First of all, make sure that you really have mastered what is being taught. Many times I will ask who aced the move I just taught and receive lots of confident yeses but when I walk around I see that there are gaps. So make sure you ask your partner what you can do to improve the lead or follow of the move, the timing of the move and the styling of the move. The person dancing with you can best gauge what areas you can work on and if you develop an honest rapport with your partner or fellow students, you will find the honest feedback is very useful.

If you do have extra time in class focus on the following areas:

1) Timing – really take the time to listen to the songs being played in the class and ensure that you are dancing to the right timing and keeping the consistent “quick, quick, slow” tempo. Count the beats and take the time to slow yourself down on the 4 and 8 to ensure proper rhythm

2) Body movement – are you moving your body while executing the move or are you just stepping? Start with your knees bending in the proper direction. This takes weeks, even months of perfecting to ensure your lower body is moving properly. Once you have the knees working properly which affect hips then you can move on to the rib cage isolation exercises to ensure you upper body moves also. Lastly, add the figure 8 to your rib cage and shoulders to get the final full body movement of the basic.

3) Styling – what can you do to make the move look better? Now that you have the right timing and the right body movement, are there arm or leg movements and additional styling techniques that you can add to the move to take it to a higher level?

With these 3 areas in mind, there should be plenty of work to do in class and when going out. Remember to only concentrate on one area at a time so that you can really hone your skills!

The post Areas to Practice in Class! appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Dancing with the baby boomers
(Posted Date: Thursday, October 16, 2008)

As our population ages and looks for new ways to stay fit, many are turning to dancing
By Brian Baker
DANCING THROUGH LIFE: Couples of all ages are learning how to cut a rug, thanks, in part, to the popularity of reality dancing shows like Dancing with the Stars.

Adding a little spring to your step helps to tap dance on the head of the stereotype that says you have to take it easy as you get older.

Dancing, whether it’s ballroom or Latin, is a great way to ease into physical activity without the intensive regimen of weight training, say experts and participants.

Automotive industry executive Tony Dobranowski and his wife Janice started taking ballroom dancing lessons in the spring and plan to continue this fall.

Their goal was to get out for a bit of exercise and develop some dancing skills, Dobranowski says. And he credits Dancing with the Stars for helping to motivate the pair.

The TV show has helped timid baby boomers picture themselves as the next Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers, says Sharon Galor, president and owner of Toronto Dance Salsa.

“I think (boomers) were hesitant a few years ago because it was still fairly underground and it was considered a young person’s dance,” she says. “Now you see Dancing with the Stars and you see people of all ages dancing — it’s not limited any more to young people. Everyone’s taking advantage of it.”

Galor, an avid Latin dancer for more than a decade, adds the show is a positive influence, since Marie Osmond, Steve Guttenberg, Jane Seymour and Susan Lucci — all baby boomers — have wowed audiences.

Besides popularity on television, dancing is a great low-impact way for older, less active people to stay in shape.

“First of all, it’s a cardiovascular exercise so you’re going to be sweating, you’re going to be getting the heart rate up,” she says. “You’re going to be using muscles in terms of toning, have the abs being worked, the hips being worked, and all the muscles in your arms and legs.

“So it’s a really good overall body workout, without being too hard on your body.”

Dancing also helps with coordination, reflexes and memory, Galor says.

“A lot of people come to us and the first few weeks they can’t remember any of the moves we teach them,” she says. “Usually by the end of the semester they’ve got the moves, they’re being able to put them together.”

Professors at York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences echo Galor’s dance floor observations.

But, associate professor Joe Baker says, there’s a pervasive stigma attached to getting older. And he wants to stomp out the negative stereotype that as we age we can’t be as physically active as we once were.

“Our big social push in the lab is to get more people physically active and to forget about the stereotypes of what it means to be an older person, because we are finding more and more that those stereotypes just aren’t accurate,” says Baker, who researches physical activity and aging at York.

His suggestion for those who are not as active is to get out and dance.

“Our general message is you need to be doing activities that will challenge the current state of your cognitive and physical functioning,” he says. “So if you are a baby boomer who hasn’t been that active in physical activity for the past couple of decades, dancing is a great way to start getting a little bit more exercise integrated into your lifestyle.”

More exercise means greater blood flow, which also benefits the most important organ of all: the brain.
“There’s mounting evidence that suggests any time you get your heart up and getting the blood flowing, it also flows to the brain,” Baker says. “And so the brain is getting more enriched with oxygen than if you were sitting on the couch.”

For Wendy Lavender, office manager and teacher at the William G. Pollock Dance Studio, the enjoyment of dancing is a lot simpler.

“Well, (dance lessons) get people up moving around the floor,” she says. “It’s a lot more social than somebody going to the gym and getting on a stationary bike.”

Pollock Dance Studio, in the Yonge and Davisville area, offers smooth dancing styles like the foxtrot, waltz and tango, and some more uptempo steps: rumba, cha-cha, merengue, swing and mambo.

Lavender, a dancer for 18 years, says plenty of boomer couples come into the studio because they have more free time to be together.

“They’re empty nesters now and they’re looking some time to spend with each other,” she says.

And it’s the ease of dancing that attracts Dobranowski even more.

“(Janice and I) have admired for a long time the ‘old smoothies’ who glided around the floor effortlessly,” he says, “and we were hoping we might be able to do the same.”

The post TDS Featured in Another Newspaper! appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Isaac Altman, President

LEGENDARY AFRO-CUBAN MUSICIAN LARRY HARLOW TO APPEAR IN CONCERT AT THE 7th ANNUAL WSF WORLD SALSA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MIAMI

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the World Salsa Federation, Inc., we would like to welcome everyone to the 7th Annual WSF World Professional Salsa Championships and the All-Star Dancesport Championships to be held in Miami at the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming, November 7th and 8th, 2008.

Over 2 days, competitors from around the World will have an opportunity to be World Champions in their Salsa style and category, and then go head to head for the title of Undisputed World Professional Salsa Champions. The Undisputed World Professional Salsa Champions will represent the best of Salsa competitive dancing, and will represent the WSF world-wide. Also included this year will be the World Junior and Youth Salsa Championships. The youth come to this event with unsurpassed energy and enthusiasm. Come watch them compete as these young people will be our future Salsa Stars!! Also that weekend the WSF will hold its All-Star DanceSport Championships bringing the ever popular Ballroom Dancing to Miami in its most competitive form. Competition ranges from ages 4 through adults and beginners through advanced levels.

Salsa music legend and renowned Latin-style pianist Larry Harlow comes to the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming Grand Ballroom for a special performance on Saturday, November 8th, 2008 . Playing with Larry Harlow will be his Latin Legends Band offering a night of hot salsa rhythms to dance to. Larry Harlow, one of the original members of the most famous Salsa band ever, the Fania All-Stars, will be in concert for one night only. This will be his only Florida appearance before receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award one week later at the 2008 Latin Grammy Awards. General admission tickets for Saturday Night are $20 and reserve tables of 10 are $250. Ticket purchases can be made by calling 786-566-2604 or online at www.wsf.cc/saturday_evening_ticket.html

Larry Harlow is recognized by many as a revolutionary of the Latin music known today as “Salsa.” His influence in the early 70s developed the explosive trumpet and trombone sounds now familiar in contemporary salsa bands. Harlow is a graduate of the prestigious New York High School of Music and Art and holds a BA in Music from Brooklyn College and a Masters in Philosophy from the New School of Social Research in New York City . He is a gifted player of the oboe, flute, violin, bass, and, most notably, the piano. He is a three-time Grammy nominee and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame on April 5, 2000 .

Latin musicians around the world enjoy greater recognition and rewards due to Mr. Harlow’s pioneering efforts as a Governor of the New York chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. There, Harlow helped to establish the first Latin Grammy Award. There are now 12 different Latin categories in the Grammy’s, as well as the exclusive Latin Grammy Awards.

WWW.WORLDSALSAFEDERATION.COM

WSFSALSA@YAHOO.COM “

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It was great to see many of my students and helpers in the class. I think everyone really enjoyed the class. It is a condensed intensive class which means we do 2hrs a session once per week for 4 weeks. The vibe in the class was excellent and even after 2 hours of dancing the students were super excited.

Bryant is a fun, dynamic instructor that has great passion for his art form. I like the way he uses all the students to demonstrate moves, whether he grabs a female in the class or asks a couple to demonstrate the right way of doing a move.

Argentine Tango is interesting because it is not as structured as salsa in the sense that there is no basic to learn that is a structured basic. The man choose which leg to use and the woman follows his lead. He can change directions when he wants and with a slight lean and use of abs, chest and shoulders the woman can follow.

With salsa most of the leading comes from the man’s right hand on the woman’s back. With Argentine Tango it is the man’s left hand so that is something to get used to and adapt. But the hardest thing by far is not using your hips! Salsa dancers are going to find it challenging to avoid hip movement when dancing and I personally think that will be my biggest challenge.

Overall a great first class! For anyone who is interested in Argentine Tango we have just posted a level 1 class starting September on Thursdays at 9pm and our first ever level 2 class on Tuesdays at 9pm.

T-A-N-G-O!!

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Wednesday evening was one of those nights. I have an awesome level 2 and level 3 class at Northridge and it was the last day of class on Wednesday. This is really when I feel most rewarded – at the end of the semester when I see how amazing the students look, how comfortable they are with each other and with dancing, and how much fun they are having.

At the end of the class no one wanted to leave. The students were exchanging phone numbers and making plans to go dancing together. They really bonded during the semester which is the best type of class to be able to teach…a class that is consistent with attendance, waits all day to go to class, hangs out together after and becomes friends.

I am so happy to be able to bring fun and friendships into people’s lives. It is very rewarding to see people grow socially right in front of your eyes.

Next semester’s classes have already started and the process begins again – hope to see lots of friendship formed and a fun salsa-filled spring!

The post How lucky am I? appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

She had a lot of interesting points for anyone thinking of taking up Tango after dancing salsa as I do. Tango is the only other partner dance that I am very interested in and would love to really immerse myself in one day to learn fully. But salsa dancers beware, the dance is complete different from salsa and if you think that your salsa experience will be useful, you may be surprised to hear that it can be a hindrance in many areas.

Abha states in her blog that “Tango is the complete opposite of salsa. In salsa, all your energy is out there — wild, fun and sexy. In tango, you have to contain all your energy inside you — to feel powerful, intense, smooth and seductive. Your look alone should have the power to kill.”

Evan and I took a private Argentine Tango lesson last year and I found it to be exactly this. My hips/knees which work automatically now were not useful – I had to hold them back from moving. Our hand hold was completely different, the music was completely different, the stance, the energy, the lead – all completely different. You have to try to unlearn everything you have gained from salsa, throw it out, and start new.

I have to say I still loved it – loved the challenge and intensity. I would definitely recommend the dance once you feel you need a challenge. I wouldn’t do it in conjunction with learning salsa as it may mess up both the dances for you. Master salsa first and then go on to the Tango challenge. But be warned, don’t expect it to be easy!

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