I have received several emails from fans letting me know that while they may not have time to watch “So You Think You Can Dance”, they catch up by watching my favorite picks. While I have been doing this on our addicted2salsa Fan Page on Facebook, I decided to be more proactive and post it here as well.
First, there is the interpretation of the “Love Lockdown” by Phillip and Jeanine. This routine was one of the few where the prop used in the choreography, the locked chain between their ankles, actually was used properly for the performance. Phillip of course is probably one of the best pop-and-lock artists that I have ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm21r3PcrvI
This next choreography is from my favorite couple, Brandon and Janette. Every week they come and just know how to sell a performance (show that it is fun to dance). This is their cha-cha-cha routine that is full of energy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTmy8HydaQA
Now, the most surprising performance of the night was from Ade (pronounced ‘A-Day’) and Melissa, a female dancer who’s core style is in classical ballet. Their performance was an interpretation of the ballet version of “Romeo and Juliet” which was done exquisitely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXwnqn1I-S4
Photo Credit: CNN.com
Michael Jackson, proclaimed “King of Pop” and undoubtedly the greatest performer and entertainer of the eras, has died of cardiac arrest this afternoon. He was one of the world’s most renowned dancers, performers and entertainers - quite possibly of all time. While I am sure there will be many tributes paid to Michael Jackson during the next few weeks, I would like to personally acknowledge that he was one of my inspirations for dancing. I grew up with a lot of Michael Jackson’s music and videos - which inspired me to someday learn to dance and learn to innovate in entertaining audiences. After being in the ’salsa scene’ for several years, I can attest that he has also influenced many modern salsa dance moves and choreographies that I have seen from many salsa dance companies througout the world. To Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace and his legacy live on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un3-Hb9wF9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex30DYwQlHU
I have been watching the ‘Dancing with the Stars‘ show for a while now and I have grown accustomed to watching great ballroom dances and good non-Latin Latin dance routines. I praise the celebrity dancers for their hard work and determination in learning something completely new to them. This is nothing against them because I truly admire their progress. However, I always have an issue when the professional dancers on the show are required to dance a specific genre of dance, such as salsa, and we come to find out that they don’t know what is real salsa dancing. Now, I do understand that there are different styles of salsa dancing around the world. My judgment takes this into account. However, when you slap on stereotypical non-salsa dance steps with house music and state that you are salsa dancing - that is a whole different story. The video below is what gives salsa dancing an improper typecast compared to what you and I know and love.
My biggest gripe with the whole thing is the judges. While Carrie Ann Inaba is measuring entertainment value and Bruno Tonioli is measuring timing (you can see him hit the table when couples dance), Len Goodman is supposed to be judge who prefers traditional steps and music. Len usually criticizes couples when they don’t follow proper dance structure in terms of proper steps for the assigned dance, but last night was a different story. I have finally come to accept no judge or professional dancer in the show knows what is real salsa dancing.
See for yourself at the judges reaction and let me know what you think!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SM1QCQlzKM
In this episode of Addicted2Salsa Dance Lesson show, we travel a bit to the East Coast in order to show you a very common and popular move to do at the salsa dance nightclub. The first move, which I call the “Cyclone Bounce” for no apparent reason, can be seen in many salsa dance congress on the East Coast. The second dance move is really taking most of the concepts from the The Windmill Combo salsa dance episode and putting a different spin on it. In the end, Julie will have a special section to showcase ladies’ styling for the follows. Credit goes to David Stein for the inspiration for these moves.
We would like to thank our sponsors Gabellini Dance Shoes for providing us with my favorite pair of salsa dance shoes. Remember than you can use the coupon code: A2S10 for $10 off your next purchase. It is a thank you for being our loyal fans.
You know you are addicted to salsa, when you buy a scented candle just because it had a cool reference to salsa (not even dancing related) and are thankful that once you lit it, it does not make the room smell like a sweaty nightclub.
For those visitors who be interested in this item, I bought it at Bath and Body Works (here).
As most of you might have known, I have become an avid viewer of the show Dancing With the Stars. While my enjoyment of the show is watching non-dancers progress to become better dancers, every now and then highly entertaining choreographies are presented that require sharing. Last night, Mark Ballas choreographed a very unique cha cha dance that had a good mix of regular ballroom cha cha with a hint of Michael Jackson pop steps. Enjoy and share!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuDnTW3F2J0
Every now and then we ask our members to help get the word out on our podcast so that future salsa generations can learn how to dance salsa. For those who many not know, our latest salsa dance video podcast episodes are always available for download on the iTunes Store (for FREE). If you are one of our current subscribers and use iTunes for our podcast, we’d like to ask you to remember to rate our podcast so that we and others know how we are doing. We highly appreciate if you leave a review and feedback - trust me, we read them! Thanks!
[More on iTunes]
While trying to find interesting salsa dance gear and fashionable clothes, I stumbled upon what I would like to call Exhibit A: A Men’s Dance Belt. I am sure there is a fine explanation for this piece of dance hardware, however, I just don’t have that answer. I just look at it and say: “Really??“ Not only did they choose to have the very seductive color of “Mushroom” as a choice but they start out in ‘Extra Small‘ sizes! Click on the picture for a ‘larger’ view 
I hope our visitors enlighten us on how this apparatus might be useful when going out dancing in the salsa scene. Leave your comments and thoughts below.
[See More Dance Belts Here] (NSFW?)
Here at addicted2salsa, we try (when we can) to contribute salsa news, videos and information that can hopefully improve your overall salsa dancing and social lifestyle. We are glad to see many others sharing their passion and enthusiasm for salsa dancing and music on the internet. This weekend I found a good blog that DJDoubleC posted in our social site: the very recent Salsa-Musicality blog . I was very enthusiastic and impressed with the wealth of information that this author has posted. From his description, he wanted to become a better dancer by learning how to play the instrument, probably because it helps people find the salsa dance beat:
“I know about Salsa, Percussion, and how to mix the two! Here are my thoughts and findings related to salsa, salsa dancing, percussion, and musicality. After spending years and years looking like “just another gringo!”, I decided to learn how to dance properly. How did I do it? I learned percussion, and then it all just “clicked”!” - Salsa Musicality Blog
The author takes care in teaching you a few basics on reading music and timing for instruments with visuals. I find this an excellent beginner resource for those wanting to dive deeper into the structure of salsa music. I hope that he continues to share his knowledge with us so that everyone in the world salsa community benefits.
Here are a few of the articles that I really enjoyed and are must read by ALL salsa dancers:
- Musical Notation (great starter for absolute beginners)
- How different instruments affect you
- Different types of Latin Music
- How to play the Mambo Cowbell
[Read More @SalsaMusicality]
This video Cha Cha lesson of Addicted2Salsa will teach you the basics of Latin style cha cha dancing. We will go over the basic step of Cha Cha dance for beginners and instruct you with basic dance partnering. If you are coming from a salsa dancing background, we will show you how you can transfer your salsa dance moves and patterns over to Latin Cha Cha by exchanging the pauses in the salsa dance steps with the Cha Cha (triple) step. At the end, we provide you with a set of intermediate cha cha dance moves for the Latin dance club.
Again, we’d like to thank our great sponsors, Gabellini Dance Shoes, for providing us our favorite dance shoes for Latin, salsa and cha cha dancing. Use coupon code ‘A2S10‘ for a $10 discount (while supplies last).
[Watch HD Video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojbb9ofPIuA
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