Whenever I go dancing at a club, I get two very different styles of how people maintain their hands during a dance. Some people have their hands very loose and let them flow with the music. Others have very rigid arms and they do not move at all. I understand the reason for this is so the follow can easily detect the lead beginning a move. However it feels so natural to just relax your arms and let your hands flow with the music. Is there a right or wrong way for this? Which way should be encouraged?
Updates from July, 2009
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Ternis
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lonbluster
Salseros my friends!!!
I would love to let you know I will fly to NY from Belgium (EU) to attend my first NYc Salsa Congress that will be held from the 3 to the 6 of September.
http://www.nycsalsacongress.comAnyone in this board will be there?
I am gonna thrive among all those good dancers and screaming salsa bands playing live everynight!!
Being first time in the city I’d love to visit it extensively for few days more after, but expecially I wanna go to the typical Salsa club in there everysinglef…..gnight!
Some place in particular guys?
Don Vaillancourt
I envy you. I will need to go to NY for salsa next year. But first need to learn On2.
Julie
I loved Club Cache! I was there around the time of the congress a couple years ago, and it was amazing to see all the best dancers from the world flocking to NYC…also meant great social dancing before and after the congress! Here is a website that may help you: http://mambonyc.com/
Wil
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Hanneliese
Hey everyone. I’m new to this website, but I love it already. My sister and I love to salsa, but we’re both newbies. We’ve got that natural dance talent to be decent, but we both have problems with following. Simple, yes. But I just can’t catch on! Any tips or sites on how I can learn to be a better follower? Thanks so much!
lonbluster
Hi Hanneliese
I have danced with many women(followers) and I can tell you I well sense that it has gotta be an art. The art of following.
Indeed I have found women relative new in Salsa with whom I can dance very well and experienced with years of lessons with whom I have to fight to have a good dance!
It can in many cases be a question of talent, first, then feeling better or less with a partner or another. Eventhough I know many good dancers I rarely feel really good dancing with more than few ones(3-4-5-6, I don’t know).So a first suggestion is to dance more with better experienced dancer who can lead you to a good feeling, without letting novices down, with whom you can have fun as well!
Technically speaking it is obvious an experienced dancer will be a better choice because this one knows well the timing which is foundamental for a smooth dance.
Therefore a second advice is to let down stilying or other ideas in favour of understanding how your body weight goes when you step on the right timing. If you understand timing well every instrument being playing will take a part of your body and will move it according its pattern and rhythm. This will lead you to a personalized styling which will be enriched by further styling exercises.If both follower and leader are quite precise on the timing being played it is only a matter of exerting small pressions and follow the tension of them, in your case.
Dancing with a good follower is good, but it is relatively rare to find the perfect one.
Consider that a leader has to lead a follower remembering what he has learnt, he has to take care of the space around the both, has to make sure the both are having a smooth dancing and many other things.A follower has to ride the leader in a certain sense, she has to have fun because of him and let the leader do what he has to do.
Also good leaders will lose the timing at a certain point, and there you just acknoledge it and align with his new steps. If you notice the leader is definetely mistaking the timing you can just let him know and agree on a particular style of Salsa.
Hope this will help you.
Regards VeronicaMP
I agree with Hanneliese and Lonbluster. It is frustrating dancing with some leadrers and I appreciate what Lonbluster says about the leaders goals. I am not a beginner but I’m also far from very proficient. I could be wrong saying this but sometimes it feels like the leader is trying to impress the follower with how talented he is. I haven’t developed the “eye” to pick out the leader who just wants to have a good experience for both him and his follower. I’ve had good and bad experiences with all kinds of leaders. I am not a very good spinner, (but getting better), I’ve felt that it is necessary to share that with my partner if I’ve never danced with him before. Watching the video dance lessons and other event videos has helped me to learn about various dance patterns and styling but without a steady partner it is hard to practice those moves.
dahvee
Hi Hanneliese,
If you are willing to spend some money, Salsaville.com sells a DVD called “Salsa from Start Vol 3″. This is by far the best video that breaks down lead and following that I’ve ever seen. I haven’t seen the first two videos in the series, because I already knew the basics, and I was looking for something to help improve my lead.
Just keep it in mind.
Hanne
Oh nice, thanks everyone. The comments helped a lot. My sister and I go to this restaurant called The Oasis that has free salsa on Sundays with a live band, it’s pretty awesome. I’m sure plenty of practice will help as well as your suggestions. Thanks again!
Hanne
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cutesalsadoll
Tickets On Sale Now! Revamped Website! I need YOUR help!
Today at 12:58amWednesday, August 19, 2009 at 8:00pm – 2:00am
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The website is revamped – check it out!
Interview with international dancer and arealist and world champion: Ruby Karen!
I need your help getting the word out about the event. Please tell all your friends! Post it on your facebook and myspace pages! Show your support for a good cause! If you would like to pass out flyers let me know!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH IN ADVANCE!
Event Information:
A dance benefit for a Mexico Mission providing food, shelter, medical attention & schooling
Su Misericordia is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity – Tax ID 2090072
CONFIRMED:
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DJ Frank, Mr. Swing
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Crisitian Oviedo
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Stevenson Sisters
http://www.stevensonsisters.com
Esteban Conde
Sakara Dance Company
Tropicalieza
Alejandro Rey and Paso De Oro
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Luis & Shirley with Tropical Rhythm
Doors Open at 8:00 p.m.
Dance Lesson at 8:30 p.m.
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Purchase of your ticket is a donation to our mission.Visit our sponsor:
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LAG5499
Hi everybody!! Can anyone please explain to me, in musicality terms, how the Quick Quick Slow (QQS) is generated in a salsa song? I’ll appreciate very much an answer that goes beyond “it’s the feeling”… As far as I understand, there are 4 main pulses in a salsa bar (the 1, 3, 5 and 7) and all of them are equally spaced. Each pulse is subdivided to obtain a total of 8 beats, again, equally spaced. So, if they are equally spaced, how can there be a QQS? if we step on the 1 (first Q), the 2 (second Q) and the 3 (the S), how can a Slow be created? I appreciate very much your insights!!
Mark
The “slow” is generated by “pausing” on the 4 and 8. In dance-musicality terms, the 4 and 8 “pause” beats are weight shifts from left to right or right to left at the end of each bar.
So, salsa music is 4/4 timing – the quarter note gets the count, and there are 4 beats to the bar. If our feet were an instrument, it would be written as two quarter notes and a half-note, sounded as ba ba ba-aa, or quick quick slow-ow.
Personally, I never use QQS when teaching since it suggests changing tempo and I don’t want to confuse beginner students who are learning how to keep time. Often, I’ll count 1-2-3-shift to emphasize the weight shift with advanced beginners (or even capable intermediate dancers, when I’m doing a polishing workshop).
Tikka
1 – quick
2 – quick
3 – slow
4 – …
5 – quick
6 – quick
7 – slow
8 – ….
Marco
Well put Mark.
This is always helpful (never mind the salsa sandals.) http://videos.addicted2salsa.com/dance/video/the-salsa-basic-dance-step-video
The ‘on-one’ version occurs first, ‘on-two’ starts around the 2:15 mark. Hope it helps!
Italo
Salsa is supposed to go QQS QQS on 1 2 3 5 6 7.
Using the full 8 count, it’s actually QQQ S QQQ S.
Since the 4 and the 8 are pauses, they’re sort of melded into the 3 and 7 as ‘slow’ steps. And thus you have one(q), two(q), three and four(slow), five(q), six(q) seven & 8 (slow)
hope that is useful. And beware those who just ‘feel’ the music. It generally means they don’t know how to count
counting and feeling are not mutually exclusive.
Eduardo
For beginners I would simply explain that:
The “quick” is a single step and the “slow” a weight shift on the ’4′ or ’8′ from one leg to the other. I like a simple explanation in the beginning, to avoid cognitive ‘static’ that takes away from the dialog you are trying to develop between them and their bodies.
I would use QQS very sparingly because from the very beginning it gives them a narrow view of their tempo/weight shifts.
“Quick, quick, slow…quick quick slow”… will be replaying in their fresh minds over and over again. Not realizing that there are many more movement possibilities! And even when you tell them different later on they might still have this narrative playing!
Personally, we like to train new dancers on Clave from the very start. Totally organic style, no #s. Once they have made this connection we then give them the beats/#”s that correspond with Clave but only after this fundamental connection is very clear to their bodies. This allows them to “play” with things a bit more and explore the relationship between weight shifts/clave and steps on their own. We found that teaching students this way goes a LONG way in giving them a strong sense of “functional” rhythm.
Karreedly
Hey!
Just wanted introduce myself.
I am Andreas, and I from Singapore.
I read for a while here and want introduce me!Thats all for now
Andreas!lonbluster
Slow is not in the beginning of the step…it is at the end of it!
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jenny
Hi there people, I am planning a trip to San Diego and I am very interested in salsa dancing while I am there. I will be in town from Monday through Thursday…
any ideas on where I might go to get my salsa groove on?
Much appreciated! -
erik
Hi,
in some of the older videos on this site, a special song is used at the beginning during the intro phase of the video (for example in Beginner Dance Lesson 12 “Other Simple Salsa Dance Moves” and also in Intermediate Dance Lesson 11 “Getting out of Two-Handed dance holds”
http://videos.addicted2salsa.com/dance/video/salsa-dance-getting-out-of-two-hand-dance-holds ). I really like that song.
I believe it’s called “El Negro Bembon” from Ismal Rivera and i found a different version of that song on Amazon. However, i’m looking for that specific version that is used in the videos. Can anyone tell me where to find it?
Thanks a lot!
erik
i did some more searching on this website and already found the title in one of the older articles.
Thanks!
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Marco
File this under the category of what not to do to anger the dance gods.
Individual theories may vary, but I am convinced that making fun of other dance styles is bad luck (or bad mojo, jobu et all.) People like Michael Flatley, while ultra talented, deserve a good dose of ridicule. Perhaps it’s the flashy pirate shirts unbuttoned down to the navel that get me -or- the pencil thin headband that looks more at home on a 70′s TV show bad guy (see shows like CHiPs.) Either way when my wife said she was taking Irish Step dance classes I laughed and went into my best “Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flame, Pants on Fire,” impersonation.
Apparently the dance gods needed to confer on how severe my punishment was going to be, because it was after her second class that my judgment day arrived. She came back home and I asked her how it went and proceeded to ask her how to do the moves. After assuring her that it wasn’t to make fun of what she was doing (which is part true but mostly not- I wanted some authentic moves to make fun of it with)I started with a basic leaping step. Atonement was now at hand because after I started to get the step of leaping onto my right foot, my right ACL went ‘POP!.’ After pushing ligaments back to their proper side of my knee it didn’t feel so bad. Of course the next morning was a different story, it felt like someone was constantly digging a knife into my knee every time I took a step.
That was two Thursdays ago. I suffered a setback about a week back when I thoughtlessly attempted to move a laundry basket over with the injured leg (big mistake.) Now it just pinches when I walk.
In retrospect, I should have known that I was playing with fire; Mexicans shouldn’t mess (or make fun of) Irish Step dancing. Hopefully my penence within this post will set me back into the dancing god’s good graces.
I will leave you with an Irish blessing that I first chucked at when I saw it on my Mother-In-Law’s refrigerator. This was back when my wife and I were just ‘sparking.’
May those who love us, love us.
And for those who don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he can not turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we may know them by their limping.
(I thought it was appropriate!) Hope you are all having a good day!
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mkanwisher
I’ve been taking chacha, mereengue and salsa classes. But for some reason now my teacher wants me to try swing also. I think its going to be too much to keep adding dances. Do you think its better to try lots of different dances or focus on a few to get good?
Marco
Depending on your comfort level with the dances that you have already taken, new dances have the potential to add demension and inovation to your favorite dances. On the other hand if you are still shaky with your salsa, merengue and cha-cha then by all means keep your focus narrow enough till you feel ready. Eventually you will look for more. (Hope that helps :2)
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ahreum
does anyone know where I can take lessons for on2 salsa in costa rica?? I’ve checked out several places here so far in san jose but all of them seem to just teach in tico (local) style which is driving me crazy!!!!! thanks in advance.
robert
you should call salsa expresion on la sabana, it LA style, not on2 but you should try
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salilsurendran
has anyone heard of this software salsa grooves http://www.jazzydanceco.com/salsa/content/blogcategory/29/93/lang,en/. One famous instructor had a musicality workshop and recommended this software to me. I was wondering if it is worth spending $35 to buy it
Don Vaillancourt 9:30 pm on July 28, 2009Permalink |
I think it depends on style and the leads goal. But really the hold should be firm but still soft. Also it may depend on the leads previous experiences with follows. Maybe they’re always ran into follows that can’t and so the lead adopted a firmer, uhm, lead.
Madsalsa 9:42 pm on August 4, 2009Permalink |
Well, obviously you don’t want to be so rigid your arms don’t move and you don’t want to be so relaxed the follow can’t feel your lead. I agree with Don that it depends. Some follows prefer (or need) different types of leads. For beginners and follows that like to move their arms around, I typically use a ‘stronger’ lead (rigid sounds bad to me) to make it easier for them follow and to cut through some of the noise generated by their arm movements. With follows that I’m more comfortable with, typically the more experienced crowd, my lead will be much softer b/c I don’t need to ‘shout’ and it looks and feels more natural.