather than casual drop-in lessons. That way, you know you're committing to a learning experience designed to take you through the fundamentals and get you to your goals of actually being able to dance! When the six weeks are over, you can explore the next level and keep building on the foundation you've created.
Ready to start your six-week journey?
If you've been thinking about learning salsa or bachata in Sydney, we'd love to help you get started. At R&M Latin Dance, we want you to enjoy the process of learning, feel supported as you develop your skills and discover what partner dancing can bring into your life.
You might arrive because you love the music. You might want a new hobby, a chance to meet people or a reason to get out of your routine.
Whatever brings you to the door, you don't need to have it all figured out. Start with the basics. Give yourself six weeks to learn, practise and discover.
We're Mariano and Rhian, and we can't wait to welcome you to the dance floor.
Explore our six-week beginner courses in Sydney and choose your next step:
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