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Interview with Sagi - Salsa Suave |
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Written by JoJo
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Thursday, 05 July 2007 |
How, why and when did you get into salsa?
First time when I was exposed to salsa was at the Dance Base Latin classes. I attended two terms then stopped for good five years. Then a good friend of mine started to teach salsa in Edinburgh. He asked me to come to his classes, explaining that there was shortage of male dancers. So I went along and here I am still dancing and teaching.
Who first taught you to dance salsa?
First to teach me salsa was Alba from Venezuela and then Sam Ganon who runs a dance school in Germany nowadays.
Did you have any dance training prior to salsa?
None whatsoever, only clubbing.
Tell me a little about Salsa Suave. When, why and how was it set up?
A year after I started dancing people asked me to teach because they liked the way I dance. So I started teaching in a community centre once a week. More and more people asked me to teach so I took on more classes. At some point I started going to congresses and was exposing myself to other styles and different teaching methods etc. Taking all these different styles I added my own flavours to it, and I developed my own style of salsa.
When I took my UKA exam the examiner commented on my smooth dancing, and said it was as if I was gliding on the dancefloor. This gave me the idea for the name Salsa Suave.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
The music just takes over me completely. I listen to songs - some take me back to my childhood and some bring out the other side of me.
Who do you admire?
Many dancers inspired me throughout the years, and the list is too long to mention here.
What’s your favourite track at the moment?
Sera Que Si - Maelo Ruiz
A Night in Tunisia – La Sonora Ponceńa
Lluvia Con Nieve – Mon Rivera
What are your all time favourite tracks?
Caravan – featured in Eddie Torres and his Mambo Kings Orchestra CD
Periodico De Ayer - Los Titanes
What are your favourite albums?
Sonora Ponceńa - 45 Aniversario
What was the last CD you bought?
Los Ases De la Timba – Aqui Estan Los Ases
Africando - Ketukuba
El Sindicato De La Salsa – Afiliate Bailador
What music is in your car/cd player/tape player at the moment?
Salsa and Mambo.
Who are your favourite artists?
Edwin Bonilla, Sonora Ponceña, Ismael Miranda, Papo Lucca, Cheo Feliciano, and El Gran Combo….
If you were not a successful Promoter/Teacher/DJ, what would you be doing instead? Or if you also have a full-time job, what do you do?
Currently my full time job is a community centre manager.
Tell me something most people wouldn’t know about you?
Can’t do that……
What’s your all time favourite salsa club/event that you have played/taught/danced?
It would be when I was teaching at Pontins in Pakefield. I took part in the cabaret/show where I played one of the judges from Strictly Come Dancing and all acts left me with stitches in my stomach.
What has been your most memorable moment?
In one of my many dances one night danced with a woman, at the end of the dance she told me that the dance we just had was “like magic” and asked me “how do you do that?”
Have you had any embarrassing/nightmare-ish moments in salsa?
I did the splits one day to find out that I’d ripped my trousers as well.
Is there anything else you would like to add? Keep dancing.
www.salsasuave.co.uk
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