Josh and I have been talking about checking out Taipei’s Salsa scene ever since we arrived here two years ago. And this week we finally made it out to the Brass Monkey’s Salsa Dance Tuesday with a group of friends! We had a blast. It’s a great venue for beginners with plenty of serious dancers here too.
The Space
The Brass Monkey is an expat sports bar popular with expats and locals alike. On Tuesdays they clear out a decent sized, clean, smooth linoleum dance floor while still leaving plenty of seating still available. They also have lockers you can put your things in, if you’re whole party is planning to be out on the dance floor at once .Although to be honest, we just left our bags at the table… Taipei is so safe we just don’t worry as much about that as we would other places, but it is a really nice touch. There’s also a pool and foosball table in the restaurant, which might be a draw for those in a group who aren’t as excited about the dancing (the large selection of craft beer might do it too!)
The Music
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, you’re not dancing to live music here. But the DJ was very good. For the two hours we were there, he did a great mix of salsa and bachata songs, though no merengue which was a pity. On the other hand, he also refrained from playing any Reggaeton for which I am VERY grateful.
The Cover Charge
The salsa night officially starts at 9pm although when we arrived at 8:45 the floor was already cleared for dancing. We’d read that the cover charge for salsa night is $200NT which includes a $150 drink voucher for you. Turns out though, if you get there before 9pm and order food then you don’t have to pay the cover charge. So we went with that and were very happy with our pizza and onion rings.
When to arrive
Again, if you want to skip the cover charge, you might want to show up 10 minutes before 9. But just know that even though they advertise it as beginning at 9 the dancing doesn’t really get started til 9:30 at the earliest. Although, if you’re a confident dancing pair, the Latin music is playing and the dance floor cleared by 9pm so I doubt anyone would to stop you from going out and taking the floor to yourself!
Oh and if you do decide to make plans to go, double check their website to make sure nothing’s changed with their weekly schedule. Every once in while, say over the World Cup for example, they will cancel the weekly Salsa Tuesday event.
The Free Beginner Salsa Lesson
One of the reasons this is a great space for beginners is because they offer a free basic salsa lesson every Tuesday. I’ve done a lot of salsa dancing back in the states and watched or participated in many free beginner lessons. This one was particularly good. It was almost a full half hour class, which is more than you can expect from most free beginner classes at a club. He teaches 4 basic step patterns, gives plenty of time to practice individually before then providing an opportunity for rotating pairs practice. But, don’t expect the class to start at 9pm. Despite what the signs say, on the night we went the class didn’t happen until 9:45.
Where
The Brass Monkey is just a 2 minute walk away from Najing Fuxing Station (off the Brown Line & Green Line)
Again we highly suggest going out and experiencing this different side of Taipei’s night scene. We had a few Taiwanese friends who had never been salsa dancing before and some with a little experience. But it was a really great night for everyone regardless of their level. If you’re looking for something different to do in Taipei, grab a group of friends and go check it out for yourself!
