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  • Published: 15 September 2011
  • ISBN: 9781780571706
  • Imprint: Mainstream Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 240

Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn't



An entertaining memoir about salsa and the British, by a tall, white, clumsy Englishman who learned the dance with his Colombian wife

Every week for much of the year, millions of Brits view and vote on Strictly Come Dancing, with the salsa being one of the most popular dances. Dark, enticing Afro-Caribbean rhythms; moving bodies gently interlaced, responding to the music: at first sight, salsa dancing seems to recover something our regimented British lives suppress. For not much more than a fiver, salsa can reconnect us with our bodies. So we seem to think: with perhaps a million Britons taking a class every week, salsa is statistically our national dance.

Matt Rendell learned salsa the British way, as an adult, rote-learning figures and routines. His Colombian wife, Vivi, acquired salsa in early childhood from her parents and grandparents; the dance made her part of her community.

A love story about two people from cultures at sometimes comical cross-purposes, Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn't explores how the world's most popular dance went global, how it reached the UK and whether the saucy, salacious salsa of our national fantasy life is really as exotic as we like to think.

  • Published: 15 September 2011
  • ISBN: 9781780571706
  • Imprint: Mainstream Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 240

About the author

Matt Rendell

Matt Rendell is the author of several other books, including the award-winning King of the Mountains and The Death of Marco Pantani, and most recently Olympic Gangster. He is married and divides his time between Bristol and Medellín, Colombia.

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Praise for Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn't

A timely reminder of the simple heart of salsa

Metro

A rare work

Columbian Embassy

Should you read Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn't? If you're remotely interested in salsa, yes, you probably should

The Scotsman

Full of meticulous research

Time Out