salsa. the good ‘ol american way.
Burger. Fries. And a side of Salsa.
Though the differences between the American and Cuban styles of Salsa are easy to see, it’s the philosophical differences that I find most interesting. I recently came across a very well-written and exhaustive New York On2 Salsa website that spells it all out with crystal clarity.
Here are some excerpts taken from “Guidelines for Mambo DJs” on SalsaNewYork.com, written by “Doc Salsa” Steve Shaw:
“3. Let The Song End Completely – The musicians composed a specific ending to the song, and we dancers choreograph our movements to be timed to that ending. We may even do a certain turn, shine or dip right at the end of the song.”
Cuban Salsa says: It’s fine to let the song play out completely. But focusing on timed choreography is just lame and robotic. Challenge yourself a bit and dance out of the box.
“8. Songs Not Too Long - The majority of songs should not be too long, usually 4 – 6 minutes, and only very rarely the longer 8 – 10 minute ones. Our dance is pretty intense & complicated, so after 5 – 6 minutes we need a break; we’re getting tired and probably running out of turn patterns.”
Cuban Salsa says: Focus on dance, not on turn patterns. Although we probably have more turn patterns than any other dance, they are not the focus and we do just fine without them. Finished after 5-6 minutes!? In the Cuban style, this barely amounts to foreplay!
“9. Play Mostly Familiar Songs - Most songs which the DJ plays should be known to the dancers, well known classics, because we plan how we dance based on our familiarity with the songs. We may do certain turn patterns, shines, styling or dips at specific points in a song, or sing or hum along with the song almost as if we’re serenading our partner, so we want to hear mostly songs we know . An occasional new song is fine, though it should be chosen carefully to be suitable for our dance.”
Cuban Salsa says: Surprise me. Force me to go in myself and dance in the moment. We get bored very quickly of the same songs because the challenge of the unfamiliar keeps us on our toes! Every dance should be an opportunity to reinvent yourself as a dancer in a fresh and unexpected way. Relish change.
“14. Skip The Band - Most On 2 mambo dancers are dancing to the music. If the music fits our way of dancing, as described above, we’re happy. [....removed for sake of brevity] So who needs a band? From a dancer’s point of view, a good DJ can beat a band almost anytime, because a good DJ can choose from hundreds of fantastic dance songs recorded by the world’s best musicians. But a band is always limited by its musical ability, its relatively small repertoire, its tendency to play songs longer than 5 – 6 minutes, and its limited ability to change songs based on the dancer’s preferences hour by hour.”
Cuban Salsa says: Live music is always preferred. Would you like your favorite ballet or play backed up by an Mp3 player or an orchestra? Give us the orchestra, plain and simple. Live dance and live music go hand-in-hand.
In all fairness, not all American style dancers feel this way. But, whenever I attend a live event, the absence of most of the ‘Salsa community’ is all too obvious. Is this a trend?
Preferences are all fine and dandy. But the Cuban dance philosophy says it’s far more important to focus on expanding your dance to fit the music, rather than narrowing your musical selection to fit your dance.
Be expressive, be creative and most importantly, be alive.
Related posts:
- Timba vs. Salsa
- salsa magic on YouTube
- musicality made simple: responding with your body.
- the on2 debate
Amen. What this guy says sounds almost like a spoof of salsa dancing.
In all fairness, both Carmen’s and George’s Garage hosts quite a few live events so I wouldn’t be too harsh to our friends.
I agree that on2 salsa tends to be robotic because the dancers rely too much on set turn patterns.
Invariably they are obsessed with dancing perfectly and showing off. That is NOT what this music and culture is about.
“Cuban Salsa” is more spontaneous because the focus is on the music itself. The dancers respond to what the band is playing and express the nuances of the song-not the other way around.
“After a performance by dance groups or a band, most people want to get up and dance to salsa. Often they have been standing still for the last 30 minutes or more and they are eager to start dancing.”
oh. my. goodness.
the totality of that article makes for a pretty dismal world view. there are so many things a dj can do wrong from that perspective, besides dropping reggaeton into the mix. so many ways to have a negative club experience.
Yes, a total spoof of Salsa!
I was absolutely dumbfounded after reading this article. I mean, technically I have understood the general perspective of American Salsa for many many years, but it’s not too often that you will hear such a brazen exposure of things I would be too embarrassed to say whether I believed it or not.
But again, whether the views are spoken about openly or not, “the proof is in the pudding”, as my Mom used to say.
Rarely have I found a DJ who is even remotely educated music-wise. Exceptions are the two DJs at Mosaic who are quite clever with their selection of ecclectic world music. I’ve heard those guys play some really funky stuff on Thursday nights.
But yes, kudos to Cobo Brothers, Carmen’s and Mosaic for featuring great live bands. To be honest, we are quite spoiled in the Triangle with frequent live bands. That’s why supporting these guys and the venues who host them is CRUCIAL.
The Salsa community -American style- will not attend the events unless they just happen to fall on a nightclub night. So it’s imperative that we try to get out and support pretty much all of the bands. They work hard for little compensation, and they provide the dancers with real fuel and inspiration to take their dance to the next level.
And remember, Latin Project plays at George’s Garage tomorrow!
In another article on the site about learning to dance on-2 mambo, he says about the clave’s relationship with each measure of the music:
“This syncopation fascinates and inspires those more experienced On 2 dancers who are particularly in tune to the music, and affects the way they feel and move when they have reached the level of the dance where they are truly “dancing in the music”. ”
Therein lies the difference: clave is everything to us, the heartbeat, without which there is no dance, whereas to them, it is the beat that advanced dancers are sometimes fortunate enough to understand.
In another article on the site about learning to dance on-2 mambo, he says about the clave’s relationship with each measure of the music:
“This syncopation fascinates and inspires those more experienced On 2 dancers who are particularly in tune to the music, and affects the way they feel and move when they have reached the level of the dance where they are truly “dancing in the music”. ”
Therein lies the difference: clave is everything to us, the heartbeat, without which there is no dance; whereas to them, it is the beat that advanced dancers are sometimes fortunate enough to understand.