Articles on Salsa

After some recent discussion about Ballroom Mambo versus Salsa, I went searching for some videos of either or both. In my search I came across this video of Leon Rose “showcasing” ballroom mambo. If it offends some of you sorry (sort of), it’s hilarious otherwise. Enjoy!

From our post Introduction to Other Latin Dances we now delve further into the sensual dance from D.R. known as Bachata.

Bachata is another dance from the Dominican Republic, with subjects of forlorn emotion, romance, and heartbreak. Bachata is the equivalent of Blues in America, many of the same themes are discussed a similar resolutions such as looking for yourself at the bottom of the bottle. You can easily recognize bachata for its predominant use of the electric guitar which usually plucks out the main rhythm, usually an eight note run. An evolution from the Bolero, bachata has had much success in clubs in recent years.

This music form had a rough beginning from censorship, to denigration, to almost extinction. After the Trujillo dictatorship ended, censorship feel away and bachata poked its head onto the scene. Yet the high society of the time resisted its immersion, feeling bachata was a backwards, country-people, lower art form and branded as unfit and immoral for society. From here bachateros were made to play in the rougher parts of town like brothels and bars, further tarnishing its name. Irregardless it was still popular amongst the countryside even as Merengue became highlighted as the Official Music of the country.

The popularity eventually lead to a collapse of the unofficial censoring. An amalgamation of merengue and bachata  furthered the nationalization of the style and brought it more into the limelight. Pioneers like Luis Vargas and Antony Santos were the first generation for pop stars for Bachata. Eventually making its way to New York, bachata has a strong following rivaling that of salsa. Aventura is probably the best known bachata group worldwide, with its single “Obsesion”.

For the full song visit Aventura – Obsesion – Aventura

Dance evolves from Music

The dance itself, also originated in the Dominican Republic, is a 4 step beat with a tap or pop on the 4th beat. The motion is from side to side with both a closed and open frame. The premise is to be brushing belt buckles, i.e. the closed position. This can be a slightly more intimate dance, and unfortunately has sometimes received a reputation of being “just grinding”. There are gyrating motions occurring yet the natural movements of your hips should not be confused with or compared to “grind booty dancing™” (yea i trademarked it!). In fact if you are dancing together appropriately your hips should move in unison, i.e. no grinding, which comes from opposing motion. I must admit that at first I thought it was kind of scandalous and would only dance with girls I knew really well or wanted to, if you know what I mean…sweet! But its more than that; it’s a sharing of closeness without having to be sexual. The Puritanical heritage of America has blinded and shunned many of us from the innate passions of humanity. Well, now that I’ve attacked our society, lets examine the footwork.

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This is a great combo which focuses on the right hand turn. Make sure you pay attention to switching of hands. Remember that your end goal is to look as smooth as possible. Master this move before moving on. Enjoy!

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Ian and I had the pleasure of of going to the 5th Annual CT Salsa Fest in Stamford, CT  (Ian’s hometown!). What can I say about the Salsa Fest? It was exciting, humbling, exhausting, entertaining, and all around amazing. The short version is that the CT Salsa Fest hosted incredible performers, phenomenal instructors, and fantastic (and unpretentious) dancers. Held at the Hilton Stamford Hotel, the festival included professional workshops, dance performances, live bands, DJs, and social dancing starting on Friday May 22nd till Sunday May 24th. The event was hosted by Lou Lopez of Latin Moves Dance Studio, one of the premiere Latin dance studios in Stamford, CT.

The PreGame

To wet the salsa whistle , Friday night at the CT Salsa Fest included more than 20 performances from groups primarily in the Tri-State Area, although there were groups from Canada, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Colombia. This is definitely the way you want to kick off an event of this magnitude. Just hit us with what you’ve got; great, energetic performances. Following these performances, the open dance portion of the night started with the band “Karibe Mambo“, a fantastic CT-based Salsa Band. They lit the dance floor on fire, figuratively of course .

And The Workshops Begin…

By Saturday morning, we were scrambling to get ready for the workshops. Luckily, since all the salseros were running a little late, we ended up being on time (that makes sense, I think). The first class we went to was Ismael Otero of Caribbean Soul. We’ve taken classes with him before and it is always a pleasure. He is a fantastic dancer, proclaimed the “Million Moves Man”, and it’s true but I learned his secret. Well actually he said it out loud. Read the rest of this entry »

Make sure you have practiced the Cross Body Lead into a hammerlock before trying this move. This move is not very difficult yet it can look impressive when done correctly. Enjoy!

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