Salsa

Mall patrons wiggled their hips and shuffled their feet Friday to the sounds of salsa music as they were given free dance lessons from professional dancers, including the partner of last year’s “Dancing With the Stars” winner. Professional dancer Mark Ballas — who helped Kristi Yamaguchi win last year’s hit TV dance contest show — taught Glendale Galleria patrons a step or two about how to move gracefully on the dance floor and groove to the beats of the Latin dance known as salsa.

The bachata, a sultry Latin dance performed to romantic music, is moving West, and local instructors hope to give it a little nudge with a new beginners class in Burbank. Bodygroove dance company is adding beginning bachata classes to its course instruction because of its growing popularity at Los Angeles nightclubs, said Hollie Lee, owner of the dance school that already offers salsa, merengue and cha-cha. “The steps are slower and easier than salsa, and the music is slower and very beautiful,” Lee said.

A free introductory class on Sunday gave people interested in learning salsa a chance to check out the dance before committing to a four- or nine-week course. Lisa Amato, 50, of Tujunga, just finished Orlando Delgado’s four-week class at Garri Dance Studio. She took her boyfriend, Ricky Tyrrell, 52, of Santa Clarita, on Sunday so they could learn to dance together. “I can’t wait to get to the advanced levels,” she said. “I’m 50 years old and my body’s getting achy and creaky.

Let's face it, no matter where you travel this summer in the United States, you will find, even in some of the smallest mid-Western towns, a Mexican restaurant. I have tasted some of the best enchiladas in Ohio and fajitas in Kansas. There is something comforting about cheese enchiladas, warm refried beans and Spanish rice, especially when you are on a long road trip. Fortunately, you do not have to go that far to find sensational Mexican food. Burbank has some of the best cuisine from south of the border.

Griffith Park will be heating up with Sizzling Summer Nights at the Autry. Thursday nights in July and August (four in July and five in August) are filled with the scintillating sounds of mambo, Latin jazz, charanga and Afro-Cuban beats. This live music and outdoor family dance party is a great way to see top Latin bands in a fun, casual, energetic setting. L.A.'s hottest Latin bands will play music that makes your body move, and if you can't dance, Oliva Dasso, the salsa diva of Southern California, will show you how. The museum and museum store will be open until 8 p.m. "Pistols: Dazzling Firearms" will be on view through August 12, and "Gene Autry and the Twentieth-Century West: The Centennial Exhibition, 1907--2007" through January 13. Admission is $5, free for Autry members.

The Otero Dance Company created a spellbinding journey through time, highlighting the origin of Latin dances from the 1800s to the present on Saturday at the Alex Theatre. Opening the show, "Rhythm and Passion," was a segment set in a 1920s tango bar in Argentina. Singing and storytelling were interspersed with dances by enraptured couples and fight scenes between the men. The female dancers' quick and precise leg movements were made even more dramatic by the costumes — red dresses with fringed hems or black skirts with thigh-revealing slits.

Send DATEBOOK items to Glendale News-Press, 111 W. Wilson Ave., Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91203 or fax to (818) 241-1975. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. THURSDAY Downtown Burbank Swingin' Sounds from Downtown free dance concert beginning with salsa lessons by Francisco and Stacey Martinez at 6 p.m. and concert at 7 p.m. featuring salsa band Son Mayor in the AMC Walkway, San Fernando Boulevard and Palm Avenue in Burbank. Call (818)

Kraft gives grant to New Horizons' center Kraft Foods Corp. awarded a $25,000 grant to New Horizon's Family Center. The Salsa, Sabor y Salud grant is to help the agency promote healthy lifestyles among Latino families in Glendale, where New Horizon's is based, and neighboring Los Angeles. Salsa, Sabor y Salud is a program that seeks to decrease obesity across the nation, particularly in the Latino community. New Horizons Family Center provides child development, recreational and mental health services to at-risk youth.

Explosive Latin dances are exciting to watch, but one executive producer takes her shows several dramatic steps further by offering a glimpse of their history. Gloria Otero, director and owner of the Otero Dance Company, will show how the salsa, gaucho and tango evolved during the "Rhythm and Passion" show April 22 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The audience will come away knowing more about these dances, Otero said. In the first act, the company will delve into how the tango was born.

A grueling trip to Yosemite -- punctuated by an overly ambitious, ill-fated attempt to climb the torturously steep Half Dome (what was I thinking?) -- had me longing for the comforts of Huntington Beach. I couldn't stomach another clump of oats and soybeans masquerading as lunch or another sip of warm water from a Camelbak. I needed -- I craved -- zesty tacos and cold cerveza. With that in mind, I headed downtown to reacquaint myself with city life -- an outdoorsman I'm not -- and partake in a trio of Tuesday night taco specials.