In the large spectrum of dance shoes, there is very little written about the variety of options available to men. Now that I have gone through enough salsa dance shoe phases, it is time to provide my experience and mini-reviews of the dance shoes I have worn throughout my salsa lifetime.
If you have been a long time fan of the addicted2salsa podcast, you may have noticed the original shoes that I wore for the series. Those days are gone, and so are those shoes that were given the famous name, ’salsa boots’. Here I present an overview of my dance shoe evolution throughout different stages of my salsa life.
While I know beginners are sometimes preoccupied with having a good set of dance shoes since they will help their ’salsa game’ - most of these shoes only add an incremental amount of performance enhancement compared to proper training and execution of footwork and patterns. Shoes are no replacement for real salsa dance practice.
This is the list of shoes I will be comparing in order of how I bought and used them:
- The Street Shoes
- The Bloch Sneakers
- The Jazz Shoes
- The Latin Ballroom Shoes
- The Practice Sneakers
- The “Pointy” Shoes
- The Modern Suede Shoe
Continue reading ‘A Review of Salsa Dance Shoes for Men’
All of us here at Addicted2Salsa hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s day! May you share the salsa love with all your friends and “special” ones.
For those looking for gift ideas for that special Valentine in your salsa scene, RitmoBello (RB) wrote an article on great salsa gift ideas. While RB suggests several clothing related items, here at @ddicted, we would love recommending salsa music - since it is the main reason we love salsa. You can find some of our previous articles here and here. You can definitely get ideas from our forums here: Salsa Music Makeover.
We’d like to thank our friends at Java-Lava Coffee Shack in Des Moines, Iowa for the wonderful salsa coffee creations below for Valentine’s Day. Cedric Parlade, the chief Java Lava Designer makes some amazing coffee creations. If you are in the near-by Iowa area, be sure to stop by Java Lava Coffee Shack - they have Salsa Nights now!
The Love for Salsa
Continue reading ‘Happy Salsa Valentine’s Day from Addicted2Salsa!’
Perhaps the most difficult part of learning to dance for ladies is achieving steady balance. Like most skills, balance takes time and practice to achieve, but here are some ways to speed up the process.
Touch up your timing
Once you have a solid understanding of salsa timing, and begin to memorize which foot corresponds with which beat, you will become much more steady on the dance floor. If we have a poor understanding of timing, then we compensate as we follow by pausing or shuffling steps, which brings us off balance.
Focus on footwork
You can improve timing and balance by practicing footwork on your own (plus it’s a great work out). With a nice slow song, concentrate on marking your footwork with the beats in the music. Footwork also forces us to maintain our own balance, without a lead for support. Continue reading ‘7 Great Tips to Improve Balance while Dancing’
For all of the guys out there wondering what goes through the minds of salseras (or women in general), I sat down with some fellow lady dancers and discussed behaviors that guys should avoid at the club. In any dance culture, there is a certain unspoken etiquette. For those who are new to salsa dancing, these tips may come in handy so that you don’t give the wrong vibe.
1. We don’t endorse the use of force.
Ask the lady to dance with you, don’t 
tell her she is going to dance with you. Grabbing her wrist and urging, “Come on. Just one song” does not fly. If she declines, the best reaction is to acknowledge her choice and walk away. No verbal persuasion, cajoling or physical dragging should be utilized - especially when her boyfriend is around. If she gives the bathroom excuse, do not wait for her outside the bathroom- that is just plain creepy.
2. Ask her twice, she’ll turn to ice.
You can ask twice in one night, but not one right after the other. When a song has ended, it is best not to ask her to dance right away. Even if you both seemed to have fun, give it some time and leave her wanting more… that is much better than risking her wanting to push you away.
3. Yakkity Yak? We won’t come back.
Leave the chatting to Cathy! Keep talking to a minimum- exchanging names and where you are from at the beginning of the song is fine, but what the ladies don’t like is when guys sacrifice the dance itself, and end up doing basic step the whole song while chatting. This comes across as hitting on us.
Continue reading ‘Top 10 behaviors for guys to avoid at the salsa clubs (and not be creepy)’
We would like to wish a Happy 2009 to all of our friends, family and addicted2salsa fans all over the world. Julie and I hope that 2009 brings joy and happiness to all of you and would like to thank you for your continued support during 2008.
No matter where you dance in the world, we hope you add to your New Year’s resolution to introduce salsa to at least one person so that everyone gets a chance to experience salsa once in their lifetime : whether its the music, the dance or the addicting lifestyle.
Do you have any fun or interesting New Year’s dance/music resolutions?
This is a great video of amazingly smooth spins by Danielle (Luv2Spin) dancing at Tequila Ranch Salsa Sundays at the Hard Rock Cafe (I think it’s in Miami). This video makes it easy to see good spotting technique and balance since the song they are dancing to is slow. Spinning is not just for girls, Carlos in the video does a triple underarm spin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8D1mHa2GwE
Continue reading ‘Inspiration for the future Salsa Spinners of the World’
Good morning, afternoon or evening, fellow Salsa dancers. This is Dany Joshua with another mini-editorial.
Salsa dancers are very picky when it comes to attending events. This statement is especially true in New York City. Having said that, Salsa dancers are the most loyal people once they have become in love with an event. Just ask Jimmy Anton.
So the questions is: How do you keep and please Salsa dancers? La Vieja Guardia seems to have found the secret. Bring some good dancers and play good music for them. That’s it. The following video of Joel Dominguez dancing with Kim Torrence while DJ Antonio LaConga plays his best Salsa (from vinyl records) captures the spirit of La Vieja Guardia Social, which has become very quickly one of the most soulful socials in New York City. And THAT is saying something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OYPusW9QCk
Saying that DJ Antonio LaConga plays good music is an understatement. And he plays Salsa from vinyl records!!! La Vieja Guardia Social takes place on a Sunday, usually once a month. The next social will be on Sunday December 28th. FYI, the LVG social and yours truly (moi) were featured in a New York Times article last August).
Actually, it takes more than good music to please Salsa dancers, but great Salsa music is absolutely necessary to host a great Salsa social. If you are looking to promote Salsa dancing in your local area or in your city, stay tuned because soon I will write an article about how to organize a successful and banging Salsa social.
In the meanwhile, I want to invite all the readers to leave a comment with thoughts on what makes a good Salsa social.
The Red Experiment
A new study by the University of Rochester reveals the strong role that the color red plays in influencing our perception of the opposite sex, primarily men. While it has been known that red is attributed to specific behaviors in people, this study empirically tested the theory to provide conclusive evidence of the fact. The color red affects men at a primitive level:
“..the women shown framed by or wearing red were rated significantly more attractive and sexually desirable by men than the exact same women shown with other colors. When wearing red, the woman was also more likely to score an invitation to the prom and to be treated to a more expensive outing.”
But here is my perspective:
Continue reading ‘How to get more men to ask you to dance : The Red Effect’
New York Salsa Congress
I know it is long overdue. My review of the New York Salsa Congress is finally up. In fact, it was mostly done but I was procrastinating. Choco, the organizer of the congress, posted a new promo video on facebook of the Congress and guess whose funny face appears at the end!
Review, promo video and photos of the 2008 New York Salsa Congress.
Good day, afternoon or evening, Salsa friends. This is Dany Joshua from Scarlet Mambo. A few months back, I wrote an article about Mambo’s popularity in Mexico City in the 1950’s. I promised to write a complete article about the history of Mambo and Salsa. But I never delivered. Sorry. Yeah, I know.
However, I found this NY Times article about the life of Israel Cachao López, the inventor of Mambo. This article should fill many gaps in our understanding of the development of this music genre and dance.
Cachao, Mambo’s Inventor, Dies at 89
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/arts/music/24Lopez.htm
By JON PARELES
Published: March 24, 2008
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