 Looking down at the Barrio. |
This article was last updated on March 24, 2008 and is complete to the best of our knowledge. However, organisation of salsa parties is a delicate and daunting task and information is subject to change...Please note also that on the rare occasions that the sun decides to come out again, you might be lucky to find salsa dancers spinning away on the Quais de la Seine, by the Institut du Monde Arabe, if you're lucky...
Addresses for the clubs can be found here
Balajo 10 euros, for the class and one drink
No history of salsa in Paris would be complete without a paragraph on the Balajo, only we're not here to write history, but to make it : on Thursday nights, the Balajo has begun to swing (and spin) again, to the beats of DJ Willy Spades and classes in salsa mambo by Mike and Erell from 19h30. The party starts around 22h, and is pure salsa until 2am, when the sounds shift down to latin groove.
Barrio Latino 5 euros, coatcheck 1 euro per item
The Sunday party at the Barrio is almost world-famous and if it's not already, you can help help spread the word : classes by David Lartist and Linda start at 1pm. Around 3pm, Willy (PapasDjs : Spades) starts to mix mambo dura and gorda and kompas, to unwind, in the DJ-cage, and doesn't stop until the crowd has reached fever-pitch ; the party ends at 19h30 on Sunday night for those of us who have to work the next day. In this refurbished factory, you can spin on the hardwood floor and look up through three levels of wrought-iron magic to the ceiling. Huge windows to the street let in lots of light, and there's a grand staircase if you want to sit and watch dancers cavorting on the floor, and intimate nooks and crannies if you feel like cooling down from the lovely knots of arms and shines out on the floor. Did we mention the music ? Go there. On Tuesdays, you'll not want to miss the 100 percent salsa party, with clases taught by London's Leon Rose ( !), Noémie, and David l'Artiste. 8pm beginniners/9pm intermediate, 10 euros with one drink included. DJ Pierrot officiates.
Bistrôt Latin 8 euros, coatcheck optional, one drink included.
Regulars describe the Sunday-night party at the Bistrôt Latin as an intimate get-together where everyone is welcome, and invitations flow as freely as the music. Come around 9 :30pm to encounter a varied mix of salsa blending notes over a wooden dance floor, with tables if you get tired and want to sit and chat. Also known for its Tango gatherings on other nights of the week, and for La Latina, the Latinamerican moviehouse with which it shares an address. No classes, just lots of "good vibes," according to a partisan of the party, and everyone is welcome.
Diablitho 8 euros entry/2 euros coatcheck/one drink included
If you like timba and Cuban sounds, this is probably where you should be on Friday night ! A new wooden dancefloor, and air conditioning system, were required to deal with the temperature of the music. One admirer says that looking out into the crowd is like seeing a giant mass of limbs, all moving to the same beat. On Friday, Herminio and Carole teach the dance class, and Señor Roberto takes over the turntables. The party on Sunday afternoon is a meeting spot for Paris's Colombian community and lots of families come with their kids for a festive way to pass the end of the weekend.
Les Etoiles Les Etoiles is currently closed for renovation, as of March 2, 2007. But we're leaving the announcement in here in hopes that it will be back open soon - we'll keep you posted !
Etoiles means stars in French, and you can't help but feel like a minor star as you glide across the marble ( !) floors of this gloriously dilapidated club. It was the first silent moviehouse in the world, and then a dancehall, and was one of the first Salsa clubs in Paris, welcoming an unknown Yuri Bedoya (aka Yuri Buenaventura) back in the 90's. Now on Friday nights, if you're wandering through the center of Paris and you're thirsty for salsa you've got to check out Les Etoiles. The walls are covered in carpeting, but the place has a dusty feeling of former glory and a sense of history, and great DJs who battle weekly to shake the dust out of the walls. Friday it's DJs Manu, Philippe and Madjid, a trio who promises mucho mambo, latin jazz, and cha-cha-cha, lovers of swing, take note. Saturday there is a Brazilian party. Possibility to dine beforehand.
Los Mexicanos 5 euros entry/coatcheck/one drink included
Mixed salsa on Tuesday and Thursdays, a small hardwood dance floor, and you can also eat Tex/mex cuisine in the restaurant. One admirer of the club says that it would be absolutely shameful to leave the club without trying their fruit juice cocktails : for 1 or 2 euros more than the entry price, one can choose the fruitiest cocktail to be found on either side of the Seine.
Mandunga 8 euros, one drink included/coatcheck 2 euros per item
Once the sister-club of the Pachanga, the Mandunga opened in spring 2004 and has been gaining in popularity ever since. There's an outside terrace for summertime dancing, comfortable club chairs and several different soirées with different themes - Forro, samba, colombian music, etc. Two levels of dance floors, lots of space, and either Mixed-style salsa (if DJ Alf is officiating) or Cuban salsa, if DJ Alex, Salserito, is behind the turntables. Check out their calendar for live orchestras.
La Pachanga Cover : 8 euros ; 10 euros on Saturday, class and one drink included. Coatcheck 2 euros.
One of the living dinosaurs Paris salsa clubs, the formerly concrete, and now hardwood floor of the Pachanga has welcomed the feet of most anyone who's ever danced salsa in Paris. We lost our milk teeth dancing to YoDavid's Monday night cuban/Rueda explosion, to DJ Alf's parties. Possibility to dine beforehand and watch the dancers work their magic on the floor, just keep your feet out of the way of the tornado David and his spinning circles of dancers on Mondays, Salserito's students on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, or the spinning dervishes at Alf's Friday night classes. Your entry to the club is free if you opt for the dinner menu !
Le Prestige 10 euros, one drink included. Coatcheck 2 euros. Classes start at 19 :30 beginners/20 :30 intermediate.
The Tuesday night mambo party that used to go down at the recently-departed and much-mourned La Coupole, and then were at Le Privé, are now are happening at Le Prestige : DJ Jano, and the marvelous Sève for dance classes, have switched arrondissements to a new location that should be familiar with those who've been haunting Parisian salsa pistes since the beginning... Now on Tuesdays you can dance great salsa at Le Prestige, at the heart of Paris's mambo sounds ! And, when the music gets too hot, the room is air-conditioned.
 O'Sullivans, DJ Gabriel |
O'Sullivan's 10 euros, one drink included, coatcheck 2 euros per item : come before 22 :30 and bring a friend, and it's two for the price of one !
This is the stomping grounds, every Sunday, of the Dance Angels Gabriel and Willy : their cd collections range from latin jazz to Cuban son, and their mix must be heard to be believed - word to the wise, plan your vacation so that you're in the City of Light on Sunday, when the Angel and the Viper hit the sound barrier. Don't be intimidated by the front of the club, the salsa is in the back. Two levels : the cozy salon area has a fast-spinning hardwood floor, and the bar-level is a concrete blend that spins better with a bit of talc. Your feet will need all the help they can get once the Angels hit the tables : it's difficult to stop dancing, so our good daddies have organized a show so that you can watch Paris's best troupes perform as you catch your breath. The party can continue until 3am, but you're on vacation - and walking back to the taxi/hotel through the Xrated neon of Pigalle is a necessary part of a trip to the City of Light. Classes by Sève, queen of everything you need to know about how to move on the dance floor, beginners from 8pm-9pm, and intermediate from 9-10pm.
 Rueda at the WAGG |
WAGG 10 euros, class and drink included, coatcheck 2 euros per item
Roberto el Cubano, Jack el Calvo, and DJ Indochino have taken the WAGG (formerly the Whiskey-a-Gogo, a Parisian club of great renown) by storm since January, and have given a new home to the Cuban crowd, who used to shake it down at the Montecristo (now closed for salsa). Thursdays this is where you should be. Sunday afternoon, also. Reports indicate that in addition to an addictive, Timba-rich and swinging son, there are beautiful bathrooms with lots of chrome, an excellent dancefloor, and a great ambience. The Sunday night parties are quite popular and the club is built to handle a large capacity, people say that even when there are 400 dancers present, you'll have room to tembleque to your heart's content on the dancefloor. Keep your ears peeled for reggaeton when Roberto's at the turntables...
Again : Addresses can be found here
