Latin Medley — Not Currently Scheduled
Latin Medley
Start Latin dancing this week at Baila Albany in Latham: Bachata on Monday, Salsa on Tuesday, Zumba and Casino Rueda on Wednesday, East Coast Swing on Thursday. Your first class is free, and you can come on your own.
Styles
Salsa · Merengue · Bachata · Cha-Cha
Four foundational Latin styles in one hour
Level
All Levels Welcome
No experience required — true beginners thrive here
Format
Class + Open Social
60-min class then open floor dancing
Partner
Not Required
Come solo — partner rotations every round
From the Studio
What You'll Get From the Latin Medley Style Sampler
Four dances in one hour
The format moves through Merengue, Salsa, Bachata and Cha-Cha in sequence, each with its basic step, hip motion and partner connection. Felix Ortiz opens with a full-body warm-up. You leave with the first steps of four dances.
Find the dance your body picks
Merengue is a driving two-step march, Salsa adds turns and footwork, Bachata is a slower side-to-side with a hip tap, and Cha-Cha is playful and staccato. Partners rotate through each style, so you try every one with different people. You choose your style by feel before you commit.
A dance floor to put it on
Latin Medley pairs the lesson with open floor social dancing. The Thursday SalSwing Social, 7:30-11:30 PM, is where your new steps meet real music. You turn a sampler into your first night out dancing.
“The best way to find your dance is to try all of them in one night. Once you feel the difference between a merengue march and a salsa pause — your body makes the choice for you. That’s why I built Latin Medley.”
— Felix Ortiz, Founder & Lead Instructor
Latin Medley Schedule
Dance these styles at Baila Albany, 952 Troy-Schenectady Rd in Latham: Bachata Monday 6:30 and 7:30 PM, Salsa Tuesday 6:30 and 7:30 PM, Casino Rueda Wednesday 7:30 PM, East Coast Swing Thursday 6:30 PM. Your first class is free, then $15 drop-in, $50 for a 4-class card or $100 for an 8-class card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Latin Medley on the schedule right now?
No. Latin Medley is not currently on the weekly class schedule, and this page stays up for reference. You can dance salsa (Tuesday and Wednesday), bachata (Monday), Zumba (Wednesday and Saturday) or Casino Rueda (Wednesday) every week, and private lessons are available by appointment.
Do I need a partner to take the Latin Medley class?
No. Partner rotation was built into Latin Medley from the start. When Latin Medley runs as a series, partner rotation means everyone dances with multiple people throughout the session, and solo students often find that format even more valuable. Most Latin Medley students at Baila Albany in Latham arrived on their own. For the same come-solo feel today, try East Coast Swing on Thursday evenings, which needs no partner.
What dances are included in the Latin Medley class?
Latin Medley covers four foundational social Latin styles in a single one-hour session: Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, and Cha-Cha. Merengue is typically taught first because its two-step march is the most beginner-accessible — it builds hip motion and partner connection that carry directly into salsa and bachata. Felix Ortiz teaches the full session.
Am I too much of a beginner?
No. Latin Medley was designed for true beginners. It was built for people who have never taken a Latin dance class in Albany or anywhere else. If you can walk to a beat, you have what the class requires. Felix has 25 years teaching complete beginners how to feel rhythm before they learn to count it, and the same welcome applies in our beginner Salsa and Traditional Bachata classes.
What’s the difference between salsa, merengue, bachata, and cha-cha?
All four share Afro-Caribbean roots but feel completely different on the floor. Merengue is a driving two-step march — the fastest and most beginner-friendly. Salsa uses a syncopated 4/4 rhythm with pauses on beats 4 and 8 — more footwork, more turns. Bachata is a slower side-to-side style (around 100–120 BPM) with a signature hip tap. Cha-Cha is playful and staccato. Latin Medley lets your body vote on which one it prefers before you commit.
How much do Latin dance classes cost in Albany, NY?
At Baila Albany, classes are $15 drop-in, and your first class is free. A 4-class card is $50 (saves $10) and an 8-class card is $100. No contract, no commitment, no enrollment fee. Show up, dance, and decide from there.
Is there social dancing after class?
Yes — our weekly Thursday SalSwing Social runs 7:30–11:30 PM ($10 for the social only, $15 with the lesson). Baila also hosts Studio Socials for longer DJ-hosted events.
How do I claim my free first class?
Claim the free-class pass on Punchpass, then reserve any class on the weekly schedule: Bachata Monday, Salsa Tuesday, Casino Rueda Wednesday or East Coast Swing Thursday. The pass is valid for 14 days after you purchase it. Come to 952 Troy-Schenectady Rd in Latham, and after your free class it’s $15 drop-in, $50 for a 4-class card or $100 for 8.
What is Latin Medley?
A multi-style Latin dance sampler — Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Cha-Cha in one hour. It is not on the current weekly class schedule; see the schedule below for where to dance now.
Four Latin styles. One class.
Most beginner Latin dance classes in Albany commit you to a single style — pick salsa, or bachata, or merengue, and spend the next six weeks on that one dance. Latin Medley does something different. In a single hour, Felix Ortiz takes you through all four foundational social Latin styles: Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Cha-Cha. You taste each one, feel which rhythms your body clicks with, and leave with real moves — not a theoretical introduction.
When Latin Medley runs as a series, no partner is required, no prior experience is assumed, and the format pairs the class with open floor social dancing so you can put what you learned to use.
Who dances it?
Latin Medley drew a wide crowd: date-night couples looking for something more memorable than dinner, solo newcomers who are curious about Latin dance but not ready to commit to a single style, fitness-minded adults who want a workout that doesn’t feel like one, and longtime social dancers who want to sharpen skills across all four styles. If you’ve been thinking about Latin dance classes in Albany, NY and aren’t sure where to start, a free first class in Salsa or Traditional Bachata is the answer. Come as you are. Leave knowing how to dance. Latin dance classes at the Latham studio are open to Troy Latin dance beginners, Guilderland Latin dance newcomers, Latham Latin dance neighbors and East and North Greenbush Latin dance learners.
A Brief History of Latin Dance
Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Cha-Cha share a single root system — the Afro-Caribbean music traditions that traveled with enslaved Africans across the Atlantic and fused with European harmony in the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Four distinct languages, one conversation.
One root, four voices
Son cubano — the primary ancestor of salsa — was born in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century, blending the Spanish guitar tradition with the African clave rhythm. The clave, a 3-2 or 2-3 pattern that governs every phrase a salsa dancer counts, traveled from Havana to the Palladium Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan, where Tito Puente hammered his timbales and Celia Cruz declared “¡Azucar!” and the New York sound crystallized into what the world now calls salsa.
To the south, in the Dominican Republic, Merengue developed its urgent two-step march driven by the güira — a metal scraper that gives the style its insistent forward drive — and the tambora drum. Juan Luis Guerra brought merengue (and bachata) from regional traditions to international respectability in the 1990s. Bachata — once called amargue, “bitterness,” for its working-class emotional themes — endured decades of social stigma before Aventura, a Bronx-born Dominican-American group, fused it with R&B and hip-hop. In 2019, UNESCO designated bachata as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Cha-Cha arrived from a different route: Cuban violinist Enrique Jorrín slowed the danzón-mambo around 1953, naming his new rhythm onomatopoeically for the sound of shoes shuffling on the third beat. Every one of these styles carried the weight of a culture’s history. At Baila Albany, you carry it too.
Son Cubano — The Root Is Planted
Son cubano emerges in eastern Cuba, fusing the Spanish guitar tradition with African rhythmic structure and the clave pattern. It becomes the genetic code for everything that follows.
Merengue Becomes the Dominican Soul
Merengue is declared the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic. Fueled by the güira and tambora, the driving two-step march takes root at every celebration — countryside festivals to city ballrooms.
Cha-Cha Is Born from Mambo
Cuban violinist Enrique Jorrín slows the danzón-mambo tempo. Dancers at Havana's La Tropicana shuffle their feet on the third beat — cha-cha-chá — and a genre is named.
Salsa Crystallizes in the Bronx and Harlem
Son cubano, mambo, and Caribbean rhythms collide with the Puerto Rican and Cuban diaspora in NYC. At the Palladium Ballroom, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz define the New York sound. By the 1970s, "salsa" names the genre.
UNESCO Recognizes Bachata
After decades of stigma as "music of the margins," bachata receives UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage designation. The Bronx-born group Aventura had already rewritten its reputation in the early 2000s.
Four Styles, Four Feels
Same Afro-Caribbean root, four completely different personalities. Here’s how to tell them apart before you try them — and what makes each one worth learning.
Salsa
“Sauce” — Cuba & New York, 1960s
Syncopated 4/4 rhythm with a pause on beats 4 and 8. Footwork moves forward and back. The clave pattern — the 3-2 rhythmic spine — runs underneath everything.
Merengue
National dance — Dominican Republic
The most beginner-accessible of the four: a driving two-step march in 2/4 time, powered by the güira and tambora. Hip motion is immediate and satisfying.
Bachata
From amargue — “bitterness” — Dominican Republic
Side-to-side basic in 8-count time, slower than salsa (~100–120 BPM), with a hip tap on beat 4. UNESCO recognized it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2019.
Cha-Cha
Named for shuffling shoes — Cuba, 1953
Cuban-born rhythm created by Enrique Jorrín from the danzón-mambo. The triple step — cha-cha-chá — on beat 4 gives the dance its playful signature.
The Clave
“Key” — the rhythmic spine of Latin music
Not a dance style — the underlying architecture. The clave is a 3-2 or 2-3 pattern that governs all salsa phrasing. Once you hear it, you can’t unhear it.
Social Dancing
The goal — community dance floors
Latin dance’s natural habitat — community floors, not competition stages. Our weekly Thursday SalSwing Social (7:30–11:30 PM) is the place to put it to use.
Ready to start dancing?
Pick a night, claim your free first class, and find the style that moves you.