Salsa, ballroom vs club

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06-19-2002, 05:02 PM

Dardompre

Salsa, ballroom vs club

I live in Miami, salsa clubs are all over here, i am a ballroom dancer, but when i go to the club i "feel" the music out- which mean breaking posture. There is a big difference between the styles but,i think that as long as your having a good time do whatever you want! [Wink]

07-04-2002, 03:06 AM

tux

Hi Laura,

sorry to be so long in replying to your question about the judges at the British Salsa Competition.

quote:
Interesting story, tux, but I have to ask this question about it: was the salsa contest judged by people from the ballroom dance community, or people from the British salsa community at large? In other words, were some of the judges from the "club" or "street" style of salsa, or were they all ballroom judges? If they were all ballroom judges, then might that not partly explain why a ballroom-style couple won?

Laura

The Judges were:

Brian Torner Canada
Gary Edwards Miami
Paul Bottomer England
Ansell Chazan England
Gordon Fox Scotland.

I believe Ansell Chazan is a Salsa promoter, not absolutely sure. Paul Bottomer is fairly prominent in Argentine Tango, I believe also reasonably active in the salsa teaching area. Obviously Brian is from the more 'established' Latin competition style. Perhaps the others could be categorised by other posters?

On the topic of this thread: I have to agree with the comment from the poster in front of me. Basically, dancing is dancing, enjoy it and learn how to do it as best we can perform! Leave the snobs on both sides to their amusements and just dance!!
Cheers [Wink]

07-18-2003, 01:21 AM

BigCat4242

Quote:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by <Ithink>: BTW, I wanna hear some hard-core lindy dancers chime in here: don't you laugh when ballroom people invade a lindy dance and do jive? Same thing happens in salsa clubs!Ithink (proud to be a ballroom girl who must look pretty darn good to ballroom people in clubs and who definitely looks good to fellow salseros!)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes, hard core lindy hoppers laugh when ballroom people invade a lindy dance. And no, there is absolutely no jealousy behind it. They find ballroom dancers to be stiff and contrived. And you know what? I often agree. I think that a lot of ballroom dancers try so hard to be *precise*, that it manifests as the pole in the a$$ syndrome, as was so eloquently expressed in an earlier post.I am a hard core ballroom dancer, and a hard core lindy hopper, proudly both at the same time. And it took me 2 yrs. of dancing lindy hop (I've been doing ballroom for 6 yrs) to learn how to separate the two.They are different. And even competitive lindy hoppers think ballroom dancers are funny. The difference is in the value. Hard core lindy hoppers value musicality, connection, and improvisation above all. Definitely no concern with lines, extension, attitude, none of it. And I don't think there's any need to say that one is better than the other. I have incorporated the musicality, expression and fun that I have learned from lindy hop into my ballroom. And with that, I enjoy ballroom even more!And I always get complements on my frame and my spins from lindy hoppers. You can bet that comes from ballroom training. [image]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/image]I think dancing is dancing is dancing. And if we all open our minds and experiment with different types, we can only gain from it and improve as dancers.Why can't we all just get along?! [image]images/icons/confused.gif" border="0[/image]

I think he's got it pretty much right. I learned to lindy hop first and then ballroom afterwards (I still have trouble remembering to keep that rigid frame), and they have vastly different feels to the dances. That is why I have trouble dancing ballroom correctly, and that is why ballroom dancers look funny while trying to join swing dances (I can't watch jive without laughing).

Now, I haven't been to any salsa clubs yet (though I have learned some salsa), but I imagine that the same analogy applies. Lindy and salsa are both street dances, and ballroom is, well, something else.

07-18-2003, 06:53 AM

Joe

The frame isn't rigid.

07-18-2003, 08:58 AM

90%Attitude

Quote:

The frame isn't rigid.

If you hadn't said it, I would have!

Funny - I guess there are people on both sides who talk trash about the other. And then there are the ones who just go out there and learn to appreciate both styles. Curiously, there are a number of world class street-dancers with lots of ballroom training. Jose Neglia is a trained ballroom dancer. Edie The Freak swears by her. Heinz digs Barishykov, Astaire thought Kelly was awesome, etc., etc., ad nauseam... I suspect most of the critical talk comes from those who've only danced on one side of the street, as it were.

07-26-2009, 04:45 PM

mallaika

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.

11-23-2009, 09:39 AM

totalwise

I don't like how some people are snobby about ballroom dancing and try to put down salsa dancing. Salsa has all the makings of a ballroom dance, except it's more accessable and can be performed anywhere, and you don't have to dress up for it.