Salsa open diary

TikiTaka said:
This guy looks smoother than your favorite Paris lead :p
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Well, so the thing is, Cedric was my first French & Paris favorite ;) (he is from Paris too) But since I had not seen him in 3 years (he stopped dancing for a while, this was his return actually -- great dancing after such a long absence, kudos to him!), I kind of stopped including him in my Paris favorite leads list.
But now that he is back, he goes back to the top of my Paris ranking ;)

It's not just the smoothness (they are both just as smooth I think), but he is much more playful and passionate in his dancing, like me. And he uses more contrast/sharpness in his movements, which I also really like. And our 'energy' is very very in sync, plus we have a mutual very strong dance crush on each other since the first time we met -- so we just have this amazing chemistry and connection when we dance.

Here is a cha cha with him at the festival where we first met in 2015 -- very different kind of dance, but same connection, the mutual dance crush was already very strong ;)

 
Now I'm wondering if anybody thinks of me as "my favorite lead". Probably not, I probably need some more time to improve. The closest thing I heard was that I had the best leading skills a girl had experienced.
 
TikiTaka said:
Now I'm wondering if anybody thinks of me as "my favorite lead". Probably not, I probably need some more time to improve. The closest thing I heard was that I had the best leading skills a girl had experienced.
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I don't think it's related to dancing skills; it's a mixture of friendliness, attention you pay to the partner, comfort, etc. As long as they invite you for dances on regular basis, you're good.
 
Smejmoon said:
I don't think it's related to dancing skills; it's a mixture of friendliness, attention you pay to the partner, comfort, etc. As long as they invite you for dances on regular basis, you're good.
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I mean I am sure I have been someone's favorite at a particular venue on many occasion. But favorite of all time? Not so sure about that.
 
Yeah, I've known many followers tell me who their favorite lead is, and my reaction was usually

:oops:

I no longer associate being someone's favorite with skill level. It's so far from reality because people make no sense.
 
Chris_Yannick said:
Yeah, I've known many followers tell me who their favorite lead is, and my reaction was usually :oops:

I no longer associate being someone's favorite with skill level. It's so far from reality because people make no sense.
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I don't think that is really true, especially not among experienced dancers -- my Paris lead friends (who have been dancing a long time) generally agree on who their favorite follows are, for example (not that they have the same exact favorite, but they agree on who the best follows are).

Also one could always argue the hell with what other dancers think, of course. But what really matters to me is: am I among my favorites' favorites :) (Which has to do with both skill and personal chemistry / dance style, but skill also matters.) I am fortunate that this has usually been the case, and it's a wonderful kind of connection :)
 
Sabrosura said:
I don't think that is necessarily true, especially not among experienced dancers
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The majority of followers I speak to are experienced, but have very particular tastes. Emotion usually plays a big role. If that person gives them a good feeling, they will tend to favor them over someone who has a higher skill cap. In most cases though, friendship is the dealbreaker. If the choice is between someone they know and someone they don't, the friend/acquaintance wins out.
 
Chris_Yannick said:
In most cases though, friendship is the dealbreaker. If the choice is between someone they know and someone they don't, the friend/acquaintance wins out.
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Ok totally not my case. If I hit it off with a stranger, it's game on :) (happened twice this weekend in Paris actually)

I actually have a couple guys I am friendly with but who are on my quasi-DNA list due to being too rough/uncomfortable etc. No amount of friendship is going to make me enjoy dancing with them.

Chris_Yannick said:
Emotion usually plays a big role. If that person gives them a good feeling, they will tend to favor them over someone who has a higher skill cap.
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A bit of a strawman, because it's not either/or -- of course emotion is crucial for everyone, but, personally, there is no way I can get good feelings with a bad lead :p The good feelings for me come from both personal connection/chemistry, and good leading/good dance skills. I mean, I can enjoy a dance with a decent lead who is not too rough etc., but there is absolutely no comparison between that and the feelings I get being in the arms of a smooth, playful, musical lead, with whom I also have great personal chemistry :)
 
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There is a girl in my scene who is supposedly good. She gives expensive workshops, and many of the girls do to her classes. Once she danced on the scene once when a famous band came to play here (not sure how this works, do they get paid for it?). Personally I don't really like how she dances. I would say she is one of my least favorites to dance with in the whole country lol.
 
GentleDancer said:
Photo taken from me tonight:

As women know there are always men missing at dance-floors. The problem is men are living on another planet where women are missing. It's tragic.
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So tonight I gave it another try, but after the failure the day before full of doubts if all followers have left town already for christmas visits at their parents - but the girls were back again, as normal. It is sometimes hard to understand why one gender is completely missing one night, and next time not. I think at the stock exchange they call it high volatility :)
 
Sabrosura said:
Well, so the thing is, Cedric was my first French & Paris favorite ;) (he is from Paris too) But since I had not seen him in 3 years (he stopped dancing for a while, this was his return actually -- great dancing after such a long absence, kudos to him!), I kind of stopped including him in my Paris favorite leads list.
But now that he is back, he goes back to the top of my Paris ranking ;)

It's not just the smoothness (they are both just as smooth I think), but he is much more playful and passionate in his dancing, like me. And he uses more contrast/sharpness in his movements, which I also really like. And our 'energy' is very very in sync, plus we have a mutual very strong dance crush on each other since the first time we met -- so we just have this amazing chemistry and connection when we dance.

Here is a cha cha with him at the festival where we first met in 2015 -- very different kind of dance, but same connection, the mutual dance crush was already very strong ;)

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Sorry Sabs but this is one of the worst renditions of Cha I have ever seen
There comes a point in "dance" when it is stripped of basic context . Playing with music is good, but the old "less is more " applies in this case. I know you will say you enjoyed it, and that is OK but it does not reflect the true essence of the dance.
And, the music was very uninspiring to me and if the DJ thinks that was a good song, I really would not like to hear his salsa !
 
GentleDancer said:
It is sometimes hard to understand why one gender is completely missing one night, and next time not.
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It happened a few times when there were too many followers one night. The next time they didn't show up as they were expecting the same but many leaders heard about the lopsided ratio so they came out in droves... to a sausage fest.

It's a delicate balance trying to get the right mix.
 
terence said:
And, the music was very uninspiring to me and if the DJ thinks that was a good song, I really would not like to hear his salsa !
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Well it is a brilliant track. But is it a cha cha cha? No and I can't imagine that that's what the artist was aiming for.


A very strange choice for a Latin music event, considering the 100s if not 1000s of good cha cha chas available.
 
DJ Yuca said:
Well it is a brilliant track. But is it a cha cha cha? No and I can't imagine that that's what the artist was aiming for.


A very strange choice for a Latin music event, considering the 100s if not 1000s of good cha cha chas available.
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My partner and I were going through our records and somehow i own 2 copies of "Breezin'". l like George Benson but not sure what I was thinking at the time.
 
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