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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