the cuban salsa blog

Last night I had the privilege of attending a workshop taught by Alicia Pons, here on her 5^th visit to the Triangle.

A renowned Milonguera, she is known for all sorts of cool Tango things like her display of feminine elegance, precise footwork and the list goes on and on…

But for me, it’s her incredible PASSION for the dance that makes her a world-class instructor, a term that is used far too often and far too casually.

She outlined five basic principles of connection. These were meant for Tango, but they can and should be applied to any dance.

In dance, true progress comes from re-examination of the self. Not from patterns, tricks, techniques etc. Anyone can do these, and everyone does these.

Any good dance instructor should, first and foremost, lead students on a journey of self-examination.

Examine what you do over and over again, and never settle in or become too comfortable with your dance or the philosophy that underlies it.

1. Connect with yourself.

Be aware, plain and simple. Be aware that your are breathing. Far too often we forget that we actually exist while we are dancing. We become so focused on the next step that our own movement becomes lost and end up looking like choreographed machines.

2. Connect with the music.

LISTEN before you do anything. Resist the urge to just grab your partner and go through the motions. Music leads, always.

Sometimes, I think we fall back on a mental routine that tells us to activate some pattern simply because a certain type of music is playing.

3. Connect with your partner.

In the words of Alicia Pons, “The embrace is handmade”.

Of course it is! It’s woven from the thread of partner and music.

I think every dance should be handmade. I am in love with this idea.

If for nothing else, out of respect for your partner, tailor the dance to them and the music.  And if you view dance as a gift, is it really appropriate to give every partner the same gift?

4. Connect with the floor.

Cut the string, relax the shoulders, and break the egg.  Allow your energy to travel into the floor and avoid sustaining it all in the shoulders in one big ball of tension.

I was corrected on this one. It’s easy to do, so watch out.

5. Connect with other couples on the dance floor.

She didn’t touch on this one too much, probably due to time constraints. But, it goes without saying that you probably won’t be the only one on the social dance floor.

I think you should always exercise special awareness. Be aware of where you are in relation to everyone else.

I urge our readers to ponder the above points. Take a second to examine yourself, if your priority is growth and fulfillment as a dancer.

I understand that some “dancers” may view the above as total bullocks. These are usually the men out there who boot up and sequentially execute their dance routines like a Windows PC.

If you think this kind of computerized dancing is cool, remember that it’s usually the men who love to wrap their arms around technology and cool gadgets.

Women on the other hand …

I will leave you with my favorite Alicia Pons quote.

“Men, sometimes the embrace feels so good, it’s more than enough.”

If memory serves me right, there was not a single expression of disagreement from any of the ladies in attendance.

Equilbrium feels good.

**Thanks for the reflections Joe. I think all of us, male and female, should remember to adjust to our partner. Casino heads, If you are dancing in a circular trajectory and she is tripping over her feet, than dance in a slot! It’s much easier for us to switch to slot than for her to learn circular movement, on the spot. If each partner strives to accommodate or “listen” to the other, you have a much better hope of reaching an “agreement” on the dance floor. -Eduardo

A guest post by Joe

There are times when learning how to lead Salsa feels like learning  how to drive a car.

There are parts of that experience that I do not want to repeat (like learning how to parallel park) or being a geeky,  awkward teenager; learning how to lead some salsa moves is a lot like learning how to steer a car.

One of the things I remember is how each car handled and how much I had to turn the wheel to get the car to go
where I wanted to.

One of my parents had a compact and the other had a big boat sedan with a hood long enough to land an airplane on it.

With the compact, I didn’t need to turn the wheel very much or very hard.  With the “aircraft carrier” I had to turn a lot more and a lot harder.

When dancing with beginning follows out at socials, i’ve  noticed that I really have to “turn the steering wheel” more aggressively.

And when I come back to a Paso class it is not always easy for me to switch to a lighter lead, I keep wanting to turn that wheel like I am driving the car that needs it.

What has started to “click” in for me is that I need to better adjust my lead to the follow.

If they require more lead, I give it to ‘em.

For the ones that don’t need as much torque and pressure, I go light.

Recently, I don’t think I have been giving my follows enough space to breath and express themselves. In effect, I have been taking over the dance, so ladies, I need to apologize for that.

I will try to better match my lead to the “feel” of the follow in the future.

Tango Confidential, Marcy Goldman

This weekend I had a chance to hit up the Salsa and Swing dance down at the Elk’s lodge in Raleigh hosted by MAD academy. There was a beginner Salsa lesson before the actual social, and whenever  possible, we join in on the lessons in order to refresh our “beginner’s mind” and hopefully walk away with some new perspective.

During the lesson, girls and guys face each other in two long lines, with the guys rotating to the next partner every few minutes or so.

Feeling so many different embraces instantly reminded me that you can feel pretty much everything about your partner simply by their embrace. It speaks volumes. Without even dancing, and before even taking a step, keep in mind that everything about you is transmitted in this closed position.

What does your closed embrace say to your partner?

“I’m nervous as hell, and that’s why im pushing down so hard.”

“I really don’t want to get close so I am creating a huge awkward bow between us.”

“Damn you are hot, so I am going to scoot in as close as possible.”

“I’m off in space somewhere and that’s why my arms are so limp.”

“I am a little nervous the words ‘position’ and ‘woman’ so that’s why I am squeezing your right hand so hard.”

Think about this next time you start your dance in the closed embrace. What do you want to say to your partner through the manner in which you hold them?

Leads: “I’m relaxed, and I know what I am doing. You can go ahead and relax too.”

Follows: “I am in a state of relaxed alertness. Whatever you throw at me, I am ready and willing to follow.”

The best things in dance go unsaid and are completely invisible to the eye. But make sure you are fully aware of all the little whispers going on between you and your partner’s body.

First, leads learn to speak and follows learn to listen.

In the beginning of learning Salsa the Cuban way, it’s very important for the lead to learn how to speak to their partner with a very clear and deliberate “voice”.

During this first stage, I think the follow should concentrate ONLY on listening and doing exactly what the lead compels them to do.

You can’t just overlay interchanges of faux styling between partners to make it appear as if there is dialog going on! This is simply each person taking turns reciting what they memorized.

Second, leads learn to invite dialog and follows learn to recognize and respond to the invitation.

Read the rest of this entry →

**Follows: It is imperative that you feel the exact speed, and type of turn through your lead’s arm. In the Cuban style of Salsa, the arm in the air is not a visual signal to let you know a turn is coming. It is a line of communication and all details are contained in your lead’s fingertip pressure. You have to listen with your body.

A guest post by Joe

In class we spend a lot of time working on connection and how to lead and how to follow. The fundamentals.

Eduardo and Stephanie have devoted several blog entries to connection and our roles.  And as a lead I have a lot of things I need to do.

Sometimes it seems overwhelming.

I need to react to the music, keep tempo, keep my follow safe, remember the turn pattern that I am about to lead, and not bore her just to name a few things.

A follow with intuition that recognizes when something is not quite right and can recognize what we leads are telling her through physical connection is just…super.

All of the above hit home for me recently during a dance at Cuban Revolution.

At one point in the dance I had a lot of space available on the floor and wanted to start a turn pattern, as soon as I started to prep her, I noticed another lead hop into the space right behind her that I was about to lead her into.

If we kept on going my follow would have had a hard collision with another lead, and she couldn’t see it coming.  Since screaming “look out” didn’t seem appropriate my instincts said to lighten up the prep and not to move my arm much.

Without missing anything she recognized not to step back very far and when I continued to lead she continued to do the turn pattern.

She understood something was wrong, and what I “said” to her, when all that was going through my conscious mind was look out, and OH NO! Here comes a chain reaction of collisions on the dance floor.

Follows, we leads appreciate you and what you do.

In my case, a light prep and my arm not moving much told my follow, “Warning! Danger! There is something behind you, don’t move back very far.”

When considering that one simple gesture said so much I recognized the importance of connection at that point more than ever.

A guest post by Reed Colver

As a follow, there are so many things I must be aware of simultaneously, that I can’t ‘think’ about any one of them. I have to let my mind go and sense everything until they really are no longer individual pieces. The moment I think or focus too hard on any one piece – the music, my feet, what the lead is doing – I lose all the pieces. It’s a bit like trying to grab a handful of water. Try it – you’ll see what I mean.

One of the most insightful moments as a follow came – as they usually do – almost as an afterthought. One of those ‘try this’ moments when several things fall ‘click’ ‘click’ click’ into place and end with a quiet – ahhh. I was working on feeling the lead through my arms  – creating that tension at just the right moment, while keeping my arm loose the rest of the time, but yet always keeping it slightly bent and not to let it go beyond my shoulder.

I would find  the tension, but then loose the the looseness. Or remember to keep my arm loose, and then forget about the bend.

Remember grabbing that handful of water? Yeah, it was one of those classes.

Just about the time I started to wonder why I hadn’t taken up knitting instead, we tried something different.

“Stop thinking about your arm. Just focus on the pressure of your fingertips against the lead’s fingertips. Feel the movement through the fingertips.”

‘Click.’

Suddenly I was feeling – feeling – the lead in an entirely new way. And I stopped thinking about my arms and focused on allowing my fingertips communicate with the lead’s fingertips.  And, amazingly, my arm seemed to follow more naturally.

‘Click. Ahhh.’

This requires me to feel, and not think, about the lead. To sense the lead’s movements through my fingertips, and allow the rest of my body to follow. It allows space in my awareness for music, rhythm, and for that to become part of my movement.

I find it creates a direct connection with the lead that, in its subtly is infinitely more powerful than gripping the lead’s hand or thinking about my arm.

I’m not saying it’s the magical answer that suddenly solved all those problems. (I’ll admit, I still have moments when I contemplate the benefits of knitting). But when I lose that connection and start thinking too much, remembering my fingertips brings me back to that place of awareness.

That handful of water? It’s possible. But only by gently scooping it into the palm of your hand. Try it.