the cuban salsa blog

A guest post by Tonia Burkett

I’m a little bit of a procrastinator and a little bit perfectionist, so it’s not surprising that I didn’t start dancing until this year (I’m not saying how old, but it’s older than you may think).

I’m afraid of not doing well, of appearing incompetent, of letting someone else be in control and there is no place for any of that in salsa dancing.

As a person who has not done any leading, except back leading, it is difficult for me to speculate about what it is like for someone to lead another person in dancing.

I imagine it is difficult to be the person who has to come up with the patterns and to be responsible for making the two of you “look good” while you are dancing.

Both the lead and the follow have to take responsibility for the quality of the dance, but I know leads experience a lot of pressure to keep things interesting and meet the needs of the follow.

So I must make it clear that I do understand, to some extent, the difficulties of leading in salsa dance.

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Don’t try to fake the funk.

Authenticity is an inside-out deal. When you are truly connected to the music and your movements are generated by living, breathing emotion, it is in that exact moment that you become real as a dancer.

Ultimately, it’s not your tricks on the dance floor that touch the human soul.

Don’t get me wrong, we love all the crazy turn patterns and tricks, but without an emotional anchor, they are worthless.

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A guest post by Reed Colver

“Drinking a cup of tea and the tea being drunk is a distinction that evaporates. Drinking a cup of tea becomes a direct and wondrous experience in which the distinction between subject and object no longer exists.”?-Thich Nhat Hanh

When I read Thich Nhat Hahn’s words about tea, I immediately thought of the relationship between the lead and the follow.

We talk about ‘light leads’ and not being a ‘heavy follow’ in class. We talk about not gripping each other’s hands for fear of accidentally letting go.

If we do – so what?

One of the great things I’ve been learning is how to work with the lead, or as a lead with the follow, so that together we are visibly neither on the dance floor, but we are a unit. So if you do accidentally let go, read each other, have a fun moment – play! – and reconnect.

One of the unique elements of learning at Paso is the synergy created between follow and lead that creates a shared dance. To sense and feel one another as dancers. We are both responsible for the moment, and sometimes that means having to improvise. And have fun.

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Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.?

- Rumi

Five Minutes of Dance
by Reed Colver

Those who have taken class with me on any sort of a regular basis (as in more than once) are well aware that I seem to be completely unable to make it to class on time. Usually I arrive just about 10 – 15 minutes late. If I’m doing really well, I’m only five minutes late.

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In “The Soloist” there is a scene which depicts a teenage Nathaniel Ayers laying in bed with with cello strings drawn onto arm with a pen. Before going to sleep -and possibly during- he would play this “instrument” to improve his cello skills.

A little much, right?

Malcom Gladwell in his book, “Outliers: The Story of Success” claims that 10,000 hours of practice in one’s field is needed before becoming “great”.

He sifts through the timelines of giants like Mozart, The Beatles, Bill Gates, and even famous hockey players demonstrating that, no matter what field, good becomes great at the 10,000 hour mark. It’s not genius, it’s time and focus.

This got me thinking…

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“The fundamental failure of most design is its insistence on serving
the God of Looking-Good rather than the God of Being-Good
-R. S. Wurman

For the most part, when something works well, it usually looks good. Unfortunately, something that looks good doesn’t always work well.

It seems like Salsa, especially nowadays, tends to focus on making leads and follows look good without really focusing on how the dance feels, or genuinely connecting with music.

Good body movement is movement that stirs the emotions. Martha Graham called these movements “significant”.

Even musicians fall victim to this, writing arrangements that “sound cool”, and forgetting that music doesn’t need to sound cool, it needs to be emotionally stirring. It needs to push, pull, prod and provoke the body and soul into becoming an engaging piece of moving art.

A good lead doesn’t aim to look good. He focuses on feeling great and his lead works. He doesn’t need to share a script with his follow and he could lead a rock through movements.

A good follow doesn’t look sexy. She becomes sexy because her body is intertwined and connected through physical communication with her lead. She doesn’t memorize crap and regurgitate it all over the lead, she molds, adapts…and engages him with playful submission.

An amazing musician doesn’t write to please the ears. She aims to please the soul to reach out and GRAB you with her sound. This is what music was designed to do.

At the most basic level, Salsa music and dance both should engage the emotions PRIMARILY.

Don’t look, be.

All else is vanity.

With the upcoming Orisha dance workshop and the overall rapid increase of Afro-Cuban dance events in the Triangle, we thought it might be a good time to start talking about these dances, and since all ceremonies begin and end with Ellegua, we’ll start there.

Who is Ellegua?

Ellegua or Eshu, Exu, Elegba is syncretized with St. Anthony of the Catholic faith and is is a trickster deity who is believed to open or close the way for us in life.

Paths of Ellegua

Ellegua is said to have 256 paths or aspects of personality. Some may be tricky and childlike but others are said to be dangerous if annoyed or toyed around with.

Dances of Ellegua

Ellegua carries around a Garabato -hooked end stick- which he uses to clear paths. This is why when we dance Ellegua, many of our arm movements are used to simulate clearing or opening pathways.

Like Ellegua, some of the movements are playful and silly, while some movements are warrior-like and very aggressive. The characterization of the dance depends not only on the rhythm being played, but on the dancer’s connection with the movement as well.

In my opinion, Orisha dance adheres to a more rigid aesthetic than other Afro-Cuban dances such as Casino or Rumba. But even within this rigidity there is room for interpretation and expression.

Here is clip from AfroCuba de Mantanzas, one of the greastest performing groups of Cuba, performing Ellegua. The first rhythm you hear is La Topa, followed by Ynongo, and concluding with Chachaluakafun.

While you are at it, check out some of their other performances, they are quite sick!

“I wanted to begin not with characters or ideas, but with movements . . .I wanted significant movement. I did not want it to be beautiful or fluid. I wanted it to be fraught with inner meaning, with excitement and surge.”

–Martha Graham

Often described as impacting dance the way Picasso impacted visual art, Martha Graham was one of the most important cornerstones of contemporary dance.

A pioneer from every angle, she not only was the first dancer to ever perform at the White House, but the first dancer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that can be given to a civilian in the United States.

The ironic part of it is that despite all the honors bestowed upon her in her life of 96 years, she rarely, if ever, allowed her performances to be photographed or videotaped.

So when talking about things like dancing to express emotion and energy, what better example do we have than the woman who turned the concept of dance upside down and inside out?

Here is quote from Martha by way of her biographer Agnes DeMille:

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you…..no artist is pleased…there is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than others”

If there is a better example of a driving philosophy for all of us to follow as dancers, as interpreters and conveyers of emotion through movement, I have yet to find it.

Last night I read this post from the Motivational Memo blog entitled “The Despair of Compare”:

“If there is one word of wisdom I can offer you today it’s this: stop comparing yourself to those around you.

The days of keeping up with the Jones or the Smiths are dead and gone. Stop looking at the other guys car, because if you knew the truth of it all, you’d probably be glad to know that you don’t have to pay his monthly lease bill. I have seen it time and time again – especially in tough economic times – the shedding of top end vehicles and multi-million dollar mansions because the vehicles and properties were never owned by the occupants in the first place. They were owned by the bank.  So stop comparing yourself with others and their stuff.

The only person you should be comparing yourself with is you and your last week, month or year’s performance.

Here are some questions to prime your personal comparison pump -

• How far have you come?
• What skills have you added to your resource in that time frame?
• How much more money have you saved?
• How much bad debt have you reduced?
• How many credit cards have you cut up?
• What have you produced in the past twelve months?
• What new mentors have you added to your circle of influence?
• What new friends have you added to your circle of peers?
• How many people have you positively influenced?
• How much money have you given to your church or charity?
• How much time or effort have you volunteered for no charge?
• Have you grown as a person?
• Are you more in love with your spouse and your children than last year?

But don’t’ spend one minute on a comparison analysis with someone else. It’s a total waste of time.”

Regarding  the dance/Salsa scene, Felix Padilla said to me a few weeks back, “Everyone has something to bring to the table”.

So in other words, if you view the dancefloor as a potluck of expression rather than a measuring stick, you just might go home with something good to eat.

We’ve all been there…

In the honeymoon stage of learning dance, everything seems so sweet. We are high-flying beginners, eating, drinking and sleeping dance while making little gains pretty much whenever we come to class.

But somewhere along the lines, usually around the intermediate level, we manage to hit….the brick wall.

The body can and will become resistant to growth. The higher you go, the more work you have to put in, and the less you will get back in return.

Sorry guys, but if you are an intermediate dancer putting in the same amount of hours you did as a beginner, your body has built up a tolerance and will give you back pennies on the dollar, quite literally.

Yesterday’s intensity level won’t help you improve much today. It’s just barely enough to keep you afloat.

Growth Stimulating Ideas

1. Put in more time. A no brainer, but not all of us can do this.

2. Train in another style of dance or even aerobics. Preferably, one that will really challenge you.

3. Reverse roles. If you follow, learn to lead and vice-versa. Not optional at Paso.

4. Do what you do, but find more difficult ways to do it in. Dance with two songs playing at equal volume and switch off between the two. Play Clave to one song while dancing to the other.

5. Take a look at YouTube and watch dancers of other styles. This can be a horizon opener while giving you inspiration and ideas for movement. Try Flamenco, or even a Waltz! Get out of the box.

Understand that the farther you go, the slower you’ll grow. It’s a dancer’s dilemma. Be prepared to change your habits and kick into overdrive so that the law of diminishing returns doesn’t eat away at your hard earned profits.