DJ Yuca
Son Montuno
I don't recall seeing that article. I prefer seafood to meat.
I thought you were into chicken soup? Please try to be consistent.
Salsa - My New York Adventure
- Thread starter olamalam
- Start date
I thought you were into chicken soup? Please try to be consistent.
DJ Yuca
Son Montuno
What you're saying is: the film of LR was actually of an impostor wearing an LR mask? Or was it photoshopped?
DJ Yuca
Son Montuno
Ditto.
olamalam
Son Montuno
here there is an impression that LR=london scene. he is organising a party in london (its not a just party actually, it is SOS which is the best party of the, wait for it, planet! 
) and teaching at sos once a month.
think about this, Magna Gopal (who is from NYC) said that super mario (who is from London) is her favourite partner. or she asked 3 times at the sme night to the author of the article. or when i was in NY when i was much worse than today, i got plenty of compliments. London is not that bad guys. only you might have some unlucky time (as NYers always say. ahh that time of year we have many visitors. probably you danced with visitors, not locals)
) and teaching at sos once a month. think about this, Magna Gopal (who is from NYC) said that super mario (who is from London) is her favourite partner. or she asked 3 times at the sme night to the author of the article. or when i was in NY when i was much worse than today, i got plenty of compliments. London is not that bad guys. only you might have some unlucky time (as NYers always say. ahh that time of year we have many visitors. probably you danced with visitors, not locals)
DJ Yuca
Son Montuno
Does London have (predominantly) Latin clubs/nights where the majority of the music is salsa?
I know there is a large Colombian community in London, but I don't know if it's large enough to sustain a salsa scene. (We all know a typical Latin nightclub will play salsa but also lots of reggaeton, bachata, merengue, cumbia, etc.)
The penultimate paragraph of the review rings true for me:
Personally I think the social scenes in Tokyo and the Netherlands (hard to pin it to a specific city since it's such a small country) are fantastic and can hold themselves against the best, but then again, these are the two scenes I'm most familiar with, being my former and current home salsa scenes respectively. In these places I know the people who make up the scenes, I know who are wonderful to dance with, who I need to avoid, which DJs play just the right music for me and which parties give the best chance of having a great fix. It's easy to tailor my salsa nights for the maximum enjoyment because I can cherry-pick the right ingredients based on my knowledge. As for New York and London, I like both. I know London and its people better, which makes my London experiences better than what Sabrosura obviously had. I've only made a couple of forays into the NY social scene and got a mixed bag, very much as Toan describes - some great dances, many okay dances and some god-awful dances. I'm sure I'd be able to make more out of the NY socials if I spend more time there to get to know the people and get the people to know me.
nowhiteshoes
Son
This was my conclusion too. It is difficult to compare scenes when someone is a regular in one place and a visitor in another - generally people mostly dance with theri "regulars".
DJ Ara
Son Montuno
When I used to live there I would frequent Colombian clubs whenever possible. The places I went to were usually run by Caleños and/or had Caleño DJs. Most of the music they played was salsa and sometimes (even now) the salsa nights are named after famous Cali salsa clubs. The DJs to look out for are DJ Fernando and DJ Edwin (there are others, also). These guys are EXCELLENT. However, as always one has to make allowances as regards the crowds they play for.
So, you are likely to get some other rhythms thrown in, but the salsa you hear is going to be the real deal, with a few more commercial hits thrown in. Anyway, it used to be as close an experience to being in Cali, without having to come here.
DJ Ara
Son Montuno
You really haven't seen a salsa party until you have been to Cali, the Planets's Salsa Capital!here there is an impression that LR=london scene. he is organising a party in london (its not a just party actually, it is SOS which is the best party of the, wait for it, planet!
DJ Ara
Son Montuno
DJ Yuca said:
When in the past I had mentioned that there are 11 year old salsa dancers in Cali that dance better than most of the "salsa gurus" in the international scene, people thought I was exaggerating, being sarcastic, negative, hateful and whatever vile accusations they could come up with.
Well, now we have one of the "finest" looking very lost, musically speaking in a social setting, where he is required to "think for himself", again musically speaking. The bad news is that there are other such 'stars' out there, but my approach is the good old, Caveat Emptor - let the buyer beware!
People who are good general dancers can put on a good performance show in multiple genres. They will need some choreography and a little bit of understanding of the genre they are dealing with, as well as some charisma (and interpersonal skills) which is always useful, especially when they get themselves involved in teaching.
However, this does not make such people Salseros. Some of the onstage performances posted as proof of the talents of some of the "salsa gurus" out there were choreographies that could have been performed by any career cabaret dancers, none of whom would be likely to claim to be a salsero, mainly because they already have a career and making an honest living!
Ask any career cabaret dancer who just finished doing a half decent onstage salsa choreography to dance on a salsa night club dance floor, then you are likely to see the kind of train wreck we saw from our London friend.
People really need to wake up and smell the coffee, especially if they think that they are in "love" with salsa, because a lot of these salsa "lovers" are doing a lot of things, but SALSA dancing is not one of them!
Sabrosura
Son Montuno
nowhiteshoes
Son
It would seem coumbian salsa was the domiant style in London around 10 years ago before xbody took off. One of the original clubs tried to re-open about 3-4 years ago but they played really fast columbian salsa all night to dancers who only know xbody. Patrons left and I don't really think the night recovered. It would seem the dj misread the patrons.
This is no criticism of columbian salsa btw and I realise I am off topic before ChrisK notices
DJ Ara
Son Montuno
The Colombian influence in the none Latino clubs was stronger during the early to mid 1990s.
Can remember the name of the club you mentioned? I ask, because Colombian clubs here in Cali, nor in London play fast Colombian salsa.
To my knowledge, the authentic Colombian clubs in London never depended on non-Colombian patronage. Most people who frequent these clubs are Colombians and after that come other members of the Latino community (but not Cubans in general).
I know, but it is a misconception that Colombian clubs play fast Colombian salsa.This is no criticism of columbian salsa btw and I realise I am off topic before ChrisK notices
no, I as commenting on the unsupportable overgeneralisation that "the camera never lies". It's like the old "there's no smoke without fire" and countless others. I find such generalisations can derail discussions and should be challenged where found.
DJ Ara
Son Montuno
The general view is that if you have a camera pointing at any dancer, their behavior will change somewhat. This will probably include a lot of real salseros and good salsa dancers. However, those who have a little bit of clue will try to dance in a way (even if a little bit more flamboyant than usual) not to look totally clueless.
This means, if you see a total dance floor train wrech from someone who should know better, then the chances are that he or she doesn't know any better, or as the case may be. the poor thing not having a notion about salsa dancing for real!
This means, if you see a total dance floor train wrech from someone who should know better, then the chances are that he or she doesn't know any better, or as the case may be. the poor thing not having a notion about salsa dancing for real!
DJ Yuca
Son Montuno
I think you're over complicating matters, and making excuses for someone.
Here's a film of someone dancing - it shows how that person dances. Unless you can offer other films that show that person's behaviour was atypical, for them, on the film in question, then your excuses have no validity.
As I already stated, everyone has their lesser and greater moments, and perhaps the film in question was one of LR's lesser moments. But no one has offered any examples to show his usual social dancing is any different or better.
Instead, I see the attitude that the big names of salsa are so God-like it is blasphemous to question their abilities.
Considering the abysmal nature of the clip in question, a better defence is required, if you insist on defending the dancer in question.
I've looked at every clip out there of my salsa heroes, and some are better than others. But even at their worst, they look good (to me). So if you post a clip of someone I like, I can say that I like it, and I can offer many other clips where that dancer looks as good or even better.
All you can offer is: 'don't trust it just because you can see it'. In this context, that is completely meaningless.
(Or do you think LR was dancing like that for a bet or a dare?)
As I stated, I was commenting purely on the overgeneralisation that the camera never lies. I never made any comments about the video you were talking about. I never defended it and other than the one shocking video posted I have no opinion on the dancer in question. Please take my original post literally as intended and don't read more into it.