by davidpenalosa » Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:11 pm
I feel very lucky that I began learning drums, I also began accompanying classes in the w dances. I am certain that my confusion was lessened because of that.
From what I have been able to learn, the direct correlation between quinto and rumba dance steps has been lost, and is only observable today in old video footage, and in some performances of columbia. This was discussed in an earlier thread.
I intended to learn how to dance salsa for 20 years, but never did. Finally, when I was in my 40s, I hired a dance tutor and took a two-week course at the ENA in Havana, so that I could learn to dance. At the audition in Cuba, there were salsa dance teachers from all over the world taking the course with me. Some of them were put in the beginning class because they could not step in time. I was put in the advanced class, because I could. However, after a couple of days, I was bumped down to the beginning class, where I belonged, because I could not comprehend the choreographic patterns.
There is an international salsa dance craze going on, but from what I have witnessed in this country, the emphasis is on the upper body patterns, not stepping in-time. There is a salsa dance teacher in my town, who for the life of him, cannot step in time to the music. When I go see the local salsa band, I look out onto the dance floor to see if any women are stepping in time. Often, no one is. I can't handle dancing out-of-time (what's the point?!), so most of the time, I am a wallflower, or I sit in with the band.
When I returned from that ENA course, I re-vamped the material played by my salsa band because I had a better understanding of what dancers needed. The most significant change I made was to slow the tempo down.
-David