Nicolette Havrish was swinging her hips and gracing the dance floor with her salsa expertise at Agava Restaurant’s weekly Salsa Night on Wednesday evening. Havrish travels from Syracuse to Ithaca with a group of people every week to return to the festive music, flashing lights and the contagious happy vibrations.

Agava, a Southwest inspired cuisine restaurant, strives for strong community relations by serving locally sourced food, holding multiple nightly events, and making customers feel like family.

The free salsa lesson is taught for about a half hour, in which participants range from college students, locals and others from even farther distances. The restaurant clears its main dining room, giving visitors space to dance, mingle and enjoy the party.

An 18 and older event, Salsa Night requires a four dollar wristband charge to enter the restaurant. The wristband qualifies attendees for various drink specials and full access to enjoy the music all evening long.

Front of House Manager Eliot Rich states that Agava’s mission is based on embracing the community that they are in and the relationships they have.

“Whether that is a night with the salsa community, college community, or larger communities, we are trying to help profit various groups and organizations, as well as our own,” Rich said.

Attracting newcomers is a huge interest for the Agava management, especially in regards to college students.

Rich expresses the management’s encouragement for visitors to have a fun evening of dancing and a safe method of transportation home. “If you live close you could walk, and we are also extremely close to both the 92 and 93 T-Cat bus lines,” said Rich.

He stated how Agava has a reputation for being a family oriented community, mixed with a core group of old and newcomers. He explained the equal opportunity in terms of dancing during salsa night.

“We do have professionals who come and dance,” Rich said. “If someone is standing on the side, someone is going to ask you to dance. They will show you how to do the steps because they want to embrace you into the salsa community.”

Rich gives a rough estimate of 150-300 attendees during salsa night.

“On nights when we’re really rocking, people are dispersed all throughout the main dining area, bar area, and our outdoor patio with weather permitting,” Rich said.

Salsa Night participant Nicolette Havrish has been to many salsa events across New York State. She explained how she’s been coming to Salsa Night for two years now and admires both the regular attendees like herself, as well as the weekly new faces.

“I first took a class in Syracuse, and then I started going to other places and dancing with other people,” Havrish said. “[Here] it is always fun and everyone is respectful. There is an understanding in the dance community that allows you to feel free to dance with whoever you are with, even if you do have a partner of your own.”

Nuria Hunter, an intern for Brous Consulting, is the music booking and trivia coordinator for Agava.

“It’s a relaxing way to spend your Wednesday night,” said Hunter.

As a salsa night attendee, she explains that there is a nice following of people who routinely attend each Wednesday.

“Dancers keep building and I’ve even seen people bring others from outside of the Ithaca area just to experience our salsa nights.”

Hannah Jeon, both a bartender for Agava and a social media and event planning intern for Brous Consulting, explains Agava to be a friendly environment, where the staff is extremely receptive to both new and old customers.

“We want people to come here, have a good time, and then come back,” Jeon said. “It can be intimidating going somewhere new or doing something for new the first time. We try and create a welcoming environment where people won’t have that fear.”

Jeon states how Salsa Night is a completely different scene than any other dinner service evening.

“Wednesday nights are a much more social evening, as opposed to people just coming to dinner and remaining with their company,” Jeon said.

Hunter explained how she is currently in the process of creating more weekly events for Agava that will be just as successful as salsa night.

“Salsa Night is Agava’s staple evening that has been holding strong,” Hunter said. “It is definitely something we are proud of.”