Hot off the dancing heels of February’s Hong Kong Salsa Festival and Asian Salsa Championship, Quick Step Productions presents the first ever Macau Salsa Festival.

Presently, salsa dancing isn’t especially popular in Macau, but Javed Rasool, producer of the festival, is optimistic that with the introduction of some saucy moves, salsa fever will infect Macau in no time. “We hope to introduce salsa in a big way starting from April.”

Recognising that Macau has more salsa novices than experts, the festivities include workshops designed with beginners inmind, hoping that they’ll join and like it. “Salsa is just not a business, it’s a community thing,” says Rasool. “We all gather together, we make friends, and enjoy a good evening out; an evening of fun.”

Rasool knows firsthand how easy it is to get hooked. Originally from India, Rasool started dancing after attending a workshop at the 2005 Hong Kong Salsa Festival. But he readily admits it wasn’t always smooth twisting and turning for him. “I was so shy that for three months I would go to all the classes and just sit and watch, because I was too scared to go up and dance. And once or twice I would try, and the girls would reject me. They would look me up and down and say ‘no, you don’t know how to dance.’”

But he says that rejection never deterred him. “Believe me, just sitting down with a drink and watching people on the dance floor is very effective and very mesmerising.” Since then, Rasool has blossomed into an official salsa scenester, dancing three or four times a week, and manning the deejay booth at salsa events twice a week.

In addition to getting your groove on with DJ Javed, fans will be able to check out the fancy footwork of international salsa stars, including French group Ramark, and Nalnari, a Beijing-based Korean, as well as guest appearance from African-French singing sensation Laurent Hounsavi.

Once you’ve learned a few moves, it’s time to put them to the test at Sunday night’s grand finale blind date competition. And don’t forget to don a flashy outfit. “In the evening the sky’s the limit – whatever they want to wear. They want to look their best,” Rasool muses about the salsa crowd.

With three days of workshops, performances and parties, this is a great chance for enthusiasts to work on their lifts and tricks – and for the curious to get a taste of the hot, spicy and exotic world of salsa dancing.

Laura Sennett