Studio offers salsa dancing class

The Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Bloomington staged its first salsa dancing class in years Monday night.

Long-time studio owner and instructor Barbara Leininger opened the studio 20 years ago, and she said she is eager to see the crowd the Monday night salsa classes will bring in.

Leininger said she is optimistic about the turnout for the class because she realizes Latin dancing is popular right now.

“A few of our students go out to dance locally,” she said. “We realized there was an interest in Latin dancing.”

When she moved from Miami, Fla. to Bloomington, her friends in Indianapolis encouraged her to open a dance studio.
 
“I grew up in Miami around a huge Latin community, and Latin dancing was a huge part of my experience as a child and an adult,” she said.

Leininger admitted she tries to go out and do Latin dancing when she goes back to Miami to visit family and friends.

Mary Alice Powell has been an instructor at the studio for seven years, and she also brings a dancing background to the studio.

“I wanted to dance again,” she said. “I was in an opera that had some tango dancing in it.”

Powell also attended Latin dance classes once a month at a dance club during her time as an undergraduate at IU.

“I used to go to Second Story, which is a club in town where Serendipity is now,” she said. “They would only have classes once a month.

“I wish I would have had a class like this back then because I had to learn the hard way.”

Comfort is key at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio, and Powell said the studio will “specialize in people who feel like they have two left feet.”

The staff at the studio understands dancing can be an intimidating experience, and Powell and Leininger said they will do everything they can to make the classes feel like a fun and casual environment.

“The hardest choice that you’ll ever make is simply walking through the door,” Powell said. “Once you get past the door, everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be easy.”

For dancers, Powell said the studio is meant to feel relaxed and low-key.

“We work at their pace, so no one’s trying to join ‘Dancing With the Stars’ after a couple of group classes,” Powell said.

Follow reporter Alexis Benveniste on Twitter @apbenven.