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The more I travel, the more I’m finding that dancers are too hung up over whether they are dancing on the “One”, or the “Two”, or “On Clave”, or the “Three”, or the “Style”. They get so caught up in these trivial subjects, that THEY COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT DANCING TO THE SONG AND/OR MUSIC. I’ve had dances where the song is over, but because my partner hasn’t “finished his turn pattern yet”, we’re still dancing to “no sound.” HELLO. There is such a thing as a song. Most songs tell a story, with a beginning, and ending. The middle of the story is the drama, filled with peaks, valley, breaks, and hits. Then there is the ending. The song is now over, so stop dancing. Whatever happened to hitting the breaks on a pause in the music? Why do guys continue to MISS THE HITS, PEAKS, VALLEYS, and DIP OPPORTUNITIES in the songs? I can’t tell you how frustrated I get when I can see a pause, or hit in the music is coming, and I annoyingly get stuck in the middle of it doing a turn, or completing a combination. I usually end up thinking to myself. “I can’t believe this guy COMPLETELY MISSED that amazing hit in the music.” The guy is so caught up in his turn pattern and fancy moves, that he becomes COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS that he dancing to a SONG. There is nothing more frustrating than being put into arm-knot, turn combinations from hell, combo, after combo after combo, and completely missing out on the dramas within the music. I get the feeling that people are only listening to the beat. If that’s the case, we may as well just dance to a simple drumbeat then. It wouldn’t make any difference. Please people, honor the musicians and songwriters of this incredible music we call Salsa. Dance to their MUSIC – not just to their beat. There is nothing more wonderful than dancing with a partner who truly knows how to interpret THE MUSIC, and understands how to lead into THE MUSIC, without batting an eyelash. Sure, you can go back to the “One”, or the “Two”, or whatever, but play with the song. Interpret the music. Have fun with it! I’m a thousand times more impressed with someone who dances to the MUSIC, than I am with someone dancing to certain timing. Dancing Salsa is not about how many spins you can give her, or how twisted and mangled up you both can get in and out of, in a move that only looks good with a pro and his partner who have rehearsed it for months. I can’t tell you how many arm knots and turn combinations from hell I get put into because these guys think that’s what Salsa is all about. Half the time, my face gets stuck in his armpit, and it just doesn’t make for a very comfortable dance. I see more and more women going through absolute hell out there. They get all dolled up for the evening, and end up looking like they’ve just been run through a violent storm. Men are forgetting that they are dancing with another HUMAN BEING trying to enjoy a SONG for crying out loud. Sometimes I think they are handling a high performance vehicle, and want to slam, ram, and throw her into gears only attempted on the autobahn. Guys, if the girls aren’t able to follow 30% of your moves, you’re forgetting the music, and are missing out on some amazing DANCING. Get back to basics. Sometimes I just want to have a lovely sensual dance with a man who will take care of me on the dance floor. Someone who will love me for those precious three minutes and sweep me away into the music with him. Many of the advanced guys treat me like a brand new Ferrari. Imagine getting a new sports car. The temptation is to put it through all it’s paces and see how fast you can make it go and what you can get away with. I’d rather have a calm, relaxed dance with a beginner or intermediate dancer who understands the music, and pauses or dips at each break within the song, than have to perform at high speeds for every advanced guy who wants to see how many spins or flash moves I can follow. Don’t dance me... LET ME DANCE. I recently received this very sad email from one of my readers.
Let me ask you. How many of you have QUIT dancing at one point or another because of this? How many of you are burned out of the "One" vs "Two" argument? How many of you felt intimidated at a nightclub because you weren't on a certain BEAT? Ok, let's go ahead and have a war on the dance floor and forget about why we started dancing to begin with. Let's keep arguing about the One and Two, and scare everyone away. That kind of attitude WILL KILL THE DANCE. If we don't get off our high horse about TIMING so much, and start dancing to the MUSIC, Salsa dancing will be "one of those dance fads we used to dance... until it got ugly."
WELL I'M GLAD YOU ASKED. We start hosting more Jack and Jill competitions (where you don't know who your partner is, until they pick it out of a hat, minutes before you perform), and 50% is on MUSICALITY (how you play with the music), and the other 50% is a combination of Timing, Choreography, Partnering, Difficulty of Moves, Floor Work, Sabor, etc. AND THEN... You do the EXACT same type of scoring with all the other competitions from Amateur, Pro-Am, Semi-Pro, to Pro! Focus on Jack and Jills - that's where TRUE SKILL comes in. Anyone can choreograph a killer routine - BUT CAN THEY DANCE? Guys, you don’t have to know every trick in the world to please a woman. Just make her feel comfortable and allow her the joy of the song, and just being in your arms for a change. Dance to the MUSIC. Dance to the SONG. Please feel fee to forward this article to the ENTIRE PLANET!!!!! We need a change in the Salsa scene... before we scare away all the beginners... !!!! You may also feel free to Email all comments to: wowedie@yahoo.com (me) - Edie, The Salsa FREAK A Few Letters About All This ... Dear Edie - I live in Washington DC. Lately, it has occurred to me that there is a sort of bigotry going on here. I especially noticed it when two of [dance team from out of town] guys were here conducting classes, I think they may have felt some of it as well. It appears that the "on Two" dancers have a prejudice against "One" dancers. As if we are second class citizens. In one club in particular, I am waiting for them to put up separate drinking fountains. One for the 'On Two's' the other for the 'On One's' - it seems to be headed by one or two individuals. What can a person DO. Preferred to remain Anonymous - I would hate to be covered with tar and feathered. To respond with regards to your comments on enjoying and feeling the music,,, as opposed to trying to complete a sequence of moves and turns before the song is over....or sometime around then. How totally true! As usual Edie, you are right on the money!! I was one of those (many) guys who was eager to spin and tangle with every female at the club. Basically using any willing lady as my "dance dummy" to show off all the cool turns and moves I think I can do. For some reason, it didn't seem like I was the babe magnet I thought I should be,,,hmmmmmm... With experience, I have tweaked my style and fine tuned my act, while following your advice .....and with very favorable results.!!! To explain; My approach now is to begin dancing a smooth basic step in closed position, and just try to get the lady to flow with me. Once we are doing that and getting comfortable, I start to add things bit by bit to find her comfort level. First a closed turn, then maybe a closed CBL, etc. I ask if she is OK, and read her face. Worried look automatically means I have hit her limit. I keep smiling to make her feel at ease and relieve the intimidation factor. I keep a gentle but deliberate lead, and gracefully change the hand grips. Even with the better dancers, I am more basic and smooth. Now - they are waiting their turn for me, while everyone else is still tearing their arms out of socket. Being beginners for the most part, they like a chance to dance the basic and experience the feeling of "partner dancing". I am giving them a chance to build up their skills and without pressure. They tell me they feel much more composed and comfortable with me, and how much they love dancing with me. Realize how everyone needs to get confident with their basic step before the moves come into play. It's amazing how quick and correct they get a new move under this scenario. More than one has told me they were afraid to dance with me before, as it stressed them out too much. Since I am just doing the basic, I have more time to focus on the music. When there is a splash in the music, I throw in some little body shift or other move to accent the music. Their reaction to that is always a big smile and they are now feeling like they are a Salsera instead of a puppet!!! For myself, I found it is much more satisfying to hold these beautiful creatures in my arms, in closed position, while smiling and making them smile. Remember that in Salsa it's all about showing off the woman - not yourself! It's really great to for once appreciate how pretty she looks that night, her outfit, her jewelry, eyes, hair - and just take in the moments you have with her....complimenting her as well. And yes Edie, right again, gently brushing her hair out of her face is probably one of the most impressive "moves" a guy can learn to do. It is now embarrassing to look back on my "Papi-spin" days. But hey, its all about learning and experience. Let's evolve... Thanks Edie~~~~ Basic Suave Hi Edie Hi Edie! I hope you're doing great.. [we] are here in [City] visiting my big bro and sis. We just got back from the [City] congress. I am going to tell you the truth from the bottom of our hearts..... we were not very welcomed! We were not impressed with their so called hospitality they give to Salseros around the globe. First of all, the event was not that organized. They had to go through so many people just to figure out if we were even part of the event. Second, we've done [our popular] routine many times that we know it's an entertaining number. The only people that applauded for us were [dance company]. Everyone else was looking at us like oh [City] people, who cares. After we were so happy that they put us 3rd to last within the 16 groups they decided to give a speech on how great [their City] is and the best comes from [their City] and that the good dancers are from [their City], then they introduced us after every body settled down like this, "Ok, and now a group from [our City}". You could hear the crowd sigh. One of the worst feelings a performer can have, is to hear it's public not clap or yell. We had to start our clap after we were done. Imagine, you've just finished giving these people all you've got and when you're done, silence, so you stand up there and applaud yourself so people could at least join in a courtesy clap. We were bummed out. Who ever said "Creating unity through Salsa" wasn't clear with his message. I hate this stupid battle of on the 1 or on the 2. It shouldn't be like that. If anything we should embrace the fact that Salsa is not just danced one way just like the other dances that got boring really quick are. Know whattamean? Anyway, at least we can say that we were invited to this congress and did our best. In our hearts we know we kicked
booty!!! And it just made us that much more humbler. And when they come to our side, they will be welcomed, we won't stoop to their level. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I don't wish this upon any performer, it truly is a horrible feeling. You may also feel free to Email all comments to: wowedie@yahoo.com (me) - Edie, The Salsa FREAK |