Georgia Boy Dance Steps into New Year

Cedric Teamer led a group of novice salsa dancers in learning to do the dance.

They stood in a double line, trying the new steps to a Carlos Santana tune. They stumbled a bit, and were a bit out of rhythm. But it didn't seem to matter—they kept going, even when the lesson was over.

Teamer is an instructor from Georgia Boy Dance, a group based in Pikesville. And the lesson was held Saturday—New Year's Eve—at Talara restaurant in Baltimore.

At about 10 p.m. instructors and students of Georgia Boy Dance, along with members of the Baltimore Salsa Meetup Group, began crowding into Talara.

The "Nuevo Latino Bistro in Harbor East," as the Talara website describes the restaurant, is one of the groups' regular meeting places, said Sean Climer, a professional dancer who is the owner Georgia Boy Dance, as well as an instructor there.

Among the dancers—but not among the novices—at Talara on Saturday was Lisa Hawkins, a Roland Park resident and executive director of , 4001 Seven Mile Lane, Pikesville.

By day Hawkins, who moved here several years ago from Los Angeles, runs the center. But in the evenings, she rents out the dining room floor to Georgia Boy Dance.

Hawkins has been a salsa dancer for years.

"When I moved to Baltimore, I said 'I need to keep my dancing up,'" she said Saturday. So she took a lesson from Sean Climer, owner of Georgia Boy Dance, and invited him to hold lessons at her facilty. "My dance floor is better," than the one they had been using, she said.

Every Monday is salsa night at Talara, according to the website. It begins at 9 p.m. with free lessons by Georgia Boy Dance from 9-9:30 p.m. and open dancing from 9:30 p.m to midnight.

For more information on Georgia Boy Dance, and the Pikesville schedule of classes, email Climer at georgiaboydance@gmail.com.