Salsa (No Chips)

Remember the wedding? The flowers, the dress, dance lessons with the groom? The dress is stowed away, the flowers are preserved. And that romantic first dance? Let’s hope you kept the dancing shoes because we think they might just have some life left to live.

Dust them off and one-two cha cha cha your way to Salsa Babies with a new partner—you guessed it, your own little dance baby.

Salsa Babies, brand new to Calgary, is designed with the new mom in mind. Babies that fit in an upright carrier (eight pounds to as heavy as you can carry) can ride on mom’s chest while mom learns the steps to some saucy Latin dances.

Calgary entrepreneur Michelle Collins is mamacita to two wee ones, aged one and two, and didn’t waste any time getting back in shape and getting back to business. This ballerina (she performed in The Nutcracker), has taught children various dance styles from hip hop to tap. Now she’s turning her focus to the salsa, the meringue and the cha-cha.

Salsa Babies is intended to be a gentle postpartum reintroduction to the world of fitness. You can start as soon as your baby can hold up its head and your doctor gives you the a-ok. Starting with the footwork, Salsa Babies gradually adds arms and hips. Before you know it you’ll be shaking your maracas to your grateful baby’s delight.

Salsa Babies has been a hit in central Canada for many moons. Thankfully all good things eventually seem to drift west. The Calgary premiere of Salsa Babies ramps up on May 29th for an eight week session (just in time to don that bathing suit at the outdoor pool). There are currently two locations in the south with plans to expand north of the Bow in the fall.

Contact Salsa Babies to arrange a free drop-in class before committing to the entire program. (And if you’re thinking, hmm, I’d love to learn to dance with my bebé but at 2 years old and 30 pounds, he’s a bit big to strap on…then Salsa Tots will be for you, launching in the fall for moms and their big kids.)

So get out there and shake it up with your new bundle of joy. Nothing like a good cha-cha to strengthen the bond, right?

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