Music and 22 moving bodies added a spicy flavor to the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union Saturday afternoon as Descarga, Iowa State’s new Latin dance club, held lessons for the public for the first time.

Alison Lima, treasurer of Descarga, says the dance club was formed partially due to a lack of Latin dance coverage in other ISU dance organizations.

“The ballroom dance company does a great job focusing on different styles of dance, but there’s just not a lot of focus on Latin dance,” says Lima, junior in biology.

Lessons will be held every Wednesday and Saturday, she says. While an emphasis is placed on salsa, dance types such as merengue, bachata and cha-cha will also be alternated in each lesson.

“We’re really open to ideas,” Lima says. “That’s just three of many dances.”

John Townsell, president of Descarga, says he would like to teach the ISU community more than just dance steps.

“[We’re working] to diligently promote the awareness, knowledge, appreciation and practice of Latin dancing within the ISU community,” says Townsell, senior in industrial engineering.

Each Descarga meeting will open with a brief history of the dance steps to be learned and the culture in which the dance originated. Much of the meetings will be spent learning the dance steps. Any remaining time will be used to practice new shuffles and twists in a free-style environment, Lima says.

“We’re trying to teach people not just about the dance moves, but about the history of the dance, where it started, who started it and also about the culture,” Lima says.

The club is being funded primarily by the student founders and Clave Rhythmz, www.clave-rhythmz.com, an online Afro-Cuban/Latin dance clothing store owned and operated by Townsell.

Townsell says they plan to apply for university funds for the fall semester.

Memberships cost $8 for the school year. Members pay $1 per lesson, and non-members pay a fee of $3 per lesson.

Townsell emphasizes the club is open to the community.

“We encourage every single person who enjoys music, who enjoys people, who enjoys having fun to join Descarga,” Townsell says. “It’s not just about dancing — it brings other students together, so it’s good socially as well.”

Members of Descarga will have the opportunity to view performances and practice dancing in real-life settings, says Melanie Rivera, vice president of Descarga.

“We’ll be taking trips to performances in Des Moines so we can give our members a real feel for the Latin dance community,” says Rivera, junior in marketing.

Twice a month, members will also travel to Raul’s, a Clive restaurant, where they will be able test their new steps on the dance floor.

Descarga members say they hope to be performing their dance moves for an audience by the end of March.

“We really want [the group] to grow,” Rivera says. “We could possibly form a group to go on shows.”

Kim Martin, freshman in meteorology, says she attended Saturday’s meeting because it sounded like it would be a good opportunity to meet people. She says she came away from the meeting with positive feelings and intentions to return for the next meeting.

“The instructors make it a lot of fun,” Martin says.

This is the kind of reaction Rivera says she has been hoping for.

“I want [members] to come away [from meetings] having a good time, growing culturally and becoming more aware of the things that are around them and even making some new friends and [gaining] knowledge they can use in the future when they go out,” Rivera says.