Dance: Funky boxing in Salsa dancing

Last Saturday, iDance studio invited a Salsa team from Dallas for workshops, and they performed at the party. They were very good. I enjoyed watching the three couples dancing Stage salsa.

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Once you get used to a dance, it can feel very simple. After all, partner dancing is based on repetitions.

Salsa is among the dances that are easy to start.  You may not need to get many patterns to enjoy the dance. Sure, to be really good at it, you got to take your time to smooth out your body usage, and it takes work. 

But do you know this? Your enjoyment is not necessarily correlated with how well you dance.
You can have fun at any level, and also you can feel stuck at any level. 

Let's say, you feel stuck after some period of dancing salsa. What do you do?

An approach is bring in some other elements from other dances. Salsa is a street dance, and you can do that. Break your boredom. Add little free style in a part of dancing. See how you can entertain your partner by your showboating.

Here is an idea for your showboating. It's from (surprise!), boxing.

In the long history of boxing, there were some unorthodox yet tough champion boxers. They were fascinating as dancers, too.

My favorites are "The Drunken Master" Emanuel Augustus and "Prince" Naseem Hamed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvkRpykP6mQ [Emanuel Augustus: 38 (20KO)-34-6]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLXcgZ84ndk [Naseem Hamed: 36 (32KO)-1-0]


When you get (too) used to watch dancing, many dancing become predictable. Salsa guys dancing salsa. West Coast swing dancers dancing WCS. Tango dancers dance Tango. Okay, what's new?

To bring the newness, (i) you have to be very, very good at it (difficult), or (ii) use something new that creates interest (easier).

In a contest setting, they may restrict how much of "other dance" content can go in to your dance. But I am talking about a party setting. Who cares. Dancers who got more fun win in the party. Dancers who entertain others more win, too. And for a variety, it's good to have a lot of references.

Add some free moves to your street and party dance. It's fun. Followers, when the leader is not asking your hand, you are supposed to dance by yourself in Salsa anyways. And he's got to do something then, too. These are suggestions for extra moves you can pick up for your partner's and viewer's entertainment.

 "The Drunken Master" Emanuel Augustus

"Prince" Naseem Hamed

[Disclaimer. These YouTube videos are not mine. All rights belong to creators of the originals.]
[Disclaimer 2. I won't believe anyone is going to attempt to punch his partner after reading this. But to be sure. Don't.]

Dance: Tango musicality workshop 7/20/2014

Q Tango is Albuquerque-based Tango band. They played at the night of OK tango festival milonga on 5/31/14 weekend.

Erskine Maytorena is the band leader, and he happened to be in Tulsa today. The OK Tango event organizers arranged an afternoon Tango musicality workshop with him. So I went.

Musicality workshop by a professional Tango band musician is got to be interesting, and something you don't want to miss. After all, all dancers have to follow the music. That means, all dancers have to follow the band leader. It will be good to listen to what he has to say, right?

The workshop was a 3-hour, "condensed" version of contents usually covered by over 8 hours. Yet, the points were very clear and the way he presented was excellent. It was not a lecture, but was a participation-practice style workshop.

Following are a few of my "take home" mental notes. Wordings are not the same as his.

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Tango music has "Rhythmic" part and "Expressive (melodious/vocal)" part. You dance accordingly.

Traditional Tango bands evolved the play style over years; original (older) bands tended to play with more emphasis on "Rhythmic" component, catering to walking/marching dancers.

He demonstrated how d'Arienzo modified bandneon play style to add more "breathing" to the song. Sometimes it is how the instrument is played by the musician that changes the mood and dance-ability of the song. 

Dancers follow the band and music. Evolution of the music was a driving force of the evolution of the Tango dancing.

Later on, emphasis shifted toward melodies and Expressive component, so dancers could have more interpretation and "freedom". The music became more concert-style music instead of dance hall music for dancers. So it became more challenging for dancers in a sense. Then Piazzolla came, and he further broke down many rules in Tango music as a dance music.

When the leader leads expressive part, he "lifts" her and support her axis, so she has an option to use his arm as a support, use embellishments and dance with more freedom.

Slow down, or stop, are great ways to dance with music. Allow her to play with freedom, and slowing down is the right thing to do for the purpose in a social dance setting.

The communication is made through dancers changing tension and through tactile sensation. She can communicate her musical interpretation to the leader, too. Good leader would go along.

Many Tango music are "layered" with Rhythmic part and Expressive part, allowing dancers for choosing and for interpretation.

Smiling follower is the indicator of successful Tango.

........

It is impossible to take notes for everything from the workshop. These are examples of my version of the take home message, and many more good points were made. The points were very practical from the dancer's standpoint.

I loved the workshop. If you get an opportunity, try his workshop. Listen to the band, too.



They have a website and a facebook page.

http://www.qtango.com/index.php?id=8

https://www.facebook.com/qtango

Life: Is "know yourself" all good?

The World Cup is over. Oh, Argentina... The game was good, though.

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"Know yourself" is a very old, timeless advice.

You were born without knowing who you are or who you would be.

"Know yourself" is usually not done by a prophesy or by an announcing Angel. It is a process in your life. 

As you grow up, you gather clues, from your own preference, from things you are "naturally good at", from others like friends, parents, relatives and school teachers, from your culture and circumstances.

One day, you finally "know yourself", who you are in this world (or so you think). You can foresee the future who you would be and can facilitate to realize it by acting the role.

Of course what you "know" about yourself is not immutable. The certainty is only to some extent, until circumstance changes and challenge what you "know" as yourself. Or until you re-invent yourself. What you think you know about yourself can be wrong, unfortunately or fortunately, or changeable.


In drama,  a type of  "tragedy" is described as a situation in which a person meets his/her own character that would lead to an unfavorable end or demise.

When you "know yourself" as a holder of a character that you do not like, and you foresee the demise you would meet by being yourself, what would you do? Will you fight it? Will you accept it? Will you deny it and let it be? It is a part of your Drama.

Knowing self and the associated drama happen all the time in anyone's life. There is no drama-free life, especially in the former half. 

Most of the time, woe comes when he finds out he is not a hero in a type of art/act/event he loves or favors, like Salieri in Amadeus. "I love music composition but I suck compared with Mozart. I'll kill him to get back at the God who made this unfairness". 

In much rarer cases, you find yourself in a big story with an impossible mission, like Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings. 
(Did you know Frodo ultimately failed in his mission in a strict sense? It was Gollum who completed the mission. Nice twist, Tolkien). 

You may not always aware that you are in a story of your life. But you are.

On the other hand, it really hurts when you are aware of it and you think your story sucks.

In fact, what you can do really good is limited in life. So life is inherently tragic. Life may be like curving a sculpture. You keep curving out your possibilities until something emerges (or not. ouch). Each of the curving can hurt. The pain may be less if the curving is made in the name of choice and focus.

"Know yourself" may not be all good. It can hurt. But the pain is also a shared part of the process of life. If we all have to deal with the pain, how about be graceful at dealing with it?



This entry is an idle thought stemming from the previous entry on 7/4/2014.

Life: "A girl and Mr. Pimp" story, or Independence Day 2014

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She did not like her home where they were trying to teach her to be independent in the future. What she really wanted was to be a child a little longer, and an easy life, in her opinion, that she did not have to earn independence. In her ideal home, she would be accepted unconditionally by the family and all she should do was to comfortably serve her family, then everything should be alright. So she ran off the home, and met an old, controlling Mr. Pimp. 

Mr. Pimp granted her wish. He made her feel she was loved, while he took away all her means to be independent in the future. He told her what to do. He told her what to think. She was very split. She was unhappy, but a part of her was accepting the situation. He told her that this was what she wanted. She began to tell herself that this was what she wanted.

In fact, Mr. Pimp was desperate, too. His wife left him earlier. He only had fake or shallow friends and he was lonely. He was poor. He got sick occasionally, and was physically feeling he was aging.  If he lost her, there wouldn't be another convenient girl. He deluded himself as a real man by accompanying and controlling the much younger girl. He could forget about his dead end job and his own life with few achievement. If she left, he wouldn't be a real man, would he? In the sense, he was not even a good pimp albeit his name. He was more like a stalker, another one who was dependent and needy.

From Mr. Pimp's standpoint, it was not convenient for him if she gained financial or mental independence. So he took her means away. He had no interests in her future. To him she was a toy or a trophy until he dies. He isolated her, had her tell her email password and watched her emails, watched her phone calls, cut her off from her family, friends and facebook friends. It was against his best interest for her to become independent. And he made her feel that she volunteered all those.

From a third person's standpoint, she lived a life not unlike a battered wife on denial, and Mr. Pimp kept her under his control, thinking his life was good, while it actually was despicable.

Is this story going to end this way?


Today, America celebrates Independence Day. The nation took action against the ruling Britain  and declared independence in 1776.  Independence is not about parade, BBQ and fireworks. Independence is about how you regain your lost power. Declaring independence is a step toward empowerment.

History tells you that there was a lot of conflicts inside America at the time. The nation was divided to pro-Britain and anti-Britain. Of course! The ruling and controlling party will attempt to divide the ruled. Throughout the history it has been a standard procedure for the rulers to "divide and conquer".

The struggle for independence is not only for the nation or for the old patriots. The struggle is very much alive for everyone. It is an ongoing struggle for the runaway girl. She may be very split inside. She may want to be dependent and live with Mr. Pimp. Or, she may want to take a step toward independence and get out of his place. Struggles for independence happen both inside and outside.

America took action and took a step on this day. It is the will or courage toward independence and the action that we celebrate today.


I don't like this "a girl and Mr. Pimp" story as it is. I hope the girl and Mr. Pimp story ends happily for the girl. But it is she who decides how the story goes. If she decides to take a step toward independence and take action, the day will be her Independence Day.

Dance: Tango walking is dancing, not just a walk

This entry is to bust a misleading and potentially detrimental Tango saying, "you can just walk", said to a beginner.

Tango walking is dancing, not just a walk. There are some stylized ways to do the Tango walk. Unless you want the beginner to walk like a beginner for a long time, you need to teach the "dancing" walk from the beginning. 

I heard a complaint from a guy, who said, "she said we can just walk. When I walked, she said, 'no, no, you are walking all wrong'. I got confused and somewhat offended." Sorry for him. She should have said at first that the Tango walking is a form of dancing and there are stylized ways to do it. It is misleading to say to a beginner that "you can just walk". If an instructor let a beginner walk as the beginner thinks it is, the walk will end up like a bad country-western or something. No hesitation, no attitude, no cat-like motion, no body-lead or body-follow, no axis, no gaze, nothing. Casual walk, no Tango.

A new dancer got to watch how good Tango dancers walk, and learn from them. Imitate. Usually it is an instructor's job to demonstrate a good "dancing" walk. But sometimes an well-meaning beginner intends to teach another beginner, and that's when trouble begins.

A countermeasure? Be very picky about the source of your learning. If he is (or his dancing looks like) a beginner, and he does not seem to know what he is talking about, probably it is wise not to take much of what he offers. Better not learning anything than learning bad habits that may be hard to unlearn.



Why am I writing this? I am not even remotely pissed or anything.  It has nothing to do with the loss of the US team against Belgium team in the World Cup soccer today. Absolutely not.

Japan is gone, and the US. Well, which team am I going to root for now? Perhaps Argentina for Tango's sake?