Hi All,



CHELLE

Yeap, very useful tips that are essential to good salsa dancing.

Most salsa teachers don't tell their students 'cos they don't know it, hence it takes the students yonks to learn how to dance properly. 

You're right - better late than never.  It's always good to arrive in one piece instead of rushing.  The worst thing for me was having to drive back home from Sheffield at 2.30 am, through the winding Snake Pass in the Peak District.  Driving and falling asleep, and too scared to stop 'cos the road was deserted.  Next time it would be the motorway, without a doubt.

Glad to hear about the progress you're making with regard to your project.  I'm sure it would be well worth it in the end for you.  I guess you are doing a PhD, right?  Just stick at it and you'll be fine.


PRINCESA

Yes indeed, salsa is a very sexy dance.

Surely you can enroll in a salsa class or can you not?  If not, why not?  I bet you would be glad that you took classes.  Try it.

I'm still thankful to God that I had the foresight to take salsa lessons way back in 1995 long before salsa became popular in the UK.  Over the years, I have had to learn many different styles to add to my repertoire.   

Salsa is massive everywhere in the world.  I intend to hit the salsa scene in Roppongi District of Tokyo when I go visiting Japan this summer.  A salsa scene is like going from home to home to me - same beautiful music, very sexy dance, great people, fantastic atmosphere - most of all, very cosmopolitan - regardless of the country you're in.

Wow! is all I can say, wow!!.




kiwi992.

I hope this is not how you guys dance it.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TguyBM8O_BY&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Hi,


Most definitely not.

That so-called salsa dancing is absolutely crap.  Absolutely bloody crap, so is the music which doesn't sound anything like salsa.

Worst still, the dancers haven't got any sense of rhythm and timing whatsoever!  I wondered why they posted it on YouTube.

Now, this is more like it:

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHtA5bVMAJw[/flash]

I would say that these two are okay, as far as dancing salsa in Nigeria goes.  Having said that, they are:

1.  A bit too stiff
2.  Their footwork is not precise - kind of wooden - especially the guy's.
3.  Not wriggling their hips
4.  Lack fluidity
5.  Not making proper eye contact

They are dancing the LA style (i.e. on 1), coupled with dips, flips and a few spins.  Good on them.

However, they aren't really doing any shine, something which I consider most essential to good salsa dancing.  They need to dance much faster 'cos the music is fast.  That said, the second lady is good 'cos she listens to the beat by keeping up with the fast tempo in her dancing.  She seems pretty fluid as well. 
 
Even though the club looks seedy, dark and dingy, coupled with crappy music, it is, all in all, a good demo.



kiwi992.

Hey All,


Just a few of my most favourite Latin tracks and their artistes.  Hope you guys you like them.


SALSA

Africando is a Senegalese salsa band and they are very popular all over the world.  They play excellent salsa 'cos they understand the music.  This is so, because of its origins.  The same goes with the Congolese and Colombians.  Puerto Ricans and Cubans to a lesser extent.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMjHfubMeic[/flash]

Now, that's what we call real salsa music and dance.

The dancing performed here is predominantly the Cuban style with a mix of rueda, Puerto Rican style, guaguanco and shines.  Watch the ladies wriggle their hips.  Wow!


BACHATA

The dance is very, very sexy.  It's for lovers and the ladies love it in the salsa clubs.

There's a French girl that always comes to ask me for bachata dance in the the salsa club that I regularly go to.  It doesn't matter where I am or who I'm chatting to - she just appears from nowhere and holds her hand out to me, smiling!  This has become the norm now - I can't escape her.  LOL!!  She then disappears once the bachata tracks are over and nowhere to be seen until closing time.   

1. 

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPMGFfUu7P4[/flash]

2.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLWzvYDJavs[/flash]

3.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKWFRNbXUHE[/flash]

4.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XyaCAnhjs0[/flash]


MERENGUE

I really like this track - sounds a bit like cumbia.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlzaVJCIXxg[/flash]

All credits go to Youtube. 



kiwi992.

It does make a whole lot of sense to me. I went to one Salsa Dance class in Lagos tagged Salsa Sunday and it made alot of sense. It held at the Prince Of Anthony Hotel, 27 Oyedele Ogunnuyi,Anthony Village, Check out some pics i took there

[/quote]

[quote]

[quote author=kiwi992 post=3655746]Hola Salseros,


It's nice to hear about salsa in Nigeria.  It's my favourite music and dance.

I've been dancing salsa since the early nineties and took my first formal lessons after watching some salsa teachers and their students dance on TV.

I immediately decided to join the classes and progressed from being a beginners' beginner right up to the master class.  It took me three years to learn to dance salsa properly. 

Indeed, I'm king of salsa (no bulls!) and used to teach salsa in my spare time in Blackburn but haven't done so for a while due to work commitment.  Although it took me three years to learn how to dance properly, the girls in my salsa classes could dance very well in only three months.  I guess it boils down to the teaching style and what the teacher aims to get out of it - business or pleasure.

It's just so, so great to be able to dance salsa.  The salsa dance floors in the UK and Continental Europe are heaving with salsero and salseras.  What a great scene, packed full of people of all nationalities.  Great place to meet people.

I dance all styles including:

-  Cuban
-  LA (on1) - cross-body and shines
-  Charanga
-  Bachata
-  Merengue
-  Cumbia
-  Cha Cha

I also play the clave (pronounced 'kla-vey') - the key musical instrument in salsa music for rhythm and timing.

I go to salsa congresses all over, during the summer.  I plan to go to Japan sometime this year 'cos salsa is big in Japan as well, not to mention the other countries of the world.  You name the country and I can guarantee you that salsa is popular there.

Indeed, salsa is the number one dance right now that's sweeping the whole world.  If you can dance salsa, then you are well sorted.  Take it from me 'cos I've been hooked on it for years and years.

I also took lessons in tango and flamenco.  I do not like dancing tango 'cos the music doesn't get me going and the women grip your neck too hard whilst dancing to it, such that it used to tickle me, making me burst into a laughter.  It's not for me.  Moreover, it isn't a very popular dance, quite unlike salsa.

I did enjoy the flamenco classes but had to stop after three months 'cos I preferred a Spaniard to teach me instead of an English person.  It's always better to learn the dance from someone who originates from the same part of the world as the music and dance.

I'd definitely check-out the salsa clubs when I visit Nigeria.



kiwi992.[][b][/b]