Mambo Step Salsa was originally formed in 2003 by myself, Russ and has been going strong ever since, supported by my partner Claire, my assistant instructors Ian and Julie and all our loyal dancers!

I decided to learn to dance in about 1999 after feeling fed up with being the man leaning on the bar at disco’s clubs and parties! I went to some local ballroom classes that ran a short salsa course. This gave me a huge confidence boost and I discovered that it wasn’t such a big deal after all and that in fact it was quite a manly sort of thing to do!

Following on from that I enrolled on a course that was run by New College Nottingham (ncn). This was held at the Cuba Libré night club in Nottingham where I did a beginners Salsa course for 10 weeks, finishing with an exam. I then completed the Improver and Intermediate levels.

I soon became part of the furniture at the Cuba Libré, so much so that the owner and instructor at the club gave me the opportunity to begin teaching. Before too long I was doing most of the classes there and teaching four nights a week and three classes per night!

Unbelievable….. once the bloke who broke into a cold sweat at the thought of even going near a dance floor, I was now standing on a stage in front of an audience teaching Salsa!!

But it didn’t end there! I had a chance meeting with Cleon Nelson, of Crossbodylead Promotions, who invited me along to some New York style salsa he was holding. That’s where I became even more hooked!

Deciding it was time to branch out alone, I set up classes in various small venues around Nottingham (including Hoofers in Victoria Centre, Mapperley Plains Sports & Social Club, and the Brunts School for Performing Arts). To my surprise, many of my old students from the Cuba Libré days followed. I never looked back.

I want to say a huge thanks to all those who supported me during my development and business expansion.