Blogs! Blogs! Blogs!

I wanted to post a play list I created on the occasion of Cinco De Mayo. My play list starts out with Andy Montanez whose songs I just started listening this past week and wow is he great singer. Then I found that he was the lead singer in El Gran Combo – go figure!

• In (1) Caso Fabricado, I found the trumpet and piano combination awesome.
• In (2) Casi Te Envido I liked the beginning vocal solo transition into the main song – very danceable after that transition (for the shine-challenged me!).
• Then the three songs from El Gran Combo are all of my the favorites from that group.

What can I say about the rest – they are all good!

Happy Cinco De Mayo to all of you!

This past Friday I went to the Salsa night at the Renaissance Club on the 36th floor of the Renaissance center!! This event was put on by Renee and a VERY cool guy Roger!!

Happy International Dance Day everyone!!!

As another contributor recently noted, salsa is becoming an international sensation. I just wanted to share the experience I had while on vacation in Thailand.

Albert Lai and I recently had the opportunity to visit Thailand during the Thai New Year celebration (Songkran). Part of the trip was spent in Bangkok, where we were able to do some salsa dancing.

Part 3 of Awareness

What is “your space”? For want of a better definition, your space is the area that is more or less reasonable for you and your partner to use on the dance floor. Generally speaking in club dancing, that space is a rectangle with a line running down the center where you and your partner stick. In formal terms, this is called “slot-dancing” and it is generally the best way to make a predictable and comfortable dance space. The key for dancing in the slot is drawing these imaginary lines -- North, South, East & West -- and following them without fail.

The Slot

Probably everyone has heard of "the slot", but not many of us dance with a real awareness of it. Most styles of salsa dictate that you move in straight lines. Every cross body lead, enchufla, and turn must start and finish on the lines. For leaders, that means getting out of your partner's way (being exactly perpendicular) and establishing a clear path that can only be followed one way. For followers it means following that line and staying within the boundaries your partner is trying to set. Dancing with this awareness and control will not only make you safer, it will improve your turns and make everything you do even better.

Now that the calendar has almost turned to May, can we say that through 1/3 of the year that 2008 is going to be the best year of Salsa the state of Michigan has ever seen?

People ask me this question a lot so I thought I would finally post it here. At first glance when you read the schedule it may not make sense. Hopefully this explanation will help make sense of it.

There are 2 main reasons why we have the intermediate class before the beginner class at the Harem. The first and most important reason originates back in the days of Wednesday night salsa at Boogie Fever in late 2002.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to Wear to a Salsa Congress
"Better to Over-Dress than Under-Dress..."
Keep it Classy - Keep it Clean - Keep it Fun!