While the gentrification of the Funk Zone brings in new businesses, it also squeezes out groups like Yes You Can Dance Salsa (YYCDS), a community program offering salsa lessons and social dancing at the affordable rate of $2. Previously at the Ayni Gallery, YYCDS brings together a community of up to 100 salsa dancers of all levels. However, with the gallery repurposing their space, this passionate group of dancers is on the move, searching for a new home.
Monica Dabos began YYCDS after seeing a similar pop-up community flourish in Isla Vista. Every Monday, 150 people — students and community members — showed up to salsa dance. “There was no drinking,” Dabos said, “just salsa dancing until midnight. They charged $1.” The community languished after the founders graduated, which Dabos found tragic. She started her own salsa project, one that provided affordable lessons for beginning and intermediate students and offered social dancing for learners to practice new skills. Victor Contreras teaches alongside Dabos. “He doesn’t make anyone feel intimidated,” she said. “We teach together, but we laugh a lot; it’s very friendly.”
Dabos approached Contreras about teaching, and he agreed, thinking nothing would come of the offer. But Dabos contacted him the following week with a time, a venue, and a group of students. The classes grew in popularity, and YYCDS now has a fervent following. Helen Tu loves how welcoming the environment is; Robert Caiza agrees: “I always danced, but I never learned technique. I came to YYCDS, and no one was judging; no one was trying to show people up.”