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Advanced salsa class. Week 15 of 2012.
Advanced Class – Week 15 – 2012
Cross-body lead with pivot turn into right side arm-lock
Right lasso with pivot turn, men’s left turn with hand change, into waist wrap
Reverse pivot into arm-lock with men’s hook turn (optional)
1/2 copa with extra 1/2 turn and lead back
Reverse cross-body lead
1/2 copa with men’s spin
Side titanic with straight through pivot turn
Cross-body lead with men’s hair-comb
Diverse Dance Workshop
Our next dance workshop is coming up fast on Saturday 21st April 2012.
As a change to our usual 3 hours of one dance style, we thought we’d try an hour of each of three different styles this month.
Starting with kizomba, we’ll be having one big class for all levels, teaching a few very basic steps and then progressing on to one or two more interesting ones, hopefully catering to brand new kizomba dancers, but also dancers who already know the basics.
If you aren’t sure what kizomba is, have a look at this video.
Next up will be a salsa class and we have a huge 4 levels, starting with an absolute beginner class, going through intermediate and advanced levels up to a super advanced level, not for the feint hearted! (o:
For the final hour, we’ll have 3 levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced) of bachata classes for anyone that’s become addicted to this fantastic Caribbean dance.
The workshop will be held at the Moreton Hall Community Centre, Symonds Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP32 7EW and will run from 1.00pm – 4.00pm.
Tickets are available at all Secret Salsa classes this week, but to be sure of getting one of the limited spaces, book online now at www.secretsalsa.co.uk/workshops and look for the PayPal link (you can pay with your PayPal account or with a credit/debit card).
Tickets are £15 and you MUST book and pay before the day.
Hope to see you there!
Please help to promote our event by clicking one of the sharing buttons below. Thanks (o:
Get Your Groove On!
As it’s so incredibly important to dance in time to the music, here are a few ideas to help you to get your timing spot on.
1. Listen.
Tap your foot, click your fingers or nod your head while you listen to music at home or in the car etc (be careful about being over enthusiastic if you’re listening to an i-Pod in public!). Counting too, either out loud or in your head, can help you improve a lot. It’s important that a part of your body (foot, fingers, head etc) is moving in time to the beat and if you relax and really listen, it should feel really natural to start tapping or clicking.
2. Practice.
Running through your moves outside of a class is essential. An ideal time to practice is during the hour after the class has finished, which we’ve included specifically for socialising and practice. There’s a whole group of other people there who need more practice and this is a time where it’s ok to get things wrong. Practice and mess up here, so you can improve and look better at the next party. Don’t wait and look bad at the party! If you’re not sure about your timing, you can ask one of the teachers to help too.
You really don’t need a partner to practice your timing at all though. Anytime you’re at home and have a minute or two to spare, you can practice the basic step and really focus on the music, without worrying about the moves. I find that the biggest problem when it comes to timing issues is distractions. Do yourself a favour and practice a lot when there aren’t any.
3. Slow down.
When you first start to dance, it’s hard to do the steps slowly as you need more control, but you’ll find that if you learn them slowly, you’ll look fantastic as you build up your speed. If not, your steps will always look sloppy and your timing will be a constant struggle. If the music that’s on is too fast for you, dance at half the speed. You’re better to practice really slowly and gradually build up, as it will improve your timing so much faster. Practicing too fast will just re-enforce your bad timing habits.
Take Madonna’s advice and “get into the groove” and your dancing will start to feel fantastic.
“Music can be such a revelation
Dancing around, you feel the sweet sensation
We might be lovers if the rhythm’s right
I hope this feeling never ends tonight”
It will never get started if you don’t sort out your timing first!
P.S. Sorry about the cheesy quote but she summed it up quite well. (o:
Salsa level 3 week 9 2012
Here’s this week’s level 3 routine and some freestyle after recorded at Sudbury last night after class with Rebecca. Sorry about the darkness, it was after the class with the lights dimmed. Thanks Rebecca.
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Top 10 Reasons to Learn Bachata
Ever wondered why anyone would want to learn bachata??
Read on…
1. It’s easy. Bachata steps are easier to pick up than some other dance styles. The music is a lot slower, so you can learn fast and look great at your next salsa party.
2. It’s sexy (not sleazy)!
3. It’s good for you. Any dancing is good for your health and bachata is no exception.
4. Great music. If you’d like to hear more bachata music, look at our facebook page at www.facebook.com/secretsalsa1 where I’ll be posting some of my favourite tracks.
5. Improves co-ordination. If you find you’re slightly uncoordinated when you dance (or generally), bachata can help a lot, especially as it’s slower paced and so easier to think about your movements.
6. Make new friends. Very social and easier to have a chat while you’re dancing (o:
7. Improves your timing. Again, the slower pace means you can concentrate more on rhythm and getting your timing right.
8. Increases confidence. Learning anything new can increase your confidence, but even more so with dancing.
9. Fun. We guarantee that you’ll have fun at our workshop. If you don’t smile and laugh, we’ll give you your money back!
10. You never know unless you try. I almost never learned to dance, as I was really shy and thought I’d hate it. Luckily I gave it a go and really loved it, but you never really know unless you give it a go. I also didn’t start leaning bachata until a few years after starting salsa. I thought it would be confusing to learn another style at the same time, but have actually found it helps, as with bachata, the basics are so much easier.
Discover the secret techniques to bachata dancing.
Learn to isolate your dance partner’s body movements and gain the confidence to lead her into any pattern, even if you’re dancing with her for the very first time!
3 hour bachata workshop with Secret Salsa.
Saturday 17th March 1.00pm – 4.00pm
Beginner bachata – Suitable for anyone who has never tried bachata before or never even danced. Learn the basic bachata steps and turns and learn how to put them together into a dance and look good on the dance-floor.
Intermediate bachata – For anyone that’s previously attended one of our beginner bachata workshops, or who knows the basic steps and turns. We’ll be giving you a fast refresher course of all the basic steps that you learned on the beginner course and then adding in some more interesting moves and patterns to make your dancing look a little more professional and polished.
Advanced bachata – The perfect level if you’re reasonably comfortable with bachata and are looking for some more advanced moves and techniques to show off with at your next party!
Book now while there’s still spaces left. Our last bachata workshop sold out!
Price £15 – Bookings can be made at any Secret Salsa class or online at www.secretsalsa.co.uk/workshops – Bookings in advance only.
Book at our Bury St Edmunds salsa class on Tuesdays, King’s Lynn salsa class on Wednesdays or Sudbury salsa class on Thursdays.
Salsa classes this week. Beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Here’s a quick reminder of the routines that you learned this week with a link to a video of all levels at the end.
Beginner class:
Starting from left to left and right to right hand hold, with left hand abover right.
Walk around.
Cross-body lead with pivot turn.
Intermediate class:
Men’s right, ladies right with hand change (right to right), pick up left over right.
Walk around.
Cross-body lead with pivot turn.
Reverse cross-body lead into arm-lock.
1/2 copa with men’s hook turn into men’s arm-lock.
Ladies hair-comb cross-body lead.
Advanced class:
Men’s right, ladies double right with hand change (right to right), pick up left over right.
Walk around.
Cross-body lead with pivot turn into ladies arm-lock and waist-wrap.
Ladies 1/2 right spin, reverse pivot lead into arm-lock.
1/2 copa with men’s hook turn into men’s arm-lock.
Ladies hair-comb cross-body with free pivot and men’s left spin.
Now watch the video
Warm up at class?
After a suggestion from Steve G last night, I’m considering bringing the warm-up back to our classes, starting next week. Rather than learn a new piece of footwork each week though, we’ll just run through some of the basic steps. Basic, right turn, left turn, Suzie Q etc. What are your thoughts? Good or bad idea? please comment or ask questions below.
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Cake roulette
Starts next week at our Bury St Edmunds, King’s Lynn and Sudbury salsa classes.
Will you take a risk for free cake??
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