tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489977357310651356.post8971458247685402001..comments2007-07-17T15:06:49.321-07:00Don Baarns - Unlikely Salserohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06312061855724975322noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489977357310651356.post-63921950935626185122007-07-17T15:06:00.000-07:002007-07-17T15:06:00.000-07:00*grin* I don't have to imagine how it was to learn salsa five years back, I've been there and know it first hand, 2001/2002 must have been the first time I started.<BR/>The only way was one local instructor who was not that good at explaining moves, he hoped you get them when he showed them, and who never said much about lead&follow, tension and stuff. I stopped after a year or two because I ran out of options to improve, and because there was no place around where I actually could dance the stuff to practise outside of classes.<BR/><BR/>I started again last year, this time I got better conditions: DVDs, Youtube, a lot of huge salsa-festivals around germany, we rented a room for practise and there is a private salsa party once a week.<BR/><BR/>Now I probably will have to start teaching salsa to get a bigger crowd for this dance here :)Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281700688625609469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489977357310651356.post-44122332498123254712007-07-16T22:26:00.000-07:002007-07-16T22:26:00.000-07:00I know the feeling. You'll see my follow-up article the next night.<BR/><BR/>As long as it's kept in balance, seeing both ends of the spectrum is a win. I am constantly amazed how much learning material is available via DVDs and YouTube. Imagine learning salsa just 5 years ago, when DVDs were young (and expensive) and YouTube didn't even exist. Now we can see dancers from around the world via the web. <BR/><BR/>A great time to be learning/dancing!Don Baarns - Unlikely Salserohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06312061855724975322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489977357310651356.post-42730990385439632842007-07-16T13:02:00.000-07:002007-07-16T13:02:00.000-07:00Living in a small town with a cute small salsa scene is a very limited perspective :(<BR/><BR/>In our hometown there is just one location playing salsa ... sometimes, that is, usually they play a lot raeggeton and merengue and only occasionally salsa. <BR/><BR/>A few local dancers privately rented a room to social dance salsa once a week, usually about 10, up to 30 people coming there for dancing. Nearly all dance cuban, we are about the only couple dancing more LA style than cuban, and have been told a few times that we look very different.<BR/><BR/>This makes it a bit difficult to keep a fresh perspective. And difficult to improve since we got only three salsa teachers here.<BR/>We usually use DVDs.<BR/><BR/>So in our hometown we are, well, big fish maybe, but mainly we are strangers.<BR/><BR/>Last weekend we've been to the salsa festival in Hamburg, in a crowd with a lot of very good dancers - there for a short time (after a lot of hours with workshops) I really felt like I will never learn how to dance salsa properly, even though I dance ballroom for more than a decade now. Well, you probably know that feeling :(<BR/><BR/>Well, let me tell you, it was a big change of perspective! :)Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281700688625609469noreply@blogger.com