Alex Lloyd suggests going salsa dancing this Easter.

IF your club moves have all the sex appeal of a turnip then the time has come to inject a little Latin glamour into your life and embrace the hot craze of salsa.

Bringing rhythm to York's two-left-footers is salsa school Encuentro Latino, launched at the start of 2003 by professional dance teachers Laucinda Holland and Gareth Roberts.

The pair have trained with some of the best in the field, such as the world's top salsa dancer Frankie Martinez, and are on a mission to spice up the moves of York's clubbers with the Sunday Social.

A monthly Latin club night, which takes place downstairs at The Gallery, it is based on a concept popular in New York where dancers meet to practice their moves in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

Having always harboured an ambition to be Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing, I was in my element gawping at the amazing moves which some of the dancers - national experts no less - performed effortlessly at last month's event.

I was also thrilled to find that salsa dancers are a very social bunch - they will even ask a rhythm-less novice like me to dance and explain a few basic steps.

As Laucinda explains: "Salsa is lively, it is exhilarating and it is uplifting. Everybody is out to have a good time."

It is very rare to feel so comfortable dancing with a complete stranger and you'll find that the music is just too good to sit down all night.

The first hour or so is usually slower cha-cha music to give dancers a chance to warm up and allow beginners to practice at a comfortable speed.

This moves into a funky mix of Latin jazz, Manhattan Mambo and Afro-Cuban rhythms from some of the country's best Salsa DJs.

Laucinda told me dancers from Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester now travel to the club, such is its calibre: "It's rapidly getting a reputation as the best in the north."

Providing the soundtrack this Sunday is DJ Mauricio, of Latin Motion in Birmingham, who was recently voted Top UK Salsa DJ.

"He travels all over the world and has done a lot for salsa," says Laucinda.

Trust me - one visit to the Sunday Social and you will be signing up for lessons.

Sunday Social with Encuentro Latino, The Gallery, Clifford Street, Sunday, 6pm-10pm. Tickets £5 (£4 NUS), available in advance from 01347 868716/ 07811 793116, or on the door.

FOR those of you who see the bank holiday break as a chance to party that little bit longer, Orgasmic's Sunday night blow-out, Thank Funk It's Sunday, is pulling out all the stops this Easter.

The upbeat night, which blends funky house with a live saxophone player, has been running since January and is getting busier by the week, with the top floor now open for drinkers.

Bringing a touch of the Leeds bar scene to York, the venue is regularly packed with people enthusiastically dancing wherever they can.

Promoter Paul Casperton says: "It's going really well. People love Rich on the sax and he always tries to work the crowd."

Pumping out their usual blend of funky and Nineties house will be main resident DJ Andy James, who also has several residencies in Leeds, along with regulars Adam Jackson and Karl Todd.

Little Rich will also be there on the sax and Bunny Girls will be distributing free vodka shot chocolates provided by sponsor Elizabeth Shaw.

Thank Funk It's Easter Sunday, Orgasmic, Coney Street, Sunday, 7pm-midnight, free entry.

Updated: 09:06 Friday, April 09, 2004