Thinking about it a little more, why limit the discussion to salsa. How about the other club dances, swing being the main one that comes to mind. Are there serious disagreements for these as well?

[ 10-03-2001: Message edited by: Graham ]

Exactly.

However, many salseros are highly disparaging about ballroom stylists (style, authenticity etc), so comments please.

There's this little thing called jealousy...

Screw them.

ThreeStep
(had that happen to him last night)

quote:

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Originally posted by Graham:
[QB]Lines are stronger, moves are sharper, postures more erect for the ballroom trained couples. However, many salseros are highly disparaging about ballroom stylists (style, authenticity etc), so comments please.

QB]

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A "street" dancer doesn't care about lines, sharpness and erect body. He/she cares about "feeling" the music and expressing that feeling through dance. That's why most street dancers dislike the "ballroom look." To him it looks constrained and sterile; it doesn't look FUN (because his idea of fun is to move freely and with "flavor").

Jealousy is pretty much the least thing in a street dancer when he/she sees a ballrom dancer dance salsa. I think they would describe it better as pain and disconfort.

Maybe not all of them, but I know for a fact that a fair amount of them (usually the women) get jealous. The guys normally don't care too much, but the Latin trained girls look so much more regal on the floor than the club girls.

ThreeStep
(loves regal)

For years, top latin dancers/coaches who come through NY or who live here have frequented the big latin clubs here. I've seen Tony and Melanie in them, and Colin James, the british coach, years ago. I even heard, though never saw myself, that the great Walter Laird would visit when he was in NYC.

I think many street dancers feel jealousy when they watch ballroom dancers. It takes discipline to be a great dancer and the majority of the population lacks discipline.

If you're doing salsa or any dance correctly, you are conveying feeling. You portray the essence of the dance. Slouching and moving your top half a great deal during salsa or sticking your butt out as you dance swing is not expressing feeling. Improper footwork with a number of spins thrown in and a huge smile on your face is not expressing feeling.

I feel a great deal of pain and discomfort when I watch the club dancers dancing with incredibly horrible posture, incorrect hip movement, doing crazy moves, lifts, etc. Flash and trash baby. Give me a well trained ballroom dancer who emanates confidence and the flavor of the dance anyday.

quote:

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However, many salseros are highly disparaging about ballroom stylists (style, authenticity etc)undefined

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They certainly are and obviously they have no idea how petty it makes them look. Dancers should be supportive of one another.

I was recently at a dance exhibition where all types of dance was showcased. Now, I'm not crazy about Irish or Middle-East type dancing, but I certainly would not stand in the audience making snide remarks. But that is exactly what some other audience members were doing while the ballroom dancers were performing. I happened to recognize one of the fellows making the remarks. He owns and runs a salsa studio that competes for students with the ballroom studio. He may feel like a "big man" while he's giving his "expert" criticism of how bad the dancers are, but to me he has shown just how little he truly understands what dancing is about.

The sorts of emotions people like him emote, I don't need. Dancing is about joy, not hate.

I just think they're jealous because our women turn faster, move faster, have prettier hands, dress classier (well, usually), and most of them can hold a beat. And it maybe stiff (or so they say) but stiff is better than sloppy.

ThreeStep
(had this talk with a DJ last night)

I compete in ballroom but it is salsa that was and always will be my favorite dance. I am one of very few people I know who can do both dances and not look ridiculous in either setting. It is people trying to do ballroom salsa in a club (or vice versa, salsa in a ballroom studio) with no sense that, when dancing salsa, they cannot point toes and do new yorkers that cannot expect the other dancers in the club not to laugh. Hell, when they play a salsa at my studio and I see my friends dance, I point and laugh (to myself) too.

Three Step: who are you kidding! No self-respecting salsa dancer is jealous of ballroom imposters at the clubs. It's pretty amusing to spot one though: toes pointed, doing new yorkers! I'm a ballroom dancer but seeing one do salsa is not sight to be missed.

BTW, when you speak about salsa, you can forget your notion of ballroom technique. And when you say salsa dancers don't have technique, you better not burst your bubble by stepping foot into a New York salsa studio. If you see New York salseros, you'd bite your tongue (that is if you can pick your jaw off the floor after you see them dance!).

Ithink