Tag Archive for 'dance'

7 Great Tips to Improve Balance while Dancing

Achieving balance in dance

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’

Sexy Dancing: Merging Femininity and Athleticism in Dance

This one is for the ladies.  Most of us associate dance-especially Latin dance-with femininity: because dancing can be so sensual, it imitates the mating ritual, highlighting the masculine/feminine duality.  Some of this happens naturally, and a lot of it is taught, in the form of movement, posture, footwork and style.  It varies from place to place, with some styles emphasizing ultra-feminine hand placement and “daintier” footwork.  The differences even carry over to salsa culture, where in some areas it is popular to find make-up, sparkles, fashion, and high heels.

With this traditional element of femininity within modern culture, I wonder: how does it fit in with other aspects of modern culture that are not so feminine?  After decades of women’s rights and title IX allowing women to have university sports teams, and girls who now grow up playing rough sports, how do we merge the femininity of the old times with the athleticism of today?

Continue reading ‘Sexy Dancing: Merging Femininity and Athleticism in Dance’

Salsa Dancing ‘Titanic’ Dance Move

Salsa Video Episode 1 : Salsa Titanic Options

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming! After such a long time we are back with a new season of the addicted2salsa.com video dance podcast!

First, we’d like to go on record that we are the first salsa podcast to be shot in High-Definition (hope it shows up on Wikipedia), so you can clearly see our footwork either on your iPhone/iPod or big screen TV. Second, this is our first podcast that we dance On2 as well as On1. Last, but not least – I’d like to introduce you to our new co-host Julie Merrill.

Today we will go over a few options on how to get out of a salsa titanic move. Enjoy!

The song used in the episode is “Philadelphia Mambo” by Los Gatos (originally by Tito Puente)

So You Think You Can Dance Recap – NOO!

Lauren Gottlieb - So You Think You Can DanceI just can’t believe it! My two favorite dancers out of the bunch got voted off. I was thinking I would at least have one of my favorites in the finals (well, maybe Sabra) but man – Pasha and Lauren! Feels like a nightmare and a bad “Laguna Beach” episode. I’m assuming you’ve been keeping up with the show, otherwise this will be over your head.

Now, “So You Think You Can Dance” is not really about America’s best dancer – its America’s favorite dancer. While Lauren was amazing and beautiful, I’m assuming what happened was that technically she wasn’t as masterful as Lacey or Sabra. Now Lacey is highly technically skilled, but come on! Her cousin Benji won last year’s competition! Fine. Sabra.. she hasn’t really connected with the audience yet. So Lauren had it tough – that’ s understandable – however, I think she brought a mix of both technical and flavorful dancing – especially in her personality. Even on complicated turns and patterns during some performances – she always smiled as she was having fun. Man, I’m happy to have that picture on that blog – Lauren, if you’re ever in San Diego… (whisper) call me! :-)
Pasha Kovalev - So You Think You Can Dance Now, for the biggest disappointment in my opinion. Pasha I thought was the BEST dancer hands down. I just kept yelling ‘What? What!!? You have got to be kidding me!!!’ to my TV screen. It reminded of the time when the results came in on how President Bush got re-elected.

Now, to be truthful, Danny is technically more skilled and his jumps are amazing. However, he has no personality! He’s too serious. Not fun to watch. Reminds me of reasons why I never joined ballroom clubs – people took themselves sometimes a little too seriously, to the point the fun part of dancing was removed. And Neil….. Neil, Neil, Neil – come on people! He does not come close – I think he just got lucky. I mean, he’s great at flips and tricks, but personality. He only started shining at the very end. Pasha was on top of his game from the very first dance.

Pasha brought an excitement back to performances. He made every dance his own, always acting, making faces – amazingly entertaining to watch. Whether it was jazz, hip hop, Broadway, salsa, or that freakishly weird 80’s routine… it was just so entertaining that made you want to dance. That type of effect is not found in many dancers. Sad to see him go, but I guess America has decided.

So, I guess my biggest bias is that I base dancers on how they make me feel. (Warm and fuzzy?). Personality. I think 50% of any performance is personality. Showing the audience how much more fun it is to dance it than watch it. So, I lost my bets this season (again).

But I wonder for those who do watch the show, who do you think should win this year?