Saturday, August 8, 2009

Great night of dancing at Union Square!

It was a great night of dancing! Possibly because this weekend is a long weekend, alot of good dancers came in from 10+p.m to just enjoy through dancing. I had alot of good dances, but the best dance I had was so way out of league, I had to stop a while to reflect on what makes that dance great:

1. Simply moving to the music and expressing its accents. A significant part of that dance is only just vaguely following the salsa framework. Although we were dancing to salsa music, we were simply moving in accordance with how the music progresses for a large part of it. Through these, the dance is not simply a sequence of actions that were danced by sequence, but both parties are actually simply expressing what the music brings out in us.

2. Not anticipating what they guy is going to lead me. Through this, alot of the moves he brought me through did not quite follow the salsa framework, but I can tell that the moves are smooth. Also, given how empty the dance floor is before 10p.m, we were able to travel from one end of the dance floor to another, that was so shiok!

I wanna do this again soon!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Bachata videos by Juan Ruiz

Juan seems to mix a few different styles, zouk, exotic, salsa, tango into his bachata and to come up with his own brand called "Bachata Moderna". He's coming to Singapore to teach Bachata in end Jul/early Aug through en-motion dance school. I must say I've got got concerned after watching the videos, the moves look a little too sexy for me personally to express through dance, but he has good musicality. In anticipation of his coming, here are some videos of his Bachata videos.

Incorporation of tango? and zouk elements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79DF7vsTcXM&feature=related

Incorporation of zouk and exotic elements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPWTtRW08IY


Video showcasing cheeky bachata shines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDJ2yKjgmI0

Funny "Nobody" - Wonder Girls video done by Thai fan



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seVqU9_dqGQ

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Beauty of Rueda

I started rueda late, 2 years after I had started salsa because I had wanted to stabilise salsa as its own dance discipline first before starting on the rueda discipline which is decidedly different from salsa.

One of its differences from the on 1 salsa normally executed in Singapore, is that while the partnerwork is executed as straight lines of motion between the two partners, cuban salsa has the partners moving around each other in circles. For fast salsa numbers then, there is no pressure to reach "the other side" on time (at the end of the 8 bar count) when executing cross-body-lead variations.

In rueda (and it is based on cuban salsa), the partners are moving in circles, and so there's no "end of the line" you need to reach by the end of the turn pattern at the end of the 8 beats. So all I need to respect as a follower is my partner's lead, I don't really care where I end up on as long as I'm around my partner. It takes up more space than salsa on 1 or on 2, but it takes alot less energy and stress to dance - ideal for fast numbers.

The beauty of rueda is its teamwork, which results in better identification of the rhythm, spatial awareness, lead and following which has greater potential to lead to stronger social bonding.

There is greater motivation for each dancer to identify the rhythm and the beats of the music. A caller who mixes up his first and fifth beat will result in uncomfortable dissonance in the circle's followers. A follower whose rhythmic sense is weak will result in a discordant circle.

There's also greater spatial awareness, not just of your partner, but also of the pairs besides you and the caller. Ideal for avoiding being stepped on by people on the dance floor.

Different people have different leads and following (strengths, signalling etc) as we move through different people in the rueda circle, there's also greater consciousness to adjust the lead and follow to the different people. Good platform to learn.

As we adjust to each other's style, lead, follow, strengths and weaknesses, it naturally leads us to know each other better. Although my group doesn't quite fully gel with each other yet, this is a platform which allows for better mixing and communication on a neutral, non-personal factor.

So if these are your concerns and you have been dancing salsa for some time. Why not consider rueda? If you stay open, humble and being willing to ask others for feedback and not taking offense from that, it can be a period of growth in your salsa dancing life.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Exhilarating Salsa Day - Rueda Practice

The evening got to a hilarious start on my way to New Harbour, our designated dinner place.

I had e-mailed everyone in my rueda class my contact number so that they can contact me should they have challenges reaching us at our designated meeting places in our programme for the evening. Not only had I contacted my rueda class, I had also contacted many other friends to join us so that we would have a decent rueda circle no matter who's not available at each song.

I was searching in my bag for my handphone to contact a friend, when I spied my handphone pouch. Ok, I reassured myself, if my handphone poach is inside, my handphone should not be far off. However, much as I riffled through the contents of my handbag, I couldn't find my phone.

"Oh no, I've lost my phone!" was my first thought

Then, "Oh dear, how can my friends contact me!!!" was my second

I reached our meeting place early, where I spied on my friend who's attending the Argentina Tango class at En-motion. Quickly calling my home, I discovered to my relief that my handphone is at home. My mom however stood firm in not helping me find the contact list of the key people I would need to contact for the night. *sighz*

Dependable Do-do arrived early. "Do you have B's number?" was my harried question. He doesn't. So we went on a friend chain search. Calling ukigeta, I asked, "Do you have B's number?", he doesn't. So I asked for C's number, who is B's friend. As we waited for him to sms C's number, my mind turned on how to contact the rest of my rueda classmates.

And this is the reason why all Singaporeans should make it a point to be on time for appointments!

As my mind turned on how to contact my rueda mates, what should happen but everyone of my rueda mates who were supposed to eat dinner together turned up at our meeting place on the dot. It was such a relief to that I would be letting down less people with my forgetfulness. Also, they were so wonderful in contacting the rest of the rueda mates who would be meeting us later in the evening I could kiss everyone of them.

Starting off with wonderful company over wonderful abundant food, we made our way into union. That's when we got into a bit of a surprise there. Union had started a system of collecting money for the first drink before we can enter union. Not a huge biggie, but something to be aware and take into account of in planning to get into union on a friday before 9p.m.

On entering union, we wasted no time in starting our rueda circle and we bonded over laughs of our gaffes over all the moving rueda steps (e.g ocho, izequiera, el zero) and misdirected partnerwork.

Then we proceeded to JJSalsaRengue at their bi-weekly social night on Friday evenings where we met up with another classmate who had arrived. The music being played was some sort of wierd zouk-bachata variety, which gave us time to change our shoes and gathered together. But when the first salsa song was played, we quickly gathered into our rueda circle and practise our steps. The teamwork as we executed our moves, giving grace to callers who may not be leading the circle on time and patience as we teach each other the way to do the partnerwork is a wonderful, wonderful experience. Jackson was smiling from ear to ear when he saw our rueda circle.

It was nice dancing salsa one-on-one with my rueda classmates and super fun to dance with Ronnie who executed alot of unexpected moves. My stamina gave out though before the end of the song and I felt so bad. *blech* Do-do gave me a breather and an opportunity to express myself through open-hold bachata and cha-cha. Ukigeta is getting better and better at choosing nice cha-cha songs as a DJ. :)

I left at 11:40p.m, much later than I had planned because I had lost track of time! Super, duper fun, let's have rueda practise again soon!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The power of a cha-cha music

My SO was trying (unsuccessfully!) to wake me up from my afternoon doze - from which I was actively fighting against being busy saving my 2-storey bungalow from burning down in dreamland.

When suddenly, his phone rang cha-cha music.

In his words, it’s like before and after pictures placed side by side in slimming ads. One moment, I was there like a dead log, refusing to respond to any of his efforts. The next moment, I sprang up and shine to the music - my steps perfectly in time with the rhythm.

He laughed:
“My dear is not tired at all,
She is not sleeping at all.
She’s a huge bluffer!“


I wonder if this works for my funeral too… :p