Instructors

Sharon Asquith

Sharon’s passion for dance began at the age of 5 when she was taken to her first Latin American & Ballroom class and was instantly hooked.

Within a few years she was dancing competitively and performing with a formation team. As her dancing developed, she progressed through the I.D.T.A. and soon gained her Teachers’ Certificate.

Taking a break from dancing to concentrate on her family, Sharon soon felt the need to dance again, and, after taking her daughter to join a local theatre school, she couldn’t help but notice that they had an adult dance troop. Naturally, she was powerless to resist and spent the next 10 years performing in regional theatres, sometimes sharing the stage with her daughter.

One night, she went along to a local salsa venue. Seeing everyone dancing together was fabulous. The fact that you didn’t even need to take a partner along was even better. As partner dancing was in her blood, she knew that she had finally found a permanent home for her talent and her passion.

Sharon took her UKA Teachers’ qualification in 2004 and started teaching for a local salsa club. In 2008, she was persuaded to teach a few salsa lessons at a local gym. The response was overwhelming, and although starting her own club was something she hadn’t intended to do, she decided to give it a go. Sharon’s unique blend of high standards and fun lessons meant that the class went from strength to strength, and it quickly out-grew the small studio. Bigger and better premises were found, more teachers were enlisted to bring Sharon’s teaching principles to a growing and enthusiastic range of levels, and SalsaShine was born. Since then, Sharon has been teaching at all levels and has recently taken her UKA qualifications in Kizomba.

Graham Asquith

Graham’s early achievements were in sport rather than dance. He concentrated his energy on reaching high standards in Thai boxing, circuit training and golf. Unfortunately, a serious injury brought most of that to an abrupt halt, and he found himself looking for something that would keep him fit. Finally, for want of anything better to do, he tagged along to a salsa lesson with his wife, Sharon. To his complete surprise, he found that he loved it (thanks largely to his first teacher, Lisa), and he immediately set about mastering it..

After that, he was pulled about by Sharon on a regular basis, whilst she prepared her routines for teaching. Sharon was thrilled to have such a keen, in-house dance partner, although there were certain drawbacks for Graham. After a few months of intensive practise with an excellent teacher, Graham was well on the way to becoming an accomplished salsa dancer…as long as he only did the ladies’ steps.

Eventually, he did learn to dance as a man, but his experience has helped him to appreciate how difficult it can be for the lady to follow a man’s lead. Ever since, he has made a point of stressing to the guys in his class how vital it is to give their partners a clear lead.

As for advice to any new dancers, Graham says: Don’t rush through the levels. Take your time to understand what you are doing. For the men, the lead and the timing, especially, are the foundation to good dancing. Complicated moves are only impressive when they are comfortable for the lady and in time with the music. Be the one that’s on the 1…unless you’re dancing on 2, of course.

Gerry O'Toole

Gerry took up salsa eight years ago, but he’d been in love with dancing long before that. He grew up watching Hollywood musicals on BBC 2’s Saturday Matinee, and by the age of ten had a single ambition: to be Gene Kelly. As a young man, he would happily tell people about this burning desire. Unfortunately, this admission was often met with bewildered looks, and it was some years before he realized that most people thought he meant Grace Kelly. He kept quiet about it after However, despite this setback, Gerry did eventually become a professional actor, and has often been called upon to dance in productions. In the children’s ITV series, Bernard, Gerry played Bernard’s dad on a regular basis.

 In one notable episode he embarrassed his on-screen son by performing an impromptu salsa routine, complete with a frilly red satin shirt, in front of Bernard’s classmates. On stage, Gerry has performed in several musicals, including My Fair Lady, The King And I (bare-chested, wearing Kabuki make-up and a sarong – oh, how he wishes that one would fade from his memory), Oklahoma and Guys And Dolls. He once spent nine months on tour in a production of Hair, and, along with the rest of the cast, appeared naked just before the interval, six nights a week and twice on Wednesdays and Saturdays. As a result, Gerry cannot recommend combining vigorous dancing and nudity – ever.

Gerry is a firm believer that salsa should be fun. Be as good as you can be, practise as much as you can, learn with the best teachers (and there’s no one better than our own Sharon), but above all else…smile. If you have a big grin on your face, no one will be looking at your feet.

Amanda Dahmani

 Amanda Dahmani has been at the heart of Latin and ballroom dancing since the age of 7. She danced at Juvenile Junior amateur and professional level, having being taught by some of the top teachers i.e Sydney Francis, Bob Burgess Denise Weavers and Michael Stylianos. She competed at Blackpool as a Junior and came 6th in the under 21's Amateur Closed British Championships when she was just 16. She also represented England in Europe at 15. She turned professional and completed her teaching exams when she was 19. Having taught for a further two years she took a break to start a family. She has taught part time since then and has added Salsa to her portfolio. Her love of dance coupled with her infectious teaching and dancing style have made her popular with both students and teacher alike. We are pleased to have her working with us bringing her vast experience to SalsaShine.

John Foster

John Foster or Johnny Famous which is his DJ name and the name we affectionately love to call him, took up Salsa over 8 years ago. It was a case of once the Salsa bug took hold John was dancing 5 nights a week. When we started SalsaShine 3 years ago John was one of our original 'taxi dancers' turning up each week to dance with the beginners and intermediate dancers helping by bringing his dance experience to their classes. It was not long before we approached him to teach our beginners and take them on the start of their journey into the world of Salsa. With his infectious personality and fun but very thorough teaching technique he was a huge success. Unfortunately, John had to stop dancing for a while due to a foot operation but, we are thrilled to have him back teaching with us at SalsaShine. Johnny Famous is also a mobile DJ and presenter on a mid week internet radio show which plays all types of dance music including, many of the salsa tracks you will hear played at our club. His other claim to fame is that he is engaged to our lovely Amanda Dahmani so, Johns life is filled with dance and music at work, rest and play !!!!

www.johnnyfamous.co.uk