Salsa dancers, performers and instructor come from very different dancing backgrounds. Varying from those with none to those with superb dance experience. Today I’m sharing a clip of Hrvoje Kraševac, a Croatian salsa instructor, who belongs in the category of those who have learned dance the hard way, who lived through the ups and downs of it and are therefore in my opinion good dancers – because they know different dance techniques, they are trained and understand the rhythm and music. The latter can of course be given to one by birth as well, but my personal opinion is, that the training helps and it shows. That is why I always enjoy dancing with him and I enjoy watching him dance. But it’s also interesting to see, what one did, before he found salsa.
Flamenco at 5:15 by Cynthia Scott…
One of the most astonishing documentaries I have ever seen. It’s impressive. It’s a must-see. And I think you have to see it more than once to start understanding it, especially if you don’t do flamenco. “This Oscar®-winning short film is an impressionistic record of a flamenco dance class given to senior students of the National Ballet School of Canada by two great teachers from Spain, Susana and Antonio Robledo. The film shows the beautiful young North American dancers–inspired by the flamenco rhythms and mesmerized by Susana’s extraordinary energy–joyously merging with an ancient gypsy culture.” Source: NFB movies, The Unlikely Salsero
This is a nice proof that you don’t always need shiny costumes to look good. The best routines for me are contemporary pieces, where dancers wear undewear or nightdresses . What works with this couple is synchronization I think… Very nice, especially in the beginning.
Hihi…. it also proofs how the ending can sell it or kill it though. But no disrespect,.. a really really nice show… the musicality and synchronisation are Nr. 1 criteria with me. And I think those long arms help with the staylign as well.
It was kinda weird to see Tyce Diorio repeat his grammy award winning routine of a woman with breast cancer and her helping friend on the UK So you think you can dance show. After all, that is a show off for choreographers as well, so it is smart for them to glow as much as they can. People might take repetition too easy into account, the audience is very strict I think.
So was I in the beginning. I think the routine was improved in some parts and it was well executed, though it didn’t make me cry this time, cause all I was thinking was, why are we watching the same thing again. But in the judges round, Nigel explained it was this week, when Tyce found out his mother has cancer and he rushed home to see her. So, taking that into account, the story was as strong if not stronger than the first time. IT was his message to his mother that he is there for her and will be strong for her.
Alex da Silva was one of the first choreographers on this show and I never liked what he choreographed (Ok, maybe with the exception of Benji&Heidi’s really fast mambo routine). So it was very refreshing to hear that Susana Montero will choreograph or at least be a part of making a salsa routine on UK version of SYTYCD. Here’s the clip of that show! I find it quite cool. Considering that Yanet is a Cuban girl which applied as a salsa dancer on the show, well… in a way it should be good.
I often feel salsa dancers lack dancing knowledge, technique etc. So I really like to see salseros who have danced before. I know Sabine Hennig, a previous ballerina, and I love her because of that. It’s really obvious from the first second, that she’s not new at this. I hope she and her partner will be doing some lirical jazz soon, cause that just might be perfect to watch.
Ever since I first saw Sabine I liked her movement and beautiful dancing posture. Most memorable for me was a Salsa Dance Squad performance on a beautiful song ‘Señales de humo’.
Maykel and Kirenia. I’ve seen them live in Munich, I think. I looooved the show, I didn’t like the teaching methods. I think the problem was they spoke only Spanish, no English, so they didn’t explain anything. Such a shame, because I know their bodymovement is spectacular. This clip is a perfect example of how awesome they are. Bravo!
I never finished writing about the end of the 6th season of US version of So you think you can dance show. I guess I was left a little bit dissapointed. In 5th season the finale was really grand and peeked at the right moment. Even than I noticed some flaws of going live, but that didn’t prevail. On the contrary, this year’s finale was a complete failure to me. Such a huge difference between live and pretaped part of the show. The live part really sucked, there was a lot of empty quiet moments, camera searching, not to mention the non-mic part. Even the drama of the results was worse than last year. Ok, I was among those people who wanted to see the married couple perform together as well, but it was all just a little bit too expected. I knew who the winner will be etc. etc. It was still worth seeing, but I guess it’s hard to please me after seeing all seasons by now.
So I took a little break from the show and watched a couple of Episodes of Dancing with the Stars, which was cool… but that’s not something I would be eager to see each week. It was a weekend mission for me and I was disappointed at the end, seeing the winner, who did not deserve to win.. He was a nice guy and all, but miles behind the best dancer there.
So now, I’m back to SYTYCD fever. I heard the UK version started and that sounds promising. A bit fresher, with new choreographers, so let’s see what happens. Nigel Lythgoe and Cat Deeley are the British people, who invaded America, developed the show there and now brought it back home. So, considering they come from here, I assume they might give some effort into making the show worthwhile.
I also just found out (via Facebook.. hehe) that Susana Montero is cooperating with the show, making a salsa routine, which excites me very much. I’m looking forward to seeing that, because I always found it frustrating that the salsa routines were made very ballroom like… Hopefully, this time we’ll see salsa with the right feeling . So people, enjoy the So you think you can dance UK. The auditions presented some spectacular dancers. Let’s if they live up to our expectations
Damn, I sound harsh… but that’s what blogging is all about, right
The topic of kizomba is not new on this blog. I spoke and tempted my readers with it before, and I’m doing it again. This dance really looks hot… even hotter than bachata I dare to say. So I’m happy when I hear we have a chance to learn kizomba from people who really feel it, who dance amazingly and who can share that knowledge with us. My dear friend from Belgrade invited two amazing people from Portugal, Paula Loureiro and Ricardo Sousa, from Afrolatin connection. Take a look of how sensual and cool this guys look like:
This couple will be visiting Serbia in the month of March. 13th and 14th of March 2010 is the right date of the 3rd Kizomba seminar in Belgrade. Since this is already the 3rd seminar, you can imagine it’s getting bigger and better each time. To see how it felt and looked like last year see this clip:
Pretty cool I’d say. So don’t miss it! And I promise I’ll try to get some more info from the organizer soon. She promised them.
Can dance take another dimension? After it was born on the streets, reborn in reality shows, after it flooded the Youtube… can dance really become a totally new online experience? Wow, the trailers I saw are amazing. I don’t know exactly what they are promising, but they are teasers with a capital T. The Legion of Extraordinary dancers performed in the SYTYCD reality shows and blew the roof of Kodak studio away. This is technically superb dancing, completely out-of-the-box choreography and obviously strong emotional stories behind it. I am excited to see what will happen in 2010. It looks so promising and I got a feeling it might be a special treat for my hungry dancing soul.
This is a clip from SYTYCD sneak peek performance:
John M. Chu, the writer and director of the project, describes it as a very supernatural yet human and a bit of a sci-fi project, calling dancers a superheroes: “No special effects, no wires, this is real people, with real powers. This is not a reality show, this is a ground-breaking epic on-line adventure.” Just check out this official trailer and you will see what I’m talking about:
. What works with this couple is synchronization I think… Very nice, especially in the beginning.
