Salsa - My New York Adventure

olamalam said:
guys, this thread is about NY salsa review. Why dont you discuss the videos of Tomas giving endless spins to girls?

But I believe you know that Tomas != NY scene.
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LR teaches the advanced classes regularly at what you (and others) consider London's best party, SOS. And in case people don't know, unlike New York or other US cities, London does not really have actual salsa schools located in their own actual dance studios (beyond one or two), most classes happen right before a party. So yes, one can assume he plays a big part in influencing the scene's "flavor".
 
Sabrosura said:
LR teaches the advanced classes regularly at what you (and others) consider London's best party, SOS. And in case people don't know, unlike New York or other US cities, London does not really have actual salsa schools located in their own actual dance studios (beyond one or two), most classes happen right before a party. So yes, one can assume he plays a big part in influencing the scene's "flavor".
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as I wrote before LR teaches generally once a month as he is most of the time abroad on sundays. he spends more time in Paris than London. So you can make the same assumptions for Paris scene then. Thats why I said LR!=London scene. (Btw, he teaches very good technique in his classes, I assure you)

on the other hand, with your understanding it would be fair to say that NY'er dont know any move but multiple spins when you watch this video

 
There's a recent thread in the Videoclips section (The New York Scene) that shows present day NY's salsa credentials. Does London have a comparable scene?

Also, although the TG vid is of no interest to me personally, it's not as downright painful as the LR one.

Btw, I have no allegiance to London or NY, I'm just interested in seeing a realistic comparison.
 
what i'm saying is, social dancing of an instructor doesnt give you idea about the whole scene. that was my point, dont miss it ;)
 
olamalam said:
what i'm saying is, social dancing of an instructor doesnt give you idea about the whole scene. that was my point, dont miss it ;)
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No, but my experience, as a follow, was that leads in London--not everyone, but a lot of people--tend to dance the way he does, with a lot of turn patterns disconnected from the music (although not quite as badly as him). Maybe that's just a coincidence, maybe not.

Also, another main instructor in London, Supermario, who you mentioned earlier, while much better than LR, is not particularly musical either and goes into endless turn patterns as well. I still like dancing with him, and he is a very nice person, but he is not an example of musicality either.

I do not want to go into reviewing every London instructor, but just wanted to point out that because London has very few instructors who are musical, the consequence is the students don't care about the connection to the music either. I'm sure for a lot of London dancers this isn't a problem because they can still "have fun dancing" even without connection to the music. But for people like me for whom the music matters, dancing with such leads was a problem. And without teachers who care about the music and who show students--including by example, through the teachers' own social dancing--that you *can* dance in other ways, not just with endless turn patterns, I'm not sure how this can get any better.
 
What goes on in London, ime, is really not that different to the scene elsewhere in the UK - the only place in the world where we have 'salsa to r&b'. Obviously that concept is not a London thing (at least afaik), however it is a more extreme version of the lack of musicality/interest in salsa music mentioned above.
 
Sabrosura said:
Also, another main instructor in London, Supermario, who you mentioned earlier, while much better than LR, is not particularly musical either and goes into endless turn patterns as well. I still like dancing with him, and he is a very nice person, but he is not an example of musicality either.
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This is pretty much near everyone today who is a recognised instructor.

If our music was the Hustle, it would fit right in. But our thing is something else. They're doing the [latin] hustle to afrocuban music...
 
DJ Yuca said:
There's a recent thread in the Videoclips section (The New York Scene) that shows present day NY's salsa credentials. Does London have a comparable scene?

Also, although the TG vid is of no interest to me personally, it's not as downright painful as the LR one.

Btw, I have no allegiance to London or NY, I'm just interested in seeing a realistic comparison.
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Bottom line is that videos (including the ones I posted in the NY Scene Thread) can't gauge an entire scene. You have to "live" the experience there to really come out with a complete picture of the scene. Because there's a whole bunch of stuff that's not available on-line to really make a definitive comparison. I don't live in London but the music lovers know that do don't really care for the club scene there are theye describe it the way Saborsura does. Their thing is to wait patiently for the regularly scheduled summer concerts and once in a while throw a DJ party. In the end, people like to do what they like to do. No matter what the public opinion may be. In my neck of the woods, most people in the Mambo scene do not care for plena or jazz. But I frequent both or try to. Regardless if its not viewed as "Salsero" enough by some...
 
olamalam said:
as I wrote before LR teaches generally once a month as he is most of the time abroad on sundays. he spends more time in Paris than London. So you can make the same assumptions for Paris scene then. Thats why I said LR!=London scene. (Btw, he teaches very good technique in his classes, I assure you)
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Any dance technique needs to be applied to the music, otherwise its knowledge is irrelevant. If people can't do that, then they are not dancing salsa, or at best they are lousey salsa dancers, meaning they should not teach, much less be described as one of the "finest"! ;)

olamalam said:
on the other hand, with your understanding it would be fair to say that NY'er dont know any move but multiple spins when you watch this video
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This is an international phenomenon and you can find examples of this everywhere!

[/quote]
Yep, another example of everything not do when "dancing" salsa! I watched the beginning clip again with sound muted. You would think that the guy was dancing to a fast mambo or a descarga! LOL!

Then the music picked up and so, it was more relevant.

I say the guy, because he was the one leading all the absurdity.

Having said that, I still think that you can't compare NYC to London. As salsa is more embedded in the culture of the Big Apple than it can ever be in London.
 
DJ Ara said:
I say the guy, because he was the one leading all the absurdity.
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LOL - I remember going out to hear a samba band, and it seemed like everyone who danced was imitating the only person in the room who appeared to know how to dance samba (though I don't think he was really dancing samba). It was so funny; if he spun around the left, everyone else would spin around to the left, and so on.

I was tempted to offer him a bribe if he'd do a back flop. ;)
 
Salsa Bear said:
LOL - I remember going out to hear a samba band, and it seemed like everyone who danced was imitating the only person in the room who appeared to know how to dance samba (though I don't think he was really dancing samba). It was so funny; if he spun around the left, everyone else would spin around to the left, and so on.

I was tempted to offer him a bribe if he'd do a back flop. ;)
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That reminds me. Once I was dancing with a lady in London and during the dance I felt an itch on my back in the kidney area. So, I scratched it quickly and the lady did the same in a mirror image, thinking it was some new "salsa guru" move, perhaps proving that the clueless "Gurus" have created their own culture of "salsa not dancing"...LOL!
 
DJ Ara said:
That reminds me. Once I was dancing with a lady in London and during the dance I felt an itch on my back in the kidney area. So, I scratched it quickly and the lady did the same in a mirror image, thinking it was some new "salsa guru" move, perhaps proving that the clueless "Gurus" have created their own culture of "salsa not dancing"...LOL!
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Lol, that's hilarious!
 
Sabrosura said:
Lol, that's hilarious!
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You should have been there, I just smiled and then kept a straight face. There was not much else I could do. I would not be surprised if she told her own salsa teacher about "my move".

So, anyone reading this, if you ever see a the "back scratch" move in a "guaguanco" workshop in your local salsa congress, being proudly demonstrated by a salsa "guru", the be aware that it was stolen from me! :D
 
DJ Ara said:
You should have been there, I just smiled and then kept a straight face. There was not much else I could do. I would not be surprised if she told her own salsa teacher about "my move".
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Hey, at least she was trying to "connect" with you by matching your "moves". :)
 
Richie Blondet said:
I was referring to the turn pattern frenzy. Connection or no connection, the entire On2 scene dances like that bro...
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No, no, no :p Not true. Not everyone dances with turn pattern frenzies.

Just the other night, I danced a lovely slow cha-cha with Frankie--no spins, one single turn in the entire dance. No solo shines either, just connected grooving to the music the entire time. :)
 
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