Hi guys, watch this bachata moderna workshop by Juan and Samantha from Bachateros Australia.
This is a social dance at a club.
Bachata Moderna is a combination of various dance styles into the traditional bachata step. Bachata Moderna is best danced to Urban Latin Bachata music, like 4Ever, Mojito Project, Opalo, Toque D Keda, etc.
More info, go to http://www.bachateros.com.au
In case some of you haven’t heard, there is a presidential election in 6 days.
In a groundbreaking move, both parties campains have agreed to forgoe the months of anticipated lawsuits if the race is close. Instead they have opted for a much better way.
(I hope you all have a good sense of humor ;2p )
How to recover when you exit a pattern and end up with steps that go 5-6-7 1-2-3? I do this sometimes and it just throws everything off.
Depends on what position you’re ending on – e.g. if you were in open hold you could bring the right hand to left hand to your right shoulder, walk turn right 360 to get into close hold? I’d imagine this comes up a little bit for other folk, in terms of how they deal with clave changes, so i’d imagine there are some moves you could fit in there, aside from improvising.
This usually happens because I screw up somewhere. Usually because I got lost in the song then suddenly find my steps but they’re out of order.
Do the same thing again and you’ll be back on the beat. 
Or, just come up with a standard way to get back that you can use. For example, you can turn a hammerlock (one measure), open it up to back-to-back and then spin her either half a measure early or half a measure late.
cool so once you have it down right you can actually come out of count with one set of steps and then comeback with another… dude i feel smart… still i believe i’ve screwed so bad that i have changed from 123 to 234 or 345 which actually … blows my mind!
I do back steps now. I usually need to do 12 steps to get back on track, but I don’t stop moving which is what counts.
Greg and Quinta Stargell representing for the Huntsville community. They are two of the salsa dancers that are trying to help build the salsa community in the area along with many others.
-We did a skit/dance for the Latin Day Celebration at Stone Middle School.
Great job! You both looked great. Is your Quinta a dancer , she’s pretty good! I am sure you didn’t meet her in Iowa 
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@ anthony
Found it! (And a few more things that I wasn’t looking for, but helped too!)
Went out to a salsa bar for the first time last Saturday. Had a great time. I wasn’t expecting the brain freeze. I had all the confidence in the world walking in the door; I know enough moves, I practice, I could care less about what I look like (My face was painted to look like cheese from an earlier ballroom dance)….but then I start doing my basic and all of a sudden I remember nothing!!! It is definitely a different enviornment. I didn’t realize how often you would be bumping into other people. Still a blast and I look forward to going again soon.
Do any of you have suggestions for breaking a mind freeze. I am thinking of going with a set pattern just to get the ball rolling.
There’s a current thread on the Don Baarns Unlikely Salsero Facebook Group called – Remebering Moves, which might be useful to have a look at, beyond that there are a few threads on salsaforums.com
Giving the moves or patterns names, practising them, and having a list or similar to remind you of ones you have done/know if reminded can help. For starters, you could play around with twinning moves together, to see how the different couplings work perhaps? Or create a pool of moves and see how they can all link together.
e.g. some close hold moves, open hold moves, moves from a female right turn, moves from a male right turn, moves from open breaks etc. Keeping on going in a mind freeze can help, and the better you get the more moves you’ll still have if you have a brain freeze. A few set patterns could help too
LOL!! That used to happen to me all the time and still does now. I’ll dance with a girl and only remember 5 moves. Then at the end start remembering other moves I could have done.
You need to learn one dance at a time and add one move at a time. Plus this is your first time at the club, you need to go regularly and it will come.
Yeah – first time at the club – congratulations for going, and don’t sweat the small stuff – it’ll come to you and you’ll feel at home there soon enough
@donv69
That line about “at the end start remembering other moves I could have done.” So true.
Thanks for the encouragement Tom…I will have to have a look at that thread and site..come up with a game plan.
As to feeling at home…I’d feel a little more comfortable if they stopped rolling out the merengue and bachata songs. I can only deal with that for so long before I reach for a mohito.
@Marco
I have just added two new moves to my repertoire that I remember and now do. They’re not patterns, just direction changes. They simple and easy to remember.
@Tom: Tom has it right… When I started out I wrote down sets of moves, and reviewed them on my breaks. I’d say “oh yea, I didn’t do that move…” and I’d try to find an appropriate place in the next dance to include the move. The real key to eliminating brain freeze is simply doing enough social dancing.
After dancing a few years, I still keep a running list of new moves I want to add. I name the moves if an instructor didn’t and before going to the club I review my “moves of the night/week”.
The ladies don’t know it, but they are all getting to practice my new combo with me. Simply add one or two per week (or more if you can), and in a couple months you’ll be well on your way.
Also note I’m a huge fan of sets of moves which have minor variations. I love moves which all start the same way, but then have 2 to 4 alternate endings.
A simple example is a single turn. Once you are comfortable leading doubles, you want to mix and match. Even when dancing with a follow who can do triples and more, they never know if I’m going to do a set of singles or the next time it will be a double or triple. More advanced follows often enjoy singles and “simple” moves because it gives them time to style.
That is just one example, so the point is watch for moves that compliment your current set, and mix and match pieces of your existing materials.
Let me know if any of this helps.
Don Baarns
http://www.UnlikelySalsero.com
@Don -Knowledge is power so everything is helpful!
Since my original post I have tried to simplify the complexity of moves. (I was trying to jump from stage 1 to stage 12 salsa moves.)
In line with small variations, a DVD I rented from the library (Edie the Salsa Freak’s Salsa Sylabus) taught a “family of moves.” This was profound for me to lead the same outside turn and do it about 5 different ways. It is great to just be able to fall back to an emergency set of moves while you are trying to search your brain for the next “showstopper.”
E.g. Just pop #t=1m45s on the end of the normal url, to get the clip to start at 1 minute 45 seconds in.
Example: So, you’ve found a neat move you want to share with a friend, show your dance partner, keep in your salsa bookmarks For example: uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wOiYFWCBlUw
the uploader has been so generous as to add captions, and comments within and on top of the clip, to help out even more 
So the move: “Loop over locks” could be linked as follows:
Angle 1:
or if you want to play around: #t4m14s hehe, but the system has the potential for something a bit more useful*. If you want to show a specific timerange, there are sites like splicd.com that will also allow a specific endpoint.
I’m sure there must be a way to link these (either the splicd versions, or the youtube versions) into a playlist? http://www.uvlayer.com can do playlists, but you can’t do direct url input into the playlist yet.
*The possibilities via say DownloadHelper for FF, some scripting an editor, and knowledge of the wanted timepoints would make it more interesting.
Is it possible to embed the videos with a specific beginning and end? So far, I have been making local copies of the portions of the Youtube videos that I like, but I guess this is of doubtful legality.
I just love these melting points where salsa meets different kinds of music (like Salsa Celtica, f.e.). This time it’s a time for RAI! Rai is modern Arabic music mixing Western influences with arabic tradition. Now Salsa meets Rai http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdtgMBLStbg
I would jam it. (Or whatever version of radio’s “jam it or slam it” the kids are playing these days?
Does anyone even listen to radio anymore?
Found this awesome video for a different style of salsa body movement for men. It looks like a mixture of karate/tai-chi and rowing boats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKm0xL2zWBA
The eco friendly guy on the left is wearing two battery chargers
love this video and song, anyone able to tell me the name of the artist and song?
The name of the song is La Palomilla by Joe Cuba.
I enjoy this song very much. I thought I’d share it for those who don’t get much access to salsa/cha-cha music outside of the US!
Download: Morning Cha-Cha
Brilliant musically but jazzy and quite long – I find it difficult to sustain a dance this length of time – don’t you run out of ideas?
PS what was that Cha Cha track on the podcast with Z – the old school style that you didn’t care for much?
@Davethe3rd
I have added the forums link back to its old state: http://addicted2salsa.com/forums/
Hope you find what you are looking for. If you have questions, be sure to ask them here (since the forums will slowly go away).
Hi, I’m new at salsa, but I’m also learning hiphop dance at the moment. My question is, I have some cool looking sneakers with (obviously) rubber outsoles. I was wondering if there was a way to take these sneakers and modify the outsole so that I can use them effectively for salsa and hiphop dance. And even if you don’t know yourself, please point me in the right direction – Google is failing me epically. Thanks!
Have you tried putting duct tape on the bottom of your shoes (so the grey part of the duct tape is what has contact on the floor)? I used to use that trick for swing dancing and it worked pretty well.
Eh, that’s cool. I should get those running shoes that light when you step down.
A good cobbler might be a good source to ask. If the sneaker is able to be modified, (s)he would be the one to know.
Maybe a suede sole replacement? Or a good time for some cool new dance sneakers.
I think I’ll try duct tape for now, but something like the suede sole replacement sounds like what I would be looking for!
But what are these dance sneakers – news to me. Converse doesn’t make dancing shoes, do they?
I think he may be referring to these:
I have a pair and they’re amazing. They have a very thin suede sole. Very easy to dance with.
I’m waiting to get a pair of Ballos as a reward for when I have “arrived.”
There are also capezio “dance sneakers.”
http://www.capeziostore.com/Fierce_Dansneaker%26reg%3B-p18171.html
They look a little funny but are relatively affordable and work well. I bought a pair a few weeks back and have noticed that double, dare I say almost triple, turns are more manageable.
I would suggest going to a shoe repair shop, and covering the soles with a non-stick rubber sole, then having it sanded/buffed down so that its smooth, yet not sticky. This allows you to feel grounded when your weight presses into the floor because the rubber slightly expands and gives you good traction. It also allows you to spin as needed without sticking. This would probably cost about $35-$40 at a decent shoe repair shop.
Anyone know where the old threads went? I remember one I found months ago that had some tips on making the transition from being a beginning dancer to an intermediate one and I’d like to read it again…
That is a great start! I’ve said it again, most of the work of learning salsa is on helping your brain to think and process information, and respond in a manner that we are not used to. One of the greatest milestone a salser@ will have is the ability to slow things down (like a “Matrix” ability). As a beginner, I remember how much work it was to pull-off a cross-body lead with turn to a 180. Everything seemed to move so fast, that it felt I couldn’t perform the move properly or even combine multiple patterns together: I needed a basic in-between to think about what to do next.
However, after several months of more dancing, I had my ‘Matrix’ experience. Something had clicked in my head. As I was dancing, I felt that everything felt much slower than normal. I did not feel as rushed as before. It felt as if I had more time to think through the moves, know what was happening between my partner and I, more time to mind my surroundings (columns/other dancers taking up too much space), and extra ‘memory’ to figure out and retain what the next 16 counts of moves would be. It was an amazing experience, similarly to learning how to sprint from walking. Having this new ’skill’ which I think every dancer develops, also aids in your everyday life and work. While it is said that most people only use 10% of their brains, I think dancers, having forced themselves to develop this complex thinking skill, get an extra 5%.
I’m not a neurologist, however, I think what happens is that the brain ends up either strengthening paths to perform those moves, or makes ’shorter’ connections to those repeated motor instructions. This makes it a lot easier to manage these tasks. And because you end up saving time by ‘thinking less’, it feels like you can perform many tasks in parallel – maintain timing, protect the lady in a crowded nightclub, add body movement, lead patterns properly,
fix errors if a pattern goes wrong, keep our feet moving… (the list goes on)
I look forward to when you reach this milestone.
cool
this is just what i was talking about in another comment.
i don’t remember how does it actually happen in the brain but you just describe the feeling right here…
For the first time today, like finding out I have superpowers, I was watching a bunch of dancers at the club and was able to read their 1,2,3 5,6,7 moves and match them up to the music. And from that was able to understand the beats.
I found it much easier than listening to endless amounts of music and then counting the steps trying to find something that matches. It was a really cool experience.
I am currently getting this salsamentary into gear and getting ready to film episode 2. I have been filming SD teams in SD like Deseo dance co, Majesty in Motion, and Salsa Divas. My focus in this episode will be all about the ladies. Hopefully it will boost the ratings hehe…At any rate my overall question is what ideas can I incorporate that will be very intriguing for the public to know. So far I’m going to include interviews w/ Serena Cuevas, Laura Mendoza, and Jennifer Stein. In addition, I will interview other females in the scene and incorporate ladies doing free style. I was also thinking of interviewing girls getting ready before going out. Those are just some brainstorm ideas, but it will be really helpful to recieve feedback on what episode 2 can look like focusing on ladies in the SD salsa scene…
Does anyone have any kick butt Tito Puente Album suggestions? I bought a compilation of his old 78’s out of the 50’s. Great songs-Mambo Gallego rocks- but lacking the type of remastered quality that I am used to.
My favorite song by Tito Puente is “Timbales”.
Looking to travel for salsa. Was thinking about going to Puerto Rico since I believe it’s the home of Salsa. What I wanted to know is does anyone know which are good On1 salsa destinations in the warmer climates.
You might want to try Los Angeles,CA . That is the ‘home’ of the On1 scene. Puerto Rico is more of On2 (just an FYI).
Oh. Didn’t know that. Thanks.
On1 is big here in Sydney. Don’t forget when it is your winter it is our summer. C’mon down!
@greeneggs
You try using the instrumentation loops that are provided with Garageband. You can find cool tutorial videos on how to use Garageband on Apple’s website. If you come up with cool tracks, send it our way – we would love to hear your creativity!
I was really impressed by your Garageband tracks, Anthony. Any tricks on getting up to speed with this program? Where I should I look for help? The built-in clave and horn don’t sound at all like what you recorded.
To add, I also used the feature called ‘Magic Garageband’ for the tracks.
Anthony Persaud 11:58 pm on October 29, 2008Permalink |
Damn! That looks awesome. Bachata is on the rise!
SalseroWannaBe 2:47 am on October 30, 2008Permalink |
Nah, they do this all the time in clubs in Poland. I really don’t like it – original bachata is about senses, sex. This one is more like ballroom rumba comparing to cuban rumba. Keep the sex in bachata, not running around dancefloor in something what will never be a tango. Looks ridiculous to me.
donv69 4:06 am on October 31, 2008Permalink |
Too much like Zouk. I second SalseroWannaBe. They’re good, but I don’t like it. That’s what Salsa is there for.
SalseroWannaBe 2:12 pm on November 1, 2008Permalink |
And the funniest parts are them walking backward and forward. They look idiotic – just doesn’t fits the music.
Maia 2:12 pm on November 4, 2008Permalink |
I agree with SalseroWannaBe.. Doesnt fit!!
Juan 3:42 pm on November 5, 2008Permalink |
I think this new flavor of bachata is great! there is so many new things you can do with the dance.
It is interesting that bachata is going through the same evolution as salsa did in the 90’s. In the early 90’s, people only danced the colombian and cuban salsa. There was no technicalities, just feel the music and the bit. When the linear style came, people were apprehensive to it and started saying that that is not salsa, it’s more like a ballroom dance! Look at it now… the linear salsa (on1, on2) is the most popular salsa style.
Bachata is evolving as well, we can either stay in the past and hope it won’t change, or we can embrace the dance and push it forward to the future.
I think i became to philosophical now, but I would love to hear your thoughts…
donv69 11:16 am on November 6, 2008Permalink |
@Juan: I understand what you’re saying. But Bachata already has all the turns and tricks that Salsa has. The difference is that it’s done with side steps, is more intimate and slower.
You obviously can’t do whip turns in Bachata. But you could do the sombrero.
SalseroWannaBe 2:34 am on November 7, 2008Permalink |
In the early 90’s people only danced colombian and cuban? Where?