The content:

0:00 – Who Is Luis Aguilar?
0:44 – Thoughts On Winning The 2010 World Latin Dance Cup
2:24 – Finland In The World Championships Next Year?
3:27 – Salsa Timing & Musicality Advice For Complete Beginners
4:50 – How To Become A More Musical Salsa Dancer
8:37 – A Special Message To Salsa Dancers In Finland!

For more information about the Salsa Academy that I am starting in Finland, visit:
http://www.helsinkisalsaacademy.com

To visit Luis and his dance company Couture Dance Alliance:
http://www.aguilardance.com

And for more amazing High Definition Salsa Dance Performance and Competition Videos: http://www.nuevotec.com

I hope you enjoyed it! More in depth interviews of salsa band leaders, DJ’s, Musicians, salsa performers, and competitors will be coming soon! I will be covering and asking a lot about salsa timing, musicality, rhythm and other related subjects. So don’t miss out, subscribe to our newsletter and be sure to come back soon!

Here is my first video to you where I got to dance with the 2009 World Salsa Champion Liz Lira who is one of my absolute favorite social dancers and of course performers. 

First off, I know Liz likes to dance on1, so therefore without even asking I started dancing on1. I usually always ask whether the follower I dance with likes to dance on1 or on2.  I really enjoy dancing with both On1 and On2 and for me I always like to know which timing does the follower I dance with prefer. 

But on to the video. I always like to try to hit all of the hits and breaks in the music. I don’t always manage to do that, but often I do like right in the beginning on the section 0:04. where I drop to the slap of the drum (see the video above).

With Liz my dancing is usually always very flowing with a great connection, lots of build up tension and release (see the contrast in the next video for a different type, yet equally pleasurable connection). This song was sort of medium speed so we just started having fun with simply staying on the timing of the song for the 30 secs or so.

Then on the 0:38 mark I think Liz already started anticipating and hear that the music was switching to a little drum solo. Pay attention to the video and see how she very wisely lets go off me to do a little solo of her self and where I get to do a little bit of footwork on my own although very soon we come back to dancing together again. On a 1:00 mark I honestly did not know what she was going to do there for a second , but I just went with it and that’s another thing that makes dancing with Liz so much fun. You never know what is going to happen .

As the drums kept pounding I simply tried to match some of the intensity by making my moves even sharper and giving her even more spins and some more intricate turn patterns. On 1:32 mark the drum solo ends and I started anticipating a break which came at 1:37 mark where I gave Liz some room to improvise and giving myself the chance to do a drop as well. Then at 1:44 mark I again heard another hit coming which I tried to accent with a sharp spin. Then at 1:51 mark we both heard the horns coming again and Liz accented with a kick where as I accented it with head swing. 

Then around 1:57 – 2:00 minute mark we both were hearing some breaks coming and we did our little improvisation to them. After that we just kept dancing and not necessarily interpreting any actual hits or breaks until again at 2:54 after which we went to a little dip.

Shortly after I started realizing that the song was soon going to end. I was not familiar with the song so I did not know how exactly it was going to end so I tried to wing it. I knew a hit was coming soon so I opened her up on a 3:04 mark, then brought her in. Since there was no hit, I just kept going with the music to a little dip, and as the music still kept going I turned with her until finally I heard it on 3:09 where I tried to accent it with my head, then I felt another one and brought liz to a very small dip on 3:10, soon after I realized there was going to be couple of more final hits so we ended up looking at each other on the 3:12 mark as the ending pose.

Now realize that the above thought process was not really going on consciously, it was basically just all felt at the moment, but it was still going on subconsciously. The more familiar you will become with the salsa music and learn to listen to music in general, the better your intuition and awareness for different hits and breaks of the music will develop. Also, one very good tip on hitting the breaks and accents of the music is to pay attention to the song in the beginning as many of the breaks and hits often repeat themselves, so if you heard them once it will become easier to anticipate them again the next time.

I am also, very soon opening the opportunity for some of you to pre-purchase my brand new salsa timing and musicality on-line video program if you are interested. But for more info on that soon.

What really makes hitting the accents and breaks so much fun is that you are really getting so much more out of the music and dancing. There is nothing like the high you get from hitting a particular musical note. It is like your body all of sudden resonates with the instruments in a harmonious bliss. And when you are able to accomplish that with a partner who is also in the same wave length with you and also in tune with the music, it is like experiencing mini… hmm… how could I say this… let’s just say mini moments of pure bliss .

Now let’s look at the second video where I got to dance with Clarice from Los Angeles.

For me the music felt really relaxed and playful, so I tried to make my dancing sort of reflect that mood. Clarice was truly a pleasure to dance with which made the experience even so much better. But the song did not really have any major hits or accents, simply steady on-going rhythms that I then ended up trying to accent more here in different ways.

Notice that we dance this song on2. The cool thing about this song for me was that it really felt good dancing it on2 (and accenting the second beat of the music) even though the song also had a very strong core beats played with the cowbell. Just listen to the counts 1,3,5,7 and you should hear the cowbell very clearly, which I also ended up accenting for just a short while on 0:28 – 0:32 by breaking out of dancing on2 and doing a little double side basic for a moment and turning Clarice on 1:39 – 1:44. Then on 2:17 the flute (That has been one of the most prominent instruments) went into a little playful rhythm pattern and I simply decided to accent it by going side to side to the sound of the flute. So as you can see sometimes dancing musically can really be that simple, just being tune with the music and dancing to it even if just a little will make your dancing so much more fun. Learning about musicality and timing does not have to be difficult.

At 3:01 the band started giving a little more energy and on 3:09 you will hear the percussionist really starting to drum a lot harder. I tried to accent this chance with matching my shoulder chimies to the drummers accents and started dancing with a little more energy as I felt more energy from the band. You will notice my turn patterns getting a bit more intricate and my turns and movements a little more sharper and exaggerated. And there you have it the analysis of another video clip. Realize that just by interpreting the mood of the music and being in sync with the rhythms can make the dance much more fun for you even if you don’t accent any major hits.

Let me know if this was helpful and leave me a comment or share this article with your friends on Twitter or Youtube. Also, if you want to read my entire coverage of the salsa congress, see Johnny Vasquez making jokes about his brothers bald head, see my favorite salsa congress videos, pics of the event and even see me competing with the 2009 World Salsa Champion Liz Lira (whom I am dancing with above), go to read my detailed the San Francisco Salsa Congress coverage here (Just click the link)!

The first step to becoming more musical dancer is to learn to keep the correct timing. Learning timing is like the corner stone you are going to continue to build your salsa dancing on. However, the second secret to becoming a more musical salsa dancer is this: learn to recognize that there is a lot more to salsa musicality than timing.

Secret # 2 – Learn To Recognize The Mood And Types Of Salsa

If you want to become a more creative in your dancing and to be able to interpret the different moods and types of salsa you have to also learn to recognizes the differences. For example, first of all there are many different latin music that is often used under the umbrella term salsa. If you are reading this article, you probably already can recognize the differences between Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, and salsa in general.

But can you recognize the differences between Salsa Dura, Salsa Romantica, and Classic Salsa, for example? Or even better yet, what about the differences between latin jazz, mambo, bomba and plena, guaracha, son, afro-cuban rumba, timba, boogaloo, and pachanga.

All of those above mentioned music types often appears in salsa music. My point is that if the song that you are dancing to is Salsa Romantica are you dancing to it the same way than if the salsa song played is actual Timba? While Salsa Romantica is often much more, as the title gives away, romantic and softer, would it not make sense to interpret the mood of the music and dance to it differently than the very earthy and often playful sounding Cuban Timba?

After you have become adequate in your ability to keep salsa timing, learning to recognize the mood and different types of salsa is in my opinion the next best thing you can do when you want to become a more musical salsa dancer. The best way to learn these differences is to simply listen to all of the different types of salsa music and to develop your ear to them. Talk to a DJ and ask questions, take a live salsa musicality class, or purchase an on-line salsa musicality learning program. So the next time a salsa song breaks into an afro cuban section and plays some Guaguancó, for example, you will be able to recognize the music change and ultimately as you develop as a dancer, interpret that section in the song differently in your dancing.

But even if you are a great dancer with a beautiful afro-cuban body moment, unless you first learn to recognize the music changes in salsa, you will be limited in your ability to interpret the music with your body. Learning to recognize the different types and moods of salsa will not only make you a much more musical dancer, but you will also learn to enjoy the salsa music tremendously more as you dance.

Now that you have become aware that you can interpret each salsa song differently, you are will be ready for my next part to musical mastery, which is to become aware of the structure of salsa songs and how to interpret each section of the song differently as well.

In this 5 part series to Musical mastery I am going to reveal to you some of my precious secrets that have made the biggest difference not only in my ability to become much more musical as a salsa dancer, but also has made a huge difference  in how much more I know enjoy listening to salsa music. The reason I call my tips secrets is because I very rarely see or hear any salsa instructor teaching these ideas to their students. Of course, instructors have many reasons for this. Often teachers only teach what they think their students would like to hear, for example, that learning salsa is fun and easy, while the truth is that salsa timing can be a huge struggle for many. I know it was for me when I started out. And other times, instructors simply don’t have the time to teach much about salsa timing even if they wanted to.

So let me start by explaining what I mean by a musical salsa dancer? I define musical salsa dancer as someone who has developed their ability to interpret the music that they are listening in their dancing. In other words, their salsa dancing is in one or another influenced or inspired by the music.

What I want you to realize is that learning to dance more to the music is definitely a skill that you can develop. How do I know? Because when I started dancing salsa, I had no musical or dance background. In fact, I was a very rhythmically challenged stiff basketball player yet I was able to learn to become much more musical in my salsa dancing. But I will leave that story for another time for now. Let me get you started on my first secret.

Here it is.

Secret # 1 – Mastering Salsa Timing Takes More Than Just Learning To Count The Music

Mastering salsa timing and rhythm is in my opinion the most important thing to develop to start your path toward becoming a more musical  dancer.

Through out my dancing and teaching career, I have seen many different types of beginner salsa dancers. There are the ones that think that you should simply feel the music and not have to learn to count. Then there are the ones who think they are on the right count, but live in a sort of a blissful ignorance, and continue to dance off count. And then there are the ones who actually learn to count, but think just because they have learned to count the music they think they have now mastered the timing.

What I want you to realize is that there are actually many levels to mastering salsa timing. First, you have to learn to become aware of the rhythm and then learn to recognize the counts. This is the first level of your awareness. Once you learn to recognize the counts, you can then advance to the next step, which is to learn to actually continue to count the music while dancing. This often takes mental effort and for most definitely does not come automatic. Also, not all songs are equally easy to find the count, especially in the beginning. You have acquired a mastery of this second level when you are able to recognize the correct count and rhythm on any song that is played and you are able to maintain it through out your dance.

The third level of mastering salsa timing is to get to a point where the counting happens automatically subconsciously in your mind and you are always automatically in the correct salsa timing and rhythm. At this point you don’t have to think about the timing consciously, it just happens automatically. I often refer this process to learning to use the manual shift in your car. If you just try to feel it from the beginning, your transmission will be in trouble. You have to learn the correct timing and order of doing things, how to use the clutch, how much gas to apply, and so on. But through repetition and practice learning this process will over time become automatic. This is the third level.

But there are levels even above that. That is to say, once you truly have mastered salsa timing you should be able to subconsciously without thinking be able to dance or tell in which count you are at any given moment of your shine or footwork pattern regardless of what your feet are doing. This level of mastery is very rare and I am still working on that myself. Even some of the very advanced salsa dancers I know can not always be able to recite the count they are on at any given point in the music with out some mental effort to figuring it out. The difference between this third and fourth level is like the difference between a good driver who has learned to use the manual shift and some one who is a world class rally or formula 1 driver. It is the difference between an advanced salsa dancer and someone like Eddie Torres ( The creator of New York Style salsa).

But my point with this article is simply to inspire you to continue your progress toward further mastery of salsa timing because all of the following secrets to become more musical dancer will only build on this foundation. If you are interested in receiving some further tips and videos on how to improve your timing, simply put your name and e-mail address below and I will get you started right away.

And in my next post, I will reveal to you my second secret: There Is Much More To Musicality Than Salsa Timing.

 

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What is the hardest salsa rhythm for you to understand?