If you didn’t catch the new NBC show called “The Sing-Off“, you missed something pretty cool. The Sing-Off is a competition which mixes the aspects of a capella singing, show choir (similar to the TV show “Glee”) and American Idol. Keeping up with American cover songs remixed into Salsa-like rhythmz, a group from my hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, called NOTA. NOTA is the term for a musical note in Spanish. They sang a salsafied version Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” in a capella that I think you are sure to enjoy. I think they mixed the song styles very well, even including a nice big symbal-ish clave as a transition point. I’ll be waiting for their album if they keep it up!
Archive for the 'DanceOnTV' Category
Get ready for a rant before you continue. Last night on So You Think You Can Dance, we were treated to the new salsa dance choreographer on the show, Gustavo Vargas (a.k.a Alex Da Silva’s replacement). The performance was a train wreck (see video below). While I think Mollee and Nathan are amazing dancers, I was extremely disappointed with their performance last night. However, I do not think it is all their fault, and some of it lies in the choreography…
One of our good friends, Serena Cuevas from Deseo Dance Co., made a guest star appearance with Cristian Oviedo (another addicted2salsa favorite) at last night’s show of “Dancing With the Stars”. They performed alongside another couple, to a new song called “Tu Conga Bach” by group Tiempo Libre. Great job to Serena and Cristian, both in orange in the video, for once again showcasing great Latin dance performances to the world. Don’t forget to give us a ride when you become even more famous and drive a new Bugatti!
You just have to admire what PBS does for the community and the public. I was excited to find out, through a Facebook ad (who would’ve thought), that PBS will be having a documentary about history and culture of Latin Music in the USA. Not only will they air the documentary episodes on TV, but they are making them available for viewing online through the PBS.org website starting October 13, 2009. Their first chapter will focus on the birth of what is called ‘Boogaloo’ and how it ties to the “The Salsa Revolution” in chapter 2. They plan to go through some of the history of Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe and the growth of Fania Records during this episode. Fania Records was the record label started by the famous Johnny Pacheco, that helped salsa music acquire a taste in the United States. I recommend everyone to check out their preview and site since they have a lot of content including salsa music, bonus videos and interviews (see sidebar on the website for more sections).
[via PBS.org]
Don’t miss the season premiere of Dancing With The Stars tonight on ABC! As always, a diverse group of stars will be paired with dance professionals to compete in various ballroom dance genres. Check it out tonight at 8/7 central!
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!
Bloch is carried here as well,...
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