Dancers why aren't you applauding the orquesta?

Chris_Yannick said:
I'd like to see more separation between Salsa and non Salsa dances. If people were forced to choose between dancing Salsa and say, Kizomba, and couldn't dance both in the same venue, how might things change?
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Despite the disparity, the two became tightly coupled in all events. One cannot go without the other. To decouple them we need to understand the cause that brought them together in the first place. Without being too philosophical about it, and for the sake of keeping things short and simple, just as most salsa dancers, who form the majority of the dancers, are not in it for the music we can safely deduce that Kizomberos, who form the minority, are not in it for the music either. Why then bachata and kizomba are part of the socials? Maybe because those two dances offer something that salsa doesn't; intimacy!

I am one of those who believe that Salsa, Mambo, Cha cha can survive and do just fine without Bachata/Kizomba and without compromising the intimacy; behold the Rhumba!

To my mind It is more sublime in both dance and music than bachata/kizomba, why not promote it? Of course others may disagree and that's their prerogative.
 
Sabrosura said:
For instance in NY there are a lot of wonderful free outdoor live music events in the summer and every year I see fewer and fewer "salsa scene" people in attendance, the majority of the attendees are (older) Nuyoricans, and a few Colombians. This year there are almost no salsa sceners at these FREE concerts!! We're talking maybe 5-10 people in an audience of 500-600. This is unbelievably shocking to me and makes me incredibly sad about the state of music appreciation among today's dancers.
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Do they know about it ? Are you sure they know about it ?

My most popular posts on facebook are the "Current Year- Outdoor Live Salsa Schedule". Our local bands almost never post where they are playing and the web/facebook pages of the organizers are not usual stopping points for salseros.

I happen to know which venues typically book latin bands and so I go to the websites of the following that have had latin bands in the past: municipal park boards, neighborhood/block festivals, ethnic festivals, state fair stages. Then I compile a list by date and voila a lot of dancers show up and tell me that they would not have known about this if I hadn't posted it. I tell them that it is purely selfish as I used to go to these events and I was the one and only dancer at the event. Not anymore.

Sidenote: There are complaints about concrete or asphalt surfaces to dance on which has held some people back but there are also a lot of new and interesting tips on how to modify shoes. The most interesting one is to tape pieces of flat plastic bottle bottoms on to gym shoes. The one I have used recently with great success is to use my street soled dance shoes that have been soiled on filthy club dance floors. The become cleaner from the abrasion of the concrete than if I had brushed them.
 
bailar y tocar said:
Do they know about it ? Are you sure they know about it ?

My most popular posts on facebook are the "Current Year- Outdoor Live Salsa Schedule". Our local bands almost never post where they are playing and the web/facebook pages of the organizers are not usual stopping points for salseros.
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The summer Latin concerts in NY are posted on the main salsa calendar, salsanewyork.com, which is reviewed regularly by the majority of the NY salsa scene dancers.

P.S. I wonder how the non-salsa scene attendees at the concerts, i.e. the key audience (older Nuyoricans), keep up-to-date about the concerts, I assume word of mouth.
 
Sabrosura said:
The summer Latin concerts in NY are posted on the main salsa calendar, salsanewyork.com, which is reviewed regularly by the majority of the NY salsa scene dancers.

P.S. I wonder how the non-salsa scene attendees at the concerts, i.e. the key audience (older Nuyoricans), keep up-to-date about the concerts, I assume word of mouth.
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Ah, yes now I remember. Thats where I looked in 2012 to find the Loisaida Festival on the lower east side with live salsa bands. There were no people there that I would have thought to be part of the regular salsa scene. I did dance with other tourists like myself.

Its possible that the salsa scene regulars preferred the Southside Seaport salsa that started out a few hours later. Most of the people seemed to be regulars and know each other. I went to both followed by two Jazz concerts at Zinc Bar and the Blue Note, respectively.

I guess New Yorkers just don't have the stamina to take advantage of all the city has to offer...or... they just take everything for granted and pick and choose a little here and a little there. Its unheard of that one could do two salsa events followed by two top notch jazz concerts all within 2-3 subway stops of one another anywhere else in the world.

PS, the oldtimers read the newspaper and then call each other on landline phones to meet up.
 
bailar y tocar said:
or... they just take everything for granted and pick and choose a little here and a little there. Its unheard of that one could do two salsa events followed by two top notch jazz concerts all within 2-3 subway stops of one another anywhere else in the world.
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I think this is another factor, though secondary to the "don't really care about the music" key one. Occasionally I catch myself falling into the "taking for granted" trap with dance events and classes, like "I'm tired, I don't really feel like going to LVG / Jimmy Anton / Frankie's class tonight" and my alter salsa ego immediately mentally slaps me: "What the hell is wrong with you, you'd kill to go there if you didn't live in NY!"

On that note, I should get dressed and head to the Abakua social which started over an hour ago :D
 
At a recent event here in Canberra I clapped loudly when the band finished playing. I then noticed nobody else was clapping. Was weird...
 
TwoCentsTipper said:
The overwhelming majority of dancers do not care about the music let alone appreciating the band. It's really that simple!
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That's the bottom line. And that's why the salsa scene just doesn't engage me. Most people on here love to learn the technicalities of dance and love salsa music, however on the scene, it's all about the former and the latter is irrelevant. Indeed in the UK it's worse than irrelevant - quality music is often seen as inferior to r&b style salsa, or just plain r&b. (And I'm talking about the instructors as well as the dancers!)

This is why most of the conclusions on the Shines are eclipsed thread are, to me, a joke. You seem to have conclusively proved that crossbody linear dancers are better and more authentic than Colombians. On the rare occasions that I've been lucky enough to DJ for Colombians, they listen to the music, they know the music and they appreciate the music. They don't take dance lessons, unless they're going to perform. When I DJ for linear dancers they just care about taking endless lessons, and doing endless moves.

How can people dancing to music they don't listen to or appreciate be superior and more authentic/closer to African roots than people dancing to music because they like it?
 
In Stockholm we don't have a scene where there are concerts at local clubs every week . We just get the occasional concert. At these events, which may happen a couple of times a year (used to be more concerts) they have DJs before and after. Most of the dancers do their couple dancing to the DJs and during the concert get close to the stage and really engage with the band while dancing solo in place. The people who want to continue dancing move to the back of the room. To be honestly don't remember if I clap much. I know I sing along and dance and shout at the end of songs, but applauding...oh actually I don't because I am almost always holding a video camera LOL now I remember why I don't clap.

Maybe if we had a scene where local bands gave weekly concerts it would be less of a big deal and people would do more ignoring the band and dancing through the concert, kind of like with DJs.

I have never even considered clapping for a DJ.
 
DJ Yuca said:
You seem to have conclusively proved that crossbody linear dancers are better and more authentic than Colombians.
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Actually, without wanting to spill that thread over into this one, I'm pretty sure that the criticism that was being made over in that thread was a technical point (i.e. bio-mechanical) about the fast footwork of the Cali style of Salsa dancing, rather than the sabor and passion for the music of Columbians generally.

Obviously, "passion for the music" wins over technical hairsplitting in many if not most situations, but it does rather leave the bio-mechanical question unaddressed...
 
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