Now, you might notice that when I’m slow in writing articles - its probably because I’m doing something else on the website (like making a podcast - remember, I do have a day job :-) ). Anyways, I’m pretty happy with this episode because I’m a big fan of listening to live music.

In this episode of Addicted2Salsa podcast, we take a look at some songs performed live during various events, and I’ll give you some tips how to survive dances that are at live events (with a live band). This is because live songs tend to be much longer and different than the songs you practice with.

In this Episode, here is the song list:

  * [Intro] Roberto Roena and Ray Barretto Medely
  * Sonora Ponceña - Ahora Si (with Andy Montanez) - a 16+ minute song.
  * Frankie Ruiz - La Cura (live)
  * Gran Combo de Puerto Rico (with Gilberto Santarosa) - 40th Anniversary Live - Maldito Callo/A Ti Te Pasa Algo/…(its a medely)
  * [Ending] Gran Combo de Puerto Rico- 40th Anniversary Live - Bogallo/Mazucamba/Pata Pata..(another medley).

Well, there are a lot of Latin dance songs out there. Most of them are in Spanish, no doubt. However, there are a lot of examples of mixing other styles of music, lyrics and languages into a good salsa rhythm and beat. In this salsa music episode I’ll give you a taste of how different regular songs have been combined with Latin rhythms to produce some great sounds that break the mold of the traditional/stereotypical salsa music that you may hear on your next cruise.Thanks to Daniel from GTSalsa for helping out!.

Since the San Francisco salsa congress is coming up (and I’ll be there) I decided to make a special salsa congress tips episode to help get through the initial ‘mistakes’ or issues that happen for first-timers. This way, you can get the most out of a salsa congress and enjoy it even more.In this episode, I give you my personal (IMHO) tips that help me the most during a salsa congress. I will also play lots of good old regular salsa songs that are usually played at these types of salsa congresses. Hope you enjoy! http://www.addicted2salsa.com

I call this episode Salsa is Universal, because I want to showcase some of the salsa artists that are overseas (relatively speaking, I’m in the US). So, this episode is dedicated to our friends over the atlantic (or over the Pacific depending on how you look at it). Listen, dance and enjoy!

Artist - [Song Name] (Background Song)

  * Intro: [Luna Celosa] - Salsa Celtica
  * Salsa Celtica - [ Pa’l Rumberos ] (Background: Ya Llego )
  * Fatal Mambo - [ Probleme ] (Background: Mi Hombre )
  * Orquesta de la Luz - La Salsa es Mi Energia (Background: Este Ritmo Sabroso)
  * Answer to Email Question 2: El Negro Bembon by Hijos de Celebres (song I use in my video podcasts)
  * Ending: Sol De La Noche by Salsa Celtica

So, I have decided to change things up a bit. This is our first audio podcast episode. Again, first episodes are always very….low quality because we are still figuring things out (If you ever see our salsa video episodes 1-4, and compare them to 12-19 — you’ll see the difference). Anyway, feedback is always useful to make the content better.

Here is the salsa music guide as: (the song in parenthesis is the background playing song)

  1. (Intro) Lalo Rodriguez : (Devorame Otra Vez)
  2. Hector Lavoe : (Barrunto), Todo Tiene Su Final
  3. Willie Colon: (Idilio), La Murga
  4. Justo Betancourt: Pa’Bravo Yo
  5. Frankie Ruiz : A bunch of mixes
  6. Andy Montanez : Payaso
  7. El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico : (La Muerte - Live) Me Libere
  8. Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz : (Agúzate)

This salsa combo is kind of tricky to perform, so practice it various times at home to get the timing down: especially the mechanics of moving around the lady and moving their arm down (so you don’t break it).

So I decided to release this episode a little earlier than normal. One of our members asked about different ways of getting out of hammerlock positions. In this episode of addicted2salsa, I show you a couple of simple ways to get out of hammerlocks and one slick/combo way. Please some of these moves require practice and patience so you do not hurt the ladies arm. Ladies, this is the best way to practice your copa step.

Well, we are here again, bringing you a simple, yet slick salsa combo you can learn and use at the club (or wherever).This combo uses a lot of simple elements (half a turn), with a drop hands, and then a blind cross body lead while switching hands. In addition, we use the concepts of a wrap and a copa to finish off the combo. (You can check some of the moves in an earlier podcast). Enjoy!

Well, this is a funny one I think. The name of this combo was given by our video grapher (Cedric Parlade) because everytime I taught the combo I would make a ‘boop’ sound similar to that one on the radars in submarines. If you would like to do the ‘boop’ sound, it is done on the counts of 1 and 5.

I usually use this combo to give me more time to think what move/combo I will be doing next - so basically I use it to stall. ;-) Good to have it in the salsa dance arsenal of moves.

So, since we were doing a reloaded version of the salsa basic step with zoomed in angles, we decided to do the same with the other basic elements of salsa moves.

We present how to do a right turn in partnering, as well as the crossbody lead and the open break. These moves are fundamental to making a lot of combinations work once you reach advanced levels of salsa.

We have been asked to do the basic step once again (with zoomed in) camera angles - so we decided to do it, and make it a ‘practice‘ with us video. So, I hope you enjoy the basic steps to salsa - reloaded.

We have also zoomed in to our feet so that you can see (along side the dirt on the floor) our footwork. I hope you use this episode so you can practice your basic step, over and over again. Remember, your basic step is your best friend on the dance floor when everything else fails.

We perform the basic step On1 and On2. We also show you the right turn On1.

Hope you are enjoying our podcasts. This episode will basically cover some simple moves that are basically universal — in the sense — that everyone who does salsa knows how to do. It is interesting to note that some of the more complicated salsa moves actually end up being variations of these combos.