As a growing bachata dancer who is also a full-time nomad traveling around the world, I now arrange my itineraries according to dance scenes and the digital nomad community. Lately, I have been in Mexico City and found a strong dance scene with daily opportunities to dance bachata, salsa, and many other dance styles. After dancing extensively in Mexico City every day for a couple of weeks, I have gone through the vast majority of classes and socials, and here are my top picks for the best places to dance salsa and bachata in Mexico City.
I have ranked them in order of my favorites, with the first one being my top favorite. This is one of my “best places to dance bachata in the world” series, where you can find detail guides to personally-tested salsa bachata socials around the world.
1. Grupo Esencia at Parque Mexico (and their bigger socials)
Grupo Esencia is my favorite group to dance with and at the top of the best places to dance salsa and bachata in Mexico City for several reasons.
- Their teachers are highly technical and the classes are high-quality. Students always end up getting challenged and learning a lot on the spot.
- The classes are always 2 hours long, instead of 1 hour, which is more common. This gives us enough time to learn the patterns.
- This group always attracts a large number of attendees to every class, making it a great experience to dance and interact with others.
- They charge 100 pesos (~$5 USD) for the class and the social after, which makes it one of the most affordable. High-quality instructions and low cost? Can’t beat this value.
- Because of the great quality of their classes, this group attracts the highest quality of dancers, which enhances everyone’s dance experience as well.
Class Schedules
Grupo Esencia meets at Parque Mexico, which is centrally located in the Roma area, at 6:30 pm every Wednesday, and 1 pm every Saturday and Sunday. I was staying within walking distance, which made it super easy to get to class.
Location
The park location (Parque Mexico) was unfamiliar to me at first because I was used to dancing at studios and various indoor venues. At first, I thought being in the park and dancing during the day wouldn’t be appealing because it isn’t as “atmospheric”. But I was wrong. Now I quite enjoy dancing in the park because one can always stretch the space if it gets too crowded, which happens too often in indoor locations.
If it’s your first time at Parque Mexico, find the main square and look for the long corridors on the right side. They hang big banners for classes.
Be prepared with cash and know if you want to take Level 1 (beginner), 2 (intermediate), or 3 (advanced) classes.
Formal Socials by Grupo Esencia Mexico
Although there is an informal social that follows every class, it usually is smaller and many people leave shortly after class because it’s dinner time. One can expect to dance moderately at the informal social that follows classes. It is interesting to me that the socials seem more active after the weekend classes than the Wednesday classes.
However, the real gem is the formal socials organized by Grupo Esencia. You have to follow their Instagram to stay updated on these socials.
The formal socials attract crowds so big I’ve never seen anything like this. The dance floor becomes extremely crowded because of the sheer amount of people attending. It’s impossible to avoid hitting other people while dancing.
Despite the slight discomfort of having to dance with limited space, it is worth it because the number of high-quality dancers it attracts makes the dance experience extremely satisfying.
Their formal socials are usually held at this big banquet venue called La Bonita.
2. Bachata Feeling
Bachata Feeling is a regular social on Thursdays at a venue considered spacious by Mexico City standards. This social attracts a good amount of people and good-quality dancers. This is my second favorite in terms of the best places to dance salsa and bachata in Mexico City.
I came here after leaving another social feeling disappointed, which I will get into further down the list.
There are several distinctive features of this social:
- It advertises for free entry for women between 7:30 pm – 8 pm. I didn’t know how I felt about this because it sounded like a club but I assume they do this because understand the dynamic of this business. I’m happy to report that it does not feel like a club and is a very normal, respectful social.
- The dance floor looked a lot smaller in videos and photos than it is. I was hesitant to go at first because of how it appears online but it is spacious enough for comfortable dances.
- It has several different classes before the social – salsa, bachata, and kizomba. Salsa always goes first with Kizomba, and bachata follows. Bachata always attracts the largest amount of attendees. Classes are open-level.
- It plays 1 bachata, 1 salsa, and 1 kizomba during the social.
- They employ a few people to take professional photos and videos, but it is slightly confusing where they post them. They only post photos of classes (not the social) on Facebook and they post edited videos of select dancers on Instagram, but not on their “official” Instagram account, but on the event organizer’s account.
Class Schedules
This social happens every Thursday, with another competing Thursday social nearby called Bachata Sensual Room, which I will get into further below in the article.
Women enter for free between 7:30 pm to 8 pm. After that, it is 130 pesos for 1 person if bought in advanced and 150 pesos per person upon entry. If you buy 2 tickets in advance, it is 220 pesos for both people.
7:45 – Salsa and Kizomba classes in different rooms
8:45 – Bachata class on the main dance floor
Location
It is located in a multi-purpose venue with lots of tables and seats around and a generously-spaced dance floor. It is on Marsella 23 A, in Colonia Juarez.
The venue sells lots of drinks and has a decent number of bathrooms.
At first, I was hesitant about the venue because it almost looked like someone’s basement, but it was an optical illusion. It is very much above the ground.
One interesting thing is they do have security in the front that checks your bag for potentially dangerous items, which I have never encountered in any other venues but I find that reassuring.
3. ISM Mexico
ISM Mexico is a school that offers both bachata and salsa classes, as well as several socials throughout the week. It is founded by a Japanese guy named Kentaro Yoneda. As a result, it attracts a more international crowd. They also organize trips and language exchange activities, which are foreigner-friendly.
I read that it attracts a beginner crowd, so I was hesitant to join their socials at first, but I am happy to report I was wrong.
- Although not as advanced as the crowd at Grupo Esencia, the people ISM socials attract have decent skills. Because they host their Wednesday socials at a Korean restaurant called Busan Restaurante Bar Coreano nearby Parque Mexico, you will find lots of Grupo Esencia dancers flowing over there right after class at the park.
- If the social at Parque Mexico was casual and small scale after class, the social at Busan restaurant and bar hosted by ISM is intense – as a follower, I did not get left alone even for one song, which is a great problem to have.
- ISM is probably the most digital-savvy dance company because you can pay for everything online if you want, which is convenient. Digital skills seem to be lacking for the majority of other event organizers.
So all in all, this comes in third in terms of the best places to dance salsa and bachata in Mexico City.
Class Schedules
ISM has classes every day of the week during the work week and socials every day except Tuesday. In addition to bachata and salsa, they also have classes in pole dancing, K-Pop dance, kizomba, and even… “twerking”.
For exact class schedules, refer to the descriptions of their WhatsApp groups where they post the latest flyer links.
Locations
They have their own studio but also host events in restaurants, Parque Mexico, and various other locations depending on what event it is. In addition to their website, which doesn’t have the latest updates on their schedules and locations, they have several WhatsApp groups and Instagram so always follow for the latest updates.
4. Bachateros CDMX
Bachateros CDMX is an event organizer that throws an event every single day of the week. There are several quirks and features of this organizer. Now my evaluation starts to get a little more critical due to several mishaps.
- Their events are usually held in small venues, like a restaurant or cocktail bar. So the dance floor is limited.
- I tried to go to their event on my first week here and failed miserably because the address written on the flyer has 2 locations with the same street name and number. They are even in the same neighborhood. Needless to say, I was frustrated. I contacted them via WhatsApp and found the correct location. So they are very responsive to WhatsApp inquiries.
- The turnouts for their events can be a hit or miss – on some nights they have good turnouts but on other nights, you’ll see there are only a few people who go.
- Event promotion is heavily “flyer-based” – they send out a series of graphics every week on their WhatsApp groups and Instagram.
Class Schedules
Since they have an event every single day of the week, classes are every single day before the socials as well.
Classes are usually open-level and sometimes struggle with lead-follower balance.
Location
Each event has a different location across the city, mostly in the center area. So make sure to follow their Instagram and join their WhatsApp groups to stay updated.
I usually go to the Tuesday night event, which is bachata-focused and has decent turnouts.
5. Tardeada Bacha-Salsa
Tardeada Bacha-Salsa is a monthly salsa bachata social held in a grand ballroom inside a sports complex on the outskirts of the city. It takes 30 minutes by car to reach if you are living in the center and 45 minutes to 1 hour by metro if you are taking public transportation. This area is out of the center so it attracts a different crowd, generally fewer advanced dancers.
They lean heavier towards salsa and when it comes to bachata, they play traditional Dominican bachata music along with the pop, sensual bachata music. So depending on your taste, it could be your thing or not.
I would say I was disappointed when I went to their monthly event because of the lack of advanced-level leads, but in general, it’s a cool environment to dance in because the ballroom is huge.
Class Schedule
Monthly – this is a monthly social.
Location
Deportivo March 18, CDMX. You have to enter the front door of the big sports complex, then turn left to find the dance hall called Salon Atzin.
6. Sensual Room
The Sensual Room social is newer and that’s probably why it struggled a bit to get attendance. I was there on a Thursday night only to find 3-4 pairs in the class. They also choose very small venues, which limits the space to dance.
I’d say their teachers are decent and classes are mostly open-level, but because they are on the same night as Bachata Feeling, which attracts way more people, it is an unfortunate competition.
In addition to bachata, this group also teaches Zouk and Kizomba, which seems to attract a higher attendance compared to bachata. I assume their audience is more zouk enthusiasts than bachata.
Class Schedule
Every Thursday at 8:30 pm for bachata classes and 9:30 pm for Zouk classes.
Location
They have various locations and send updates on Instagram and WhatsApp. So make sure to follow for the latest updates.
Summary
These are all of the main places I’ve danced at in Mexico City. Tam Pham from Bachata Library has some alternative location suggestions as well. His article was the original source I referenced when I first started to plan my dance socials in Mexico City.
To sum up, I usually frequent the following socials on a weekly basis:
Monday – Rest (that’s one of my few sacred down days), but if not, I would be taking classes at ISM.
Tuesday – Bachateros CDMX
Wesnesday – Grupo Esencia class and social at Parque Mexico and ISM socia at Busan Restaurante Coreano
Thursday – Sensual Feeling social
Friday – either rest or a monthly party organized by one of these organizers
Saturday – 1 pm bachata class and social with Grupo Esencia at Parque Mexico
Sunday – Rest (seriously:)
These are all of my top picks for the best places to dance salsa and bachata in Mexico City.
If you are also in CDMX, where do you think is the best places to dance salsa and bachata in Mexico City?
