What it's Like to Compete and Have a Partner... By
Edie, The Salsa FREAK
My former partner, Angel Galvan, and I have competed in all sorts of Salsa competitions since November, 1995. It's been up and down... up and down..... up and down...
Angel keeps coming up with all these INCREDIBLE MOVES! I don't know where he gets them. He's got such an incredible imagination sometimes. He's a fantastic choreographer too. Of course, I have to suffer through all the "trials" to get the move to work. Talk about being black and blue afterward!
This is a great story. Two weeks ago, I was at the Mayan, watching the 1997 Preliminaries. During the break, a few of us girls got together and started bitching about our partners. (us girls do that when we get together to relieve the tension, frustration, and get it all out of our systems, then when our partners come, we whip around, tilt our heads, give a little "girly" smile at them with glowing faces, bat our eyelashes and say "let's go honey...".)
ANYWAY, I started showing them this big 'ole
bruise I had on my right leg from practicing the night before. The minute I did that, the
girl to the right of me turned around and showed me her shoulder - the bruises were
absolutely incredible! Double the size of mine! The second she did that, the girl standing
on my left then hiked up her dress, pointed to her right hip and showed me this bruise the
size of a pancake!! It was unbelievable. The next gal then showed me all the bruises on
her ankles and waist... she definitely topped all of us, until another gal came along and
sported a recent one on her thigh she just got the night before... I felt like we all
belonged to some sort of bruise club or something...
I was so glad I wasn't alone - in the bruise department!!!
In our first competition, Angel and took 3rd place at Vasillio's nightclub, in Downey, CA. In our second competition, we won the 1996 Mayan Competition in the Amateur division. Out of 75 couples, we took 1st place. This was very exciting for both of us! It was a great year!
Angel and I have been partners since November 1995. Our practice sessions are grueling. We practice till we can''t anymore. We fight, we make up, we fight again, we cuss at each other, we laugh, we cry, we sweat, we get frustrated at each other, we can't understand each other (he barely speaks any English - and I can barely speak Spanish) Angel's son does most of our interpreting for us. I bought some Spanish tapes, and he finally attended English-speaking school. That's right, we communicate via hand signals, and facial expressions! (sometimes REAL MEAN ones...)
From left to right, unmarried partners who have SURVIVED
over one year together:
Angel & Edie, Florencia and Little Angel, Monica and Francisco
When we first got together to try and practice, it was almost a disaster! We almost quit before we began! His son "Mambito" held it together for us though, through patience and interpretation. He left out a lot of cussing, and obscene words between each other.
Both of us had to learn an entirely new language to dance together, to both our benefit in other aspects of our lives as well. Dancing with Angel has really taught me a lot about what it takes to win - depending on someone else, and not just myself. I was so used to winning non-team sports in the past, by myself (bodybuilding, swimming, gymnastics, etc.) Now I had to depend on someone else to pull his own weight in order to win. I've learned a few tough "patience" lessons, and have been forced to adhere to more tolerance than I bargained for.
My answer to ladies trying to get along with your partner: Just smile, smile, smile, then wave, be submissive, AND THEN he'll listen to your point of view or opinions (sorry guys, but it's totally true....). Don't criticize, whine, or complain. Tell your girlfriends to criticize him - but never you. If you have a problem with your partner, take a break, talk it out, discuss it, be patient, smile, understand, and let him win. After all, the man is the leader. FOLLOW HIM LADIES. (I know some of you hate hearing this, but it has worked wonders for me...)
He'll then listen more intently to your ideas later. Remember, you can NEVER CHANGE HIM, all you can do is change yourself. Work on yourself, improve yourself, and everything will fall into place in the end. If he sees you are REALLY TRYING, and sees an improvement, it will motivate him to try harder and work with you more.
On the other hand, if it's just too much for you, and you think you can do better, take a look in the mirror, and find all of YOUR OWN FAULTS. He may have to put up with a lot too you know. Partnering is very tough. It can be like a marriage. You'll fight, you'll argue, you'll get frustrated at each other for "forgetting" the move, or screwing up... etc. It's not easy having a partner. Sometimes he'll show up for practice, sometimes he won't. Sometimes he'll call you, sometimes he won't. Sometimes he'll go for weeks without even talking to you (nor dancing with you), then suddenly, out of nowhere, call you up on a Tuesday night and say "Hey, there's a contest tonight, are you ready??".
You will get along with each other to the degree to which you want to win together. That's it. You must stay flexible physically as well as MENTALLY if you want to win. If you want to do well, you've GOT to get along, and have mutual respect for one another (or force yourself, pretend, act, ..... do whatever it takes).
Focus on the positives. Smile, be happy - and remember, this is SUPPOSED to be fun, right? If you have to, write it down, in BIG letters...."This is Supposed to be Fun..." on a big white piece of paper and hang it up where you are practicing, and can see it 100% of the time. This will remind you to get along. It really works. (believe me...)
We've had to put up with so many rumors, you would not believe.....rumors that he talks bad about me, I talk bad about him, rumors that he doesn't want to dance with me anymore, and doesn't know how to tell me, rumors that I look better dancing with other people, that I'm not good enough for him, that I make him look bad, rumors that he makes me look bad, we make each other look bad, we both look bad, we can't dance, we're not dancing true "Salsa" (by the way... if someone can tell me what "true" Salsa is, in a crowd of Salseros, and they ALL agree, I'd like to see this "true Salsa..."). Oh well. That's all they are. Just rumors and people trying to break us up. I have no idea why! I just want to have fun! Not blood on my teeth or knuckles! It's absolutely amazing, the things people will do to ruin your fun and destroy your partnership.
Another tough thing is coming up with new moves. People are real critical. Once you've won a couple of contests, it's like you're UNDER A MICROSCOPE and they expect to see you come up with something new EVERY WEEK. Well I'm sorry, but coming up with brand new moves every week is NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE if you're not practicing all the time, you have regular day-jobs, are not instructors, live far away, have no where to practice, and can barely communicate with each other!
For an entire year and a half, our only place to practice was in his small 10x10 foot living room. You could tell because all our moves looked so "compact" when we competed. A week before we would go to a park and dance in the open, then rent a dance studio to see what we've been working on for a few weeks. We would literally change everything once we saw how bad it looked! UGHH!
Now, we practice in his garage (small step for us, big step for his car...) We recently got a few little mirrors for it, and it's getting a little better. We can at least see what we're doing now. (kind of, there's only one dim light bulb in there, and it gets real hard to see anything at night)
Click here to read about how we did at the 1997 Los Angeles Mayan Competition...
Overall, and looking back, we've created a lot of memories and it's been a ton of fun. We both won and lost together, and have been through a tremendous amount of ^%#*^%@! together. I look back at all the bruises and cuts from falls, bloody noses from accidental hits, and STILL say it's worth it!
We danced
"for Tito Puente" that night...
In July of 1996, we won a huge contest at Fantasia, where we beat the famous Alex DeSilva! I couldn't
believe it! He's the ultimate, world-renowned professional Salsa dancer! I was in shock.
We also took first place at Rudolpho's, Vascillio's, and took second place at the
Sportsman's Lodge in September. At the preliminaries, Tito Puente was in the audience, and
we asked to dance to a song by the Great Mambo Master, Tito himself. Afterward, I asked
Tito to dance and he actually said "Yes" - I was hoping he would! It was such a thrill to dance with the greatest Latin musician of
all time!
A few weeks later, at the finals, my partner's son, Angel Jr. beat us! That's right, look out for little "Mambito" - he's hot! His father spent a great deal of time with both of them on their choreography and outfits. It was great seeing him finally win! He's been trying so hard all year with different partners, and has FINALLY found a good one - his size! Her name is Florencia, and she is SO CUTE! They look fantastic together!
Angel and I have appeared numerous times on television, and were frequently asked to perform exhibitions at various dance studios and shows.
We're now being "forced" into competing at the professional levels, even though we don't do this for a living. So Angel has decided to teach private lessons at his house on occasion, and has a couple of committed students. I've been asked to teach, but I just don't have the time. I just help where I can, and love to see people grow. We both have day jobs (8-5), and practice in the evenings and weekends, if and when there's a competition we're preparing for.
I have had a great time dancing with Angel - through the good and the bad times. All I know is that I just love creating memories.... This is a time that, when I'm old and gray, I will cherish in my heart forever and I know I will never forget. Thank you Angel, for creating some of the most beautiful memories of my life.
I hope this information is useful to everyone out there who's interest in getting a partner, or just GETTING ALONG with one!!! Let me know your comments or any other suggestions you have we can all share! If you'd like to get a hold of me, I can be reached at edie@dancefreak.com, or leave a voice mail for me at (310) 628-6622
Keep dancing....
Love, Edie .;) 
SALSA FREAK