Jay and I had the honor and privilidege of teaching a salsa lesson for Ally’s House where their guests could learn to dance. Here is a video, introduced by Oprah about the charity Ally’s house, what they do is a gift and we believe in them.

Oprah introducing Ally\’s House

Here are some photos from the event, some are of the guests learning to dance, others are of Jay and I  playing around just Salsa dancing for them.

All profits from photo purchases from the gallery go directly to alley’s house.

Check out the images from the Salsa for Santa event by clicking here

This time of the year is about giving, love and family. Remember, if you are going to learn to dance, or are an avid dancer, make time to do something special for someone else.

Have a happy and safe holiday season!

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Hello everyone!

A very popular thing to do for Salsa dancers to do is to go to a costume Salsa dance Halloween party. They are pretty fun, although sometimes you can’t recognize who you are dancing with and quite often your costume gets tangled in someone’s high heel… but none the less, Salsa dance Halloween parties rock! At the end of the post I added  a fun little Halloween Salsa performance for your Halloween enjoyment…

Here are some suggestions as to where to go starting on Wednesday of Halloween week:

-Halloween Salsa Social

- Halloween at Gloria’s in Addison, Texas

There is an extra bonus here of $1000 cash for best costume.

- The Sandman Halloween Party

They will have a roasted pig and general festivities… although it will be a combination of dancing

Outside of Texas:

-YA Super Salsa Weekend Halloween Social

This is the whole Salsa dancing shebang, workshops, parties, the whole thing.

	Salsa Dancing Halloween!

In most cities the salsa dance scene gets bigger and smaller depending on the week. This means more people go out sometimes and less people go out. Why is this?

Here is the answer:

My salsa dance friend Eugene sent me a message that said “Have you ever gotten burnt out on the Salsa scene?” to which I replied, “yes of course, so does everyone.” Now don’t get me wrong, burnout is not a bad thing at all. In fact it means that you have been having so much fun dancing that you just need a rest. Burnout in the Salsa scene is not like burout at work, because while dancing Salsa you are having fun.

The reason people get burnt out is because they go everywhere they can every week. Here in Dallas there is somewhere to dance almost every night of the week, but for the most part it is the same people coming to each dance venue and the DJs or bands are the same, so you are also listening to the same songs over and over. After a while, you just need a little break from it.

The really good Salsa dancers don’t come out as much because they are tired from performance practices or teaching classes. It is a very different world to have Salsa be a profession rather than a hobby. For example, Jay and I are getting two performance groups ready for a show in November and we teach two large classes as week, we both have other jobs and we are both full time college students (we used to teach 6 large classes a week but there just were not enough hours in the day). So on a Friday night if we could do anything, it would be to relax a home in front of the fireplace or go see a band with some friends. This is the case with most of the teachers/performers in any city that have been doing salsa for a long time.

The cure: Take a week off every now and then, or pace yourself. The Salsa dance scene isn’t going anywhere (lol other than switching venues every couple of months)

In the hotspots section of Salsa Dance Underground you will find a section called “Hotspots” were are working on a comprehensive list of all the hotspots in every city. If you don’t see your city, just email me at Elizabeth@SalsaDanceUnderground.com and we will compile a list for you.

There is always that one couple in the salsa dance club that you can’t help but watch and go “I wish I could dance like that!” They just look so smooth and almost like they can read each other’s mind as to what is coming next. They are both in tuned with the music and seem to land the right dance move at the right time.

Connection is the difference between two people dancing in the same space and two people dancing together as one entity. Salsa dancing, as well as most other types of partner dance, is a flow of energy between the couple. It is a give and take a catch and release of power in the moves. In fact, most often if a salsa dance couple has connection it doesn’t much matter what moves they are doing, they are impossible to keep your eyes off of.

Some people think that the only way to get this kind of connection with your dance partner is to only practice with them. That is not true. Once you master connection you can be connected to whoever you are dancing with (after a certain proficiency in salsa dancing that is).

There are a couple of exercises we do with our salsa classes that you can do as long as you have another person with you. I will share one of them with you now.

Exercise to increase connection:

Start facing your dance partner with squared off shoulders. Your hands and arms should be in open salsa dance position. Both of you keep a tight frame and begin to gently push against each other and then gently pull back against each other. Keep your bodies rigid for this exercise. You should go for a rubber band feel between you, going towards and against each other. Do this until you achieve elasticity.

Time: October 20, 2009 at 8:30pm to October 21, 2009 at 2am
Location: The Glas Kat
Street: 520 4th St
City/Town: San Francisco
Website or Map: http://www.GlasKat.com
Event Type: the, glas, kat
Organized By: The Glas Kat, Diana Bowen

Louie Romero & Mazacote LIVE !!!! @ The Glas Kat

October 27, 2009 at 8pm to October 28, 2009 at 1:45am – The Glas Kat Salsa Class with Ricardo & Tianee (RicaSalsa Dance Co) 830pm Louie Romero & Mazacote LIVE DJ EldelaCLave 9:45pm to 2am . Organized by The Glas Kat, Diana Bowen | Type: salsa, mambo, chachacha, latin, jazz
Salsa Dance Underground

Time: October 31, 2009 at 8pm to November 1, 2009 at 2am
Location: Studio Gracia
Street: 19 Heron Street
City/Town: San Francisco
Website or Map: http://www.MamboRomero.com
Event Type: salsa, mambo, chachacha, latin, jazz
Organized By: Gabriel Romero, MamboRomero Dance Co, DJ EldelaClave

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Time: September 19, 2009 at 8pm to September 20, 2009 at 12am
Location: La Pena
Street: 3105 Shattuck Avenue
City/Town: Berkeley
Website or Map: http://www.LaPena.org
Event Type: concert
Organized By: La Pena

Event Description:

Join Araucaria’s dances of Chile in celebration of Chile’s Independence Day. Araucaria will perform a selection of dances representing Chile’s rich folklore.

Based in San Francisco, California, Araucaria has been performing together for more than twelve years. Araucaria shares traditional folk dances from Chile, with the diverse community of the Bay Area. Taken from the name of a native tree found in southern Chile and Tierra del Fuego, Araucaria performs dances representative of the cold and rainy region of Chiloe, in the south, the sunny and productive valleys in the central region, the desert and festive andes mountains in the north, and also dances of Easter Island. Araucaria shares a distinct sample of dances representing Chile’s diverse geography and culture.