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What is the UKA? |
| The UKA a professional body that governs Latin American, Ballroom and now Salsa dancing. They provide a system where dancers can be examined and achieve medals and diplomas for their dancing. The UKA also provide examinations for potential teachers, thus setting a standard and providing the salsa world with qualified teachers. |
What do we do? |
| At Bickely School of Dancing, SalsaCD run training sessions for dancers who want to train up for the medals. The sessions take dancing to that extra level, with more attention on the individual dancers, including the way a dancer moves, shifts weight, footwork, rhythm and style. |
What level do you have to be? |
| There are four levels, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold Star. You can start training for the medals, when you start learning salsa, as the Bronze level is for beginners, Silver is for intermediate, and Gold is for advanced dancers, and Gold Star is for highest level of all, which is for very accomplished dancers. The higher the level the harder the moves and the more emphasis on the way a dancer moves and presents their style and footwork. |
How long does it take? |
| We have yearly
examinations, our examiner is David Roberts the former President of the
UKA. Dancers who are in a intermediate level can take Bronze and Silver
together, and if the dancer is good enough they can take Gold the
following year, and then Gold Star the next consecutive year. The
shortest route through the medals is 3 years. Having said that the jump
between Silver to Gold, and then Gold to Gold Star is vast, and a dancer
will only be entered if they have achieved that standard.
How do you obtain a teaching qualification? With SalsaCD the dancers that have achieved the highest level (Gold Star) are then offered the chance to train up and become a teacher. These dancers are trained by the UKA Trainer Christina Dianellou, and given the opportunity to train up within the classes, getting first hand experience and the knowledge of the UKA trainer. Once a good level of teaching is achieved, the dancers are then put forward to be examined for the first UKA qualification which is a Student Teacher, then as more experienced is gained a teacher can be put forward to become an Associate of the UKA, and then if a teacher wants to go further they can become a full member of the UKA. Do you have to do the Medals before becoming a UKA Teacher? You do not have to do the medals in order to become a qualified UKA teacher. This is the system SalsaCD use because we believe that the highest level of dancing should be achieved before even thinking about teaching. However, SalsaCD are happy to train up accomplished teachers, in order for them to obtain a recognized qualification. How do you join? There is usually a waiting list for the UKA training sessions as we only have a maximum number of students at any one time. If you would like to join please email us and reserve your space.
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UKA