Paragon Dance Center is located at 931 E Elliot Rd #101, Tempe, AZ 85284.
Salsa venue overview
Paragon is a spacious dance studio. It can probably hold up to 100 people at one time. During the week, the studio teaches and hosts social events for different dance styles.
Sunday is salsa night. The instructors are strong, and they make the class fun and easy to follow.
The lesson and social cost $10. Students with ID pay $8. The social alone costs $5. In addition, the parking lot is large and usually has plenty of spaces. There is no minimum age to get in.
Salsa lesson
The salsa lesson starts at 7 pm. First, everyone does a 10-minute warm-up with basic salsa moves. Then the class splits into beginner and intermediate groups.
The class in the photo above was the beginner group. Salsa is taught “on two,” and the lesson lasts one hour. The Sunday salsa classes at Paragon are popular. As a result, they usually draw a decent crowd.
Social dancing
The social dancing starts at 8 pm. On Sunday nights, people of many ages come to Paragon for the class and social. About half of the crowd is usually college students.
About the host of this salsa venue
Shawn Sallee originally started this salsa night in 2005. Today, it is hosted by Larry Garcia, one of the best salsa instructors in Phoenix. In the photo above, Larry is the instructor in the yellow T-shirt. He is showing the intermediate group moves from the pattern.
After the lesson, Larry becomes the DJ. During social dancing, he plays mostly salsa music. He also adds some bachata and cha-cha between salsa songs.
Larry started teaching group salsa lessons a few years ago. Since then, he has become one of the most active salsa instructors in the Valley. I can not think of a salsa venue where Larry is not invited as a guest instructor.
Currently, he hosts two salsa nights each week. One is at Paragon Dance Center on Sunday. The other is on Tuesday at Elks Lodge in Scottsdale, where he teaches salsa on two, or mambo style. You can learn more about Larry Garcia and his Tuesday salsa night by reading the post about Mambo Exquisite.
For a group salsa lesson on Sunday night, Paragon is a strong choice for both beginner and intermediate dancers.
Videos from Paragon Sunday salsa night
A short warm-up before the start of the salsa lesson.
Sunday night intermediate pattern at Paragon.
Another intermediate pattern from Sunday class at Paragon.
A nice intermediate salsa pattern recorded during the Sunday lesson.
Styling for girls during cross body lead.
Social salsa dancing at Paragon after the class.
More high definition videos recorded at Paragon.
Have you been to Paragon on a Sunday salsa night?
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