Joy

This classic vid is one of my all time favourites because it has what every good salsa must have: Joy.



David's Bio:
http://english.cri.cn/4406/2010/08/03/2381s586404.htm

I waited years for the full-length video to be reposted on YouTube. And now it has. Hallelujah!

Loo

Hierarchy of Correction Workshop One

I decided it might be a good thing to log the content of my workshop with Ianthe and Michel on Salsadiary.

Briefing: 'Which part of the foot is surrounded by the most control points?'

One (of many) ways of constructing a step in place
Foot placement and the establishment of a mechanical bearing between the foot and the floor.
Weight transfer: re-learning walking taken from the case study of stroke rehabilitation.
Joint configuration in relaxation mode, and the joint cascade.
Properties of the hip joint and how this influences hip action.
Foot angle and its effect on stability and range of hip movement.

Bolero: rationale as a context
Originally, I'd intended on using the merengue as a context for the step construction and hip action. In the end I went for the bolero instead for these (very good) reasons:

1. Ianthe and Michel are not novice dancers, they have already naturalised leading and following;
2. it is a member of the son rhythm group, so it increases their versatility in being able to perform a related genre;
3. it allows them to draw bolero influences into their salsa;
4. it is the sequential precursor to the bolero-chá and the chachachá;
5. the dance can be performed to bachata music.

Dancing the bolero
Timing in the acquisition mode - bolero open tones indicate the slow weight transfer.
Sensing and synchronising hip actions.
Partner holds for detecting hip action.

How a travelling step might be constructed
Maximum passive step size.
Active step sizes and the compromises to frictional stability.
Generating foot angles using floor friction and hip action.
The significant difference between 'Toes Out' and 'Ankles In'.
The 'shiny coin' teaching point.

Points of View: Configurations for the taller dancer
Both Ianthe and Michel are well above average in height. We began to address what that means in dance beginning with:

1. reduced mechanical advantage in the limbs;
2. the wavelength of movement; and
3. refining timing co-ordination in longer limbs.

Re-dancing the bolero
Drawing out the 'slow' - maximising the wavelength and an even weight transfer
'push-and-pull' action - flexion and extension doubles the energy within a system and smoothens the execution of steps.
Partial weight transfer on the slap tone.
Contratiempo phrasing.

Interpreting lead information
The importance of equilibrium pressure.
Touch practice: palm to palm exercise, unsighted.
Two variations of the contradanse hold:

1. negating turning moments using the compression hold.
2. communicating with the picture arm in the bolero hold.

Bolero's lessons in the Salsa context
Long and Slow - saturating every moment between the beats with movement.
Then and Now: comparing the naturalised 'standard' with the bolero-derived movement.
Alterations to wavelength.

Contrasting Activities
An introduction to pivots and their execution without pre-load.
Chachachá as foot percussion fun.


Dinner!


Loo Yeo

Loo's 'Yang' to Salsa Club Teaching's 'Yin'

It began, as it normally does, over dinner.

Michel, Ianthe (not their real names) and I were exchanging old war stories and ticklish anecdotes from our skirmishes on the dance floor. What better way to idle an evening away than over delicious Szechuan cuisine in the company of good friends, to the cadence of spicy salsa stories?

Talk meandered to our experiences in salsa classes and things we would have liked to learn. Now the three of us had been travelling to dance havens together more frequently if late, where I'd had the pleasure of introducing Ianthe to national/cultural movements in salsa not normally taught in this country. Turns out that both Ianthe and Michel were intrigued when I explained that it was possible to enact the movements and gestures of salsa's various societal sub-cultures using a learning system that was parametrically based.

So out came the smart-phones to the tune of tippy-tappy fingertips, and an afternoon date was set for Sunday after this one.

As this would be the first time they'd ever been under my tutelage, I thought a one-off taster session would be best; to give every one a graceful 'out' in case things didn't work out. Not that that seemed likely as Ianthe and Michel share a searing intellectual curiosity. The plan assumed the shape of a three-hour stand-alone private workshop (with option to accommodate subsequent ones) which would counterweight this country's prevailing teaching systems.

In the past, I'd had the luxury of starting with my students from scratch. In this instance I would have to design a Hierarchy of Correction instead of a Hierarchy of Development, and make a significant realisable impact on their dancing in one afternoon. I'm relishing the challenge.

And I've got under a fortnight to cook up a best approach.

Loo Yeo

30th December 2011 El Rincón Latino Pre-NYE Party @Anchor Inn, Clowne, Derbyshire

Karen wanted another salsa fix. In Barcelona, her regular haunt 'El Manisero' is not five minutes' walk out of her front door; there, she dances as often as the DJs play. We'd already cut a rug in Wetherby two nights before, but her feet had started to itch in a way that only a good dose of hot sauce would cure.

In the quiet time, when events draw a breath between Christmas and New Year, salsa nights are rare as truffles. I said "well, there's Clowne..."
"Dónde?" she asked quizzically.

I'd recently become acquainted with Iván and Emma of Salsa Beat who'd both struck me as having an inclusive dance philosophy; and when I said that I thought Stephen Gordo Mágico played a good set, that sealed it for Karen... she couldn't get to the car fast enough.

Salsa is a monolithic transnational phenomenon, bestriding the megalopoleis of New York, Japan, and London; and yet it thrives in modest fertile places like Clowne, Debyshire (population circa 7500). Walking into the village centre's Anchor Inn, the barman motions us to the function room around the side of the main salon where we're greeted by salsa music blaring away.

El Rincón Latino pulses in a slightly-narrow rectangular room boasting a good wooden floor, a raised stage at one end, counterbalanced by a modest stretch of bar at the other. By the time we got there at nine-thirty the place was packed, many with faces I recognised from as far afield as Nottingham. Above the energetic hubbub, Stephen kept the dancefloor filled by limiting his palette of colours to Nuyorican dura, crossover and Colombian salsa; merengue; bachata; and kizomba - Fania classics and sones/son montunos didn't to see light of day. A track by Bamboleo (a bold choice I though, as it requires a dancer with strongly internalised rumba clave to navigate through it) made it onto the decks, but remained the sole timba number of the night - it wasn't received with the same certainty as the Colombian fare. La Excelencia's 'Salsa con Conciencia' got an airing, although I suspect it's message flowed over the majority of the dancers; I might have gone for something from their 'Mi Tumbao Social' album instead.

Observing audience-dancer responses to Stephen's music selection, I was able to assess the local salsa scene's development to be in the latter phase of the youthful growing stage. Karen paid El Rincón Latino's party her ultimate compliment by saying that it felt like being at El Manisero. She and I left as the night wound down through a bachata set into kizomba. We'd had our satisfying fill of salsa by then, including some Cali stepping (Karen'd lived in Colombia for a bit).

There are just a couple of tweaks I'd recommend that would make a huge difference: a pair of air blowers positioned at the bar-side exit facing outward, to extract heated air from the room; and slight attenuation of the low and low-mid frequencies to manage the bass rumble of the room.

We live in an age where bigger is marketed as implicitly better e.g. "The biggest <insert adjectives and superlatives here> salsa congress". On the contrary, I've discovered people from smaller cities and towns to be the more accommodating by far.

For the atmosphere and its warm welcome, El Rincón Latino's party en el pueblo de Clowne [in the village of Clowne] is hard to beat.

Smaller is most decidedly better.

Loo Yeo

Timbale Landmark - The First State of Independence

Last night's band practice marked the passing of a huge milestone. It was the first time I was able to cue the transitions with the abanico, play cáscara and clave (either flavour) in the pre-montuno, timbale bell and clave in the montuno AND sing lead vocals at the same time.

I know it's taken a little longer than anticipated but I think I can justify it, what with having so many projects going on at the same time, and give myself a wee pat on the back. So what next? The most immediate is being able to play bongó bell (left hand) and timbale bell (right) whilst singing. Having just practiced it for a couple of hours just now, I can do it already... minus the singing.

After that, it's sorting out how to play the maraca and güiro rhythm on the hi-hats a la Mike Collazo; then with cáscara, then plus singing.

In the meanwhile Catie has been keen to add congas to her arsenal of musical instruments; and this is a fantastic opportunity to explore rhythmic movements together - like mozambique and songo. Plus I'm sure there'll be a healthy amount of 'chop-building' ahead.

My dance partners, old and new, are very much aware of these developments even if they don't exactly know why. As I said to Emma the other night, 'It's a shame to have so many rhythms playing and to use only one'.

Loo

24th November 2011 Son Para Todos @Revolución de Cuba, Sheffield

Son Para Todos is Sheffield's own working salsa band. Originally conceived as a duo: Rodrigo Paredes (vocals, guitar) and Armando Murillo (percussion, coro), its line-up has stabilised over the years to include an additional keyboard, second guitar and trumpet. They work hard to earn a living off their playing, that's what I mean about a 'working' band, lugging their instruments and their PA around in car boots to deliver music in restaurants, bars, and the odd special event.

Respect. This is the grind of what Nuyoricans would call the cuchifrito circuit. I understand the decisions they have to, and are willing to, make in order to bring a touch of Latin American zing to Sheffield's night life.

For years, they've held a once weekly residency at Cubana where they played Cubanesque standards such as 'El Cuarto de Tula' and 'Montón de Estrellas'. Then Inventive Leisure decided to diversify to include rum-based drinks and launched its Revolución de Cuba chain, opening a branch in Sheffield's city centre a salsa song's walk from Cubana - the fit-out has been superb, and the balance of drinks on offer very well-judged.

And so it transpires that Son Para Todos now have three residency slots, playing twice weekly in Revolución de Cuba on Thursday and Friday nights as well.

A wee slice of fantasy Cuba on Mappin Street

I turned up to listen and to get a vibe of the place on Thursday evening. The bar was humming with activity from the beginning of their first set at about 8pm. The hubbub continued its crescendo even when the final strains of their third set faded at 10:30 and Stephen 'DJ Gordo Mágico' Jackson worked the decks.

Chatting with Armando over a mojito, I said that I'd noticed that there were new numbers in their repertoire, mainly at chachachá /son montuno tempo from the Latin Crossover pocket (think Santana), salsafied pop, and some reggae. He gave a wry smile, gestured to the crowd, and said that they'd had to expand and diversify their selection, what with having to play longer and on two consecutive evenings. I told Armando that I thought Son Para Todos had made the right decision - I know plenty of salsa bandleaders who would sneer at playing this mix, but these are ones who have the luxury of not having to perform for a living.

Actually I think that Son Para Todos are being true to their name - bringing the experience of son and its children to everyone - and playing the key role of cultural mediator. And they do so deftly and with aplomb. Cultural mediators are necessary. They are the conduits by which the salsa scene is (Re)energised and (Re)vitalised. A case in point being that when I popped in on Nicolai's lesson two days later: I stepped through Cubana's aged wooden doors to be greeted by two young English lads who introduced themselves to me as Chris and George. They were both there for their first salsa lesson after having been completely taken by the atmosphere at Revolución de Cuba, and I was recognised from there.

I would also confess that my first four Latin CDs were Gloria Estefan's 'Mi Tierra', Alfredo Gutiérrez's 'El Palito', Cheito Quiñones' eponymous album, and La Conexión's 'Conexión Latina'; of which Gloria's and Cheito's were my early favourites. As an ethnomusicologist of transnational genres, I understand the importance of crossover artists as cultural mediators, and am happy to say that Son Para Todos are as deft as they come.

Loo Yen Yeo

8th October 2011 Soweto Gospel Choir @Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

"...and I'd like one for the Soweto Gospel Choir, too" I heard myself say.

I was standing in the sun-drenched box office of Sheffield's rather swanky Crucible Theatre. I could rationalise it as much as I'd like, for instance saying: "well, as an student of AfroCuban music, it's important to see its roots at the source", but the truth was that it was a momentary mugging by spontaneity.

I can only put it down to Rising Sap from the pseudo-Spring conditions teasing Yorkshire's autumn.

I expected beautiful rich tibreous voices in rhythmic harmony. My mind's eye painted an image of 'Songs of Praise' crossed with the deep South's Gospel. My mind's eye was agog seconds bars into the programme.

The twenty-strong men and women of the choir slipped onto stage in a vibrant kaleidoscope of colour, swaying and singing in undulating rhythm. Unlike their genre predecessors Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the presence of women in the ensemble endows the Soweto Gospel Choir with a greater vocal, harmonic, and timbrel range. It also extended the possibilities in programme presentation: very early on in the first set there was a piece sung by the ladies, followed straight after with another by the gentlemen - it was call-and-response achieved by gender.

Photograph Copyright © Waltons New School of Music.
All Rights Acknowledged.

Call-and-response was the overarching theme in their concert, and it was a full blown concert, of two sets: the first, a call of traditional and folkloric songs; the second, a response of more accessible contemporary numbers. The mix was well-judged, the very pleasant white middle-aged ballroom dancing couple occupying the seats beside me, Susan and Paul, clearly preferred the latter when they said "the concert just kept getting better and better". The hard-nosed musicologist inside me found the first set spine-tingling; it has been the only time, ever, that a musical performance has ever ilicited tears.

It was impassioned and committed unlike any performance I'd experienced before.

Within the choir were leaders and instrumentalists, some of them assuming the positions of bassist, pianist, guitarist, and percussionist (trapset or djembe). I was least prepared for the dancing - a joyous celebration of the music they create. Group, couple and virtuoso solo performances of physical movement, from which it was obvious where Cuba's rumba yambú, guaguancó and columbia were desecended.

Each and every one of the twenty women and men sang from their very essences, their voices a commitment to an absolute purpose. As a musician, it was my privilege to be humbled.

I can only sum up my Soweto Gospel experience with one word - Joy.

For Cubans and those partake of AfroCuban culture, from this choir there is much to be learned.

Loo Yeo