Chillys Blog

* When I wrote the 3 part article ‘The Best Leaders & Followers’ I said that in the future I will post some of the emails that I received  that were so danm good you had to read their words directly. Below are the words of Jocelyn Rosero International Salsera – co-host of Addicted2Salsa.com.*

When it comes to what a follow likes in a lead, I think everyone is different.  With that said, here’s a few things that I prefer:

–Quality over quantity. I’d rather do the 6 moves you really know than the 26 you just learned and haven’t worked on yet.  In every song, I think it’s fair to throw in a couple of new moves you’re trying out, but I want the lead to make me feel comfortable and relaxed, and that means being sensitive to what you can and cannot smoothly lead.

-Be gentle, but clear. I like a lead that is firm enough to be understandable (no spaghetti arms), but not so stiff that I feel like I’m being dragged around.  I think the job of the lead is to indicate what moves he wants and provide me some stability, direction and sometimes momentum, not to force me through the motions.

-I like a lead who tailors the dance to what I am capable of. Especially as a beginner and intermediate dancer, I always hated it when leads tried to get me through combo after combo that I was clearly having trouble with.  Push me a little (I like a challenge), but don’t make me feel bad about myself because I stumble through all your moves.

-Dress simply. Neat, clean is all I ask, and please make sure whatever you’re wearing doesn’t hit me (gold chains, jackets/blazers that flap around, wrist watch…)

-Smell nice. Deodorant and a small amount of cologne, if you want.

-Leave some time for shines/footwork. A whole song of combo after combo can be tiring – let me have a few 8-counts to show my stuff and interpret the music the way I want, plus you get a chance to think of some more moves.

-Smile! Hey, this is fun, right?

On 27 November 2010, I performed my 1st very own piece of Salsa choreography.

I have performed in-front of crowds before (hip hop & individual salsa), however I have never been the one choreographing the moves. This was the 1st time I was putting my own ‘creative‘ ideas into reality and to add to the pressure, I was performing it in-front of a Salsa crowd.

Performing in-front of your peers who have a deep understanding of what you are doing or trying to do, puts an unbelievable amount of pressure on you and leaves little-to-no-room for error because these people can spot when something goes wrong sometimes even faster than you can.

Chilli & Olive Make Salsa

So what is my piece about and what inspired it?

Well the Song is called ‘Gozalo‘ by ‘El rubio Loco‘ and the piece is about the Joy of Music and Dance and how Salsa integrates this with so much more.

It starts with a Hip-Hop Guy (Chilli) who meets a Salsa/Ballerina Girl (Olive) and she teaches him a basic salsa step and before he knows it, he is dancing Salsa. Then the two of them go through the song, enjoying different aspects of partner work, individual footwork and just overall playing and having fun with the music. Towards the end, the Hip Hop Guy spices things up by teaching the Salsera a  bit of hip-hop and then they go back to the essence of Salsa which is in my humble opinion – Partner Work.

Considering I did Hip-Hop, I know it is more of an individual dance. Even when you are partnered up with someone, there is no leader or follower. There are just two people playing off each others energy and the music, and you both need to know exactly what you want to do.

Salsa however to me is more about 2 people creating such a symbiotic relationship that it makes them move as one.

So why is it called Chilli and Olive make Salsa?

Well, For those of you that don’t know, Salsa can refers to a spicy Sauce. So when you mix chilli & olives, you will definitely get something Spicy. My name is Chilly & My Dance partner is Olivia. So it was a clever play on our names.

I did not perform this piece with my dance partner Olivia, I actually choreographed and performed it with a friend of mine called Monique The Super-Star a.k.a. The Queen of Sexy . Who without her help and assistance, who knows what would have happened. (Thank you Monique)

So who actually is Chilly & Olivia (aka My HB)? Check the pics below:

Unfortunately, both Monique and Olivia are leaving the Salsa scene now. So 2011 will be a huge change for me; Sad, Anxious and Excited all at the same time…. My Salsa journey continues!

Till next time ….. PEACE, LOVE, HAPPINESS AND SALSA!

*If you wish to watch the Video, you can check it out on my facebook page – Chilly Chanda!*

* When I wrote the 3 part article ‘The Best Leaders & Followers’ I said that in the future I will post some of the emails I received  that were so good so you could read their words directly. Well, below are the words of Cape Towns own International Salsero – Marchant Birch now teaching Salsa in the UK.*

If I break it down to the most basic level, my favorite followers are women who are sensitive to my rhythm and lead, women who feel instead of think. Because following is feeling the lead and the rhythm of it, not thinking what does he want me to do? So a lady needs to be totally receptive. Here’s an analogy: Imagine the leader is like a radio station sending out signals or sound waves, and the follower is a like a radio with it’s antenna totally receptive. It’s the play of two opposites, in fact the whole dance is the interplay of opposites but these opposites need to blend together to work in harmony and become one like the yin yang symbol. There are certain techniques that can help women and men achieve this which we obviously share with our students.

I suppose it’s easier to describe what I feel creates disharmony in a dance, and in our classes we created two characters who are guilty of these… The male version is called Move Monster and the female Psycho Stylist!

Move Monster does the following:
1) He has hundreds of complicated moves but has no timing or technique.
2) He pulls women’s arms out of their sockets, injuring them but he believes he’s the man!
3) He believes in quantity of moves not the quality of his movement, technique, rhythm and feeling.

Psycho Stylist does the following:
1) She went to a hundred styling workshops but never learned to follow.
2) The only reason she dances with a man is to show off her styling!
3) Other women admire her styling but if you ask men if they enjoy dancing with her, they will say she’s a nightmare to lead.
4) She believes it’s all about her looking good instead of the dance feeling good and connecting with her partner and the music.

The list goes on with these two characters, too many to mention here but remember I’m just talking at the most basic level. If you want a taste of the highest level of leading and following, I will leave you with a quote of mine which I said in an interview.

“I would like everyone to experience dancing in such way where they hit that zone or Dynamic Equanimity. It’s a feeling of Oneness where you, your partner and the music become one, and rhythm is the glue to unify all three. You can’t even feel where your body ends and your partners body begins, you don’t even know if you are leading or following because everything is one. In that state, no forceful leading is necessary, you are both just flowing, and the energy is just flowing. I’m not even sure if the brain gets involved because the brain can get in the way of feeling. That is what I wish for everyone to experience.” Marchant Birch 2005

*Next email will be from Jocelyn Rosero. As for my next article, I am still compiling info on Salsa Congresses. Till next time, Peace, Love, Happiness & Salsa!’*

*Hey Guys, pretty swamped at the moment and not able to write as much as I would like. However, I found this article on the web and decided to share it with everyone. This article is about why salsero dancers get blacklisted and what to do about it. Enjoy*

“Its the same story anywhere you go. As a salsero, at almost every Latin party, I find that there are one, two, or even three salseras that come to me asking to be “rescued”.

It usually goes down like this…

A beautiful salsera walks quickly towards me and sits down next to me, leans over and says one of three things:

1. “Quick ! Act like you are going to ask me to dance”

2. “Act like you’re my boyfriend”

or

3. “Make believe we are busy talking.”

Me, “Why?”

Salsera, “See that guy over there behind you ? He’s about to ask me to dance, but I don’t want to ! ”

Its a cry of desperation.   These salseras have put certain salseros on a blacklist. And for good reason.

What put them (or you) on a salsa blacklist?

Most of the salseros are nice guys, but the women just want to run away.

Here is the number 1 complaint

“The guy is too rough!”

Guys, when you are leading the girl, do NOT be too rough ! Be gentle ! Girls do NOT like it when they feel like their arms are going to be ripped out of their sockets !

What’s more, it can be dangerous. Women are not ragdolls for you to throw around.

How do you know if you are too rough ?

Here are some signs that you are too rough.

1. You find yourself constantly pulling the girl around

2. You find yourself constantly pushing the girl too much

3. You feel like the girl can’t follow you. Let me rephrase that “You think all the women you dance with suck, because they can’t follow you”

4. You find that she is constantly off balance.

5. You find that women seem to run away from you when you are walking towards them

6. You find that the women who’s run away from you leans over to some other guy (most likely to be rescued.)

7. You find that the guy she just talked to, tries to discretely look around the room ! (That’s a big tipoff there)

8. The women you just danced with is rubbing her arms like they are sore.

Look for these signs ! If you see some or all of these signs, you may be on a salsa blacklist ! Kiindly ask the salsera who’s run away an honest opinion about your dancing.

Simply say

“I’m trying to improve my dancing and want to know how well I’m leading. Am I too rough when I lead you ?”

Then you can ask her to dance and ask for feedback as you dance with her so you can adjust your lead.

And please.. For the love of God and all the salseras. If you aren’t really sure if you are leading properly, or if the salseras keep running away from you.  Take a private lesson to learn how to lead without being rough !

Miscellaneous Problems

Here’s a list of miscellaneous stuff that may put you on the list.  These are difficult for the offender, because you probably don’t know its a problem unless someone tells you.

1.  Wet noodles. There’s also the opposite problem where guys are considered “wet noodles”  who use no tension what so ever in their lead.

2.  No timing/Leading late  The best followers can follow the worst leaders, but a majority of people don’t like it when you have no timing. It means that neither of you are feeling or following the music.

3.  Ambiguous leads.  Avoid ambiguous leads by making your intentions clear.  Don’t continuously move your handles in large circular motions when you dance.  The follow will have no idea where to go and what to do.  Move with a purpose.

4.  Bumper cars.  Look out for your lady to keep her from bumping into people on the dance floor.  Its your job to keep her safe. She is following you and needs to completely trust you.  Its not going to happen if she ends up crashing into people all the time.

*This article was written by Salsa Dancing Addict I hope you found it as entertaining and useful as I did.*