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As some of you may know, at the beginning of this year I left my
full-time engineering job to fully devote my energy and time to my
dancing...
It had been a while since I had an itch for becoming a professional
dancer, and after being in the finals of the World Salsa Championship
last December, I decided I was ready for the jump.
My first step was, obviously to quit my full-time job. But then I
thought, what is the one thing I wished I could do but couldn't due to
lack of vacation days, time, or money? In the past, I had fantasized
about taking a few weeks off to be in one of the top salsa scenes in
the world, and that is New York City. Now seemed the right time to do
it since I had vacation, time, and enough money saved to invest in my
future career. Forget about putting money aside in an IRA; this time
it's for me, for the present, and really for my future.
So I left to New York with high expectations but also with a handful of
anxiety about being completely alone (my partner, Carlos Leon would
join me later in the trip) in a very different city where the
temperature dropped to 27 Fahrenheit almost every evening. I won't lie
and say I didn't have trouble adjusting to the lifestyle and weather
(at times I felt like a polar bear since I would sleep for insane
number of hours!). I sure did but in spite of it, I went to every
class, social, private I could manage to schedule in the
time I was there. I took classes with some of the most renowned
instructors in the salsa world, such as Eddie Torres, Frankie Martinez,
Victor Mayonavex from Karisma Dancers, Desiree Dicupe, and Tomas
Guerrero from Santo Rico, among others. And the best part was going out
in the evenings to the nightly socials where serious salsa addicts and
top professionals alike
would share the floor as if it was a workout gym. No kidding! I mean
this people would be ready to sweat! And several shirts later, you
would still see them dance as if their life depended on it. I have
attached some pictures of the socials so you get an idea of what I'm
talking about.
I have never seen dancers so dedicated to their socials as the New York
salseros. They support their DJs, they support live music, which is by
the way the best I've ever heard outside of a congress, and they are
always striving to become better dancers. I would see the same dancers
in the workshops I took.
One thing that struck me from the female dancers is their ability to spin at
fast speed, song after song after song, some of them in pumps with no
suede bottoms! The leaders were very, very good, throwing a thousand
different combinations at me and effortlessly gliding through spins and
footwork while at it. Leaders and followers were equally and
complimentary strong on the dance floor. Ladies with their spinning and
styling, and the
men with their amazing turn patterns and fast arm movement. Make no mistake about it; NY salsa dancing is fast and furious.
The New York style is characterized for its very sensuous body movement
(Afro-Caribbean based) and for its fast, but contained spinning, and
intricate footwork. Everything is in place, within a linear, tight
slot. I would be amazed at how many people would be in the dance floor,
little space among couples, and yet no one would bump into each other.
I thought, that's great technique right there! And of course, survival
of the fittest he he :)
I think one of the main reasons why I really wanted to go to New York
and dance with the top, is to test my own ability to dance salsa to its
fullest expression. I also wanted to learn the secrets of the long
established professionals whose steps I am following one day at a time.
I was excited to receive many compliments from the NY crowd, including
from the Santo Rico dance group. You can imagine my ego getting a pat
on the back every
time I'd go out dancing; and somehow that's exactly what I needed in
order to know I wouldn't starve to death as a professional
dancer/instructor.
The best part of my trip was the social dancing, especially the Jimmy Anton's
social. This social was my favorite because it was just "salsa candy";
many professional salseros were there (Nancy Ortiz, Frankie Martinez,
Apryl Genovese, Carlos Jimenez, Santo Rico crew, Karisma dancers, and
on and on and on), and you'd better be ready to sweat and dance till
the very last song!! Gatorade was a must as well as two changes of
shirts and a
towel. Why bother going to the gym? Man, these people have some serious
"salsa endurance". There were few chairs to sit down, but nobody would
really use them. In fact, most dancers were in the "hunt mode" waiting
to get their next partner as soon as the song was over :)
Now that I'm back, I can confidently say that I have a good
understanding of how one can take it to the next level, whether one is
a beginner or an accomplished dancer with several years under her/his
belt. Also, I can confidently say that I've experienced some of the
best dancing in the contemporary world of salsa (though you can save
yourself some money
and pain and just go to a major congress for the same, though less intimate, experience).
In retrospect, I think Austin has great dancers with tons of potential and
eagerness to learn. And this motivates me even more to commit myself to
the growth of the salsa community here in Austin and to improve my
dancing and teaching skills so I can serve as a guide/mentor to those
willing to take it up a notch or two.
As of this week, I will start teaching full-time at GoDance and I thank Mylie
Alrich for giving the opportunity of a lifetime: doing what I love and actually getting paid for it !
I hope to see you on the dance floor!
Yours truly,
Azucena Perez
P.S If you're ever in New York and want to salsa, check out www.salsanewyork.com
P.S.S If you're wondering, the majority of the salsa dancing in NYC is on2 or
mambo style.
P.S.S.S Check out the photo section for pictures of my trip and the socials
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/austinsalsa/photos
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