Hmm... I saw Eddie Torres in the New York Salsa Congress 2005 in a workshop. That was the time he took the workshop 4 hours continuously and that guy has an amazing energy on stage. Something which many people cant imitate. when he is teaching you the dance he is like a father figure who helps you not only to walk at the same time pushes you when it is needed the most.
My first class was on Thursday, but it happened to be Maria Torres (Eddie's wife). Maria is very funny and she makes the whole dance experience light and pretty much enjoyable. I was comfortable till the shines part. Once the turn pattern came into picture I kind of lost the rhythm just because my leads were all on1.
So after that first class there was a gap of a weekend.. and i started practicing something like this. 245 pause 678 pause (instead of 123 and 567 difference was I was moving back on 2). Phew now I thought all I wanted was to identify the 2nd beat and start dancing and i will fit into the on2 style without trouble..
Well I had to wait till Mondy 7:30 to figure that it was all wrong. Eddie starts off his classes with warmups. He introduces a new shines pattern for the class and then he combines it with the previous ones. That way I didnt have much trouble doing the shines.
But once the turn pattern started all my reality is shattered. I cant dance any more phew first of all getting the hand co-ordination to your leg movement felt so weird.. weird enough.
The following were my observations
1. the pauses sound really long it is not as quick as the ones you do on1.
2. The leads are quite laid back compared to the foot movements which are quick.
So as an on1 dancer when i was dancing all alone i was perfectly doing shines on2 without troubles. but the moment i got into the partner dancing I could feel the tensions, push, pull lacking. The leads on2 are much different than the leads on1.
1. Resist the temptations to step forward on 1 instead step back. If you get this right within an hour you will be moving to the music on2.
2. You need a lot of practice time compared to the average dancer learning on2. just because you have to unlearn the on1 habits.
3. To learn the leads on2 first you have to get the leads right without moving your feet. Get your hands comfortable first then integrate it with your leg movements. when you are learning the leads it is important on what count the hand throw happens, push is done, pull is done. Trust me it is a different ball game all together.
For that I need to get a lot of practice time. And in NYC nothing comes for free. Where ever you go you have to pay. So my salsa dancing is limited to the number of dollars that I have in my packet. Call it too much commercialization of a dance. Sometimes I wish it should be just like in Bangalore India, where you use to dance 3 or 4 times in a week (As of now it is still in the promotional stage so lots of free entries).
Any way thats my crib. Meanwhile, during my stay here in NY let me make the best use of resource available to learn dancing on2.
Pramodh
My first class was on Thursday, but it happened to be Maria Torres (Eddie's wife). Maria is very funny and she makes the whole dance experience light and pretty much enjoyable. I was comfortable till the shines part. Once the turn pattern came into picture I kind of lost the rhythm just because my leads were all on1.
So after that first class there was a gap of a weekend.. and i started practicing something like this. 245 pause 678 pause (instead of 123 and 567 difference was I was moving back on 2). Phew now I thought all I wanted was to identify the 2nd beat and start dancing and i will fit into the on2 style without trouble..
Well I had to wait till Mondy 7:30 to figure that it was all wrong. Eddie starts off his classes with warmups. He introduces a new shines pattern for the class and then he combines it with the previous ones. That way I didnt have much trouble doing the shines.
But once the turn pattern started all my reality is shattered. I cant dance any more phew first of all getting the hand co-ordination to your leg movement felt so weird.. weird enough.
The following were my observations
1. the pauses sound really long it is not as quick as the ones you do on1.
2. The leads are quite laid back compared to the foot movements which are quick.
So as an on1 dancer when i was dancing all alone i was perfectly doing shines on2 without troubles. but the moment i got into the partner dancing I could feel the tensions, push, pull lacking. The leads on2 are much different than the leads on1.
1. Resist the temptations to step forward on 1 instead step back. If you get this right within an hour you will be moving to the music on2.
2. You need a lot of practice time compared to the average dancer learning on2. just because you have to unlearn the on1 habits.
3. To learn the leads on2 first you have to get the leads right without moving your feet. Get your hands comfortable first then integrate it with your leg movements. when you are learning the leads it is important on what count the hand throw happens, push is done, pull is done. Trust me it is a different ball game all together.
For that I need to get a lot of practice time. And in NYC nothing comes for free. Where ever you go you have to pay. So my salsa dancing is limited to the number of dollars that I have in my packet. Call it too much commercialization of a dance. Sometimes I wish it should be just like in Bangalore India, where you use to dance 3 or 4 times in a week (As of now it is still in the promotional stage so lots of free entries).
Any way thats my crib. Meanwhile, during my stay here in NY let me make the best use of resource available to learn dancing on2.
Pramodh
no really, i hope every salsa dancer can discover the difference someday cos it rocks my world 
