We have Malcom Gladwell to either thank or blame for popularizing the meme that it takes 10,000 hours of practice at something to reach an expert level. Gladwell – as he is wont to do – misread or misinterpreted or both original research performed by Dr. Anders Ericsson who, with two colleagues in 1990, published…
Over the past few weeks in the Repertoire class, we’ve worked on some choreographies that have interesting elements. There was the “pizza turn” with an elbow block push-down, a blind spot turn with the lead hand stopping on the back of the leader’s neck, some shifting from rail to rail on the slot, and others….
It’s something of which I often remind students in my classes: Salsa is a metaphor for life. (To be fair, many other lead/follow, partner dance styles are equally metaphorical for life, but this is Salsaholics after all!) I often joke about this in class, like when mentioning that the follower (usually a woman) never lets…
One of the biggest challenges that a relatively inexperienced dancer imposes on themselves is the idea that “I don’t know enough moves.” Often, a newer dancer – and this is often more true among leaders – wishes they had a larger repertoire of patterns and combinations with which to spice up their dance experience. After…
On the Salsaholics Facebook group this week, I posted a picture of what looks like a pretty painful injury incurred by one partner, literally at the hands of another. What is clear from the photo is that the injuring party grabbed the injured person with extremely strong thumb pressure, so much so that there is…
In last week’s Repertoire pattern, I mentioned in class that there was a key element that made the difference between success and “not-so-much” in the choreography. That magic ingredient? Flow. What I mean by “flow” is the dancer’s ability to keep their body in motion through the entire 8-count of salsa “units,” if you will….
Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street! Literally! There are 10 months of the year (9 if we’re lucky with the weather, which seems not to be the case this year) when, certainly, patronize the clubs, the socials, and the parties. But summertime is the opportunity for we dwellers of…
This week, I’m teaching a one-day workshop, not on salsa (or bachata, or West Coast Swing) dancing, but on Performance Management as part of the Ontario University Institute of Technology’s Professional Management Certificate. One of the modules that I introduce throughout the workshop is a segment I call, “Coaching for All Occasions.” It discusses how…
As I’ve mentioned in the past, the very best salsa lesson I ever took was a master class in fundamentals with Vanessa Stay, one of the most experienced Latin dance teachers in the city. It was a group class for a very small number of people that cost us $100 for the hour. Between the…
Allow me to express a great big thank you to the great Jen Daudlin for stepping in on very short notice to teach the two Salsaholics classes last week. Where was I? Lounging on a beach somewhere? Doing a guest appearance on Dancing with the Stars? (I wish!) Abducted by aliens obsessed with learning bachata…