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Monthly Archive for March, 2008

Salsa/Mambo Kid : The Next Generation of Salseros

I know we have all wished that we would have started dancing at an early age. However, I’ve always felt that anyone with enough passion and determination can reach high feats in salsa dancing. But after watching this video, all I have to say is WOW!. This doesn’t help my argument, but it is a must see. This kid is pretty amazing at his age, to be able to perform all that body movement, remember all those steps and feel comfortable doing it. He is a rising star! Enjoy and share!

2008 Los Angeles Salsa Congress in May!

10th Annual Los Angeles Salsa Dance Congress

It is back again - and coming real soon. The 10th Annual Los Angeles Salsa Congress (previously called the West Coast Salsa Congress). Just a quick heads-up to everyone who is planning to go - tickets are selling fast and hotel is almost booked. This year they are bringing back one of my favorite bands: The New Swing Sextet (rumor has it they have a new album coming out). They are also bringing the great Cheo Feliciano to help us groove to what will be an amazing night of social dancing on that Saturday night. If you have never been to a salsa congress before, I HIGHLY encourage you to attend one - it is an unforgettable experience, no matter your current salsa skill level.

More info at addicted2salsa.com/tag/salsa-congress

Here is a few videos of last year’s congress:

and of course, one of my favorites with Oliver and Griselle taken by our friends at Nuevotec.

Sakara Dance Company in San Diego : First Impressions

San Diego is a young salsa city. It is not as mature as San Francisco, Los Angeles or (even close) New York in terms of the salsa community. However, a lot of progress has been made over this last year. We have had Junior and Emily, Mambo2Salsa by Angel and Tulane, and Serena Cuevas’ team (yet to be nicknamed and announced) begin to grow in San Diego.Today, a new dance team as come to San Diego: Sakara (http://www.sakara.us). The uniqueness of this dance team is the incorporation of enormous amounts of isolated body motions in their routine and style - which is a refresher to having to do zillion of patterns. Their tag-line: ‘fluidity of movement’. It is a breath of fresh air. .. Continue reading ‘Sakara Dance Company in San Diego : First Impressions’

Take the lead (or follow?)

One of my favorite things to see when I’m out social dancing or watching a performance is a woman who can lead or a guy who can follow. I think there’s a bit of pride, maybe a bit of machismo (sorry guys) and a bit of apprehension (sorry girls) when it comes to changing the traditional lead and follow roles and I think that’s really a shame. For one thing, learning to follow if you’re a lead or vice versa is so helpful improving your skills. You get insights into the job of your usual partners that you just can’t get any other way. For another, I love to see salsa that’s off the beaten path - whether it’s from fusion with another dance (Swing Guys, anyone?), themed performances, or doing a little lead/follow switcheroo.

Take a look at the next few videos. In the first Jorjet leads Jennifer Stein, in the second, David Stein leads Jayson Molina (sorry this one is rather dark), and in the third, two brothers perform a tango routine (note the repeated change of lead/follow - so subtle and so awesome).

Jorjet and Jennifer Stein

David Stein and Jayson Molina

In all of these examples, the lead and follow are the same gender, but that certainly need not be the case. I dance with a rueda group and we’ve got girls who lead and a few guys who follow and we like to mix it up. We even have a move called “ladron” (the thief) so that we can change up who leads mid-song. This keeps things interesting and audiences love it. The more options you have, the better, right?

So the next time your out at the club, ask a friend to indulge you in a salsa experiment and see how it feels to dance the way the other half does. If nothing else, you’ll get a good chuckle and who knows, you might learn something, too.

Santo Rico Salsa Routine : Clasiqueando

This is one of my FAVORITE videos–Santo Rico is amazing. I had the pleasure of taking a class with them in NY in August, and remain in total awe of the skill of these dancers. The video is of one of their rehearsals, and we see not only some of the fastest spins out there, but also some great body movement. Enjoy!!!

[Updated] Here is the song for those interested: Clasiqueando con Ruben by Afro Cuban All Star

Salsa Fusion: Descarga Caribe at Flavainvasion

The next video in the salsa fusion series comes from Descarga Caribe of Chicago. This performance was also from the Flava Invasion weekend, and is a combination of salsa and it’s closely related cousin: Afro-Cuban dance. I’ve seen many Afro-Cuban performances, including ones combined with salsa, but this was by far the best one I have ever seen. Enjoy!

2008 San Diego Salsa Festival - Back Again!

San Diego Salsa Festival 2008 - Addicted2Salsa VersionIt’s back!!!! The 2nd Annual San Diego Salsa Festival, brought to you by Angel and Tulane Rivera in association with Albert Torres Productions, will be held September 19-21, 2008 at the Four Points Sheraton! We had so much fun at this event last year– the shows were amazing, there were workshops from the best dancers out there, and of course social dancing until the wee hours of dawn. There was a warm, unifying atmosphere all around, showing that this event will keep growing and be even more amazing this year!
They will have LIVE MUSIC by the band Lucky 7, music by Super DJ Robby and DJ Frank until 4am, not to mention over 40 WORKSHOPS, professional dance shows, and a COMPETITION which is a qualifier to the World Salsa Championships on ESPN.


Confirmed instructors:

Victor and Burju (Boston)
David and Jennifer (San Diego)
Silfredo La O Vigo
(Cuba)
Laura Mendoza
(San Diego)
Angel and Tulane
(San Diego)
Magna Gopal
(New Jersey)
Joel and Ana
(Boston)
Ricardo and Viviana
(Colombia)
…with many more to be confirmed!

Full event passes are already on sale at www.sandiegosalsafestival.com. Register for the hotel and event pass while you can! Check out the videos from last year’s San Diego Salsa Festival taken by our friends over at Nuevotec.

San Diego Salsa Festival 2007 - Joby Brava, Burju, Anthony Persaud, Pauline Lor San Diego Salsa Festival 2007 - Walter Jones, Black Power Ranger Salsa Latin Dance

The Process of Change-Some Possible Steps

From latinaskin:

You will all be surprised what you will learn from a Modern dance class. Currently, I’m taking that class which surprisingly has helped me become more aware and understanding of my movements in dancing salsa as well as life. Anyways I was handed an article, Making Connections, that I would like to share pieces from, regarding the theme of changes one goes through as both a dancer and an individual.

Continue reading ‘The Process of Change-Some Possible Steps’

Free Salsa Music: Flute Solo Version

Last, but not least - the third version of the ’salsa track’ that I made with Garageband is with a Flute Solo. Using a flute as the main part of the melody is common, but it is usually not heard of enough.

If you missed the first two salsa track solos, you can find the trumpet one here and the violin one here.

I’m sure there are many of you musicians out there that can do a much better job than I can - and we’d like to hear from you. If you can create an instrumental latin tracks, whether it be salsa, cha-cha or bachata, and would like to share that with the community - send it our way and we’ll post it up with a link to your site/profile. Who knows, it could start your record career. :-)

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Updated: You can download this episode and all other ones at http://salsapodcast.org/podcast/video/free-music-salsa-flute-solo

Download Free Salsa Music: Violin Solo

This is the second version of the simple salsa track that I posted earlier. This time, I chose to go with a more ‘Salsa Celtica‘ kind of sound with a Violin salsa solo. I also used the Cajon as the background drum beat (instead of the regular Cowbell and Congas).

Your feedback is always welcomed! Feel free to download . PS. I love Garageband!

Based on a work at addicted2salsa.com.