Memorable Salsa Instructor Quotes

Slowdance said:
My instructor occasionally forgets which side of her body is which, so sometimes she will point to a body part and ask "which is this?" and we tell her and then she will proceed "right ... so guys, be sure to use the right to ..." etc. Also she sometimes forget whether she is lead or follow. Usually these just happen when she is extra tired, but everyone has a laugh.

Even funnier, she started wearing a bracelet on her left wrist so she can remember which is left; but she *still* forgets she has it on sometimes, so she still does the above. :)
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This is really weird, but apparently there are lots of people who have persistent problems telling right from left. I know at least 2 very intelligent people who have problems with it. Looking around the internet, there are suggestions that it affects around 20% of the population.

I'm thinking that in most salsa classes, if the teacher doesn't have problems with this, some of the students probably do...
 
In a beginning lesson, a woman in the group just had to ask her burning question - "how do you let your partner (meaning the leader) know that he is not leading correctly.?" Basically the question is - when do I hijack the lead?

Our teacher(a lady) said - "Why would I want to spoil my enjoyment of the dance? It is better to enjoy what you have than to fret over what you don't have."
 
"Wait, am I a boy or a girl?"

When I was in a group class, and one female instructor was teaching while a male instructor stepped in as a follow for her to demonstrate with, then he switched to lead to show her something that might help, and then they switched back, then they switched back again.
 
Vito Ranieri (of Vito And Stefania fame), at a Pachanga workshop, with his thick Italian accent:

"You like sex, yes? Good! Pachanga is like sex: You have sex with partner on left [demonstrates hip rock/thrust with feet together, 45 degrees to his left], and now you change and you sex with partner on right! [does hip rock on the other side]"

He's quite the character, that Vito :D
 
A woman instructor was teaching a hip-check in a club class: "Now boys, I know this is hard for you, but you're going to have to touch the girls."
 
After he demonstrated a complex turn pattern in today's partnerwork class for a second time as the guys in the class all seemed intimidated by it:

"See, it's not that bad.....for me"

:D
 
"Each movement is a teacher. When learning a new movement, don't make it big and strong and don't add things to it based on how you think the movement should happen, because you don't yet know what it should feel like. Keep it small at first and stay relaxed, so that you let it teach you. Then after you understand it, you can add to it."

This is a great example of why Frankie excels at teaching dance.
 
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Sabrosura said:
"Each movement is a teacher. When learning a new movement, don't make it big and strong and don't add things to it based on how you think the movement should happen, because you don't yet know what it should feel like. Keep it small at first and stay relaxed, so that you let it teach you. Then after you understand it, you can add to it."

This is a great example of why Frankie excels at teaching dance.
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I agree this is good advice, but I do have a few comments on this statement. Frankie seems to think his way of teaching is the way the body is naturally suppose to behave and the body will naturally found out which way its suppose to move. This assumes your body is perfectly working (as in, zero misalignments, zero imbalances, zero bad habits) since how your body will automatically adjust and 'learn you the movement' might not be the way it's suppose to be done.
Let's say you want to learn to squat. If a person does not have much ankle flexibility (a LOT of people don't) and therefore will not be able to 'sit down', he will most likely bend his back unconsciously to compensate and stay in balance. This feels quite fine, but in the long term this inproper form will not help you achieve what you want (gain muscle or increase strength or whatever). You're basically doing another exercise. Your body does not always know what its suppose to do, and 'letting it teach you' could result in a lot of bad habits.

I do agree with his statement that you should allow your body to relax to allow some corrections to be made. Practicing spinning for example while being all tense will not work since your body works marvelous in finding its own balance. Letting your body teach you is a good way to let your body learn you how to achieve more balance. But..again bad habits could emerge if not under good supervision.
 
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