This reviewer searched for TWO YEARS to find Carrie Plescia's Sunday 6:00 pm class at the fabulous Hollywood Dance Center. Get there early, the huge studio is packed with devotees! One solid hour of non-stop heart-pounding SWEAT to awesome music (Carrie travels all over Latin America, plus frequent trips to Miami, and brings back the best music). She does salsa, reggaeton, cha-cha-cha, cumbia, merengue, samba, bachata and some Afro-Brazilian ALL during her one-hour workout she calls ""Salsa Fit."" Many of her students followed her over from L.A. Fitness where she taught for years (to classes numbering more than 70 students at a time). She also taught at Sports Club LA for a very long time. She competed professionally in Latin Ballroom competitions for many years. But she is not just an instructor who ""shows off"" while the rest of us struggle -- she's there for her STUDENTS. During the day she's a gym instructor with LA Unified School District, and as a credentialed teacher, she is an EDUCATOR who makes sure her students LEARN and perform at peak ability. Did I say how strong and fit she is, so she can pull off a class that makes you groan out of bed the next day, you work it so hard? And as if Carrie's scorchin', body-shakin', euphoria-inducing sweat-hour isn't enough, it doesn't hurt to be at the Hollywood Dance Center, which is right out of a 1950's ballroom time warp. Big mirrored studio (there are two of them, actually) with always-working sound system and nice a/c in the summer. We, who never miss a Sunday evening, all agree: What a way to start the week. The same people go, Sunday after Sunday, so you'll make a lot of ""dance"" friends. One guy drives in all the way from Santa Clarita; never misses a Sunday. All body types; all kinds of aerobics dress; all stages of expertise from tyro to pro. Oh, and CHEEEEP! Only $10 a class (compare to $15 everywhere else) and she sells a 4-class-pass for $30. Wish I could give this review a hundred stars!
Pros: Huge clean studio, good a/c in summer, easy parking on Sundays, BEST Latin cardio instructor!
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