Hi Anthony, can you do a lesson on how to dance pachanga? I’ve been watching the videos of Eddie Torres giving his lessons on youtube, and I’ve been trying to practice his exercise where he bends his knees back and forth, but I can’t seem to get the feel for how to do it right. Or do you happen to know some good pachanga lessons on some salsa dvds I can buy?
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Cold Salsero
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wmdzign
Looking for advice… I’m looking to take some group classes in New York City and I’ve narrowed my choices down to Frankie Martinez or Eddie Torres. Now I’ve been taking On2 classes for about 4 months (not with either of them) so consider myself at the beginner/intermediate level. Is there anyone out there that has taken group classes from both? I’ve taken a beginners class with Frankie already and I thought he was great though due to scheduling Eddie’s classes are a bit more convenient. Though I’ve seen photos of Eddie’s group classes and seem to be very packed with people which i think is a negative.
Julie
I’ve been to Eddie Torres’s class, and it was great…I really think you can’t lose with your options. I will advise you to figure out the appropriate level- I went to level II and it was clearly beyond me (I had been dancing 1.5 years and was beginning on2). The style of the class was lots of footwork, and hopefully you catch on, he doesn’t stop to help (although his wife Maria did). You may also consider Santo Rico, their classes were actually my favorite for their style (dance and teaching). Like I said, you really can’t go wrong, all the people you mentioned are truly amazing.
:)
I am a beginner as well. Have been taking classes for 3 months. Maria Torres (Eddie’s wife) teaches the Level I class. I highly recommend the class – she’s funny and makes everyone feel at ease. I’ve seen the class packed, but I’ve also seen it with about 15-20 people, which is not a lot for size of the studio.
The class with Maria is $15 for 2.5 hours. First hour is shines (she breaks it all down very slowly), the second is partner work. It’s really great. I have not tried Eddie’s class yet, because I hear he is really fast to keep up with. But I hope you try their classes!
I have yet to take a class with Frankie Martinez, and I am planning on it. I also go to a school in Queens because it is closer to me (which btw I love) but Maria’s class is so so great. It’s def my favorite. But like Julie said, you can’t go wrong either way. Try all of them!
lonbluster 1:41 pm on February 6, 2010Permalink |
Hi ColdSalsero
I went through this, and can explain something…I’ll think to make a video with my camera…indeed there ain’t many good around. Torres is very short at giving detailed explanations, though he is a very good example.
So… on Pachanga you have you’re knees bent on the downbeats(DB), which mean 1-3-5-7, while you are on maximun standing up on the upbeats(UB) 2-4-6-8. This means that when the DB occurs you’re legs muscles thighten for stopping the bent downwards to start going upwards, while when you are on UB you have reached the full lenght of your body extension and start to release the muscles to go downwards.
So actually you can notice (which is something I couldn’t get at the beginning) that the movement for the 1, or 3 or 5 or 7, has to start a bit earlier, so that you can react with your muscles precisely on 1 3 5 7 when you are down.
You can notice that this explanation is very precise, like if you don’t have time to think for all these movements, which at a certain level will occur automatically on your body, but they must be regulated with the careful listening to the music.
So what you have to do is to find cross references in the music being played, otherwise you will lose very easily the timing, which is foundamental in pachanga.
Cross references means you have to listen to different patterns in the music, so the most obvious is listen for the DBs. It is not easy, maybe impossible(for the attention) to listen both for the DB and UB, so just start with the DBs.
Then you start to follow the Clave which spans for 2 measures, from 2 to 8: 2-3-5-6½-8. Here you can see that in 3 and 5 you will match the DBs that you were following at the beginning.
And you can see that if you keep listening to the clave you also have the 2 and 8 UBs.
In turn these UBs correspond to the conga or the cowbell, and this will help your styling. You don’t really have to focus on those UBs, but just use them to refine your style.
in summary you have to switch your attention starting with the DBs, then focus on the clave, and lastly on the conga (or the UB instruments).
Eventually on a per song basis, you will find other patterns other than the clave which will make your pachanga really interesting.
I hope that was not too long. Anyway Pachanga requires a lot of energy, not much for the muscles(yes, at the beginning be careful!!), but more for the attention you have to apply, which will make you fully inside the music. Cool, ain’t it??
Don’t get stuck on the same basic exercizes, start with simple shines as well, as Torres shows.
Another advice: just do it with high quality portorican-jazz salsa, where all instruments are well marked, like with Ray Barretto’s Salsa, for instance. Also Ismael Rivera is great for Pachanga.
cold.salsero 6:23 pm on February 6, 2010Permalink |
Cool, thanks for the tips Ion, I’ll try them out!