By Marina Peña, Staff Writer
When you visit Star Dance in Monterey Park, you won’t just learn a little cha-cha. On this dance floor, you also might learn to describe your moves in Russian, count your steps in Chinese and learn about another culture, all to the rhythms of the rumba.
The dance studio has become a mosaic of cultures built around teaching Latin dancing. The instructors are Russian, the music is Cuban and many of the students are Chinese due to the city’s majority and growing Asian population.
Nearly a decade ago, Windy Yu, a 57-year-old Chinese immigrant, picked up the art of the cha-cha. She heard of a Russian instructor teaching to Chinese immigrants at Star Dance and quickly joined his classes.
“He is very disciplined and technical when he dances,” she said. “He taught me how to pay attention to every detail of a routine and remain focused.”
In addition to some new dance steps, Yu learned some Russian.
“It works out for the most part. They pick up a few Chinese words from us,” she said. “We pick up a few Russian words from them and communicate that way.”
With instructors from all over the world, Star Dance offers a multitude of classes in Latin dances, everything from the Argentine tango to the rumba and of course the cha-cha.
For some students, the greatest challenge surrounding these dances comes down to communication.
“One of my students has been dancing for about 10 years, but she doesn’t understand English,” said Marek Klepadlo, a Polish-American dance instructor at Star Dance. “Luckily, she has a conversational dancing language. There are certain key words she understands from watching me take certain steps or perform certain movements.”
Klepadlo said that he teaches his students English words such as “center,” “connection,” “energy,” “left” and “right” that surpass language barriers. Meanwhile his students teach him about their culture.
“Being an outsider from New York, I’ve learned that dancing is highly respected in Asian culture,” he said. “It is fully embraced by them and they take it very seriously.”
Every year, Klepadlo said Star Dance prepares its students for some of the largest dancing competitions in the country. Instructors compete with their students in events like the Emerald Ball, one of the three largest dancing competitions in the U.S.
“In New York, amateurs just dance for fun,” he said. “In the Chinese community here, it is considered an elite activity.”
But for most at Star Dance, reaching a competitive level is not a priority.
“They want to learn Latin dances for the quick steps and off-beat movements,” said Nancy Mei, a Latin dance instructor at Star Dance.
Linda Chuang, a 71-year-old immigrant from Taiwan, said she is learning how to better express herself with the cha-cha.
“Chinese dances are not as expressive as Latin dances, your feelings stay inside. They are slower and graceful,” she explained. “Latin dances are all about a lot of movement. They are expressive and sexy, you have to show how you’re feeling.”
Ming Wei Ma, the owner of Star Dance, said his goal is to continue maintaining a hub where different cultures can come together through dance.
“I want to provide an active place for the Asian community of Monterey Park to help prolong their life and improve their health,” he said. “Having a place where people from all over the world can come together and communicate through dance is how I can help.”
Star Dance is located at 122 W. Garvey Ave. in Monterey Park. It’s open every day of the week from 9:30 a.m. till your shoes fall off or 11:30 p.m. For more information, visit stardancela.com.
