Salsa is one of the social dances from the Caribbean.

Salsa is danced by both parties with elegant, soft and sensual body movements, where both mastery of body movement, as well as coordination and agility will be challenged and strengthened. The woman must learn to "let go" and "be danced", and the man must learn to lead.

Salsa is danced in couples, a woman and a man together. During classes, Salsa is typically danced in a so—called rueda de casino, which means that all couples dance the same variation in a circle and change partner for each new variation. In this way the men get to dance with all the women, and vice versa. It is a very good learning experience to dance with different partners.

During the rueda, the men's memory is put to the test as they need to recognize, remember and initiate variations.

Many express that Salsa is like a feast—a dance that is fun to learn—especially in a group. There is typically a lot of laughing during the classes and all enjoy the social moment in the dance. Many get to know each other very well through teaching and become friends for life, and many take up the challenge and meet other evenings at the numerous dance halls in Copenhagen, to practice the variations they have learned and socialize with each other.

Group Classes (See "Class Description" and "Classes" )
Private Lessons
Workshops
Bachelor Parties, Corporate Events, Birthday Parties etc (See "Parties")
Salsa combined with Couples Therapy (See "Salsa/Couples Therapy")
"Salsa without pause" and Salsa to other kinds of music (See "Special Salsa")

Classroom instruction takes place in a relaxed atmosphere. We (I usually have one or two assistants with) focuses on YOUR learning.

At the beginner level, you learn the basic step and a set of fundamental elements that are the basis for salsa.

You can think of learning Salsa, as if it were Lego blocks: you get to build a "basic toolbox" that you can later use to create the dance.

You, the man, must intellectually learn every step of the process, while you, the woman, must focus on letting you be led, which is not easy in our culture where women have learned to have to have control over so many things!

Once we have the basic tools in place, we learn variations by putting the basic elements together.

With us, the idea is not that you have to learn a certain number of variations in a certain time frame, rather that you learn the basic elements by rote, so that you, the man, can create your own variations as soon as possible.

As a man, you must learn many things, among others variations AND their names.

To make the learning process easier in the beginning—where it can be a bit difficult in the first place—the variations are introduced in a specific sequence where each variation builds up on the previous. The names of the variations reflect this progression, which makes remembering them easier.

Contact us for more info about classes

salsaogsubstans@gmail.com or 29 39 35 36

Some students want to take one or more private lessons.

Maybe you find some steps a bit difficult (we are all different in how and how quickly we learn).

Or maybe you think that the class is not going fast enough and you want private lessons to move forward faster.

Our pricing policy for private lessons does that by definition, people can afford them more easily.

Instead of requiring the customary (usually quite high) amount, you pay after what you can afford. The best way is that you give an hour for an hour. That is, if we are lucky that you are a bank manager, so "we score big" by getting your high hourly wage, and if you are on welfare, that is the amount you pay!

The more Salsa you dance, the more topics present themselves, and the deeper you can explore them.

Current and former students sometimes say that many men out there on the dance floors could lead a little bit more specifically, and that many women could learn to be led!

Even if you no longer are a beginner, you might benefit from getting a refresh about leading.

Because the dance takes place in two directions on the dance floor, it might come as a surprise that Salsa should have three dimensions. It has, in fact, and the third dimension is gravity!

During the dance the man can use this infinite source of energy by "falling on his right foot" at the right time, thereby collecting energy from the ground and giving it to the woman.

See here for other ways to dance Salsa!

Look for messages on this site and on the social media about such workshops, which we are going to hold once in a while.

Or, if you cannot wait, look under the Private Lessons and see that you can afford this!

Have you experienced this? You went to a disco and could not really dance, because the music was not Salsa?

If you listen well to other kinds of music, you will notice that you actually often can dance salsa to it. The "1-2-3-pause" rhythm can be found in many numbers, even numbers you would never have associated with Salsa!

Before you know it, you dance to some of your favorite singers (for me, it means that I can dance to some of my favorites: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Lisa Ekdahl, Cornelis Vreeswijk and Cat Power, just to name a few).

During the process you will find that some of these melodies create a kind of a trance when you danced to them, as can be the case when you dance on the second beat of regular Salsa instead of the first!

Once you have mastered it, then it's time for ...

Now that you have developed your ear to listen to music in a new way, it comes natural to find some music that "almost" can be danced Salsa to.

"Almost" becomes "It can be done" by dancing Salsa ... without pause!

If you now still are somewhat of a beginner, you may still remember that it was not easy to remember that pause (the pause is in fact one of the major issues for beginners). When you have complete control over the pause, you can begin a new chapter.

With Salsa without pause, your horizon widens even more. There are many, many numbers that are very good to dance Salsa without pause!

Once you get a feel of Salsa without pause, then you are much better to dance "normal" Salsa. Just because you are particularly aware of the pause.

Some numbers can be danced both with or without pause. For instance, you will find that a rather slow number—when danced without pause—becomes faster.

If you read enough of the above, then you already know that our Salsa lessons focus quite a bit on gender roles.

This makes it very ideal for events like bachelor parties, corporate events, etc., where the banter between the sexes is often in the background.

We can come to your location and offer a learning experience with lots of laughs!

Contact us here salsaogsubstans@gmail.com or call +45 29 39 35 36 for details!

Salsa is more than just a couple dance.

In order to dance salsa properly, it requires that women become "real" women and men "real" men: the man must lead the woman, and the woman must be lead, without debate, without discussion!

In a relatively harmless context, Salsa reflects in fact what is going on in society (where women have been forced to become controlling copies of men, and men have been transformed into "wimps"). This does not mean that men again should control women.

For a woman to feel safe enough to let herself be lead, she must feel that the man is able to lead her.

Here we challenge the eternal balance between the genders and their respective properties—the balance between opposites as in any polarity: day and night, hot and cold, light and dark, etc., where one can not exist without the other.

I have learned from my teaching that the following are the greatest challenges people face when they start dancing Salsa:

• The woman must learn to explore her femininity by letting go of control and let the man take control. In this way she can express herself and abandon herself to the dance. She can become so engrossed in the process that she almost loses touch with the surroundings.

• The man must learn to explore his manhood, by leading in an assertive and yet gentle way, assertive enough to show the woman that he is there for her, and gentle enough to show respect for her process. This way, the man creates the framework in which the woman can unfold herself.

Both parties explore their meeting by playing their roles and letting the other playing theirs.

As long as the woman tries—consciously or unconsciously—to control the process, or as long as the man does not lead properly, the dance is no more than an effort, or—at worst—a struggle. The moment both parties play their roles, the dance becomes a high-quality experience.

It is no coincidence that salsa and other Latin dances are considered very sexy, especially in the Nordic cold countries: it is very easy to compare Salsa with sex. During both activities, women and men have different roles, which in turn reflects their gender essence, the feminine and the masculine. Ecstasy, either during sex or salsa, is only achieved when both parties rest in their essence.

My motivation to teach Salsa comes from the joy of seeing people rediscover their essence.

• Most women will notice how nice it is to dance with a man who can lead, thereby fully be able to abandon herself to the dance. When I dance woman, I also get the feeling that I can just enjoy it without worrying about anything. In a "real" man's hands, I can even dance with closed eyes.

• I have seen men build their self-confidence by learning to lead in a proper way. They learn to transform their raw energy to a constructive leading, or to bring their virility back to the surface.

SOS is aimed at couples who want to strengthen their relationship, both in and outside the bed.

The course consists of the following:

• 9 1.5 hours Salsa Lessons;
• 3 hours of individual therapy.

In the salsa part, you learn to dance salsa, as you would in an ordinary Salsa class—except that we focus even more on gender roles.

During the therapy conversations we use what you have experienced in the salsa part as the basis for examining your relationship and what could be done to get it to bloom again.

The course costs 2,000.00 kr. per couple.

Additional therapy can be offered as needed, see our Private Lessons policy.

SOS has been mentioned in an article in the press.

Here you will find both a picture of the article and—because the picture is not very clear—also a reproduction of the text itself.

The classes are taught by Jean-Paul Bardou.

My philosophy is that everyone should be a part of the action. That is, I use the time it takes so that we can proceed in an orderly manner, with special attention to those for whom it might be a little difficult at first.

Not all of us become elite dancers. My interest is in disseminating information about something exciting. I am a good teacher, good to find images and to get students to thrive.

Most often, I have one or two female assistants, both can, also to varying degrees, dance man. That is, you get a lot of attention along the way!

A.-N.: Jean Paul is a very talented dancer and salsa teacher. JP emphasizes that men and women must understand the dance's true nature, where the man leads and the woman follows. It places a special (large) expectation on the man. He must acquire the many wonderful variations and he should master the technique. However, the result becomes also a delightful dance experience for both parties.

J.V.: Here everyone can participate!

We have now during three seasons experienced Jean-Paul as a patient and thorough instructor: there is time for all to follow.

There is also room for fun and socializing in a relaxed atmosphere that has developed a nice community and enjoyment of the dance.

I.D.: I have been very pleased to have Jean-Paul as a teacher. He is clearly passionate about communicating many aspects of the dance, which has been very educational for me. The strong focus on gender roles in and outside the dance has been a lovely and instructive additional item.

When I think back to the many teachers I have had throughout my life, it's just the passionate and the "special" ones (here meant as a compliment) who remain sharpest in memory. Those who had the edge, stood out from the crowd, who had special opinions—which I did not necessarily agree with, but that made me reflect.

Teachers who were also quite difficult and provocating—and yet made one come through with the teaching in a loving manner. Jean-Paul is such a teacher. And thank God for it.

M.C.: After five seasons attending Jane and Jean-Paul's classes , I am ready to move on. The teaching has been really good and fruitful, and I believe that all new beginners will enjoy dancing with Jean-Paul and Jane. The instructions are thorough, which I can only see as a big advantage when you are a new beginner.

P.M.J.: Jean-Paul is good to repeat the variations so that we all can execute them. For us who do not remember the variations so well, it's great that it's ok and the variations will be reviewed again so we all can follow, an important element of Jean-Paul's teaching.

A.S.: My boyfriend and I have been very happy to go to Salsa with Jean-Paul. I think he is a talented instructor who knows how to get everyone in the class to perform the various variations while making it fun and entertaining. I have previously gone to Salsa in Copenhagen and I am very pleased to have found an accomplished instructor ... I also think we got a lot out of going by Jean-Paul—we have been challenged and we now can dance many more variations than before.

H.H.D.: I have been super happy with the teaching. I have previously gone to beginner salsa teaching, and I have in no way learned so much as now.

L.A.: Jean-Paul teaches in a relaxed and humorous tone—this is why I like to go to salsa.

R.H.: It is important that the man leads and not all men can do it. With Jean-Paul, a strong emphasis is put on the fact that the man must learn to lead and the woman should learn to be led. Thoroughness is one thing that Jean-Paul attaches great importance to and he does not start a new variation before we all together can perform the other variations.

You can get in touch with us in the following manners:

salsaogsubstans@gmail.com or

Call Jean-Paul at +45 29 39 35 36.

Here you can find videos of several elements and variations. You can find a detailed description of the basic step and basic variations here.

We are glad to offer you this information. And you should know that watching movies and reading instructions can not give you the same depth as you will get by coming to classes!

We have more videos, which the students can get, as we learn variations along the way.

Here you can see detailed descriptions of the basic step and basic variations.