Tauranga residents will have a chance to experience the world from their own backyard this weekend.

Through a series of free workshops, dancers from throughout the community are letting locals experience dance through a variety of styles from around the world.

Merwan and his partner Saskia are some of many hosting a workshop.

'Bay Salsa have organized free workshops so the community can see the different styles of dance that are on offer in Tauranga,” says Merwan. 'It's all part of an event called International Dance Day.

'There's five different dance styles on offer so this is a taster of all of those styles. People will get a snippet of the music and the movements.

'You can only do so much within an hour but we think it's enough time for people to get a feel for the different dance styles.”

The pair teach kizomba, which is a partnered dance that originates from Angola in Africa.

'After travelling and being at a dance festival in Europe, it became a passion of mine and I've been doing it ever since.

'We teach a class every week at Otumoetai College and we travel and teach overseas as well.”

He says the dance is growing in popularity.

'There's a lot of people who are interested in partnered dance. It's something that caters to all age groups, it bridges all different walks of life, everyone gets amongst it and it's a nice mix of people.

'Kizomba is 100 per cent lead and follow, in the sense that we don't have a set rubric or a pattern we have to follow. We are 100 per cent about musicality.

'The lead will always depict the movement, the tempo and the style that he will be doing, and their partner will always follow this.

'When people experience kizomba for the first time we often get feedback where people say they have experienced a 'connection overload.'”

Merwan says all are welcome to attend the workshop.

'We want everyone to come out and enjoy the benefits of meeting new people and learning a new skill.”

Bay Salsa, Dance Factory Bachata, Salsa Auga Cuban Salsa and Dance Factory Zouk also join the lineup of those offering workshops.

The workshops are being hosted at Bay Salsa at 162 Durham Street in Tauranga on Saturday from 10am-3.30pm.

For more information and a timetable of when each workshop is running see the event page on Facebook.