Salsa Episode 23 : Latin Cover Songs (part 1)

Well, there are a lot of Latin dance songs out there. Most of them are in Spanish, no doubt. However, there is a good mix 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!.

 

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Merry Christmas Everyone! (Happy Holidays)

While I'm taking my vacation, I just wanted to tell everyone to have a wonderful Christmas day and hope that the event is fruitful to your life. It is a time to enjoy family, friends and yourself. Go out, sing, dance, drink, eat and be happy because it only comes but once a year. 

Salsa Battle Royale : France vs. Italy

Found this funny clip on salsa battling in a boxing ring. I like some of the dancing, but I wish they'd show more on how they actually keep score and what happens when a person gets K.O.ed.

Salsa Technicals : Flirting with the instrument with clean shines…

So, while I was researching the 'My Favorite Things' song from my previous post because I was thinking about using it in a new choreography, I found this video of the salsa girl dancing to it. I really like it (compared to other videos on YouTube using the same song) – this girl understands the song, plays with music. She shows that the best styling and shines come not from complexity but simplicity with the fact of flirting or 'making love' to a specific instrument in the song. Here, again is the "My Favorite Things" song by the New Swing Sextet using the Xylophone for the song, but look at how she plays with what the band gave her with that Xylo. They are some pretty good shines.

Salsa Tip #209 : Key Ingredients to Smooth Salsa Spins

What makes salsa dancing so great for the ladies? Is it the beautiful styling which includes beautiful arms, isolations, and body rolls? Yes, styling is fun to do but that also can be found in many dances such as tango, flamenco, jazz. Can it be the ability to spin endlessly? The answer is yes. The great quality of dancing in salsa is doing multiple spins. This may be an opinionated answer, but there are many great female dancers which capture how spins can be one of the best aspects of salsa dancing. These ladies you will find on the addicted2salsa website are known for not only being spun by a partner, but spinning on their own and "stopping on a dime". Some of these salsera have not obtained that gift of spinning over a day or weeks, but sometimes month or even years. Some people I recall speaking to about spinning have told me it took them either 2 or even 5 years to do multiple spins. Other people who have a well-developed dance background can obtain that skill earlier that a few months or even within a year.

What is so great about spinning? Here is there scenario. You are dancing with a partner and leads you to do multiple spins, but you stop yourself from spinning so much. Some girls who I have spoken to told me that some problems of spinning include: out of balance, are dizzy, or can't control the spin. The other girls who I have spoken with have different reactions to spinning and state that it is many factors that attribute to great spins. In the beginning I remember almost falling out of a spin, almost knocking the guy out with my arm, or wobbling out of a spin (not spinning in place). I'm not an expert yet on spinning. However after a year on focusing on this technique I discovered the key to spinning. I have taken jazz classes, private lessons, group classes, and as well as advice from friends on spinning. After experience and observation I have found 5 steps to doing multiple spins.

1.) The Prep: Some ladies I have spoken to told me that the prep initiates the spin which helps maintain ones balance and creates momentum. How one preps also determines how fast one spins. For example, when a gentleman’s arm goes down and up like the letter K (called the J-hook) he is warning you that he is about to spin you more than one time. Get ready ladies. One prep that I learned is that the right leg swivels to the right (twist your torso and right leg slightly to the right) then shift your weight all on your right foot keeping your left foot close to your right (feels connected). Finally push off on your left leg. Ready for lift off, I mean spins

2.) Keep your legs closed: When first learning how to spin, some girls tap while spinning. This is in order to keep the spins going. Tapping is like the training wheels for spins. However, if you keep your legs together and knees slightly bent, you will see a huge difference. Make sure your weight is all on one foot (right or left) which depends which direction one is spinning. This really helps with balance.

3.) Keep a 90 degree angle: Make sure your arm looks like an L which is a 90 degree angle facing your partner. Also you want your arm to be nice and strong. No spaghetti arms. You don't want your arm behind your body. If you feel your arm upwards, create an arm bar. For example, have your right arm in a 90 degree angle while having your left arm hold your right arm in place. This bit of advice ensures that you will wobble less and also have the lead have more control of where you are spinning. This may even prevents the guy to get injured like an uppercut.

4.)Keep everything tight: It does not matter how fit you are because if you keep everything tight the faster you will spin a lot faster and smoother. In order to keep everything tight make sure you keep your stomach nice and strong (hold it in girls) and keep your fanny tucked (squeeze). This also enables guys to have a better control of the spins.

5.)SPOT: This is the best piece of advice not only because it keeps one less dizzy, but it makes one spin so fast the guy will think you have disappeared. I'm just exaggerating, but it is very important to spot. Spotting is "process of delaying the rotation of the head, relative to the body's rotational speed, by way of visual focus on one or more fixed points in space. " (http://www.ballroomdancers.com/). Spotting is when you look at an object in the room or your partner and make sure that when your spinning that object or partner is the first and last thing you see. While spinning your head should be the last thing to turn. The faster you spot, the faster you will spin.

You got that ladies:

• Make sure to prep (be warned to spin a whole lot)
• Keep your legs closed, and slightly bend your knees
• Make sure your arm looks this–} L facing your partner
• Keep your stomach tight and butt tight (Your can squeeze a penny if you do it right)
• Never take your eyes off him: SPOT!!!!

Pretty soon you will do multiple spins and it will feel great because it feels like you are flying in another world.

- Erika Briones a. k. a. (Latina Skin) http://www.myspace.com/esb_2005 

Salsa Videoclip Ratings….

After spending a couple of hours, I finally got a rating system for the new videoclips section which I have realized is becoming popular (now that anyone can submit video clips they like). Star Rating System – you get to cast your Addicted2Salsa voting right and give your opinion on the clips being submitted. Not, sure where I'm going with this – but it might be to hopefully organize people's favorite videoclips a little better. Salsa for the free world. Have fun!

2006 Casino Rueda Competition Champions

While, I'm not a big fan of dancing Rueda – not that its bad, I just like giving one lady my full attending during a dance – it is pretty fun to watch. Rueda is more of a group event where everyone has fun because you end up switching partners frequently while someone decides the move to call-out. From a competition/performance perspective it is also amazing to watch because its really a formation-change based performance, and if you ever tried choreographing anything in salsa with more than 5 couples dancing – it is very hard to keep everyone synchronized. When you watch this video, keep in mind that they are moving around the floor, doing complicated formation changes while still being in sync with one another – thats the real beautiful part. Here is the 2006 Rueda champions Casino.com performed in the heat stages of the Bailar Casino Competition in awesome fashion, led by Yanek!

Help Grow our Videoclip link library!

So, this is just a start, but I have finally taken time to update the Latest Videoclips section. Anyone can add new videoclips they like (salsa related) to the list to keep it recent and view them on this page (without having to go between YouTube pages). Sorry, but I currently only support YouTube – its 1:30am and I still have to go to work tomorrow…. anyways, enjoy!

My Favorite Things (salsa) – The New Swing Sextext.

Well, I became impressed with this band when I went to the San Francisco salsa congress and realized that a lot of the nice smooth, symphonic salsa songs that I liked were actually done by them. This is group is called The New Swing Sextet, which might seem like the name of a swing band, but trust me, its more salsa than swing. The songs are smooth and with the nice additional salsa beats. The video is not much about watching people dancing, but about listening to the sextet perform one of my favorite "The Sound of Music" songs "My Favorite Things" as a salsa version. But, while I'm at it, the guy dancing in this video – for those beginners, notice that all he does are very simple moves very, very smoothly, which makes him seem like an awesome dancer. Remember, its not about complexity, but effortless and smoothness in execution.

Salsa Technicals : On1 vs On2. Spot the difference?

So, after looking to find the best way of showing how dancing On1 is different from On2, I think I got it. Below are two video clips – one On1 (left) and one On2 (right). The lady dancing with these gentlemen is the same (so I can keep 1 variable constant in our experiment). I can also keep the same type of music, the same event, the same dancefloor static as well. In addition, they are also both performing very similar hand-flicking patterns, – so I will consider that  not being different (or a changing variable). The only difference is that the guy on the left is dancing On1 with her, and the guy on the right is dancing On2. What you should be looking for is paying attention to the way the leads move in relation to the music. Look at their positioning, how much they travel, the smoothness, the speed and compactness. I will not say anything else except those variables to look for and hopefully you'll find the other ones. It will take a while for you to look at each video numerous times to start spotting the difference. Now, to be clear these are both amazing dancers – and it doesn't matter whether On1 or On2, they are practically doing the same advance moves and they all work out. The difference is that each of the moves will have a different feel to them, which is why On1 and On2 are different.

On1	On2

Discuss this in the forums

 

Salsa Mechanics : On the benefits of spinning On2

I can just feel all the hate mail that is already headed my way. "Oh, here goes Anthony, talking about On2"… but before you hit that send button – first read the article.

I always get asked what is the difference between dancing On1 and On2. Some people tend to have opinions on whether they are different or if its the same thing. Well, again I will preach that there are differences. Today I will be focusing on spinning. From a followers (lady's) perspective they have differences whether you spin On1 or On2 – especially true when doing multiple spins.

Breaking down spinning On1. When the lady spins on1, she starts spinning on 5 (men's timing). So, lets break down an axle turn. The ladies do half a basic forward (5,6,7), then take (1,2,3,4) and prep their turn – to then do spins starting on 5. The lady the takes (5,6,7,8) to do her spin, and then immediately step back on their right 1, step 2 in place with left, and then bring the right foot back immediately to center for 3.

Breaking down spinning On2. When the lady spins on2, she (on lady's timing now), preps her axle turn on (5,6,7,8) and starts spinning on 1. She then takes 1,2,3,4,5 to do her spin (or multiple spins), to then step back with her right on 6, step in place on 7 with her left, pause on 8, and then bring back her right foot immediately to center on 1.

Deciphering the magic. See the difference? First of all when doing multiple spins On2, you have an entire extra count to do the spins. This means either you can fit more spins into a specific turning sequence, or you can use the extra time to smooth-out the spins (so they don't seem rushed). They ladies will enjoy spinning on2 because they will have more time when doing their multiple spins, which makes them easier because they are not rushed. Second, because you are dancing On2, the pause comes right after you end your spins, therefore the ladies have more time to recover from the multiple spins. Remember, after your 6,7 – its an 8, which is a pause. Your right foot does not have to hit center until 1. Once the ladies really understand this, and are able to control their spins – instead of using the 6,7,8,1 counts to recover, they can recover on 6 very quickly, and use their body and style the rest of the 7,8, and 1 counts – which adds to the flavor of the dance.

Again, this is not preaching, but showing the fundamental differences between dancing On1 and On2 and how there are some benefits on dancing to each. In the following video, you can see Emily and Oliver (in the back in black) social dancing. Emily is one of the best salsa spinners out there, so you can see how she can maintain her control and still have add a little bit of styling (or course done to numerous spins)! Enjoy!.

[UPDATED] For those confused about the steps in timing, this article might be useful: Salsa On1 to On2 Steps transitions.

[Added Note] The lady does not need to step until 6 when dancing on 2. Ladies stop spinning with control by having their left foot forward and right foot back. On1 this happens in count 1. On2 this happens on count 6 – so the lady does not need to step on 5 (if not, it would be the same as saying the lady has to step on 7 in the On2 case).

Two’s company, three’s a crowd : Casino Rueda x3

Well, now for something a little different and fun to watch. Yes – more salsa! I found this cool video which is actually from a salsa DVD. It is more of a cuban style salsa (you can tell by the more accentuated hips on each count by the ladies dancing in the video). However, this young fellow is dancing what is called Casino Rueda – except he is doing it with three girls at the same time. While the moves might not seem impressive, just the sheer thought of having to make your brain have to keep track of so many things at the same time… is well…. putting it lightly – hard. Enjoy!

When do you know you have a salsa dance pattern down? [Refactored]

It is usually the case that you learn a move, in a group class or a private instructor, your current partner will know exactly what you need to do and they will help you out by backleading.  Leaving the class, you will feel very good about  knowing that cool combination. Then, Friday night comes… and you get ready for the club, practice it a couple more times in your own apartment/house and you walk out the door…. feeling good about it. That's when you get to the club… and what happens?  You end up doing the pattern, but for some reason you fail or don't do it right. And of course, you question your dance ability (and ego)…You did it well at the lesson? You had it in your head and you even practiced it a couple of minutes ago… so what happened?

It's the fact that when you are doing the pattern in a closed environment (lesson or by yourself), you have the ability to fully focus on the pattern – either combo or footwork. At the club however, you have more variables that affect your dance. The speed of the song will affect the speed of the pattern. The friction on the floor affects the grip on your shoes. The response time of your partner affects the ability to follow. Examples: The dance floor – depending on how slippery or sticky it is it will affect how fast you can lift/move your feet in the slotted area.  Your partner – depending on her ability to follow, move, flexibility and size – will affect how big/small steps you take when performing the combination.

There are numerous distractions at the club that can cause you not to focus. Why is it again? It goes back to muscle memory. At the very beginning on implementing a pattern into your regular social dance 'set', you are giving the process of executing that move a lot of focus. In reality – its your entire focus. As you slowly keep practicing the pattern, you add music, add different followers, different shoes..etc. You keep practicing the same combination until you do not have to give it as much focus as in the start. This way, when you perform the combination at the club, you can concentrate on all the other factors that affect your dance and compensate for those on the fly because you only require to give very little focus on that combination. How much focus/attention do you give yourself when leading a lady's right turn? It should probably be automatic if you are intermediate. How about a cross-body lead? Because you do not have to think about those moves anymore, you can use that 'brain' time or computing power in making the minor adjustments needed for different terrains, partners and song speeds.

The only way to get better is to do them, over and over again. Its a simple law of economics. The use of brain power in doing the pattern a first time is very high. However, as you keep performing the pattern, the amount of brain power (focus) used is slowly reduced, and of course you become more efficient (smoother) at performing it. The more we force ourselves to do that pattern, the easier it becomes. Note, the law of diminishing returns does not apply because once you have two or more pattern down, you can add more styling. Next, you can then put two patterns one right after the other with even more weird/fun styling.

So, next time you are at the club and feel frustrated with a move that you like but can't pull it off – remember, give it some more time, sooner or later it will come to you and something in your head will 'click'. And when you can do that move smoothly and perfectly with all the distractions at the club – you know you have it down!

Fania in Africa – Mi Gente (An oldie but goodie!)

I found this really great video of a concert the great Hector Lavoe did in Africa! Out of all places, I didn't even know Hector Lavoe did a tour in Africa. I guess salsa is popular everywhere! This video features his live performance in Africa which if you watch the video, Ray Barretto and Roberto Roena have appearances with their instruments! (Of course, Hector "La Voz"'s instrument is his voice).

If you want to download some of Hector Songs, they are available on myspace for free (please remember to save the files as .mp3)

1. Juana Pena
2. Periodico de Ayer
3. El Todopoderoso
4. Todo Tiene Su Final
5. Abuelita

Aires de Navidad – Christmas Air..

So, Christmas is around the corner… so I'm feeling in a more "Navidad" spirit. I'm not sure if I'm mentioned this before, but I remember when I first got hooked on salsa – I mean, the music. I was working at a retail store where the manager (one of the very best managers I've known) use to love salsa – I mean, he was the first real salsa addict I met. And when working during Christmas ("Navidad" for those Spanish speakers), instead of playing the regular "American Christmas Carol" music, he used to play Plenas, Bombas and Salsas. I guess its one of my favorite memories because being in the store gave it a more Puerto Rican feel to it than any of the other stores in the mall (and this was Babbage's, and electronics/videogame store – now called Gamestop). I actually think that because we played this type of music, more people were willing to come in to our store (or attracted more people) compared to our competitor at the time that was in the other side of the mall. Anyway, he used to play the Hector Lavoe "Navidad" CD (thats what I call it). Lots of good stuff on it – so here is a nice video of Hector Lavoe singing 'Aires de Navidad' which means 'Christmas Air'.

Salsa Technicals : The Yin and Yang in Salsa

There is something to be said about social dancing. It is a different type of dancing compared to performing – (of course you'll say thats a given). But sometimes, some people forget that. In my case as a leader, its my job to 'entertain' and 'play' with the lady – as well as make her look good. However, what should I be expecting from the lady? Mainly to show me that she's having fun – that gives me the reward that all my hardwork (doing the combos, being smooth, keeping timing, footwork, smiling..etc) is paying off. However, for some dancers, I feel this simple concept is lost.

The Yin and The Yang in Salsa. Now, while I will be mentioning two different type of dancers and their circumstance – its not only prevalent when I dance with them, but with others who feel the same way about them. And because of this 'survey', I decided that it should be explained on "What goes on in the minds of men when they like when dancing with a lady". To help my example (and not mention names) I will use the Yin and Yang dichotomy: Yin is the darker element; it is serious, passive, dark, and corresponds to the night. Yang is the brighter element; it is happy, active, light, and corresponds to the day. 

I will take two different followers that I dance with most of the time. One that doesn't get it, and one that does. -  a Yin and Yang.

I will call the playful lady – Yang. She is a lot of fun to dance with – why? Well, she smiles when she dances. This helps me get feedback that she's having fun. She provides good eye contact – which means, we have a good connection. She also provides good dance chemistry…. hmm what does Anthony mean by this? Well, a dance is like a conversation between the both of you just using your body (hmm.. sounds like sex too). As an example, we might be doing footwork, and all of a sudden I may stop, do a body roll for her, and she might notice and possibly do another body roll in response or something else sexy. That is what I mean by playful chemistry. Maybe I perform a shoulder shake and she smiles and shakes her hips. Again, playful chemsitry. Who knows, she might not have the best styling, or be a professional, or can do 10 turns on a dime – but you feel like its only the two of you dancing, maybe being a little flirtatious, but you feel that you are in a perfect zone where both of you are having a blast. Does it sounds like salsa heaven? Trust me. It is.

Now, there is this other lady I 'have' to dance with every now and then. I will call her Yin. This dancer is an amazing dancer. She has great styling and can spin on a dime and if you see her dance (while you are in the crowd) you can pin-point her out of a crowded dance floor and be amazed at the dancing. Like a flare in the night sky. Yep, she's a professional and you most likely would like to take lessons from her. However, a lot of people are afraid to dance with her becuase she's so stylish and so 'performance'-ish and they are afraid they can't handle her (or are worried about screwing-up). She makes herself self-intimidating. The other folks who know how to control her movements and react to her styling, don't really like to dance with her (without the use of force) because she takes a lot of work to manage, she styles to much that affects the lead, and specifically, she is not playful – which makes dancing not fun. When you dance with her, you'll trully notice that she's more into pleasing/showing-off for the crowd around you, than showing-off for you – the person she is dancing with. She doesn't provide that much eye-contact, doesn't smile often, or play any show-response games as I mentioned above. This doesn't feel like a conversation, but more of a monologue. You work your heart out, do cool shines, smile, make her feel comfortable – but all you get is flat-lines because she is very solemn. Now, you give her credit that she might be hard in concentration in the dance – but no, we are talking about a professional. Does this sound boring? Dull? If you could do the dance over, would you have still asked to to dance, or would you have had better chances with someone else? Maybe have a second dance with Yang?

If it was a question about friendship, who would you find more interesting? If it was a question about dating, who would you rather date? If you had to take a one of them to a theme park – who would you rather take? Yin or Yang? I think you know the answer to the question. And I think an intersting addition to this story is the fact that Yin sometimes questions why some of her favorite dancers do not ask her to dance as often as she'd like – and she believes is because it is because she is not skilled enough. Again, its not a question about skill, but attitude.

Remember, salsa is about having fun on the dancefloor. No one needs to judge, judge your styling, or judge your technique. Its not a competition at the club. Its about chemistry, connection and about the two dancers that matter at that moment for those 3-4 minutes. You and you partner. Forget if you screw up, and forget that you have repeated the same combination like 3 times in a row. As long as you both are smiling – that is all that matters. There is no reason to dance salsa, if not to make yourselves happy.

Salsa Technicals : Lessons do not trump learning at the club…

So I am going to the studio more often (almost on a daily basis).. and I've been noticing that a lot of the students that take either group lessons (and primarily) take private lessons – I never see them at the club. I found this very disturbing, so I asked one of the fellow students why I never saw him at the club and he stated that "well, I don't think I'm quite ready..".

Now other than the fact that it drove me nuts knowing that he intentionally decided not to go to the club because 'he was not ready', I started wondering how many other individuals (especially leads) do the same thing.

Going to the club is the MOST important thing. First of all going to the club should be main reason you are trying to learn salsa – to dance AT the actual club. There is no point in learning salsa if you are not really using it – keyword 'using' instead of 'will use' (future tense). It is like learning a language in class, but not using it in a daily basis – in the long run, you won't get good in the language or worse, you'll forget it.

Nothing beats being in the trenches taking grenades. TWhile taking private lessons will help you, it should not be a substitue of learning by yourself at the club. An analogy would be on how to drive a car by learning how to read a book. Now, don't get me wrong, it is useful to read a book, maybe a traffic manual, the car manual – but it does not SUBSTITUTE the fact that you will do most of your learning while you are behind the wheel. Now, some of you might say that "well, private lessons is like driving the car too",  – well that might be true, but its like driving a car on a closed course. What about traffic?  What about traffic lights? What about different types of terrain? What about drunk drivers? What if you have a baby in the car? Different types of cars, with different handling? .. I can go on and on.  Nothing beats real-world scenarios. So, you might be practicing with your instructor – but what do you personally do when the dancefloor is really crowded? What if your partner can't turn correctly or keep balance? What if the floor is sticky, or too slippery? What if you have uncomfortable shoes? What if the lights are dimmed or too bright in your face? What if you can't find the beat in the music? Or like David Stein likes to say: What if you've had a couple of drinks? What if your partner has had a couple of drinks … or what if all the people around have had too many drinks!

Mistakes are an essential part of learning. I will not sugarcoat anything, I am like to be blunt and truthful. When you go to the club, with a specific move in mind – you will make mistakes. Maybe during the first night – you don't get to perform that move correctly at all. But, you should not give up. The next time you go to the club and try that same move, maybe you'll only make 3 mistakes. Maybe the next time you go after that only make 1 mistake.. and so on. That is how you get better. Even for me, when I learn a new complicated move, it doesn't magically come out right the first time – I know that the on the 10th time I do something, it will be much better than the first time I did it – its a simple law of economics. 

The 3-1 rule. Very simple and specifically for PRIVATE lessons: for every 1 hour of private lessons you take, there should be at least 3 hours dedicated to social dancing and practicing what you've learned in that hour. Now, this might sound insane, but its not. If you take the fact that you go to a club at 9pm and possibly leave at 12am – thats already 3 hours! If you go out dancing twice a week, then you're more than done! It is the same idea from taken from college teaching – for every 1 credit class, spend 3 hours outside of class doing homework. (Thanks to Beverly for the analogy). This is very important. Because I see that some students take weekly private lessons – but here is the main problem. In a private lesson, if the instructor is very good, you'll learn a whole lot of things that you need to work on. Quick note: don't trust instructors who's private lessons last less than 1 hour! You need a full hour to get the most and really work your brain/body. Why do you think classes last 60 minutes in college?… I regress.. When you learn all the things you need in that private lesson, you need a good break inbetween private lessons so you can actually PUT INTO PRACTICE what you learned in that lesson. If not, you'll be either learning the same issues you had in the previous private lesson, or working on new ones – without previously fixing the old ones which (if fixed, or worked on) could help reduce the remaining ones. Thats why some people never see an improvement in their dancing – they take and take lessons, but never put into practice what they are learning. It is like going to a class in college, sitting and listening to the instructor – but never doing homework. Homework is the key in becoming great at the material (and how you pass tests in college). There is not a more fun homework that going to a salsa club and dancing!

If you do take private lessons, if he's a good instructor, the instructor will know that he/she should space them out for you – because again, you need time to soak the knowledge in, practice it on your own, and try it at the club. Because when you try it at the club, you'll potentially make mistakes and you will come back to him/her with questions. But, you will show progress! And thats the important part, because each time you come back, the questions become less and less.

Intimidation is a sin. Now, I'm not saying I'm a holy man, I still feel intimidated. But to be intimidated to the point that you don't even go to a salsa club – thats a Capital Sin with a capital S. So what do I do when I feel intimidated? Well, I'll ask to dance with person I'm comfortable with – maybe a dancer I know I have good chemistry with, a friend or a person on my dance team that is on a similar skill level as I. I do this because I know its harder for me to screw up my dancing and I know that whatever moves I do or how I screw up – they'll be entertained and we'll have fun. And thats the key fact – you are still dancing, still moving and more quickly becoming a better dancer just because you are out there.

Salsa Technicals : Multiple spinning and fluid turning

Well, as you probably know, I'm more of a social dancer than a performer. Not that I don't like performing, but I think most of the 'magic' in salsa happens on the dancefloor when you are social dancing and playing with your partner. This is two dancers playing with the music and having fun in Melody Santorico. Now, I'd like you to pay attention at the spinners (and even the guys spinning) how they are very fluid and effortless. When dancing with a good spinner, they will handle their own balance and control. All the guy has to do is put in the extra little effort to 'continue' the momentum that was started in their first turn. When doing multiple spins with the lady, there are two main important things to make those spins work: the prep, and the first spin. If either of those is not done right, spinning multiple times will be a disaster (unless you have a magical follower or lead that can recover very well).

The interesting part about this is that it is a chain of events all linked together. When doing multiple spins, the guy becomes a support layer and a driving layer. He continues to give you the same momentum you require to continue spinning by making concentric circles around your head (or in your specific 'spinning zone'). But for this to happen, you first spin is very important. The first spin should be the fastest spin because it sets the initial power and carried momentum for the rest of the spins. Additionally, if you are off balance during your first spin, it is a high probability that the rest of your time spinning will be trying to recover from your first spin.

However, to perform that first spin correctly, you need a good prep. The prepping (setup) involves the lady knowing exactly where her center of balance is and having good core (having strong abs help). In addition having good frame and firmness in the arms is essential to keeping a good frame while spinning as well as using any free hands for stability and balance throughout the spins. Also, keeping the knees a little bent will help them with the balance throughout the spins as well. I think the prep is the most important thing – and the followers (ladies) should be practicing prepping as often as they practice spinning. You should practice prepping to the point where you don't even think about prepping. It should be an automatic position that when the guy leads a double or triple spin, you are already in place ready to go.

Alex Da Silva and Monica Flores from Los Angeles

If you don't know who Alex Da Silva is… well, this is why he's famous. He has choreographed numerous routines, he's very famous in LA for the stylish LA salsa dance style (with a lot of flares) and of course he has been in big TV shows such as "So You Think You Can Dance" where he choreographed numerous salsa dance routines. Here is a video of him in I think 2003 performing with Monica Flores, a pretty amazing dancer herself with a pretty amazing routine!

Salsamania 2005 – SF Team Division performance

This is another great group of salseros from the Bay Area called Salsamania (not mania, but pronounced ma-ni-a, with accent on the 'ni'). I really like their speed and their song choice. I took a class one time from John from this group – and while he was strict, he really made sure you understood the combination because he forced the guys to follow – to really understand what the ladies should be feeling, and how we should be leading. This was the salsa congress contest for team division in 2005: