Monday, October 29, 2012
I'm Back!!
Wow, I hate that's it's been 2 years since I've posted here. Please don't think that I've given up on dancing. The truth of the matter is that I vamped up my dancing and travels so much that I forgot to reflect about my journey. I've done so many cool things such as starting a casino rueda dance team which has traveled and performed at events like the Hotlanta Salsa Congress, the Tenneesee Salsa Congress, and the Salsalabama Jam. Over the last year, I have also been teaching salsa in private lessons and every Monday night at Urban Dance Studios. Teaching and directing a salsa dance team has given me a wealth of knowledge that I'm excited to resume sharing on this blog. Hope you will join me on this mission. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Time to Lift Some Weights
I discovered the correct way to do dips and lifts at the L.A. Salsa Congress last weekend. I've been doing dips for years, so I was very surprised to realize that there is a lot more to a dip than I originally thought. A dip as an illusion in that it looks like the man is dropping the girl and picking her up all by himself. However, the reality of the move is that although the man starts the drop, the woman is the one who stops it by holding on to the man's waist and supporting her own weight during the duration of the dip. When it's time to get up, she doesn't just let the guy pull her up by himself. She is supposed to help, engaging her supporting leg and arm to lift herself back up.
The L.A. Workshop was the first time that I ever did a dip with this technique and although it was quite the workout, forcing me to use every muscle, it felt right. It felt better than any other dip I ever did because I felt safe and secure. I'm no stranger to being dropped and have been dropped on my head at least twice because of a flip or dip. I wonder now that if I knew this technique many years ago if I could have avoided those falls and bumps to the head, saving myself a lot of heartache, recovery time, and dead brain cells.
In another class at the congress, we did a lift to the shoulder. I was amazed at how quickly I came to trust a complete stranger to lift me up over his head, but as we slowly worked through the lift I discovered that with the right techique that a lift is about as risky as driving to work each morning. As long as you follow the rules and your partner does as well, there should be not accidents. It's only when you get in a hurry and speed through a lift that injuries and accidents occur.
In this workshop as well, the key to the move was in the girl using her core muscles to balance on the guys shoulder, using the abdominals to keep the legs lifted and keep the torso up. Once again all of my muscles were engaged, stretching, and lifting, trying to make my body as easy to balance as possible but it was a serious challenge for me. I kept on wanting to revert back to limp noodle mode which is not only ugly, but it's dangerous as well because it's so easy to get off balance when your weight is not centered and grounded on your partner's shoulder. I realized that my lean, flaccid muscles are not sufficent for salsa lifts and dips. I need not only a slender body but also a harder one that can hold it's own, that can do push-ups, chin-ups, and can open a jar of pickles without any assistance. As of today, I can not do any of the three, but just give me 90 days. I know that I can go from a push over to a force to be reckoned with.
The L.A. Workshop was the first time that I ever did a dip with this technique and although it was quite the workout, forcing me to use every muscle, it felt right. It felt better than any other dip I ever did because I felt safe and secure. I'm no stranger to being dropped and have been dropped on my head at least twice because of a flip or dip. I wonder now that if I knew this technique many years ago if I could have avoided those falls and bumps to the head, saving myself a lot of heartache, recovery time, and dead brain cells.
In another class at the congress, we did a lift to the shoulder. I was amazed at how quickly I came to trust a complete stranger to lift me up over his head, but as we slowly worked through the lift I discovered that with the right techique that a lift is about as risky as driving to work each morning. As long as you follow the rules and your partner does as well, there should be not accidents. It's only when you get in a hurry and speed through a lift that injuries and accidents occur.
In this workshop as well, the key to the move was in the girl using her core muscles to balance on the guys shoulder, using the abdominals to keep the legs lifted and keep the torso up. Once again all of my muscles were engaged, stretching, and lifting, trying to make my body as easy to balance as possible but it was a serious challenge for me. I kept on wanting to revert back to limp noodle mode which is not only ugly, but it's dangerous as well because it's so easy to get off balance when your weight is not centered and grounded on your partner's shoulder. I realized that my lean, flaccid muscles are not sufficent for salsa lifts and dips. I need not only a slender body but also a harder one that can hold it's own, that can do push-ups, chin-ups, and can open a jar of pickles without any assistance. As of today, I can not do any of the three, but just give me 90 days. I know that I can go from a push over to a force to be reckoned with.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
What I Learned from Liz Lira
As tiny as a munchkin yet as powerful as a lioness, Liz Lira is a memorizing dancer to behold and was truly the star of the show at the Charlotte Salsa Invitational last weekend. To watch her dance is to watch perfection, her mouth forever smiling, her body never finding an awkward position, and her feet eternally dancing on tip-toe like a prima-ballerina. I would die of exhaustion if I danced that cleanly during every song all night long, but she made it look effortless. Not even breaking a sweat or taking so much as a single deep breath.
She moves differently from most salseras because of her extensive ballet and modern dance training, which is probably why I found her workshop so valuable. She did not focus on drilling a fancy styling combination like most instructors do. Instead, she spent the entire hour working on body positions, turning technique, wrist movement, and finger extension. They were such tiny ticky things, but by the end of the night I could feel and see an drastic improvement in my arm styling.
This video of Tony and I dancing is testament to my styling improvement. Before Liz, my arms would be sloppy not doing much of anything. Now, they move with more confidence and purpose. Instead of staying in front of me all the time as I turn, now my arm is doing a fancy comb the hair swish. Also, when I put my arm up after a turn, her advice to bend the wrist is really helping to improve the look of my dancing.
These nuggets of wisdom are priceless to me because they are techniques that can be applied to every man I dance with, not just the ones who happen to be in the same workshop as me. It's been so frustrating for me this year to learn really cool, complicated combinations only to forget them shortly thereafter because my partner forgets it, can't manage to do it correctly, or simply didn't take the same workshop as me. Liz really understood that as ladies that we can't control those things. We can only control the precision of our dancing.
I will try to keep this lesson in mind every time I practice from now on. My assignment for this week is to come up with at least 3 different ways to add styling to a right-hand turn and a cross body lead. I feel that if I can learn to make these basic moves special then everything else should fall into place because looking good is not about the complexity of the combination but the quality with which you execute it.
She moves differently from most salseras because of her extensive ballet and modern dance training, which is probably why I found her workshop so valuable. She did not focus on drilling a fancy styling combination like most instructors do. Instead, she spent the entire hour working on body positions, turning technique, wrist movement, and finger extension. They were such tiny ticky things, but by the end of the night I could feel and see an drastic improvement in my arm styling.
This video of Tony and I dancing is testament to my styling improvement. Before Liz, my arms would be sloppy not doing much of anything. Now, they move with more confidence and purpose. Instead of staying in front of me all the time as I turn, now my arm is doing a fancy comb the hair swish. Also, when I put my arm up after a turn, her advice to bend the wrist is really helping to improve the look of my dancing.
These nuggets of wisdom are priceless to me because they are techniques that can be applied to every man I dance with, not just the ones who happen to be in the same workshop as me. It's been so frustrating for me this year to learn really cool, complicated combinations only to forget them shortly thereafter because my partner forgets it, can't manage to do it correctly, or simply didn't take the same workshop as me. Liz really understood that as ladies that we can't control those things. We can only control the precision of our dancing.
I will try to keep this lesson in mind every time I practice from now on. My assignment for this week is to come up with at least 3 different ways to add styling to a right-hand turn and a cross body lead. I feel that if I can learn to make these basic moves special then everything else should fall into place because looking good is not about the complexity of the combination but the quality with which you execute it.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Birth of a Salsa Tourist
I was perfectly content in my little salsa bubble, hanging at the bar, enjoying half a dozen margaritas, and shaking it hard to some Grupo Niche whenever the reggaeton finally stopped blasting and it was time to salsa. I lather, rinsed, and repeated this pattern every weekend for nearly 9 years, completely oblivious to the diversity and complexity of salsa. But traveling changed all of that for me and made me realized that I didn’t know squat about salsa. Everywhere I went, I learned a new style, a new move, a new little piece of salsa history that made me scratch my head and say, “Now, how did I not know that.”
My addiction to salsa tourism started innocently enough with a day-trip from my hometown of Nashville to Huntsville, Alabama. I know, Alabama is not exactly known for its salsa dancing, but they are making a tremendous effort to get the salsa scene going in Huntsville by bringing in guest instructors from Atlanta and Florida whenever possible. I was hesitant about going down to take a workshop there simply because in my 9 years of dancing I had quite honestly never paid for a lesson, and I felt it preposterous to spend $30 for a three hour workshop. I went solely out of curiosity and the need for a change of scenery. I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed.
It was my first time taking a lady’s styling class. Before that I never given much thought to doing something interesting is my arms or throwing in strategic body roll when the opportunity presented itself. I just followed the man’s lead, nothing more, nothing less. However, after seeing the instructor and her other friends from Atlanta dance later that evening, I realized that I was missing a lot of opportunities to add flare to my style. A hop, tap, slide combination can really go a long way in making you look hot, sexy, and like you know what you’re doing out on the floor.
Next, I explored the salsa scene in Knoxville and Memphis, and actually enrolled in salsa congresses in Atlanta and Houston. In my opinion, salsa congresses are the best invention of the 21st century because they give you three days and three nights of non-stop salsa ecstasy, with shows and workshops with dozens of phenomenal professional dancers who share priceless salsa wisdom with you on how to become a better dancer. And at the end of the day, if you are brave enough, you can get on the floor and dance with the “stars” and see if you can keep up with them on the floor. Forget beaches, forget skiing in the Colorado Rockies, that’s my idea of a vacation, dancing to the point of exhaustion in a six hour workshop, only to come back that night and dance three more hours in ridiculously uncomfortable high heels. Nothing is better. Nothing gives me greater joy!
This is only the beginning. I’m determined to take my intermediate-advanced salsa skills to professional quality this year, and I will share my journey and my lessons learned with you. Coming up next are trips to Charlotte, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, and in my rather hum-drum life these trips are what give me hope to finally make myself shine on the outside just as brightly as I do on the inside.
P.S. So you know where I'm starting from, check out the video of Nate and I dancing. This is the "before" picture. The "after" picture will amaze you at the end of the year.
My addiction to salsa tourism started innocently enough with a day-trip from my hometown of Nashville to Huntsville, Alabama. I know, Alabama is not exactly known for its salsa dancing, but they are making a tremendous effort to get the salsa scene going in Huntsville by bringing in guest instructors from Atlanta and Florida whenever possible. I was hesitant about going down to take a workshop there simply because in my 9 years of dancing I had quite honestly never paid for a lesson, and I felt it preposterous to spend $30 for a three hour workshop. I went solely out of curiosity and the need for a change of scenery. I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed.
It was my first time taking a lady’s styling class. Before that I never given much thought to doing something interesting is my arms or throwing in strategic body roll when the opportunity presented itself. I just followed the man’s lead, nothing more, nothing less. However, after seeing the instructor and her other friends from Atlanta dance later that evening, I realized that I was missing a lot of opportunities to add flare to my style. A hop, tap, slide combination can really go a long way in making you look hot, sexy, and like you know what you’re doing out on the floor.
Next, I explored the salsa scene in Knoxville and Memphis, and actually enrolled in salsa congresses in Atlanta and Houston. In my opinion, salsa congresses are the best invention of the 21st century because they give you three days and three nights of non-stop salsa ecstasy, with shows and workshops with dozens of phenomenal professional dancers who share priceless salsa wisdom with you on how to become a better dancer. And at the end of the day, if you are brave enough, you can get on the floor and dance with the “stars” and see if you can keep up with them on the floor. Forget beaches, forget skiing in the Colorado Rockies, that’s my idea of a vacation, dancing to the point of exhaustion in a six hour workshop, only to come back that night and dance three more hours in ridiculously uncomfortable high heels. Nothing is better. Nothing gives me greater joy!
This is only the beginning. I’m determined to take my intermediate-advanced salsa skills to professional quality this year, and I will share my journey and my lessons learned with you. Coming up next are trips to Charlotte, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, and in my rather hum-drum life these trips are what give me hope to finally make myself shine on the outside just as brightly as I do on the inside.
P.S. So you know where I'm starting from, check out the video of Nate and I dancing. This is the "before" picture. The "after" picture will amaze you at the end of the year.
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