Now I found this interesting video on youtube that I really like a lot. We usually talk about Salsa/Mambo NY style salsa on most of these articles, and I thought it might be nice to show a good clip on how other salsa styles look like. Now, I have posted some videos previously on how cuban rueda salsa looks like - however this video is a better representation on how the Cuban-Salsa style partnering dynamic works. Most of the dance is very circular in comparison to regular salsa which is a slot-dance. Additionally the cuban-style of salsa integrates a lot of Casino rueda aspects as well as some cumbia aspects (specifically the back-to-back step). Anyways, since I'm in LA for the congress, I'll keep this article short - so enjoy the video:

Again, the master of movement. Now, this video was submitted in the video clips section - and usually I don't post information about it here, unless its important. You can see how easily he moves through all the SIMPLE patterns. I had received an email 2 days ago about a guy just starting to learn salsa and wanting to do complicated patterns (Mayan style) in order to show people that he knew how to salsa. But the fact is - it is NOT about complicated patterns - it is about being a good dancer. What do I mean by a good dancer? Let me reiterate for the 1000 time:- Be smooth in your motions. Better to do a simple pattern well, than a complicated one horribly.- Take good care of your follow. She must get through the pattern before you do.- Let your pattern have fun. The more the follow has fun, the more you will be looked at as a great dancer.- Add flavor to your step. Adding simple body motions and arm styling helps show that you are comfortable with what you are doing and can really shake it (in a smooth way).- Ladies love to spin. Be a good lead to help them perform double and triple turns. Spin, spin, spin - smoothly.

Another great piece by Hacha y Machete. These are again some of my favorite dancers in the world salsa scene. They are Victor and Bruju (you've probably seen them in many videos that I post). They are here performing their famous salsa piece entitled "Silencio" which means 'Silence'. Now, its not completely salsa music, but it has a great beat to it - and just the control, precision and fluidity of body movement is amazing to watch. Sad thing is that the actual performance is much longer - and some how the poster of this video cut out some of the other great parts. Great way to feel a friday. Thanks, Patrick for the submission! UPDATED: Not the full set of performers, but the longer version. Thanks Alina!http://www.youtube.com/v/saS3ZhI-qXA

Its an age-old question... what should we wear for salsa? Well, compared to ballroom dancers (where for some reason the trend has been to wear mostly black - as in a funeral), Salsa is more casual. You can pretty much wear anything. With that said, I have been asked this question various times - on what do I wear to go out salsa dancing. We've talked about shoes, we've talked about body-spray... well, lets talk about some fashion.

Yes, #22 (which means it very important!). It is usually the case that you will learn something new in a salsa class and you will not get it right, right away. It is just the way we (as human beings) are built. We can't automatically duplicate an action - we are not built for consistency. Anyways, this of course is the main reason we practice - to perfect what takes us time to perfect. However, most students forget this little fact, and sometimes get discouraged when they haven't done it right by the 10th time.Now, lets go back to a little bit of history. Thomas Edison , a great inventor of the light bulb (among many other things). You know how many tries it took him to actually make a working and quality lightbulb? It took him more than ten thousand failed attempts. Have you ever thought of the times that we (in our lives) have tried something new, and maybe failed at it 10-15 times and thought about giving up? Imagine if Thomas Edison would have given up on the light bulb after try #1000. How bright would our world be?I usually tell students that when they learn a new pattern or footwork - it will take them at least 50 times to get it down and be able to do it smoothly without effort. Basically, telling them that on try #51, thats why they'll be able to do it perfectly. I tell them to practice it 50 times as soon as they can, so they can get to #51 as fast as possible. :-) This is because since you know you won't do it right until the 51st time, why not speed the process up by doing the pattern/footwork 50 times as soon as you can - so you can get those (bad ones or failed attempts) out of the way and start enjoying the good ones?