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).
While our friends over at Nuevotec continue to work on the 2009 New York Salsa Dance Congress video review, I thought I’d share the video they posted on their site of last year’s 2008 event which contains some amazing dancing from Juan Matos, Candy Mena, Maykel Fonts, Griselle Ponce, Karel Flores, and Magna Gopal. Make sure you check out the Nuevotec site for other great salsa dance congress videos.
[Updated 09.06.09] The great folks at ilivesalsa.com have posted several videos and their summary of the NYC Salsa Congress 2009. Be sure to check it out here.
While we may have a long ways to go, salsa is definitely becoming more mainstream in India. A few months back I ended up experimenting with my life by renting my first full bollywood film. While not the best film to be encompassing of the bollywood experience, I thought it was a good start. While the plot won’t win any “Oscars” like Slumdog Millionaire, the soundtrack and music video production was spectacular. It features an amazing music fusion of Bhangra music (I believe), with other genres like Spanish, Latin and Hip-Hop. As Latin sounds fused with ‘Bollywood’ is becoming more popular, I thought I’d give our viewers at taste of the catchy beat that made me buy the whole soundtrack. The clip below is from the movie (they play music videos between specific scenes in the movie). The song name is called “Touch Me, Don’t Touch Me”. You should notice that they sing all three languages in the song: English, Spanish and Hindi. (how cool is that?)
You can see most of the dancers perform salsa-like moves in the very beginning of the video. As for the music, pay attention to the rhythm section of the song. Enjoy!
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.
If anyone out there is wondering, “what can I do to improve that doesn’t involve the natural process of getting good over time,” I have some answers for you. Using body language (one of the main ways people communicate), you can improve how you look when you dance simply by remembering these easy tips. Look at it this way…for dancers who are taking classes or doing what they can to improve their dancing over time, these tips will help you look good while you are in the process of learning. Often, when a dancer is learning something new, the basics are thrown out the window. What ends up happening is that the body language suffers, so while you may have a great new footwork pattern, you’ve sacrificed some important basics. While you learn, keep these tips in mind, and you’ll always look great!
1. Chin Up
The saying, “chin up” is popular for a reason! With your chin down you come across as self-conscious or sad, hence describing personalities as generally “down” or “up.” When dancers learn something new or lack confidence in what they are doing, the chin tends to go straight down subconsciously. By reminding yourself to keep your chin up every once in a while, you will give off the perception that you are confident and happy with the dance. An additional benefit is that keeping your chin up enables you to literally “look up to” your partner as you dance, which will be understood as a sign of respect. Continue reading ‘Quick Salsa Styling Tips for Ladies’
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!
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