We have just posted a new Helper Only Performance Choreography class! This is your chance to take your dancing to another level by learning a professional choreography and performing it as a team in full costume at the completion of the course.

The course is 10 weeks long at 1.5 hrs per class. In addition to the class will be 5 hours of rehearsals before performance night. It begins Jan 9th to Mar 13th on Saturdays from 12:30pm – 2:00pm at Empress. The class is led by Tracie Yee.

Registration is open and we hope you take advantage of this fun opportunity to grow as a salsero!
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Sharon
Toronto Dance Salsa
http://torontodancesalsa.ca
Toronto Salsa Lessons / Toronto Salsa Classes

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The first one was of the 2005 San Francisco Salsa Champions. I hadn’t seen this video before but I thought it was very interesting. The salsa music was very fast and if you dance salsa, you know how hard it is to keep up with all those spins to the music. I thought they were very talented and the woman’s spinning skills were outstanding. I didn’t love the repetition of the spins though – it was too much of the same spinning move and at many points the choreography and turnpatterns completely stopped which is not visually as pleasing to watch as the second video that I saw by Danny Zepeda and his group from San Francisco, I believe. You can’t see the routine well as it is filmed so far away but the routine is really great. They have the same fast salsa and almost as many spins but done in a way that blends with the rest of the turnpatterns which makes it more interesting to watch (for me at least).

I also noticed that the first clip of the SF 1995 Champions showed a bit of an error half way through. They did a great job of getting back on track but it made me think of a choreographer’s job of balancing moves that are safe and will not cause room for errors vs moves that are much more difficult and will really wow the crowd if they can be pulled off. What is better? Do you play it safe with your choreography and although it my not be as much of a wow it will be smooth and error free or do you go for it and hope for the best, taking a gamble.

I guess it depends on the confidence you feel at rehearsals trying out a risky choreography and your ability to continue the choreography if an error occurs. It also depends on experience. When you first start performing keep it simple and clean. After some experience start to stretch yourself and the choreography to keep the challenge and energy in your routine.

Would love to see the videos that you guys are watching…send them my way!!

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First of all, the Performance Choreography Class is for helpers only. Many students ask why this is so and the main answer is that the helpers deserve their own class that caters to their own development. They are always volunteering their time and helping others so Caryl and I want to do something special for the helpers. That is why we offer a discounted rate to them and why Caryl spends so much time and effort to create a wonderful choreography and teach our helpers to become performers.

Here are the details for the helpers. There will approximately 12 couples and 1 or 2 couples as the understudies if needed. Caryl will choreography a full routine that will be approximately 2.5 minutes. Classes begin Wed Oct 10th from 9:15-10:45pm for 1.5 hours for each session. This will last for 9 weeks and there will be one or two additional rehearsals before the group performs their routine at our pre-New Year’s outing which will be a large event. If necessary, we may do a second performance.

Performance classes can really transform your dancing. You become aware of your styling and movement, your facial expressions and non-verbal body cues. For those who learn better by repeating each move until there is muscle memory, a performance class is excellent as you tend to remember everything you learn way after the performance is finished.

For the helpers, this class will sell out so if you really want to do it reserve the spot now because I have a feeling there will be a few disappointed people.

Let me know if you have any questions – can’t wait to see how it turns out!

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If you haven’t had a chance to see the show VIDA! playing at the Royal Alexander Theatre in downtown Toronto, there are still 4 days left. The show was extended due to its popularity during the Luminato Festival. I was also provided with a great offer to extend to my students so I thought I would include it here for you and tell you what I thought of the show.

Instead of the usual $84 best seat tickets, you can now see the show for only $30! Performances are taking place on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm as well as Saturdays at 2pm or 8pm.

To take advantage of this great deal refer to the promotional name “FIESTA” when ordering online at mirvish.com or by phone at 416-872-1212.

This show has received excellent reviews. Many of our students went to see it and had great things to say about it. Personally I enjoyed the performance. You can see the work that was put into the performance.

It is a life story told through the eyes of an old Cuban woman. The dance troupe is all female and there is only one male who dances. If you are looking for a show with partner dancing this is definitely not the show for you which was my only disappointment. However, the female dance troupe was amazing, their choreography was well timed and executed and very clean. It was easy to see that a lot of practice went into the rehearsals and it showed.

I really enjoyed the afro-cuban movement in the choreography. There was a great deal of jazz and ballet influence to the choreography but those pieces of afro-cuban movements were beautiful to see and made me want to immediately hit the dance floor.

Would love to hear what you all thought about it so feel free to add you comments.

Enjoy!

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