San Diego is a young salsa city. It is not as mature as San Francisco, Los Angeles or (even close) New York in terms of the salsa community. However, a lot of progress has been made over this last year. We have had Junior and Emily, Mambo2Salsa by Angel and Tulane, and Serena Cuevas’ team (yet to be nicknamed and announced) begin to grow in San Diego.Today, a new dance team as come to San Diego: Sakara (www.sakara.us). The uniqueness of this dance team is the incorporation of enormous amounts of isolated body motions in their routine and style – which is a refresher to having to do zillion of patterns. Their tag-line: ‘fluidity of movement’. It is a breath of fresh air. .. Continue reading ‘Sakara Dance Company in San Diego : First Impressions’
Tag Archive for 'salsa dance'
Well, I know I haven’t written anything in a long time (you will not believe what my non-salsa has been up to), but time for an update. So, it happens that this month we have a double killer congress. First, we have the New York City Salsa Congress 2007 and the first ever (and super fun) San Diego Salsa Festival 2007. I am really looking forward to seeing some of the great dancers from all over the US (and World) to perform and social dance in San Diego. I think it is great for me, since this time I don’t have to pay for a hotel and can drive from my apartment to the venue easily…… I wonder where the addicted2salsa after party will at this year?
[UPDATE]
OFFICIAL PRE-PARTY
Thursday September 20, 2007
8:30 – 2am
SKIES LOUNGE (Four Points Sheraton)
$10.00 Cover
Free Lesson at 8:30pm
World Famous “SUPER DJ ROBBY” From L.A. will be playing the best: Salsa, Cha
Cha, & Bachata to kick the party off!
Just confirmed “ORCHESTRA SALSA CALIENTE” an awesome band from L.A. to play on
SATURDAY NIGHT!
THE AFTER PARTY will be on SUNDAY until 3am here at the hotel in the main
ballroom.
Now, I’ve been so busy with my real life (work), that I haven’t been able to even go out dancing! Yes, I know its blasphemy around this site. However, looking over some old files, I found a great treasure that I’d like to share.
I first saw this graph from when I used to read articles from Eddie The Salsa Freak (salsaweb.com). I think this graph is an accurate representation of what leads (men) and ladies (follows) tend to generally follow in terms of learning salsa dancing for the first time.
This usually explains the disconnect when a couple starts learning how to dance – and why some girlfriends get frustrated with their boyfriends because they are not learning ‘fast enough’ compared to other men. I’ve had experience in those situations, which of course, is when I step in and give my speech on how we all start the same way. We all go through what I like to call ‘Salsa Hell‘ – which in this graph is labeled ‘Beginner’s Hell’. (You might want to check out why leading is harder than following article about your brain and salsa.
Think back and wonder if there was a point in your learning when all of a sudden everything becomes clear, and you (amazingly) start learning patterns faster and begin to listen/feel the music in a totally different fashion. I think the yellow marker for beginners is usually the point when they can hear the beat in the music like a perfect played note in a quiet room. Once they pass that obstacle, their feet movements are removed from their mind and can focus on patterns (which are mainly hand positions).
I wonder how many of you might agree (or disagree) that you have followed this graph when you were learning salsa? I look forward to your comments.
If you want to become a better salsa dancer, learn a different dance. That’s right, I said it. Learn something else. Why? Because it might just give you a new perspective on dancing in general, and that may just benefit your Salsa in more ways than you might expect.
I love Salsa…but I admit that it was not my first love. That title belongs to swing…Lindy Hop to be more specific. But that’s ok, because had it not been for my love of one particular dance style, I would never have ventured to others, including Salsa. My experience has taught me that you can always learn something new and apply it to something you already know. The benefits of doing this can lead to increased kinesthetic knowledge of how your own body can move, dance innovation by applying elements of one dance style to another, and improved dance technique. My disclaimer is that not everyone takes away the same thing(s) from each style of dance, so I will share a few examples of what I have learned along the way:
I would like to send a thanks to Jan for sending me this link to this article. It talks specifically on the comparison of the salsa scenes portrayed in ‘El Cantante‘ the movie compared to the salsa scenes of today. You can find the article here: Salsa Spins Beyond its Roots.
One of my favorite quotes from the article is when Ms. Torres states: that salsa “...remained a dance of the street, not taught but absorbed“. This reminds me of how must of us learn salsa. While we take lots of salsa lessons here and there, we usually just learn by either asking or watching other dancers at the club. I would have to agree that most of the patterns I end up learning are from observation than anything else. I can look at someone doing a pattern, and decompose it into its ‘fundamental’ elements – and then add my own style to make it my own. It is not a special inherent ability, every dancer develops it in the long run.
Another anecdote that is mentioned in an interview with Mr. Eddie Torres, is why he decided to start teaching dancers to break ‘on 2′.
“There’s something in the rhythm section in a Latin dance called the tumbao,” he said. “It’s a time pattern that the conga player plays, and you’ll hear an accent, and it’s always on the second beat. This is why Tito Puente said breaking on two is natural, there’s a feeling in that beat that you gravitate to.”
and specifically on how today’s dancers are very different than the days before:
“Young salsa dancers are becoming Olympians, athletes in the dance, so they’re not thinking of drinking and doing drugs, like we did years ago.”
..which statement resonates with some of the things we say about how salsa was back in the old days. If you listen to the podcast, you hear us joke around about salsa artists/dancers being alcoholics, doing drugs and going to jail. Well, while it might seem harsh, it was just a known fact – that is the way things were in New York City in that era. Think of it as the current social relation that people have with ‘Hip-Hop’ and ‘Gangsters’, except that back then it was ‘Salsa’.
While I will not continue to paraphrase the article, I do suggest that you read it because it is very well written with some very good points and interviews. I am just happy that salsa is getting more exposure, now with the new Hector Lavoe Movie (and here and here) and this article being in the New York Times – we are starting to take salsa one step further. (pun intended)
Well, in this episode of our salsa dance video lessons we take a further look some old salsa classics thanks to Karlos (aka ‘Z’). We provide a little more jazzy selection for your enjoyment, so you can discover a variety of different salsa artists and styles. You might not like all the songs, but hopefully you’ll find some treasures that will make you want to get to know a specific artist a little deeper.
- El Dulcerito Llego by Cuba L.A.
- Cuando Te Vea by Tito Puente
- Noche de Farra by Machito & His Afro-Cubans
- Pica, Pica by Cortijo Y Su Combo
- Que Sabroso by Jimmy Sabater
- Swinging at the “M” by Bobby Montez
- Wave by Willie Rosario
Please remember that if you like a song or an artist – please support them by buying their album or music. We play these songs for you to discover these artists that otherwise will be without exposure. Support salsa music! Thanks.
Listen to : Salsa Music 29 - Salsa Musique Fantastique!
Bloch is carried here as well,...
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