Burju is one of the original 4 founders of H.Y.M. In 2001 she became the director along with her fiancé and dance partner, Victor. The two of them ran the company part time after their day jobs. In 2003 Burju made a life changing decision to pursue a career in Latin dance. This decision was prompted when her good friend and mentor Juan Matos offered her an opportunity to tour Italy for one month. She left her job at Putnam Investments and has since traveled to over 50 cities all over the world teaching and performing. She directs and choreographs for 3 teams consisting of over 40 dancers as well as choreographs and produces showcases for a national award-winning teen troop. She has helped develop the “Learn Through Dance” in-school program that affords inner city elementary students the opportunity to learn dance and experience the benefits of engaging in the arts.

Burju has worked very hard to develop her own style of Salsa that incorporates her background in different disciplines. She began as a Rhythmic Gymnast and trained in Ballet and Jazz at a fairly young age. She then became interested in Hip-Hop and Modern and danced in various dance troops and productions. In college she became a part of a dance troop that incorporated Latin dancing. Here’s where she began her journey.

Burju met her fiancé and best friend through dance, which is the main reason it remains such a major part of her life. Dance has given them the opportunity to be entrepreneurs together and to travel the world together.

The post My interview with Burju appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

I find this season to be a little bit more consistent. I still disagree with the judges on a regular basis. They seem to have their favourites and will come down hard on one participant when another has done much worse. However this isn’t as noticeable as in the previous seasons.

The stars are also nicer to watch. Kristy and Mark are lovely as a couple to see dancing and you can see that their choreographies are a lot more complex and complicated then the others. Jason and Esyta are exciting and beautiful to watch and although the routines are not as complex as Kristy and Mark, there is still more skill in their routines then most prior participants. Christian and Cheryl are fun and add the spice, even with an injury.

Glad to see these are the finalists. I am cheering for Kristy and Mark – who are you all cheering for???

The post Dance with the Stars appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

“Dancing away the woes
Vasumita S
Daniel Clifford, a salsa dancer and trainer conducted two-week salsa workshop for prison inmates at Central Prison Bangalore

For the many inmates at Central Prison Bangalore, salsa was not a term they may have been acquainted with before. But that is exactly what they got to enjoy and experience in the two-week salsa workshop that Daniel Clifford, a salsa dancer and trainer conducted for them recently. Daniel proposed this concept to the Additional Commissioner of Prison, H A R Ramesh. “The police department was very interested in my proposal, for they thought this kind of dance therapy can have a positive influence on the prisoners. The class itself turned out to be an amazing success, as more than 170 prisoners joined up for the workshop on the first day, and they were very interested in learning the dance technique,” says Daniel. The workshop that he conducted in January had a two-week course on salsa, samba, Cha Cha Cha and other Latin dance forms. The workshop was also filmed by BBC Worldwide.

Daniel has been a salsa dancer for almost 10 years now and has travelled to South Africa to professionally get trained in each of the dance forms. He has a dance school in Mumbai, and conducts short workshops in Bangalore too in association with Studio 5678. He says that dance is a medium that instills confidence in people. “Dance provides you with a platform to shed all your inhibitions, and learn to enjoy yourself. Also salsa is a very vigorous and vibrant dance that has immense health benefits too,” he says.

And for those of you planning on joining up the classes, Daniel says that joining the right dance school is most important. “Bangalore has a handful of certified talented salsa dance trainers. It is important that your trainer knows what you are looking for, else the satisfaction from learning the dance will not be there,” he says. Daniel himself is planning on a short workshop in Bangalore before heading off to South Africa for further training. The workshop will include a 10-day course for children and adults on salsa and other dances starting from April 10.”

Is this a good idea or not? I say why not. The power of dance is amazing and if it can benefit and really change someone’s life regardless of where they are or what they have done then great! Thoughts?

The post Salsa in Prison? appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Instead of doing this myself I stumbled upon a great website that lists Latin dance movies by genre…it is an awesome list and spans from 1930 – 2005.

The website is LatinDancePro.com and here is their amazing list:

Tango Films

1972 – Last Tango in Paris
1983 – Tango
1987 – Tango: Our Dance
1988 – Tango Bar
1991 – Danzon
1991 – Naked Tango
1992 – Scent of a Woman
1992 – Tango Argentino
1997 – The Tango Lesson
1998 – Tango: The Obsession
1999 – Tango Passion
2002 – Assassination Tango
2002 – Tango Kabaree
2002 – Tangos Fly
2003 – Assassination Tango
2004 – Chicago
2005 – Shall We Dance

Cha cha cha Films
1934 – Caravan
1955 – Bailando Cha cha cha
1955 – Que lindo Cha cha cha
1956 – Cha-cha-cha-Boom
1957 – Bambalinas
1959 – Girls for the Mambo Bar
Lambada Films
1990 – Lambada
Pachanga Films
1981 – La Pachanga

Mambo/ Salsa Films
1941 – Al Son De La Macumba
1950 – Al Son Del Mambo
1950 – Mambo Madness
1951 – Una Gallega Baila Mambo
1951 – Que Rico El Mambo
1954 – Mambo (Robert Rossen)
1960 – La Dolce Vita
1987 – Dirty Dancing
1988 – Salsa
1992 – Mambo Kings
1998 – Dance With Me
1998 – Mad About Mambo
2000 – Mambo Cafe
2004 – Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Paso Doble Films
1984 – Paso Doble
1993 – Strictly Ballroom

Merengue Films
1995 – Manhattan Merengue

Bolero Films
1934 – Bolero
1949 – La Faraona
1952 – Bolero
1958 – Bolero Immortal
1970 – Bolero de Amor
2002 – Bolero

Samba Films

1933 – Flying Down to Rio
1941 – That Night in Rio
1942 – Springtime in The Rockies
1948 – Samba Mania
1948 – Samba Rhythm
1950 – Nancy Goes to Rio
1960 – Black Orpheus
1965 – Samba
1977 – Beat of The Heart: Samba of Brazil
1979 – Bye Bye Brazil
1980 – Brazil
1982 – Spirit of Samba
1999 – Samba Master
2001 – Samba Riachao
2004 – Samba in Mettmann

Rumba/ Son Films

1931 – The Cuban Love Song
1933 – When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba
1939 – Rumba Land
1941 – Cuban Rhythm
1942 – Harlem Rhumba
1945 – Rhythm of the Rumba
1946 – Let’s Rhumba
1952 – Rumba Caliente
1982 – Rumba
1987 – La Rumba
1989 – Last Rumba in Paris
1990 – Rumba

The post Dance Movies – Who Knew? appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

It’s definitely a touchy topic for salsa dancers. I myself am not Latin and had absolutely no dancing skills when I started dancing. I learned how to salsa dance in the clubs with mostly Latin men. Looking back I should have definitely taken classes, to begin with, because I learned so many bad habits in the club and many of the dancers I often danced with were not half as good as I thought they were, to begin with having no method of comparison.

Now with all that I know when I go salsa dancing those who have taken lessons and put structured work into their dancing are often smoother, more skilful dancers. It is still fun to dance with “unschooled” Latin dancers who have learned a few steps as children and just really let go and feel the music. But it definitely takes some structured learning to hone even the most naturally gifted dancer.

So no I do not think that those with “Dancing in their blood” are any better then those that have taken classes. I think what you put into your dancing shows on the dancefloor and with hard work (remember that it is fun work) anyone of any background, age, size and skill level, can because a great dancer.

The post The great debate. appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

What is the deal with the music choices? On Monday, out of 10 or 12 performances, there was only one choreography to a Latin song. The rest were to country songs (seriously???) and other genres of music that just don’t suit sexy Latin dances such as the Samba and Cha Cha.

The other frustration was the inconsistency of the judges. I haven’t watched many episodes but I have seen enough to see that they definitely have their favourites regardless of how well or badly they performed. They will tell one person that they didn’t dance enough, that there was no substance to the performance and yet another couple will completely get away with a performance that is full of walking, stopping and posing. I really think the judges need to get some consistency in their feedback and scoring.

When I compare this show to a solid show like So You Think You Can Dance, there is just no comparison. Dancing with the Stars is very superficial and has less to do with actual dancing and more to do with stars trying to regain their stardom. So You Think You Can Dance is amazing to watch with real people who have an extreme passion and love of dancing develop and grow in a professional environment.

Just my opinion…would love to hear some other opinions!

The post Dancing with the Stars Update appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.