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It’s a snowy, dreary day. And to boot, you’ve got a case of the Mondays. Where is spring? Where did all this white stuff come from? Here’s a little something to get your week off to a happier start: a salsa dance-off between Tropical Gem and Utribe.
Here, to brighten your Monday morning, is the amazing Santo Rico salsa company.
Thanks to Salsa Gigolo for bringing this to my attention.
Sometimes when you’ve been doing something for years, you think you’ve thought all the thoughts there are to be thought about it. But an outside perspective can reveal new insights.
Here are three insights into salsa which encapsulate what I’ve always loved about it in a very concise way:
“1) salsa dancers, men and women of all ages and sizes, take pride in their bodies;
2) dancers seek partners who match their skill level, not those who are the best looking;
3) after taking only two lessons […one can learn enough] to follow the rhythm of the dancers.”
This is excerpted from an article by Carrie Hagen of phillyist (read the whole thing, it’s a good article), who accompanied my friend and salsera/writer extraordinaire Mathina to a mambo social. What she captures with these three observations is the 1) accepting, 2) egalitarian, and 3) accessible nature of salsa and salsa culture.
Those first actors a girl gets a crush on early in life will always have a special place in her heart. Thanks to his amazing role in Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze was one of my first silver screen loves, and may have contributed to my preference for bad boy types. Thus, the news that he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer saddens me.
The vast majority of my traffic over the past week or two has been generated by people looking for pictures and news of Patrick (via this post)– so to all my new readers that found their way here thanks to him, and of course, for Johnny Castle himself, here is a little compilation of some of his finest dance moments.
One Last Dance: I haven’t seen this one but it looks like it’s got some great dance scenes in it, and of course, Patrick…
Patrick’s cameo in Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights. His dance partner, Joann Jansen is also making a cameo– she is actually the film’s choreographer and the story line was based on her own life.
I could only find a crappy quality one but I could not omit the Silvia and Mickey scene from Dirty Dancing.
And of course, the Dirty Dancing finale, the scene we’ll never forget…
Finally, no dancing here, but I had to end with the most deliciously crappy scene in the history of cinema, co-starring Patrick and the stupidest, most beautiful man on earth (and my other first love, ever since Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure), Keanu Reeves. I give you the final scene from Point Break
Vaya con dios, Patrick; may you get well soon!
I had a total “duh” moment in salsa practice tonight.
There’s a move in the choreography where you drop down in a wide stance (grand plie in 2nd position), drop your head and torso over the left knee while straightening the right leg, and the shift your weight, lunging over to the other side. Think Pussycat Dolls. However, I had been feeling decidedly un-sexy when trying to execute this move.
When I asked the director what was going on, it turns out I was staying too tucked in. 
In translation, with my knees bent, I needed to be sticking out my butt out and arching my back. As soon as I realized this was the problem, I was able to revert back and the whole choreography felt more fluid. This is correct salsa posture. It’s something that felt very natural to me when I first started dancing, and it’s something I taught my students when I was teaching. Yet in the year that I have been devoting myself to the study of modern dance, I have lost the instinctive placement of my body into a posture that used to come so naturally to me.
A year ago, it was so hard for me to get that tucked-in, tight core, straight spine posture required in my modern dance class. Now it seems that I have re-molded my body to instinctively put itself into the opposite of what had come naturally. On the upside, it means the modern training has been working. It also explains all the comments I’ve been getting while social dancing salsa about how I must do ballroom (I don’t. Never have.).
I hadn’t been to a formal salsa class/practice in about two years. As of last week I’m doing modern Sunday/Tuesday and Salsa Monday/Wednesday. I have to figure out how to “flip the switch” each day. I actually view this as an excellent opportunity.
My director likened it to switching between dancing salsa on 1 and on 2. In the beginning it’s very challenging and you need to focus on one, but with time you are able to easily switch between the two (as I do).
In September, I wrote a post about how I was able to devote myself to my two “dance addictions.” Everything I wrote still holds true, but I must add to the list this more specific point about differences in posture between the two styles. At the time, I wrote “I am not sure if I am sacrificing one technique for another by doing both salsa and modern simultaneously.” I think that up until this point, the answer has been “yes,” but from here on out, I believe that I’ve reached a moment in my development where that can change.
My “duh” moment gives me the knowledge I need to be intentional in the placement of my body. I don’t think it’s at all an insurmountable challenge, and I look forward to applying my new intention to my dancing.
CNN.com has an article today about Men Who Dance Ladies Around the World, otherwise known as “cruise hosts.”
It reminded me of Patrick Swayze’s character in Dirty Dancing— the original dance host. He was the guy who gave dance lessons by day to the lonely wives whose working husbands left them at a resort in the Poconos. By night, he got the festivities going with a hot mambo performance and then he and his partner would coax the reluctant vacationers onto the dancefloor.
Going back to the article, my favorite thing about the CNN webpage redesign is the “story highlights” which insult our intelligence by summarizing the story into a couple bullets, just in case you weren’t able to read a page of text on your own. Occasionally, with the more banal or bizarre topics, the bullets make for hilarious reading (and in this way you can avoid reading the badly written article):
Story Highlights
- Cruise ships hire male hosts to dance or chat with single ladies
- The men can take to dance floor up to 60 times in one night
- No hanky panky allowed between host and guests
- Host: One special dance changed a lady’s outlook on life
We all know that Johnny Castle pretty flagrantly broke the rules on bullet #3!
Cruise hosting seems to be a job dominated by retired men (the article doesn’t mention women, but I imagine they’re out there too) who are good ballroom dancers and conversationalists. It sounds like it would be a pretty sweet gig to have in retirement– a free cruise, all the dancing you can bear, and a little income on the side from lessons, tips and stipends.
I just realized that my last post was the 100th post on A Time to Dance. I really had no idea that I would have 100 different things to share with the world in the space of just three and a half months. If you know me in person, you know I have the gift of the gab, and apparently I can write just as much as I can talk. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed exchanging ideas about dance with all my blogosphere friends. Thanks for reading and thanks for all your comments!
In honor of what is now my 101st post, I’m updating my avatar (the little picture that appears when I leave a comment on a wordpress blog). It comes from the Cha Cha Cha stamp issued by the US Post Office. I always come back to this image when I think about how salsa makes me feel. Back in the day, when it only cost 37 cents to mail a 1st class letter (ahem, that would be September 2005, 2 long years ago), the USPS came out with its best collection of stamps ever. I love them all because they depict various forms of latin dance in a positive and authentic way. When the average uninformed member of the public thinks of salsa, this
might be the image that comes up:
This whole business of the fake passion, the man “ravishing” the woman, and the spandex outfits give me the heebie jeebies.
The cha cha stamp, on the other hand, depicts a woman with slightly sweaty hair who is totally grooving to her own little cha cha shine. Her attire is fresh and sophisticated, and she wears a flower in her hair. Her eyes are closed as she soaks in the moment and makes a hand-to-hand connection to her partner (also looking dapper in a white linen suit and hat). Her hair and necklace are suspended in mid-air, showing the movement of the dancer. I found out who the artist is behind the Cha Cha Cha stamp. His name is Edel Rodriquez, and he has a blog. Thanks Edel for making such a beautiful, positive, and inspiring image of a dance that I deeply love.
A Time to Dance 