Salsa Articles

Teaching Salsa in China

Kevin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:58:02 +0000

By Michael Littenberg-Brown

Michael Littenberg-Brown teaches Salsa at Salsa International in New York. Visit SalsaInternational.net or his SalsaTimba Profile

I have always thought of salsa as an activity that transcends differences and creates a shared space for cultural and social exchange in the guise of fun. It was only recently, however, that I had an experience that made me realize the power of salsa to educate and inform, both for the students learning and, in my case, for the instructor teaching. My remarkable cross-cultural learning experience began with my planned trip to China, when my friend Pablo, living and working in Beijing at the U.S. Embassy, asked if I would be open to teaching a salsa class to a group of Chinese high school students while I was visiting.

As part of my trip, I was planning on seeking out the salsa scene in China, and Vietnam, while I was in Asia, and so I enthusiastically agreed to do the event as part of my ethnographic salsa research. Pablo set about organizing an event for local Chinese students who were interested in learning about American culture and improving their English. My visit to Beijing coincided with Latino Heritage Month, and this event was part of the U.S. Embassy’s efforts to teach the local population about the U.S. through the lens of Latino culture. The ironic, and amusing, side of the event was that here was a white Jewish kid teaching salsa and Latino culture to a group of Chinese students.

The students arrived excited and curious about salsa, and immediately asked me questions about how long I had been dancing, whether I ever performed, and if I thought they would be able to learn salsa. After watching the beginning of a new PBS documentary entitled Latin Music USA, I spoke to the 40 or so assembled students about the uniquely “American” nature of salsa. Visiting from New York, I explained to them how Puerto Ricans in New York City in the 1940’s and 50’s took the Latin rhythms coming from Cuba, infused them with American jazz harmonies, and transformed it into what we know as salsa today. The students were brimming with questions, but we wanted to get them moving, so I turned on the music and began teaching them the basics.

My first impression of the Chinese students is that they took to the movement of the dancing more quickly than I have found with young people in New York. I noticed a certain natural level of grace in their movements, and they followed my instructions extremely well. I was able to move the class quickly, and very few students fell behind. After teaching them the basic step and a simple combination; cross body lead and a right hand turn for the ladies, we put on the music and let them try out their new salsa skills. Eventually, we stopped the music and the students took turns eagerly asking me questions. When we finished, the students requested a group photo and individual photos with me, and a few of them asked for my autograph, marking perhaps the first time that anyone had ever sought my scribbled name for its own sake.

When I reflect back on the class, I am most struck by the natural grace of the students. I wonder whether the prevalence of Tai Chi in Chinese culture is part of a larger story of a more graceful culture, where boys are not socialized to perceive graceful movement as feminine, and where dancing is respected and encouraged among young boys. In all, teaching salsa was a window for me into Chinese culture, and Chinese youth perceptions of Americans and American culture. At the end, I gave many of the students I met my e-mail address, and told them I hoped to see them at one of my classes some day in New York.

LATIN MUSIC USA - It's Going to Move You!

Kevin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:24:59 +0000

LATIN MUSIC USA - It's Going to Move You!

Make sure you get to watch the PBS documentary series on Latin MUSIC!!!

Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/latinmusicusa/

Ask Magna Gopal - Part II

Kevin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:09:11 +0000

Part 2 of 3: Q & A with Magna Gopal

Magna Gopal is one of the top international performers and instructors in the salsa scene. Originally from Toronto, Canada she is now based in New York/New Jersey, USA and is internationally known for her grace, fluidity and precision on the dance floor. Visit MagnaGopal.com or her SalsaTimba Profile

Question 1: Where to start dancing?

Hi Magna!I really enjoy watching such a talent dance like the way you do. First of all i want to tell you that i love your style. Well i have an issue i am puerto rican and i live in texas. i have been to a couple of salsa events and people mentioned that i have the potential to dance salsa. The thing is i dont know were to start, and i am very picky about who i want to take my lessons with. Plus they can be a little bit expensive. Considering i live on my own, i work and go to school at the same time. What advice can you give me. As far as where to start and how to find your style. I have been on a search for two years now. I would tell you more but i really dont need to bore you. I hope that unlike the other people i send emails to you would reply.

Magna Answers...

Thank you for taking the time to send me this email. I appreciate it very much.

So, let me see if I can help you out. Your schedule does seem pretty unforgiving and budget is always an issue. I'm not sure what level of dancing you're at but if you're just starting out, then you might want to take some intro lessons to ensure you have proper steps and technique. Let me know what part of Texas you're from and perhaps I can recommend a few people.

If you're not an absolute beginner, then you want to do a self-assessment. What's your strongest method of learning? (1) Visual (watching people), (2) auditory (listening to instructions), or (3) kinesthetic (dancing w/ people -- learning by doing).

If #1 is your strongest method, you may be able to just go out and watch people dance to learn something new. If #2 is your strongest method, you may be better off taking classes and having what you'd like to learn broken down for you. Privates, although expensive might give you the most bang for your buck. If #3 is your strongest, you can benefit from group classes (dancing/practicing with different people) or just going out social dancing.

Either way, you will be need to make some sort of investment whether it's privates, group classes, or just going to parties.

As far as where to find my style in particular...well, I don't know anyone else w/ my style other than myself. lol I will be in South Padre, TX in May. If you are in the vicinity, we can get together and work on whatever it is you would like to learn. :)

Lastly, please don't think you are boring me with details. The more detail the better. It makes it a lot easier for me to know where you're coming from and try to provide some relevant advice.

Question 2: How to get better?

Hi Magna! I am cloudie from Groove Dance School. Just want to tell you that you are really my idol and my motivator. I am really so inspired by you and your moves.

Care to share with me what are some of the secrets to your success? Because I too, want to be a professional dancer like you.

Magna Answers...

Hi Cloudie,
Thanks for the email and I'll keep working hard to be your motivator. :)

Secrets...let's see. Best two rules that I have that helped me get better:
1) No fear of rejection
2) No fear of judgement

First rule allows you to approach anyone and everyone to dance and if they say no, it's ok. Let it slide off your shoulder instead of making it personal and thinking it has something to do with your dancing.

Second rule allows you to be creative and try new things regardless of what people think. Everything in dance is about comfort. I do a lot of crazy moves that if someone else tried it might look weird. The reason it may look good on me is because I'm comfortable with it. But the comfort came from doing it for myself and not for what other people were expecting of me.

Hope that helps,

~Magna

Previous Q&A with Magna - Tips on Musicality>>>

Magna G. Video:

The Perfect Mojito

Kevin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:49:26 +0000

The Perfect Mojito

Text by Jack Litrell | Cuba Absolutely

The Mojito, Cuba's signature cocktail, storied and legendary. Havana nights, Hemingway, El Ron de Cuba. But what's a mojito anyway? Examples abound. Is it the rum drink with the dollop of mint served in trendy bars wordwide - even in the USA? The quality varies; it's even possible to have a terrible mojito in Havana. How do we find the real mojito, el mojito perfecto?

Ernesto Perez Santos, now retired, had a long and illustrious career in the Havana hotel scene. Working and managing in many of the top hotels - the Ingleterra, the Victoria, the Presidente, and others, Ernesto is especially fond of his stint as barman at the Habana Libre. It was here that he honed his techniques in creating cocktails with Cuban rum. When Havana Club was invited to present their rum at the prestigious Unita festival in Italy, they sent Ernesto. His attention to detail and presentation put Cuban rum in the spotlight.

At a casa particular in Havana's Vedado district that he manages, Ernesto enthused about the rum cocktails, daiquiri, presidente, bandera, and of course the mojito. Knowing all too well the demise of quality, he was eager to share his knowledge of the correct formulation.

With lime from a tree in the yard, and his potted yerba buena, here's Ernesto's recipe:

1. Put 1 ½ tsp sugar in a tall 8oz. glass. Place a generous sprig of mint on top of sugar.
2. Add 1 shot of lime juice and a splash of soda water.
3. Macerate the mint vigorously. This releases the oil in the mint leaves, and begins to dissolve the sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
4. Add 1 shot white Cuban rum. Put 2 or 3 ice cubes in the glass. Top up with soda water. Stir again, briefly.
5. Garnish with another sprig of fresh mint. Make it gorgeous.

Article link: http://www.cubaabsolutely.com/classic/perfect_mojito.html

2009 Latin Grammys - Tropical Nominees

Kevin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:41:08 +0000

2009 Latin Grammys - Tropical Nominees

Like the Grammy Awards, the Latin Grammys recognize artistic and technical excellence in the recording arts and sciences by peer vote (the Latin Grammy Awards Process). It has already come to represent the height of achievement in Latin music recording.

The 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will air live on the Univision Television Network on Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. Additionally, the telecast will be seen globally in more than 110 countries.

Best Salsa Album

Tranquilamente... Tranquilo by Oscar D'Leon

Asi Soy by Issac Delgado

Ciclos by Luis Enrique

Guasábara by José Lugo Orchestra

Contraste En Salsa by Gilberto Santa Rosa

Best Contemporary Tropical Album >>> Click Here

Angeles feat. Jimmy Saaya - Ya No Queda Nada

Kevin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:43:27 +0000

Angeles feat. Jimmy Saaya - Ya No Queda Nada

Havana Street Food Feeling Hungry?

Kevin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:58:16 +0000

Greasy, fried, ubiquitous and sometimes surprisingly tasty, Havana street food, while not for the weak-hearted, offers an intriguing mixture

EXERPT | Cuba Absolutely

It’s practically Cuba’s national dish—the ubiquitous hand-sized, folded pizza dripping with grease enclosed in a piece of manila paper. Then there’s the curious thin, long paper cone or cucurucho that mystifies the foreign visitor until they discover it full of surprisingly delicious roasted peanuts—the popularity of which is confirmed by the litter found at any bus stop, theatre, school or hospital exit everywhere and anywhere in the capital.

Or there’s the ice-cream cone topped with a questionable mix of flavours whipped up in the privacy of someone’s home and sold from their window: strawberry-and-pineapple, chocolate-and-something-else-not-quite-identifiable, or just plain vanilla.

Havana has a huge variety of fast foods which are sold from stands, windows, wheelbarrows and baskets. Street traders wander about hawking their merchandise in the same manner as peddlers of yesteryear who soldvegetables and fruit. There’s even a famous song about the peanut (maní) vendor: “¡Maní! Manisero se va. Caserita no te acuestes a dormir sin probar un cucurucho de maní.” (Peanuts! The peanut vendor’s going. Don’t go to bed, little housewife, without tasting a cucurucho of peanuts).

Street stalls offer a mixed selection of foods that are sweet or salty, solid or liquid—and almost always deep-fried. The most common street food include the Cuban pizza—a thick piece of dough with a thin layer of well-seasoned tomato sauce and cheese sprinkled on top; a ham sandwich or bocadito de jamón, which is made of cured ham stuffed with bacon with a dab of mayonnaise; natural and un-natural juices; peanut cucuruchos; small guava pastries usually sold from cardboard boxes by retired people; and ice-cream.

Aside from these there’s a wide assortment of heart-attack-in-the-hand fritters of which Cubans are very fond: churros or dough that is deep-fried and cut into finger-size strips; chicharitas de plátano, paper-thin slices of plantain fried in oil; frituras de malanga, grated taro mixed with egg and crushed garlic and then, of course, deep-fried; and tostones, fried flattened pieces of plantain that are crusty on the outside and tender on the inside.

Full Article: http://www.cubaabsolutely.com/articles2008/Havanastreet_food_complete.html

IN THE HEIGHTS Performer Salgado Choreographs 'Salsa Gorda'

Kevin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:16:08 +0000

IN THE HEIGHTS Performer Salgado Choreographs 'Salsa Gorda'

EXPERT | BroadwayWorld.com

Luis Salgado who currently plays "Jose" in the Tony Award winning musical In The Heights is not only beginning rehearsals as a coach and Latin Assistant choreographer for the first National Tour of In The Heights, which is scheduled to go out on the road in October, but is also working as the choreographer for Salsa Gorda the play.

The multifaceted artist has been in rehearsals for the past week and a half for this new production of Nueva Escena's, lead by actor producer Modesto Lacén last seen in Celia the Musical.

"Nueva Escena's mission is to contribute towards the preservation and progress of our culture while providing work opportunities to established and emerging talent. Nueva Escena works to create and produce profound and provocative theater that presents modern and universal themes from the perspective of Hispanics/Latinos in a global society," explains Lacén.

Nueva Escena arrives in New York from Puerto Rico with a respectable roster of professional credits: The Little Prince (Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Yepeto (Roberto Cossa ), Art (Yasmina Reza), The Coyotes (Jorge González), and Salsa Gorda (José Luis Rámos Escobar).

Full Article: http://bit.ly/13QuLy
Ticket and prices: www.salsagordatheplay.com

salsamentary by nuevotec productions

Kevin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:11:55 +0000

Nuevotec Productions are pleased to announce their first documentary, Salsamentary.

EXERPT | Nuevotec.com

Salsamentary takes a look at the journey of six dancers as they step on salsa's largest stage through its highest level of competitive dancing. Each dancer has their own reason for competing. Some enjoy the challenge of competing against the world's best dancers. Others want to build their salsa dance resume and credentials quickly through the event, which is televised on several ESPN national and international stations, as well as DVDs sold globally. The rewards cannot be expressed just in terms of the prize money awarded to the first, second, and third places.

The documentary features interviews from 2005 on1 champions Abel Pena and Zulmara Torres, 2005 on2 champions Oliver Pineda and Luda Kroitor, 2005 on1 3rd place couple Roberto Arenas and Marie-Josee Strazzero, Salsa Seven Inc. members Albert Torres and Rob Beiner, Griselle Ponce (Taima Dancers), Yesenia Peralta and Ismael Otero (Caribbean Soul Dancers), Burju Hurturk (Hacha y Machete), and Ana and Joel Massicot (Masacote Dancers).

Currently at 13 chapters, with one more planned, the documentary is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. The iTunes podcast allows you to download the files locally to your machine to watch at your leisure.

LINK for more details: http://bit.ly/wO9iG

New York Rhythm: Viva la Variedad!

Kevin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:39:20 +0000

New York Rhythm: Viva la Variedad!

EXERPT | NYTimes July 23, 2009

THREE in the morning had come and gone on Sunday when the band went onstage, but the dance floor at the El Morocco club in Hamilton Heights had been packed for hours. As soon as La Banda Gorda, which had flown up from Santo Domingo for the show, broke into the telltale galloping rhythm of merengue, the crowd erupted with applause and joyous shouts and surged into motion.

There is an old and familiar lament one hears a lot in New York City, harking back to a supposed golden age of Latin music in the 1950s and ’60s, and it goes something like this: Things ain’t what they used to be. You can hardly find places to see good live performances of salsa, a genre that was practically invented in New York, much less other Latin styles, or so goes the complaint.

Well, yes and no, as the frenetic scene at this year-old club suggested. It’s true that clubs like the Palladium and El Corso, where Latin music used to be featured all week long, no longer exist. But with the hip-hop influenced reggaetón craze having clearly peaked, New York Latinos are again hungry to see live bands, especially those playing music that they can dance to, whether salsa, merengue, timba, rock en Español or cumbia. And in a throwback to the good old days, non-Latinos are also joining in, drawn by the free salsa dancing lessons that precede many shows.

“The scene hasn’t died out, it’s just changed,” said Eddie Batiz, a D.J. and promoter who runs the Cafe Remy in Brooklyn, which focuses on live salsa with a dash of merengue and bachata on weekends. “Reggaetón came and destroyed the salsa generation, but there was definitely an oversaturation, and now people want to get back to their roots and try to mix things up, which means there’s interest in everything from romantic salsa to hard-core mambo and cha-cha-cha.”

NY Times Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/arts/music/24latin.html