Salsa Dancing

[elcolombiano]

I want to practice up on my salsa dancing while on my trip to Cali in December. In the US they teach people many fancy moves to dance salsa but most americans wind up like mechanical robots dancing fancy moves. Are there any dance schools anyone can recomend in Cali?

[denvermike]

... in response to Salsa Dancing, posted by elcolombiano on Sep 26, 2002

Hi Guys,

Just a few comments on Salsa from my view. I took latin dance lessons from Arthur Murray in Denver for about year and half. I needed some help simply because I was a pitiful dancer and I lacked confidence to go out on the dance floor. I think dance training does help, at least it was a great help for me. I learned all the basic dance steps for all the most popular latin dances.  However, the ladies of Colombia have a different style than what is tought in the dance schools of the USA.  They dance a natural style based onw what the music is telling them. Most of the ones I danced with, dance very simply repeating the same move over and over again.  Some were actually intimadated by the NA style of dancing saying I can't dance that way. My teacher was from Miami and she taught me the Miami style as she called it, it is very different than the style in Cali.

But once you get the hang of learning the basic steps on any dance, you can quickly pick up (with their help)their style.  I stay away from the super fancy moves anyway, particularly when first dancing with a lady. I keep it simple with about 5 or 6 basic movements for each dance, mix things up a bit, and the ladies think your are a good dancer.

I also like to occasionally watch some guy that is really good on the dance floor, and I try to copy what he does, and soon you as good or better than most of the guys on the floor.  There are lots of little easy movements that you can pick up just by watching.

Anybody can dance the Vallenato (sp?), there is only a few basic steps.

Remember dancing is fun, you don't have to be perfect at it.

mike

[Wayne1]

... in response to Salsa Dancing, posted by elcolombiano on Sep 26, 2002

Senor El Colombiano,

Don't sweat it too much  OK....

I took 3 private salsa lessons a week for  3 months before I went to Colombia.  I enjoyed it, and learned many good moves and solo footwork.

Almost all of it was worthless in Cali.  The girls dance very simply, and I think salsa in Cali is mostly just foreplay before they go home and screw.

I had these beautiful girls dancing so sensually in front of me and had little interest in being spun and led through moves.  It was actually pretty funny to see the look on their faces after I put them through a few fast moves.

So if you like learning fine.  But if it's not your bag, just learn 4 or 5 steps, practice them till they are comfortable and get out and have fun.

It's usually so crowded on the floor, you can't do anything anyway.  There isn't room for complicated moves.

I also was born with 2 left feet.

Wayne

[elcolombiano]

... in response to Re: Salsa Dancing, posted by Wayne1 on Sep 26, 2002

This is good news for me. To me the purpose of dancing is to seduce the woman. In the US it is a sport.

[valuedcustomer]

... in response to Re: Salsa Dancing, posted by Wayne1 on Sep 26, 2002

Salsa in the United States is influenced by Puerto Rico and has a lot of sophisticated turns and complicated twirls.  I took Salsa lessons for a year from a Puerto Rican instructor and it didn’t do much good in Colombia since the Colombian women danced simply without the complicated steps and didn’t know how to do them.  Also, Salsa doesn’t help when they play Vallanato or Cumbia songs which are popular in Colombia.  The best thing is to just have her show you the steps.

[Nico]

... in response to Salsa Dancing, posted by elcolombiano on Sep 26, 2002

Hi Colombiano,  I'm actually a salsa dancer and was swamped with women wanting to dance at the TLC tour. There are generally 2 types of Salsa dancers:

1) The Schooled dancers;(I'm a schooled dancer) These are those that have of course learned salsa in a school where there is alot of emphasis on fancy moves. They can look very mechanical at 1st. But with enough practice and of course depending on how much soul and rhythm a person has,the mechanicalness may be replaced with sensual fluidity.

2) Native dancers; about 90% of Colombians who dance fall into this category. They don't do so many fancy moves but are mainly rhythm and soul.They grew up doing these dances.

From what I can tell,If you are a schooled dancer they will know immediately and it may be a sign of affluence. Maybe only the wealthier Colombians take lessons.They seem to be in awe of a person who knows many moves (moves are called pasos in Spanish)When I took dates out to clubs and danced with them we would draw alot of attention and people would clap. It was trip.

As far as finding a school in Cali there are proabably some good ones . But whether the school is in Colombia, The U.S.
or Japan they will all basically teach the same things. My advice would be to take a few lessons in either country so you will understand the dance and then find a partner or at least go out dancing alot and just get in to the womens rhythm. If you have good rhythm naturally you will pick it up in a relatively short amount of time without looking mechanical. If you don't have natural rhythm it will of course take longer.
Another suggestion is to learn the merengue which is nearly as popular as salsa(more in some parts of Colombia than others I've heard) and its generally much easier to learn.

Have Fun
Nico

[elcolombiano]

... in response to Here's the scoop on Salsa, posted by Nico on Sep 26, 2002

Thanks Nico for the info.

I will try to take some classes again at the local community college. I have two left feet. I know being able to dance is a big plus.