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| Photo By Matt Borgerding |
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Local salsa instructor Diana Hoffman gives her class some enthusiastic instruction.
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Longtime salsa instructor Diana Hoffman looks happy. In fact, the mantra for her brainchild, "KamaSalsa," could be "Don't worry, be happy." The memorable moniker captures the joyful spirit of dance and her desire to do things her own way.
Hoffman breezed into our interview location with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. With a tall and lithe frame topped by dark reddish bobbed hair, she moves with the effortless grace of a veteran dancer. Many dancers come from a ballet background, but she wasn't your typical ballerina: "I wore the purple leotard -- and I liked to talk a lot!" This wasn't hard to imagine, considering her time spent as a wardrobe stylist. A snappy, colorful outfit confirmed her perennial interest in fashion.
Fresh from leaving her day job to devote energy to KamaSalsa, Hoffman was eager to share how the infectious power of Latin music and dance can positively impact people's lives.
Talk of connections permeated our chat. She fixed me with her wide blue eyes and spoke with an earnest enthusiasm rarely seen nowadays. Reminiscing about the first time she saw salsa dancing while living in Miami, she recalls being in awe of the connection and beauty of it. She immediately knew it was something she wanted to do.
After returning to Cincinnati about 10 years ago, she took up salsa dancing and soon found herself teaching lessons with a dance instructor friend. While dancing she experienced a sense of community that changed her life.
"It's not just about the dancing," she says. "It's the Latino lifestyle. Dancing becomes a way of life. It's a celebration, it's a tradition."
It's a burgeoning culture: Hoffman has expanded her classes to reach diverse age groups, socio-economic classes and geographic areas. Salsa addicts are hitting the floors of local clubs five nights a week, according to CincyLatino's Web site calendar. Hoffman often teams with the Latino arts and culture organization for cross-promotion of events and ventures such as SalsaKids, a program to bring dance into schools for fitness and multi-cultural learning.
Just as salsa dancing embodies a melting pot of myriad Latino-Caribbean styles, KamaSalsa represents a fusion of Hoffman's passions. When her travel schedule as a product manager curtailed time for teaching dance, she embraced yoga. She learned to de-mystify the material, while helping dancers to feel comfortable in class. Later, Hoffman applied these concepts to her own teaching style -- keeping it friendly even for those with two left feet. She uses a sense of humor to engage the students. This helps people relax mentally and physically and become receptive to learning something new.
Hoffman exudes a warm demeanor coupled with evident satisfaction with improving peoples' lives. She describes students opening up and changing their lifestyle: When people take dance lessons they participate in the culture, connecting with one another instead of staying home and watching TV alone. Salsa becomes more than a dance -- it transforms lives and communities.
Hoffman stresses the importance of connection -- with the floor, the rhythms in the music, then with a partner. Stepping and clapping to the beat warms students up. Laughter alleviates tension. Once the basics are solidified, she encourages individual creative styling.
Hoffman has two essential class rules: (1) You're not allowed to be shy and (2) you must have fun. Sounds simple: Let go, enjoy yourself -- and others will follow.
DIANA HOFFMAN will teach a salsa class during CincyLatino and Club Taft's "The Hotter the Better Salsa Cruise" on Friday.
