Cuba Fever
Joseph K, Toronto
Cuban salsa dancers
1) Will dance to only good songs. And they don't only want to hear salsa or just timba. They like a variety of different types of music.
2) If they want to know if you know how to dance, they will say, "Sabes marcar?" = mark the music or clave
3) Will dance alone to songs or with people in a group copying each other's steps just enjoying the music.
4) Dance close until you know person can "marcar" or dance to the rhythm of the music. Usually the son montuno step.
5) Often the best dancers will do very few spins preferring dancing to spinning.
6) Timba is the preferred music to dance. Salsa music is basically Afro-Cuban music.
7) Every spin moves along the dance floor. You almost never end your spin where you started it before.
8) When man makes the woman turn to his left (an outside turn), the man steps closer to her and to her left.
9) Women have loose arms when doing turns so they can concentrate on moving their bodies and feet.
10) Cuban women are stronger pulling into cross body leads and pushing off each other hands (the guapea move) so they can move around the dance floor. When the followers are behind the leaders, they usually put a hand the leader's shoulder or arm to get around difficult cross body lead angles.
11) What the hell is Miami style casino rueda ?
12) Multiple spins (more common in older casino) have to follow the quick-quick-slow of the clave.
13) Mambo is a different dance and rhythm which is danced without touching your partner for the most part.
14) Casino dancers have to limit their steps and body movement to be understood by other salsa dancers. This reason why many female casino dancers feel trapped or limited when dancing with salsa dancers of other styles. North American salsa dancers have no "technique" , because they lack a profound understanding of the basic step, because they can only do it one way (the classic "mambo" step).
15) Feet, hips and bodies are more alive in salsa dancing. Some dancers do a lot ot taps and often their dancing seems like American tap dancing, but with hip motion. This actually destroys the notion that casino dancing is something rough, unrefined and without technique.
16) Inspiration for the dance comes from the music and other dancers.
17) Casino is ultimately about dancing with your feet and body. That's why, the things that seem easy in Casino is actually harder to do. In Casino, the goal is to make difficult things look easy.
18) The important thing is HOW you do a spin or pattern, not that you managed to do it. And then people say that Casino has no technique.
19) Casino is an art among the best dancers. Just because it is more popular than Flamenco or Tango and associated more directly to the street and just having a good time does not make it less of an art form even though many of its dancers might not think of it as an art form. Being an art form developed by generations of dancers, it takes a long time to learn. You can't expect to learn Tango or Flamenco for a couple hours per week in 6 months then decide you can teach it. Since I didn't grow up and I don't live in a casino environment, it literally took me 3 years to do the son montuno step properly. In Canada, it will take you years to DANCE casino.
20) Feet are like instruments of percussion in casino and that's why people saying goes with the music better.
21) Arm movement is an extension of your body and hip movements.
22) Footwork is complex and is done when you are leading you partner and not just reserved for shines. It is the SLOW in the quick-quick-slow that makes the steps beautiful.
Mexican, Central or South American dancers
1) Dance closer and smaller steps. Except for the spins, then watch out or else you will get hit or stepped on.
2) Only inside turns ("cumbia" turns") after the dancers step back, which is in contrast to North American and Cuban dancing where they also do outside turns when you turn after stepping forward.
3) They don't do cross body leads. Of course, Latin people who live in North America and want to part of the salsa scene learn cross body leads.
4) Always say North Americans lack passion or don't have it in their blood. And they can not explain more than that. Then they go on to say salsa has been over intellectualized in North America.
5) Taking salsa lessons go against the informal and casual nature of salsa dancing. Besides, they probably know most of they need anyways.
6) What is timba? Salsa is from a Latin place, but definitely not North America.
7) What is Casino? Cuban style salsa dancing? It is probably similar to how I dance anyways.
8) They usually dance what is known as the "cumbia" step in Toronto, which means kick and step back and change weight and repeat step with other foot.
North American (which includes Latin people who have lived in North America for a long time) dancers
1) Will dance salsa to merengue (complete with cross body leads!!), Ricky Martin, samba, reggeton, and bachata. 90% salsa is ideal, the faster, the better.
2) If they want to know if you know how to dance, they will say, "Do you salsa?". Note the use of salsa as a verb.
3) Salsa is a partner dance. It is a pity some people have to dance alone.
3) They like to dance the "mambo" step quickly with the big steps to machine like precision to achieve the desired "crispness".
4) The basic "mambo" step is just for beginners and can be forgotten when you become advanced. You can replace it with shoulder waves and arm extensions. Or you can take Afro-Cuban styling lessons.
5) Can't imagine dancing more than a few seconds without a spin.
6) When men make the women turn to his left, he stays in the spot on the dance floor continuing his mambo step.
5) What is Timba ? I don't care what kind of music. Just something fast. Sonora Carruseles?
6) Their only salsa CD has some girl in a bikini and says HARD SALSA or Super Latin mix from K-tel in Canada. Or I downloaded some salsa songs that other people recommended, but I just can't remember the names now.
7) Casino is a group dance where you can change partners and do the same spins and choreography together. What do you mean Casino is a dance that you can dance with just one partner and or by yourself? I think that is wrong.
8) You can dance casino rueda the same way you dance your regular (North American) salsa.
9) Will dance on only the balls of the feet or on their tipy toes, rarely putting down the heels of their feet. Therefore, no hip action. When their left foot goes back in the "mambo" step, their heel doesn't go down.
10) In Miami style casino rueda, in the guapea step (when the couples push off their hands) and the man has to a reverse "mambo" step, you don't have to a quick-quick slow with your right foot. You can just take one big step to the side because you don't want to push into your partner (because that would mean making your step smaller, unthinkable in North American salsa).
11) Salsa dancing is like an extreme sport. Harder and faster.
12) Spins are in the same spot. Cross body leads are predetermined to go in straight lines and spins are always the same size landing in the same place. Hence, no real partner connection. In Casino, cross body leads can be almost any angle.
9) Being an extreme sport, you need the gear : water bottle, sweat bands, high heel special dance shoes which you carry in a bag to a club, T-shirts, arm wallet, etc.
10) Arms are stiff, because the direction and size of the spins are predetermined. Cuban male leaders are too strong with their arms.
11) Miami style is an improvement on Cuban style dancing, but it has more "technique". You just need to add some "hip" action and then you have Cuban salsa dancing.
12) North American salsa dancing more developed than in Latin countries. Latin American dancing is more unrefined and less technical, more Third World, more Native.
13) The dance is developed around the idea of straight lines and 90 degrees.
14) The dance is centered around spinning. Men often don't dance when spinning their partner. Some just put a leg up for styling. Therefore, North American dancers are rhythmically challenged when it comes to the clave. Most even can't even walk properly to the quick-quick-slow.
15) Inspiration for the dance comes from North American pop culture. Salsa dance routine wearing outfits from the movie Matrix or incorporating martial arts in your salsa dancing. The newest one I read is "we are an urban based salsa company". This company tries to connect itself with North American hip-hop sensibility. Give me break.
16) The things that look difficult are actually easy to do (spins and dips), but are impressive to Canadians and non salsa people.
17) In North American salsa, just managing to do a spin or pattern is the important part.
18) Women for the most part seem just to react rather than dance. They only time they seem to dance is during their "shines" or the couple steps before the leader picks them up for a cross body lead.
19) I overheard one salsa teacher say it will take you one year to learn how to lead someone properly in salsa dancing. Funny thing is that he never mentioned how long it takes to learn salsa dancing. I guess that is really easy. For him the leading is the important part of salsa dancing.
20) Most people fudge on directly following the clave, because you can guess what rhythm the leader is trying to follow even when he is wrong and off clave. I mean when the leader pushes his left foot forward that means the follower is supposed to step back with her right. He will even push you back with his hands so you have some idea what you are supposed to do. In Casino, the leader will often do a totally different step from you, but it will come out right if you are on the clave. In Casino, they don't spoon feed you on the rhythm, it is expected that you know it.
21) Talented dancers will only take a few months to become salsa superstars and start teaching. A background in Jazz, Flamenco, Karate, aerobics or Ballroom certainly helps.
22) Arms take on a life by themselves. Pinkies up in the air and doggie style arm movement preferred.
23) Casino dancing like Cuban music (Buena Vista Social Club) is old and out dated. New York salsa put the influence of Jazz and big bands in salsa music. . . . Wrong.
24) There are no cross body leads in Cuban style dancing. . . . Wrong. I can show you old people dancing son in the 50's complete with cross body leads.
Note 1: I believe Casino is the most complete form of salsa dancing. 90% of New York or LA style dancing comes from Casino. Many of the spins that are in North American salsa dancing are in casino have been popular in casino one time or another. Many North American salsa dancers are surprised to see many of the spins that they do are in casino and conclude Cubans have been copying LA or New York style salsa dancing, which seems a little absurd to me. Moreover, most Latin American salsa dancing comes from casino dancing, just like the music comes from Cuba. North American salsa dancing is the Taco Bell of Mexican food.
Therefore, when people say it is just Cuban style dancing to say it is just a different way of dancing. They are just making excuses for why they can't or won't dance that way. For me, whether it is LA, NY or Cuban salsa dancing, there is good dancing and bad dancing. Casino lends itself to better dancing, but it is a better style of dancing. It puts more focus on dancing with the music and the fundamentals of dancing. Therefore, any good female casino dancer can follow can NY or LA style leader. Whereas most LA or New York salsa dancers can not dance with most casino leaders, not because it is a different style of dancing, but because they really have not learned the basic step well enough.
Note 2: Some people who dislike North American dancing, because they believe it is too showy and fake tend to imbue casino with its opposite traits. Casino is natural, casual and social. Although for the most part I think it is true, this is a dangerous way to think, because you make casino into what you want to be which is actually diferent from reality. Show dancing has always been part of casino as well and Cubans like to show off as much as anyone else. This shows the variety in Casino dancing.
However, people who really know casino dancing will always say the best dancers are the one who can listen to the music the best, not the ones who do the most difficult turns. There is a greater diference in the different casino styles in Cuba than the diference between casino and North American salsa dancing styles.
Note 3:
Many of the salsa dancers in Canada and North American do know what art in dancing means. I don't mean to be a snob, but they are not really interested in things that have a culture, history and place. They are not interested in things that take time and can not be appreciated so quickly. Most salsa dancers are not really into music, film, painting or literature that is outside the mainstream. They just want to take up a hobby, meet people and get some excercise. They are computer programmers, accountants, teachers, etc. They want to go out, meet women and impress their friends and family with their dancing. This is totally fine, but it gets irritating when they start making claims that are totally wrong.
Most people follow the American popular culture and its form of cultural isolation from the rest of the world. People in Toronto do follow the trends coming from New York and LA and would rather watch Dancing with the Stars or Take the Lead than let's say watching a documentary about rumba dance in Cuba, which actually has more to do with salsa dancing and music.
For most salsa dancers, meeting actual people from different cultures and learning their ways might be too much of a culture shock. American movies and television give us stereotypes that are more pleasant and easier to digest. The salsa dancing in Dirty Dirty Havana nights are closer to what American and Canadians think salsa dancing is and Diego Luna may be closer to what a Cuban dancer looks like and dances like for many people. People are more comfortable with their stereotypes than reality.
Joseph K, Toronto
