Open op and tap on 8 is sometimes presented as the only way to start many moves, as if indispensable to the move. It is like it must be done exactly like that. Not explaining why in some detail, mystifies what is going on. It took me several years to realize that “open up and tap” is just an option
Read moreMost Leads find it difficult to add new moves to their repertoire. At intermediate level we hardly have enough figures for one dance. At advanced level we have more moves to choose from but most of us more or less still dance the same dance over and over again. Keeping a solid repertoire of moves alive is not easy. If
Read moreMany Leads in Cuban Salsa, X-Body Salsa, West Coast Swing, etc, get along well using the same handful of moves over and over again. If that is good enough for you, if you are that type of person, no offense, just do it your way. But some of us would like to get better, especially we would like to become
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Some dancers don’t care about keeping different dance styles apart, pure and original. They like to mix it all together and make up their own unique fusion style of anything they find interesting. Such “cherry picking” is ok and a valid approach for anyone to follow but I don’t like that approach personally. It is nice that we have both
Read moreThe 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 Panqué (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 moreWe only have a handful of figures in the A Bayamo family. They are important because they break the circular clock-wise movement of most other moves, adding variation to your dance. The moves in the A Bayamo family brings the Follow around the Lead in a motion sometimes called “rodeo”, “laso”, “around the clock”, “around the world”. A Bayamo figures
Read more“Salsafición” is an impressive Dance Academy with a professionel website, http://www.salsaficion.com and YouTube Channel. The many YouTube dance videos are innovative and well organized as a free online course, started in 2018! Here is an overview of the course as presented at the website: Salsafición: Free Cuban Salsa Couse. The videos have focus on the instructions. It took me some
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Right outside the center of the tourist zone of Copenhagen, at the entrance to the popular people’s neighborhood, Nørrebro, we find Kaffesalonen (The Café Salon). Just a café with light meals. In the summer time there is dancing every Tuesday on a platform in the lake. The outside area of the Café Salon include a floating platform on one of
Read moreThe move named Amistad (friendship) is an excellent way to prepare for the start of any of the moves in the A Bayamo family. Amistad makes the start of A Bayamo more dynamic. The Rueda call could be Amistad – Llevela a Bayamo (llevela = take her). Or Amistad – A Bayamo por Arriba, etc. The first video just shows
Read moreMoves named Matanzas, A Bayamo por Matanzas, etc., being just another name for A Bayamo por Arriba ending with a back-to-back turn, is listed as: A Bayamo por Arriba. Moves named Matanzas, A Bayamo por Matanzas, etc., being just another name for A Bayamo por Arriba except that a two handed Vacilala has replaced the back-to-back turn, is listed as:
Read moreThis move is often called Matanzas, Llevela a Matanzas or even A Bayama por Matanzas. Since Matanzas is also a city in Cuba, it is rather confusing to mix two cities: Bayamo and Matanzas. The move is a variation of A Bayamo por Arriba substituting the back-to-back turn with a two handed Vacilala. The Matanzas tells us nothing about the
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