Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mavor]

Hi all,

In Canada, I taught salsa to my local community as a way to introduce people to the dance, and to have fun. I recently got into contact with a dance studio here in Seoul located in Hongdae that is prepared to rent me the space to do lessons for anyone who is interested.

I would like to teach salsa to foreigners and Koreans that can speak english, and want to improve. The main focus of my dance lessons would be on learning how to dance salsa, but for the Koreans who are just learning how to speak English, I feel it would be a great opportunity for them as well.

And to dispel any myths about the dance... Salsa is a really really social dance. If you learn how to dance salsa, most of the people in any salsa club will immediately be friendly to you. Salsa clubs are NOT AT ALL like night clubs. The mood is relaxed, friendly, and fun. Most people are not there specifically for the "meat market". Salsa dance can be a great way to meet new people and find a girlfriend/boyfriend, but usually the focus in a salsa club is to have fun and worry about the romantic stuff later. Learning how to dance salsa is one of the best ideas I ever had, and I hope that I can share that fun and excitement with others here in Seoul. Learning salsa is nothing but good.

If anyone here is directly interested in learning some salsa from a fun, professional Canadian guy, send me an email at (xerevius(at)gmail.com). Remember the classes will be held at Hongdae university station. Please tell me if you would be bringing a partner and your sex. The first classes I teach here would be aimed at complete beginners, and people who cannot dance well. But really, everyone can dance well if they are having fun. The exact time of the lessons is not decided yet... so just think of your email as a way to say "Hey i'm interested, this could be fun."

Additionally, I would like your input on where I might be able to advertise these Salsa lessons. Hongdae isn't too far from Itaewon, so I was thinking I should probably do some advertising there... any other places? And.. how could I advertise? Just some posters in random apartment buildings? I'm not sure. My class sizes in Canada jumped around 15-25 people and that will be what i'm aiming for here as well.

I intend to run classes so that one complete "level" is equal to six classes, spread over six weeks. Each class will be one hour and thirty minutes, or two hours, depending on how much dancing after the actual lesson people want to do. In Canada I charged $14 for each lesson but in the interests of trying to introduce as many people as I can to the dance, i'm thinking about setting the per/lesson rate to 만원. Any ideas about my pricing?

Thanks for your time all.

[warren pease]

Salsa means diarrhea in Korean. Not that I think that people would have trouble distinguishing between that and what you are selling, or that this comment is vaguely relevant. I just like to point out that salsa mean diarrhea whenever I hear someone talk about salsa. I think it's hilarious, like when Europeans talk about their throats being sore from smoking so many fags the previous night. Man, that one never ceases to crack me up.

FYI, if you didn't know. There is already a company in/near Itaewon offering Salsa lessons - as of last year. I don't know crap (pun intended) about it though.

Good luck with ur lessons!

[mavor]

Any idea about the name? And... are their instructors foreign or local?

[warren pease]

No idea about the name, but there was a big advertisement in the subway right in front of the Hamilton Hotel.

Korean instructors, I believe.

[Ukon]

This is GREAT...btw, the itaewon place with foreign teachers charges some really high ass prices...so that isn't much competition.

For english salsa lessons you'll be fairly rare....nearly all I've found are for koreans in korean.

Advertise on facebook, get on cyworld, and get the word out....You'll have more people then you know what to do with. However, I think many of the salsa places already have teachers doing lessons during the week, I may be wrong however....I've been trying to go to some, but koreans girls are a flakey lot and they're always in korean....You could maybe get a room at some place like the korean cultural foundation building in Myeong dong or some church that would allow you to use the space.

For the person who said koreans associate it with diarhea....koreans seem really interested in learning it....They know the difference.

[ahaglin]

did this ever get off the ground? i live in hongdae and can't dance for squat but would be interested in taking some lessons to help me move better.