The challenge of rejection in social dancing is often downplayed to the extent that we almost lie about it. I’m not just talking about getting a no when asking for a dance but also about not being asked at all or so little that it is such a pain to go social dancing that you don’t go. Rejection is a
Read moreIt is no surprise that Abanico Complicado comes in several good versions, only the end of the move being different. Three of the versions deserve to be in the repertoire of a Salsero at advanced level. Nice that you can choose which ending to use, depending on music, your mood and on how well the Follow is doing. A closer
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“Salsafy Your Life”, Dancing Solutions to Energize Your Life, An A-Z Guide, is a cute little book, published 2018. Almost a “Salsa for Dummies for Children and Grown Ups”. Most pages have a headline with a picture of dancers often featuring the author, a short paragraph or two, a yellow post-it note, and a bulleted list with highlights. Almost a
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Laura Riva is in a class of her own. Her Canadian based dance blog, The Dancing Grapevine – All about the “Social” part of Dancing, is without doubt the mother of all dance blogs, when it comes to the social aspects of dancing. Laura has a formidable ability to generalize in the good sense, to always be spot on, to
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Siete (7), often called Panque (Pancake) in Rueda de Casino, is a very important basic move of just one eight count. Siete is one of a small group of moves not done walking the partner circle. Siete is done on the Guapea line as if we are still doing Guapea. The following two videos give a good overall impression. The
Read moreI love to dance with people I haven’t danced with before, and I ask people I don’t know for a dance all the time. I seldom get a no. And if I do, I don’t get offended anymore. I have developed a strategy for no nos. I call it: “say no to yourself” in a positive, proactive manner. 1. Pain
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Abanico (Fan) is a great intermediate move and everybody seems to agree about the name and the basic figure. The short version of the move is not that interesting on its own but the extended version, sometimes called Abanico con Giro, is one of my favorites. The following is a tutorial about all you have ever wanted to know about
Read moreBeing a non-Spanish speakning social latin dancer is somehow a paradox. A Spanish speaking person will tell you that understanding the lyrics, singing along just a little, is a major part of the fun on the dance floor dancing Salsa and Bachata. More importantly, knowing the lyrics makes it easier to understand what the music expresses, to read the music,
Read moreSiete Loco (Crazy Seven) is rather common with a lot of videos out there. The figure is difficult for two reasons. 1) The Follow most be good enough to know that her left hand must be available on her right shoulder after the first 1-2-3. 2) After the two handed Coca-Cola and Dile Que No, the Lead must lead the
Read moreSiete Moderno is a little difficult to lead. At intermediate level it works in class but a Lead is likely to run into problems in social dancing, if the Follow does not know to make her left hand available almost at shoulder height as she turns. The first video is from “Dolce Dance”, Hungary: Same video at YouTube: Siete Moderno
Read moreSiete con Coca-Cola is a lovely intermediate move, easy and very popular, plenty of videos out there, and a nice way to do a Coca-Cola, a walking left turn. The video from the Hungarian Dance School “Dolce Dance” gives a good first impression: Same video at YouTube: Siete con Coca-Cola (A) Next a video from the Salsa Lovers DVD. Rene
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“Islands Brygge” (Island’s Quay) in the center of Copenhagen harbor is a very popular place for open air free dance events like Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba and Tango, almost every day in the summer time, and you have many indoor dance events the rest of the year. This local Cultural Center dance venue with a lot of outdoor and indoor facilities,
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Dolce Dance, Dolce-Dance.com, could be one of the biggest European Salsa – Bachata – Kizomba dance schools. It is impressive that this Hungarian school has local schools in Serbia and Romania. For an English speaking person searching YouTube for Cuban Salsa, videos from a Hungarian dance school are not likely to show up in the results unless you search for
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The Grøndal Center is a huge multi sport center 6 km from the center of the city. At the parking lot near the main entrance an obscure newly renovated dance scene is almost left alone as if forgotten. The dance scene is mostly used for free outdoor Cuban Salsa, 5-8 weeks during the summer, usually on Fridays from 1800-2200. There
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