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Combinations, Combinations, Turns, and Turns |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 10 September 2007 |
Combinations, Combinations, Turns, and Turns
Ramiro Parada told Latin-Dance.Com, in his interview, that in the early 90’s salsa was primarily taught in the studios but not in the clubs as is done now. There are a number of Latin clubs, in the D.C. Metropolitan area, that offer either free salsa lessons or salsa lessons for a small fee (usually $10.00 for a two hour class) much less than what it cost to take the same class in some private studios.
As a rule, if you observe these classes, virtually all of them have one thing in common, i.e., they teach combination(s) and turn(s), from week to week, but rarely during those classes do you see the students being taught how to execute the combinations and turns on the beat or with any rhythm. You might say, this is done when the Students practice the new combination(s) or step(s) to music. This would be true if the students were dancing on the beat and with some rhythm. This is not to say that none of the student(s) are learning to dance on the beat and with rhythm, certainly not, but as a rule, you seldom see an instructor teach a combination or turn and ask the student to execute it on slow, moderate, and/or a fast paced salsa.
Of course, the instructors play salsa, that they think is appropriate for their students to practice on, but this does not resolve the problem. When the student learns certain combination(s) and turn(s), they must be taught to execute them on different beat(s) of the music. For example, can a student properly execute a simple turn on a slow pace salsa but loses it if the beat is moderate or fast? If, while watching the student(s) executing their combination(s) and turn(s), they cannot, then their foundation on the basics is weak and it will hurt their ability to become a more skilled dancer.
As a rule, beginning salsa students want to learn the fancy combination(s) and turn(s) before they can properly execute the basics. This can be seen when teaching them, they constantly look over at the advanced students. This is where the instructor must control the students eagerness to jump ahead and make them pay attention to what’s being taught to them.
No doubt you have seen a couple rushing through specific moves completely off of the beat. This is because they are more concerned with completing certain patterns of combination(s), that they were taught, rather than executing them on the beat and with rhythm. We all take classes to learn more combination(s), turn(s), and rhythm, but more importantly, they must executed on the beat, with rhythm, and with class; anything less does a disservice to salsa.
As featured on www.latin-dance.com
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