I got to interview Hotlanta Salsa Congress music headliner Luisito Rosario. He was really nice and very gracious. I'm really stoked because dancing to live music is a whole different dynamic than dancing to a DJ.
Even his speaking voice is smooth and velvety. :D
BTW, you can read all about it here.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Welcome, oh, welcome...
...to my little blog
I've begun this whole thing to clear up some fog
About dancing and etiquette and unspoken rules
to those who violate them and act like big fools
Sometimes it's just me ranting and raving
Sometimes it's dance pros on how we're behaving
There are also events and articles too
To bring the dance info closer to you
Dance professionals, if you have something to say
Even if it's blunt, I'll quote you anyway
I love every subject, no topic's taboo
If you're a dance pro with an opinion, I'll interview you
I'm based in Atlanta, but don't ever fear
We can talk on the phone or whenever you're here
Dancers really need to know what you think
So their footwork and manners won't start to stink
Dancers, give comments, opinions, and thoughts
Get the dialogue going to work out those knots
Of feelings unexpressed and words left unsaid
So the morale of the dance scene won't end up dead
If there's something you want perspectives about
List it below or give me a shout
I'm available on twitter, Facebook, and also G+
Tracking me down is really no fuss
This is a project for us all to explore
Be patient, I've never done this before
I hope to expand this idea even more
With all that said, see ya on the floor!
I've begun this whole thing to clear up some fog
About dancing and etiquette and unspoken rules
to those who violate them and act like big fools
Sometimes it's just me ranting and raving
Sometimes it's dance pros on how we're behaving
There are also events and articles too
To bring the dance info closer to you
Dance professionals, if you have something to say
Even if it's blunt, I'll quote you anyway
I love every subject, no topic's taboo
If you're a dance pro with an opinion, I'll interview you
I'm based in Atlanta, but don't ever fear
We can talk on the phone or whenever you're here
Dancers really need to know what you think
So their footwork and manners won't start to stink
Dancers, give comments, opinions, and thoughts
Get the dialogue going to work out those knots
Of feelings unexpressed and words left unsaid
So the morale of the dance scene won't end up dead
If there's something you want perspectives about
List it below or give me a shout
I'm available on twitter, Facebook, and also G+
Tracking me down is really no fuss
This is a project for us all to explore
Be patient, I've never done this before
I hope to expand this idea even more
With all that said, see ya on the floor!
Written exclusively for Dance Infotainment and Dancing4Fun.
Image stolen from Jimmy Rumba. I guess I'm never running for public office.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Etiquette Series: Nasty Comments about Performances
There is an unspoken problem in the dance world that really needs to be breached. Anyone who is a regular in the social dance scene knows that there are several performance teams out there that perform at dance socials, parties, congresses, etc. Sadly, anyone who is a regular in the dance scene also knows that there is an unfortunately large crop of haters out there that can't wait to insult said performance teams.
I've personally been on dance teams
twice. Both times, I overheard nasty gossip about myself, heard nasty
comments made about my team when the haters thought we were out of
earshot, or worse, when we had changed clothes and they couldn't
recognize us and went right on flappin' their jaws. I've also heard myriads of nasty comments made about other
dance teams, particularly about the physical condition of some women
on certain dance teams.
“I can't believe SHE is wearing
THAT!”
“Couldn't they have found a costume
to fit HER?”
“I sure as hell wouldn't wear THAT
costume if I looked like HER!”
“OMG! What does SHE think she's doing
on a performance team?”
We've probably all heard these or
similar things said at least once, if not several times. A few of us
may have said similar things a few times. Well, knock it off. If
you've done it before, admit your mistake and vow not to do it again.
Attitudes like that are toxic. You are polluting the dance scene with
your discouraging attitude. You are stunting the growth of more
dancers than you realize.
Just think, the very girl you were criticizing may have been really inspired another girl, perhaps one who is built similarly, but is afraid to join a dance team. She saw the same girl you did, but she saw the positive, she saw her own potential mirrored in that girl.
Then she overhears your nasty comment about the girl she thought was inspiring. In a second, you've dashed her confidence to the floor. So, she stays home, doesn't join a dance team even though she really wants to, and doesn't grow as a dancer. Ask me how I know that can happen. Go ahead, ask me. I dare you.
Then she overhears your nasty comment about the girl she thought was inspiring. In a second, you've dashed her confidence to the floor. So, she stays home, doesn't join a dance team even though she really wants to, and doesn't grow as a dancer. Ask me how I know that can happen. Go ahead, ask me. I dare you.
With that said, do you see how damaging
your negativity is? If you REALLY can't say something nice SHUT UP, at least wait til you're at home with someone who isn't
in the dance scene at all because you also never know how loose somebody's
lips are. Not to mention, when people hear you say things like that,
they never quite look at you the same way again.
So, actually, it's preferable for you
to just shut up.
“A friend told me about a girl who
made a rude comment about our dance team,” says Tess Khan, a
performer with Stiletto Dance Company, “The next day, she
ran up to me smiling and hugged me, not knowing that I knew she had
laughed at our routine, and she never even acknowledged anything
about the performance, good or bad.”
How unfortunate! Even if a dance team
completely bombs, the people on it are still worthy of some
recognition for bravery and hard work. Perhaps people watch “Dancing
with the Stars” or “So You Think You Can Dance” and think that
it's normal to learn a whole routine in a day or a week and if
somebody can't do it, there's something wrong with her. Perhaps
people think that only a few body types are “allowed” to dance
(or even allowed out of the house). Perhaps they don't know the
difficult, painstaking, emotional work it takes to perform a dance
number, particularly if you're a beginner or if you're trying to
downsize your shyness.
Another dancer for Stiletto Dance
Company, Kimberly "BachataGata" concurs, “If someone is brave enough to
perform for any sized crowd, in my eyes, that person is a fabulous
dancer. It takes months of physical and mental preparation and
commitment to put together a routine. There is always growth
occurring, which is an intense process at any level.”
Provided some dance teams or some
individual dancers totally mess up a performance. It's an
inevitability, but it's also a part of the growth process and the
positive should be nurtured, rather than the negative being
emphasized.
Kimberly continues, “I have deep
respect for anyone who gets on stage to share their personal growth.
They deserve our most exuberant applause."
Indeed.
Of course, some people will be
apologists for the poisonous behavior, saying, “Well, it's up to
you to have confidence in yourself and to not let those comments get
you down. The people who say that just have issues themselves so you
can't take it personally.”
…but it is personal and it is
hurtful. The “be confident in yourself” attitude does have some
truth to it, but it can breed a toxicity of its own. Yes, you should
join a dance team for YOU and not so you can earn praise from others.
Yes, you should continue dancing if YOU enjoy it and it makes YOU
grow. Nonetheless, nonconstructive, cruel criticism is an unpleasant,
difficult thing to have to deal with and telling people they need to
“be confident” is, frankly, insulting. It asserts that they're to
blame for having bruises where their hearts were kicked. It asserts
that they're weak and just don't know how to handle their emotions.
It asserts that their emotions are wrong and that they aren't allowed
to have them. Worst of all, it lets the jerkwads get off scot-free!
Don't make nasty comments and don't
excuse nasty comments. Next time you hear someone saying something
negative about ANY dance team (because you WILL hear it), correct
them. Stand up for those that are brave enough to put themselves out
there to be judged, scrutinized and possibly ridiculed. Let people
know that their venomous attitudes are not welcome in the dance
world. Most importantly, always congratulate the performers if you
have the chance, even if they messed up, even if they don't look
great in their costumes, even if you didn't like the choreography.
You are nurturing their confidence and growth and they will thank you
for it.
If you happen to be one of the people
who criticizes dance teams, I have two words for you: Join
one.
Image stolen from catmacros.wordpress.com who likely stole it from someone else.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Kizomba.....it's frickin' hard!
I had a blast at Dancing4Fun's Latin Dance Classic. I took several classes that I think will help me as a dancer overall. I also got interviews with all of the instructors about technique, etiquette, lead/follow, etc.
The one thing I couldn't seem to nail down, which was a brand new dance for me, was kizomba. It's not that I'm a slow learner, but that kizomba is a frickin' hard dance!
If you're curious about what kizomba is, I honestly wouldn't tell you to look it up on Youtube, at least not without explaining a few things. First and foremost, kizomba is not a presentational dance. By that, I mean it's absolutely NOT meant to be performed or judged or critiqued in the way that other dancer are (though I'm sure it doesn't stop people from doing so). You can't really do very elaborate styling and tricks that you could in other dances. Secondly, if you're a dancer and you watch it, you will probably think, "Oh, that's easy...what's the big deal? These people aren't even really doing anything. Why do people even want to learn this? I bet I can learn it in five minutes."
Good luck with that because I've gotten to a point where I pick up dances pretty quickly and after a *THREE HOUR* workshop, I'm still clueless and so is everyone else that was in the very same workshop.
The point of kizomba seems to be more about being close with someone and feeling the music. Because you're so close with someone, it's actually hard to do the dance because it's tough not to step on each other.
So, we shall see what kizomba looks like in the US. I really hope it doesn't get hijacked by overzealous performers that want to make a show out of everything....but we'll see.
Keep checking out my blog because I'm going to have some really cool pieces very soon that feature various dance instructors' advice and opinions and you won't want to miss that.
The one thing I couldn't seem to nail down, which was a brand new dance for me, was kizomba. It's not that I'm a slow learner, but that kizomba is a frickin' hard dance!
If you're curious about what kizomba is, I honestly wouldn't tell you to look it up on Youtube, at least not without explaining a few things. First and foremost, kizomba is not a presentational dance. By that, I mean it's absolutely NOT meant to be performed or judged or critiqued in the way that other dancer are (though I'm sure it doesn't stop people from doing so). You can't really do very elaborate styling and tricks that you could in other dances. Secondly, if you're a dancer and you watch it, you will probably think, "Oh, that's easy...what's the big deal? These people aren't even really doing anything. Why do people even want to learn this? I bet I can learn it in five minutes."
Good luck with that because I've gotten to a point where I pick up dances pretty quickly and after a *THREE HOUR* workshop, I'm still clueless and so is everyone else that was in the very same workshop.
The point of kizomba seems to be more about being close with someone and feeling the music. Because you're so close with someone, it's actually hard to do the dance because it's tough not to step on each other.
So, we shall see what kizomba looks like in the US. I really hope it doesn't get hijacked by overzealous performers that want to make a show out of everything....but we'll see.
Keep checking out my blog because I'm going to have some really cool pieces very soon that feature various dance instructors' advice and opinions and you won't want to miss that.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
OH EM GEE! 2nd Annual Atlanta Latin Dance Classic July 27-29
I know, I already posted an article I wrote about the LDC, but I wanted to share my personal excitement about it!
So....there are a bunch of really talented couples coming from all over the US to teach really cool stuff, but the two most interesting things happening, in my opinion, are:
Jorge Elizondo's Bachata Choreography Class
Ivan & Isa....period.
I've taken classes from Jorge Elizondo before. He's pretty strict to be honest, but he gets down to the nuts and bolts, which is good. Too many salseros are actually...well...shitty dancers. There, I said it. They might know interesting tricks and they might be able to find people that can lead/follow them, but most of them have no real fundamental basis of dance in general. My personal opinion is that it's because many of them don't take actual lessons and kind of learn on the street/in the club where they're only dancing with other people who learned on the street/in the club. It can be hard for the blind to lead or follow the blind....unfortunately, this is the status of salsa.
Jorge Elizondo does get to those very basic things that even some "advanced" salsa dancers are lacking. He talks really specifically about leading, following, connection, rhythm, isolations, and what seem like minute details about movement, but are really quite important. To have this guy teaching an actual number is pretty great! I'm admittedly a bit intimidated, but I think it will be awesome....or if it's not I can go take something else.
The other thing this Ivan and Isa. They're coming all the way from Spain to tiny little Gwinnett County, GA. That is pretty dang cool by itself. The other thing that will be awesome is that they will be teaching a lot of kizomba. Just my personal opinion, but I think kizomba is going to be the next big standard addition to social Latin dance. It used to just be salsa and merengue. Then, bachata kind of came out of nowhere and now it's salsa, bachata, merengue. Well, kizomba keeps creeping in, but it's not that popular in the US...YET!
According to the guy who runs this event, whose name is Sean Christopher, kizomba is BIG in Europe, which is why he brought a couple from Europe in to teach it. Currently, it seems like a footnote in Latin dance gatherings and congresses...there might be two classes for a whole weekend-long event...but it's going to be pretty heavily featured at the LDC. There will be *FIVE* FRIGGIN HOURS of kizomba classes at the LDC and it's going to be a part of the daily dance socials as well.
...which could be very embarrassing for me, but I'm going to try anyway!
Honestly, anything that expands salseros' minds is a good thing. Not to get anybody's panties in a wad, but salseros are pretty narrow minded when it comes to dancing. They only like their own little dance world. They're not really interested in learning other dances. The only way to get them to open their minds is to sneak other dances in to events that are majority salsa.The same might be true of other dance types, but every other dance type I've tried to learn, it seemed the people were much more diversified (and better leaders).
So, I'm super-stoked to see kizomba being thrown in to the mix and I wonder what the next thing will be. I'll be posting a totally informal, opinionated review here and will, of course, do a professional article for Examiner.com.
BTW, here's the link to the LDC site where you can get tix, schedule, instructor bios, blablabla: http://latindanceclassic.com/
Lead me on the dance floor, but follow me on twitter @danceinfotainme.
So....there are a bunch of really talented couples coming from all over the US to teach really cool stuff, but the two most interesting things happening, in my opinion, are:
Jorge Elizondo's Bachata Choreography Class
Ivan & Isa....period.
I've taken classes from Jorge Elizondo before. He's pretty strict to be honest, but he gets down to the nuts and bolts, which is good. Too many salseros are actually...well...shitty dancers. There, I said it. They might know interesting tricks and they might be able to find people that can lead/follow them, but most of them have no real fundamental basis of dance in general. My personal opinion is that it's because many of them don't take actual lessons and kind of learn on the street/in the club where they're only dancing with other people who learned on the street/in the club. It can be hard for the blind to lead or follow the blind....unfortunately, this is the status of salsa.
Jorge Elizondo does get to those very basic things that even some "advanced" salsa dancers are lacking. He talks really specifically about leading, following, connection, rhythm, isolations, and what seem like minute details about movement, but are really quite important. To have this guy teaching an actual number is pretty great! I'm admittedly a bit intimidated, but I think it will be awesome....or if it's not I can go take something else.
The other thing this Ivan and Isa. They're coming all the way from Spain to tiny little Gwinnett County, GA. That is pretty dang cool by itself. The other thing that will be awesome is that they will be teaching a lot of kizomba. Just my personal opinion, but I think kizomba is going to be the next big standard addition to social Latin dance. It used to just be salsa and merengue. Then, bachata kind of came out of nowhere and now it's salsa, bachata, merengue. Well, kizomba keeps creeping in, but it's not that popular in the US...YET!
According to the guy who runs this event, whose name is Sean Christopher, kizomba is BIG in Europe, which is why he brought a couple from Europe in to teach it. Currently, it seems like a footnote in Latin dance gatherings and congresses...there might be two classes for a whole weekend-long event...but it's going to be pretty heavily featured at the LDC. There will be *FIVE* FRIGGIN HOURS of kizomba classes at the LDC and it's going to be a part of the daily dance socials as well.
...which could be very embarrassing for me, but I'm going to try anyway!
Honestly, anything that expands salseros' minds is a good thing. Not to get anybody's panties in a wad, but salseros are pretty narrow minded when it comes to dancing. They only like their own little dance world. They're not really interested in learning other dances. The only way to get them to open their minds is to sneak other dances in to events that are majority salsa.The same might be true of other dance types, but every other dance type I've tried to learn, it seemed the people were much more diversified (and better leaders).
So, I'm super-stoked to see kizomba being thrown in to the mix and I wonder what the next thing will be. I'll be posting a totally informal, opinionated review here and will, of course, do a professional article for Examiner.com.
BTW, here's the link to the LDC site where you can get tix, schedule, instructor bios, blablabla: http://latindanceclassic.com/
Lead me on the dance floor, but follow me on twitter @danceinfotainme.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Dance travesties
These happened....and we all stood by idly and let them happen! We are all guilty:
The Roger Rabbit
The Macarena
The Achy Brakey Heart
The Sprinkler
The Electric Slide
Cotton Eye Joe
The ChaCha Slide
The Cupid Shuffle
The Robot
And the mother of all terrible dances.....
THEWHYYYYYYY M C A Y-M-C-A!
How sad is it that after what, 40 years, people still screw up the letter formations every time?!
Yes, I understand the necessities of these dances. People who are shy and afraid of looking like asses on the dance floor are guaranteed to be surrounded by other people looking like asses on the dance floor. Assery in numbers reduces the individual risk of ego damage by 77.3%.
Whatever it takes to get people on the dance floor should be seen as a positive thing. However, these dances are merely self-fulfilling prophecies. People who dance these dances are usually not going to learn other dances. What is the likelihood that, even if you are super awesome dancer #1, that someone will approach you and say, "Wow! You are so amazing at The Macarena. Where did you learn to dance like that? You must be a dance teacher. Where can I take lessons?"
In other words, as much as we wish these were gateway substances that lead folks to the highly addictive drug of dance, they're just gateways to Facebook-tagged party footage that will prevent you from running for office within the next 100 years.
....all that said, if I ever get married, I'll probably play every damn one of 'em at my wedding. -sigh- On a brighter note, if I ever get married, THERE WILL BE AN OPEN BAR, as there should be at every wedding.
The Roger Rabbit
The Macarena
The Achy Brakey Heart
The Sprinkler
The Electric Slide
Cotton Eye Joe
The ChaCha Slide
The Cupid Shuffle
The Robot
And the mother of all terrible dances.....
THE
How sad is it that after what, 40 years, people still screw up the letter formations every time?!
Yes, I understand the necessities of these dances. People who are shy and afraid of looking like asses on the dance floor are guaranteed to be surrounded by other people looking like asses on the dance floor. Assery in numbers reduces the individual risk of ego damage by 77.3%.
Whatever it takes to get people on the dance floor should be seen as a positive thing. However, these dances are merely self-fulfilling prophecies. People who dance these dances are usually not going to learn other dances. What is the likelihood that, even if you are super awesome dancer #1, that someone will approach you and say, "Wow! You are so amazing at The Macarena. Where did you learn to dance like that? You must be a dance teacher. Where can I take lessons?"
In other words, as much as we wish these were gateway substances that lead folks to the highly addictive drug of dance, they're just gateways to Facebook-tagged party footage that will prevent you from running for office within the next 100 years.
....all that said, if I ever get married, I'll probably play every damn one of 'em at my wedding. -sigh- On a brighter note, if I ever get married, THERE WILL BE AN OPEN BAR, as there should be at every wedding.
We should all be so cute when making asses of ourselves.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
2nd Annual Latin Dance Classic July 27-29
The Gwinnett based Dancing4Fun is gearing up for it's 11th anniversary and its second annual Latin Dance Classic,
which will take place July 27 – 29, and will feature nine instructors
and over 20 hours of workshops and 15 hours of social dancing and
showcases.
“The Latin Dance Classic came about because I looked at the calendar and I thought, 'Dude, we've been in business for 10 years already!' It was a pretty big milestone, so I wanted to do something bigger than what I normally do,” explains Dancing4Fun owner Sean Christopher.
Read more...
“The Latin Dance Classic came about because I looked at the calendar and I thought, 'Dude, we've been in business for 10 years already!' It was a pretty big milestone, so I wanted to do something bigger than what I normally do,” explains Dancing4Fun owner Sean Christopher.
Read more...
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