Backbeat Timeline: Güiro and Campana

I've been striking a balance between 'stretch' and 'consolidation' sessions, and have been finding it particularly challenging because I'm having to rely on my observational feedback than verbal feedback from Solares participants.

That's because these practices are so novel in this context, that participants don't have any reference points in how to articulate their experiences, and what experiences are useful. Recognising this, I shall devote some part of the next Solares to the framing of feedback responses, so that I can help them better.

The other challenge is that of the pacing of delivery. As a person already proficient in the skills being developed, I can observe the external signs of competence but cannot reliably gauge the qualitative level of internalisation. My instinct is to give them more time for practice, which is in tension with my ethos of having a high 'Teachers Expectation Factor' so that participants benefit from the Rosenthal Effect.

Again this is something I will have to articulate at the next session. I think everyone is far enough adapted to the format to be able to provide a contextually considered response.

Back-beat components of the güiro rhythm
So the session developed, after a recap warm-up, with the use of the shaker playing double-beats on the backbeat i.e. on beats 2,2+ and 4,4+.

The fundamental rationale was that these beats were a literal interpretation of a compnentnt of a basic rhythm played on the güiro (gourd scraper). I contextualised this with a demonstration on the güiro, and participants synchronised their shaker tones with the backbeat strokes.

I also gave them the traditional vocalisation of the güiro rhythm as:

"aeowh-chik-chik, aeowh-chik-chik..."

where: "aeowh" intiates on beats 1 and 3 and lasts the entire quarter note; and "chik-chik" initiates on beats 2,2+ and 4,4+.

A key improvement to their articulation on shaker was to draw attention to their over-use of the top of the shaker shell; the tonal strikes for the top and bottom of the bead enclosure were roughly equal in number and volume. I expressed a desire for a greater contrast: using the bottom of the shell, and hardly any strikes on the top of the shell. They got the idea and cleaned up their articulation after just two songs worth of practice, allowing them to engage with higher tempo music.

Introduction to the concept of rhythm surfaces
The same rhythm was played, but instead the shaker moving in free space, it was played into the horizontal palm of the opposing hand. This gave the sound: a sharper initial envelope (shaker shell onto skin); and, a longer tail (uncontrolled impact of beads all over the interior of the shell). One rhythm, two very different voices.

Back-beat components of the campana rhythm
The introduction to 'rhythm surfaces' segment served as a bridge to exercises using the campana rhythm, which is idential to that interpreted on the güiro. The salient difference is the envelope of the tones, which has a profound impact on: how the rhythm is perceived, and the instrumentalist's relationship with other musicians.

I demonstrated the complete bongó bell rhythm, where participants synchronised their shaker tones with the backbeat strokes. I did not provide the vocalisation. Participants seemed quite taken with the güiro vocalisation, and I was loathe to distract them from their fun.

Conclusion
Participants found that:

1. they could get into a state of entrainment sooner because of their level of practice. I indicated that the objective was to be able to slip into entrainment within the opening seconds of a song.
2. the güiro rhythm initially diffused the backbeat modulation on their dance rhythm. When asked whether this was still the case after sustained practice, the answer came back as a 'no'. This indicated that they'd made a snap judgement, before sufficient proficiency had been gained. The take-home learning point was "keep practicing the rhythm until it grooves".
3. in some cases, they were beginning to synchronise the movements of different parts of their bodies to different instruments. (This was very good news to me, for research purposes!)

The session was wrapped up by highlighting:

• what a difference a single beat made to the feel of a rhythm - the comparison was made between the tumbao moderno and the güiro rhythm;
• that attention needed to be paid in the quality of their practice, as demonstrated in the shaker technique;
• changes in playing surface have a profound impact on the way a rhythm is perceived; and,
• that they had an additional two instruments to which they could synchronise their embodiment rhythm.

Loo Yeo

Backbeat Timeline: Introduction To The Boogaloo Rhythm

Tonight, I introduced Solares to the boogaloo rhythm.

It had reached that stage where the tumbao moderno practice was in danger of being entrenched, of participants feeling that the tones were synonymous with the back-beat; and they're not - they are one of a number.

So it was late on in the day, the last ten minutes of the session, when I put it on as a contrasting activity (they'd made good headway into the shaker-tumbao entrainment exercises).

It began as a briefing, that a feature of the boogaloo is in how the backbeat timeline is highlighted with hand-claps - present or implied.

We then listened to a number of tracks from the original boogaloo period out of New York i.e. 'chachachá with a backbeat' (e.g. Joe Cuba); to migrated interpretations in Puerto Rico (e.g. El Gran Combo), and Colombia (e.g. Grupo Gale); and modern versions.

Participants were then given one track with which to clap along to, using both hands or one hand against a thigh; and another track where the shaker single tone was substituted for a hand clap.

There is work yet to be done, for participants to be presented with a progressive flow of exercises next session. But the introduction served its purpose: to illuminate the path ahead for the backbeat timeline workshops.

Loo

Two Feelings, Two Walks

We began Solares as we did last week: playing the audible tones of the tumbao moderno: "gung-gung" and "pak" on the shaker; while performing the Caribbean sway basic. Having made such delicious progress last week, I was keen to maintain the practice so that participants could reliably and quickly enter the state of flow.

Throughout the session, entrainment was achieved more quickly at under two minutes and in songs at higher tempi ~160bpm. Encouraging though this is, there is still a distance to be made up, with my 'holy grail' objectives being entrainment: in less than thirty seconds, and at a tempo of +190bpm.

Additional challenge was incorporated by the use of two shakers, one in each hand, of differing tone and/or loudness.

Two Feelings
Participants began to "drive into the floor" i.e. derive more leverage (stack joint toque curves) from the floor. Because they had not yet been shown how to damp the resultant force, it evidenced as a more staccato 'punchy' movement. They were not aware that they were moving more percussively.

I drew their attention to this, and asked them to accentuate the sway in the cradle of their hips, to deflect (not dampen) the resultant sideways. This restored the smooth action, but with an intrinsic gain of power.

The shorthand for the two qualities was "punchy" and "smooth".

Two Walks
We also investigated the relevance of the two shaker tones: the single, and the double, with respect to the salsa walk. At this point, I introduced them to the concept of the two walks:

The 'rhythmic walk' where the vocalisation and step-sizes are matched as "short-short-long" to create the "quick-quick-slow" rhythm. This walk opens a clear space for the double tone of the shaker.

The 'pinch-a-bit walk' where: the first step is taken early on beat one; the second step is 'in the pocket' on beat two; and, the third step is taken late on beat three. It's called the 'pinch-a-bit' because the dancer pinches time from both sides of beat four to give it to the first and third steps. This results in a smoother, slower, flat-triplet feel to the walk. As the second step was taken in the pocket, this was synchronised with the single tone of the shaker.

We took the time to have a qualitative discussion on the merits of both, and the circumstances under which they might be preferentially employed.

Additional supporting information was provided by referring to my web tutorial on:
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/salsatwo/anchor_two/extr_anc2.html

Where:
'Figure 2.2. Fault tolerance' illustrates the two variations of walks.

The row labelled 'Tones' corresponds to the back-beat timeline played on the shaker(s).

The row labelled 'Accurate' represents the 'short-short-long' rhythmic walk.

The row labelled '2, slow' represents the smooth 'pinch a bit' walk (for torneo and setenta). '2' means it's calibrated to beat 2 (single shake of shaker); 'slow' means a pinch more time is added between steps 1&2, and 2&3.

That we are now examining the qualitative rhythmic nature of dance in solares is encouraging. It shows that participants are developing an increased sensitivity to the aural and kinesthetic dimensions of dance. And the possibility of greater fulfilment. I wonder what that might look like.

Loo

A State Of Flow

Yesterday was the first Solares after my return from the Far East. I'd been pondering the learning approach to the session, and had predicated the learning plan on the probability that the participants would have done very little practice. Hence I designed the workshop as a practice session, not as an overt learning session in a flipped classroom context.

The purpose to doing that was the removal of anxiety.

As we'd moved into investigating the domain of timelines and fundamental rhythms, solares participants are being asked to re-frame their embodiment activity as percussionists. Achieving a "state of flow" is essential to the activity's success.

According to Owen Schaffer's white paper "Crafting Fun User Experiences: A Method to Facilitate Flow, Human Factors International" (2013), there are seven conditions to be met for a state of flow to be achievable:

1. knowing what to do;
2. knowing how to do it;
3. knowing how well you're doing;
4. knowing where to go (if navigation is involved);
5. high perceived challenges;
6. high perceived skills; and
7. freedom from distractions.

In practice, these were satisfied within the exercise of: generating shaker tones synchronised to the audible tones of the conga's tumbao moderno, while performing salsa's atiempo embodiment rhythm, to a salsa track.

Conditions 1 & 2
were met through revision of exercises one through three from the last session (see: http://salsadiary.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/percussion-concept-attack.html).

Condition 3
was fulfilled by the short impulse sound of the shaker, providing immediate feedback on quality of performance.

Condition 4
largely irrelevant, was met by self-determination in the direction of the rhythmic walk.

Conditions 5 & 6
were satisfied by the as-yet undeveloped proficiency in the synchronous performance of two timeline rhythms: back-beat and embodiment; to a qualitatively stringent level (less than 40 milliseconds).

Condition 7
was met by the studio environment (privacy), exercise design (solo practice), and unobtrusive support (subtle remedial intervention).

Three common states disrupt the maintenance of flow:

• apathy - low challenge level, low skills level, engenders a general lack of interest
• boredom -  low challenge level, high skills level, causes a distracting search for higher challenges
• anxiety - high challenge level, low skills level, creates a feeling of uneasiness.

The latter is why the session was planned the way it was; to maximise the possibility of achieving the state of flow.

It succeeded.

At just before the workshop's mid-point, it was observable that each participant had entered (albeit inconsistently) entrainment. (See also PDF on entrainment by the Open University: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/experience/InTimeWithTheMusic.pdf). As proficiency increased, so did the need for challenge to maintain interest for flow. Adjustments to only three parameters were necessary:

1. variations in tempo,
2. quality of shaker tone, and
3. fine synchronisation between timelines.

This was the first time I'd seen solares' participants enter the biomusic state of flow, and it heralds an exciting threshold of possibilities in the workshops.

Loo Yeo

Percussion Concept: Attack

This was the last Solares session before a long break, so I wanted to leave all participants with something simple yet of fundamental significance that they could practice.

It had struck me during the modulation practices that their vocalisations were inconsistent in interval and in tonal quality, it's a drawback to vocalisations deployed in communities where rhythmic social activity is not a mainstay. So I brought along every shaker instrument I owned: shakers, maracas, ankle rattles, shekere...

The idea was simple: to replace the "gung-gung" (beats 4, 4+) and "pak" (beat 2) vocalisations with beats from a shaker.

Long impulse to short impulse sound
Using a vocalisation, the participant is not normally critically aware (speed, climbing intensity) of the initiation of the sound, nor of its decay (due to resonance in cranio-thoracic cavities). Vocalisations are slow to develop their full sound pressure and to dissipate as well - they are long impulse sounds.

Shakers initiate their sounds quickly because they have a discrete impact event. Their sounds also dissipate quickly because their containing cavities tend to be small. Their tones are short impulse sounds.

Critical evaluation
Moving the back-beat timeline from vocals to an internal instrument, decoupled tone generation from the perceptual-integral self: placing the rhythmic activity outside the body; and, at some distance from the centre (i.e. at the end of the arms) such that a lag time was introduced, and had to be compensated for. Both of these factors contribute to a requirement for critical listening and a more critical evaluation of the quality of performance.

Options for development
Transferring the interpretation of the back-beat timeline onto shakers broadens the scope for the musical development of percussionist dancers: rhythmic variations; call-and-response; ensemble performance; percussive attack and decay; and phrasing. Crucially, it frees up the vocals to interpret a separate timeline.

Revealing
The giant of all immediate purposes is to render to the participants the best possible feedback on their quality of performance, in fine synchrony of movements to music, and involvement in co-operative ensemble.

Exercise One
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with "gung-gung" vocalisation (beats 4,4+). Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add "pak" vocalisation (beat 2).

Exercise Two
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with two shaker beats synchronised to the "gung-gung" vocalisation (beats 4,4+). Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add one shaker beat synchronised to the "pak" vocalisation (beat 2).

Exercise Three (without back-beat vocalisations)
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with two shaker beats on beats 4,4+. Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add one shaker beat on beat 2.

Exercises one through three were repeated to slow music. Exercise three was then maintained to music of increasing tempo.

Conclusion
All participants found the initial process of playing a shaker whilst dancing challenging. It was important to allow each one, the time to work out an approach which suited him or her the best. Intervention was kept to a minimum, but there was always a high availability of support.

At the end of the session, participants were clear as to what practice was required i.e. exercise three to a tempo maximum of 150bpm, and they were already able to achieve this in the workshop.

The refinements will come after I get back.

Loo Yen

Return to the Bolero and on to the Promised Land

Last Tuesday, solares made a return to the bolero after a hiatus of two years. The workshop was small: comprised equally of those whom had done it before, and those for whom it would be their first experience of it, so the time was right.

The impetus behind this was the torneo content of the previous few weeks. It had reached that stage where 'drivers' needed to improve their:

• visualisation of line of dance
• implementation of line of dance
• silence in the frame (reducing the transmission of movement vibration to the torneo partner)
• sensitivity to the torneo partner's vertical axis of rotation

Torneo partners needed to develop their:

• foot-bearing - the pivoting contact point on the floor
• core strength
• sensitivity to the driving partner's lead, to distinguish between orbital and axial lead information

Both sides needed the rhythmic dance space to gain a gentler touch to their musicality. All these, I began to see progress in. However the most wonderful thing, for me as educator, was the validation of the exercise begun two years ago. It took the experienced dancers just one song to get back in the flow of things, a telling sign that naturalisation had been achieved. Moreover they all danced displaying a strong connection with the music, something they happily (and with some surprise) admitted to.

This opens the way to the promised land of articulation and synthesis - firstly in the use of space, and afterwards in the interpretation of rhythm. I'm also intrigued as to what extent the experienced dancers might catalyse the development those new to the genre.

Loo Yen Yeo

Introducing the Torneo

At the beginning of tonight's Solares I was torn between two lesson plans. The first was a logical one: a final combination variation which would have tied up the whole capsule vocabulary in a nice neat bow. The second was an emotional one: an element from son cubano, executed in contemporary salsa, which would stretch and inspire.

I went with my heart.

The 'torneo' or potter's wheel is one of the most challenging pieces of choreography in the son pantheon. It sounds simple: one partner is poised on one foot at the centre of the wheel, while the other partner dances the circumference of the circle turning the pivoting partner. What it requires of the torneo partner is great balance, good core strength, minimal bearing contact with the floor; and the circling partner must have a constant torso speed while keeping to the dance rhythm below the waist, and a clean, perfectly described line of dance, clear of movement noise.

It proved to be the right choice; they went at it hammer and tongs all hour. The immediate skills they realised they needed to develop further were:

• improving the quality of balance as the torneo partner
• how to lead and follow the torneo by constraining the vertical axis of the torneo partner
• silencing vibrations travelling through the circler's points of contact, so as not throw the torneo partner off balance
• how to follow-up the torneo with a phase change should their partner exit on the 'incorrect' foot
• continuously visualising the line of dance, ahead execution, as the circling partner

I consider all these skills essential, and the torneo is one of the best contexts for them because it renders any deficiencies transparent. To reprise Bloom's psycho-motor domain, the torneo class of manoeuvres requires the development of skilful precision; is the next level up from manipulation achieved through the capsule vocabulary.

Loo

Cultural Knowledge

Last Saturday was our Sheffield Parranda Espectacular event in Sheffield. Apart from the hospitality, operational and performance aspects make up the running of a great night, I try to squeeze in a few moments to sound out Solares/The Rueda Academy (STRA) attendees. The way they express themselves, their interpretations of their own learning is richly informative, helping me understand how better to tailor their learning experience.

One of them made an astute observation. When Solares first started, he was under the impression that it was a novel kind of workshop; that there were subcomponents or aspects being trialled which would inform my dance research. And yet after two years of workshops, all the material we'd covered was contained in my rather snazzy salsa website. This snippet, which should be read in a positive tone, was couched within a larger conversation of satisfaction with Solares' direction and modes of delivery. I had the chance to explain later that while "yes" the material was similar, it was the environment and means of delivery that was novel.

When I first elucidated the content elements and hierarchy some fifteen plus years ago, the young women and men whom I trained turned out to be exceptional educators and dancers displaying physical and conceptual skills at the peak of Bloom's taxonomy. Where they were (comparatively) less strong was their fluency with the musical, rhythmic, and cultural domains in Caribbean dance.

In retrospect, it was my naivete in searching for an ideal objective means of dance instruction that was to blame. I had neither the maturity nor the experience associated with the cultural knowledge of salsa to appreciate its value, its necessity as a subjective part. This except from "Spinning Mambo Into Salsa" (2015: 114) by Juliet McMains captures the difference between then and now.

"For Cuban Pete, mambo was not something that could be learned in a dance school. It was cultural knowledge he inherited from his family, dancing in the kitchen with his mother.

"This tension between Latin dance as cultural knowledge that can only be learned through time spent in a particular community versus Latin dance as a technique that can be bought and sold in formal dance classes intensified as the salsa dance industry emerged in the 1990s."

While I am not able to provide the literal environment of growing up and dancing in a kitchen with a Latin American mother like Cuban Pete's, I am interested in whether a surrogate environment may be created where subjective Latin American cultural knowledge may be acquired.

This is the basis of Solares' novelty.

Loo Yeo

Enculturating Engagement

In my daytime profession, there is much discussion about how to increase the levels of student engagement for a richer learning experience. The arenas might be different but the principles apply equally. The key to any teaching structure is to provide a safe learning environment, and in Solares' case, it's a place where they are free to develop and to question without fear.

"Why?" is the root of engagement
Explaining why certain phenomena exist, why things have evolved as they have, why things are done a particular way, develops a deep level of understanding.

For example:
(Spatial) Why is there a convention of an asymmetrical hold in partner dance?
(Rhythm) Why is there a an On-1 versus an On-2 debate?

There is more than one Truth
When asked if something being executed correctly or not, I often find myself saying "it depends..." much to the chagrin of participants. What works well in one situation might not work well in another - there is seldom any universal truth in dance. Explaining the pros and cons (once again the 'why') of an artefact plus optional forms allows an individual to exercise her/his own judgement. The exercise of judgement is what makes individuals, individual; and opens to day to dialogue.

For example:
(Spatial) What works when there is a height match and when there's a height mismatch?
(Rhythm) What part of the beat should steps be taken on?

Signing up to a Social Contract
If a participant wants to be treated fairly, to be allowed to learn at their best, they have to do the same for their peers. That means being patient, being supportive, being willing to share, taking part, being willing to make mistakes, being able to ask for help.

For example:
Everyone learns to follow. Everyone learns to lead.
Everyone takes turns partnering everyone, irrespective of ability. That includes the educators.

Questions are thoughtfully entertained
A broadcast question of "does anyone have any questions?" is hardly successful in a workshop where participants do not know each other or the teacher. All questions asked during remedial contact whether: in partnership with the individual, during observation of a single partnership, and in groups; must be thoughtfully considered, and be seen to be genuinely considered.

Feedback is Immediate
There is no surer way to demonstrate that the question was taken seriously. On several occasions, I have interrupted an exercise in order to disseminate the positive point raised, sometimes encouraging opinions from other participants or instructors.

Flexible Pedagogy
Under exceptional circumstances I've allowed valid points to alter the workshop plan, to encourage exploration of unanticipated avenues which are still beneficial to development. This indicates that participants can have a profound impact upon their own learning, and that not only is their input entertained, but it is valuable.

I get feedback too. The response is that these unplanned explorations have been the ones which participants feel they have learned the most from. I think this is because they feel the session was tailored to their needs, as compared to one designed towards an educator's archetype.

The Result
A collaborative community of highly engaged learners. That includes the teachers.

Loo

The Rueda Academy - The Key Concepts

At the Academy, we believe rueda:

• has a framework based on the Cuban son
• has a basic timing which is atiempo
• has the performance musculature of rumba
• is home to cultural accents, like those derived from dances dedicated to the Orishas
• is a synchronous coordinated ensemble activity
• has tremendous freedom for creative self-expression
• should involve on-lookers equally

We achieve this by addressing ideas and dance skills at three scales:

1. The individual scale – “your voice in the story”
We ensure that you bring your best rhythms to the party
We free you to express your joy compellingly
We help you exude confidence
We help you become a cultural insider

2. The rueda couple scale – “expressions in conversation”
You’ll appreciate the rueda couple as the ‘wheel within the wheel’ providing the internal dynamic of the larger wheel
We help you feel and understand the circular energy of rueda at the couple level
You’ll learn how to leave room in your dancing to let your partner ‘speak’
We help you listen to what your partner has to say
You’ll understand the purpose of a move and the meaning of a call

3. The Rueda de Casino scale – “an epic tale”
We’ll play with the building-blocks of rueda de casino
We’ll delve the properties of a mass-coordinated activity
What is good quality?
We build resilience: ‘When things do go wrong, how do we cope with it? How can we enjoy it?’
You’ll learn how to keep the rueda open to invite the participation of on-lookers

Eşref Ulaş
Loo Yeo

Solares - The Key Concepts

Imagine...

Imagine you could dance any dance that Spanish America could throw at you.
Imagine you could feel the meaning of each song, each movement, as though born to it.
Imagine you had the confidence and ability to absorb new dances in a heartbeat.

What if this could be true?

The Principles of Solares

Solares is built on an innovative approach to multi-genre instruction – it emphasises the similarities of Latin dance, placing all movement and rhythm skills common to all genres at its core. It’s closer to how natives learn.

Wrapped around this universal core are the configuration skills – abilities which allow you to recognise a genre, tailor your movement and express the rhythms necessary to characterise that genre.

Universality and adaptability combine to produce genre agility: the ability to move seamlessly, instantly, between genres/dance types just as natives do.

Although Solares is centred on the development of skills, dance moves will be used:

• as a means of providing genre context;
• to build move and movement vocabularies;
• in cultural case-examples; and
• as elemental building-blocks in combination-building.
   

The Concepts

Yvonne Daniel, a dance ethnographer from the United States, studied, trained and performed as a troupe member of Havana-based Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba. In her book ‘Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba’ (1995) is the observation:

“African cabildos (secret societies) in Cuba contributed to the crystallisation of certain African dance/music concepts in the Americas: that music and dance are not primarily entertainment forms; that music and dance are interdependent; that their structure utilises both set and improvisational elements; that complexity and depth are built by the layering and interfacing of small, simple, diverse units; that the human body is paramount.”

Thus the key concepts are:

• music and dance are not primarily entertainment forms
• music and dance are interdependent
• their structure utilises both set and improvisational elements
• complexity and depth are built by the layering and interfacing of small, simple, diverse units
• the human body is paramount
   

Is Solares for you?

Take a moment to reflect on some key-concept questions:

The nature of interdependency between music and dance – ‘dancemusic’
How have the Europeans made us listen?
Why have the Africans driven us to dance?
Has modernity quietened our primal voices?
“How African is your dancing?” “How European is your dancemusic?” “When did you decide?”

The human body is paramount
How you move is who you are: your body and how you choose to use it is your CV.
How you move is what you believe in, so “what do you believe in?”
Your quality of movement is your personal history
“What are you saying?” “What would you like to say?” “How could you say it?”

Afro-Caribbean music-dance structures utilise both set and improvisational elements
Do natives learn your basics?
Do you let your partner dance? (macro-structure: marcas, combinations and calls)
Have you danced with the saints? (micro-structural elements, motifs and gestures)

Complexity and depth are built by the layering and interfacing of small, simple, diverse units
How much dancemusic can a single body hold?
How nimble are your feelings? (the spirit of dance lives in the in-between)
Would you jangle the keys to Heaven? (hyper-learning the elements and cues of improvisation)
Does your dance sing?

African-derived ‘dancemusics’ in the Americas are not primarily entertainment forms
Where you dance is who you are (social spaces of dancemusic)
Is it in your blood? (Ethnomusicology and embedded meaning)
Do the drums nudge you playfully? (giving as good as you get in live situations)

If you’d like to understand the questions better then Solares could be for you, because the answers to them can already be found inside you.

To express interest, you can contact Loo via:

• email: loo[at]salsa-merengue[dot]co[dot]uk
• email: parrandapage[at]gmail[dot]com
• facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parrandapage
• a chat at your nearest Parranda night
   

Loo Yeo

And I dub thee "Solares"

We're going ahead with the weekly workshops.

I've just emerged from the throes of articulating the specification document for my session, from which I'm deriving the outward-facing i.e. student-facing interest-capturing blurb. (I'm also writing the blurb for Eşref's session.) Then there's the tough question of what to call it - as tortuous and as important as the opening line of a book - because it sets the tone for everything.

It has to have cultural meaning
It has to be completely symbolic of the learning ethos
It has to be pronounceable
It as to be natural
It has to be honest
It's going to be Solares.

"Why the Spanish word for 'courtyards'?" you might ask.

Solares has a deeper meaning. Solares are tenement buildings, blocks of single-room apartments, opening onto a central courtyard. Each apartment would house an entire family, and facilities like water and sanitation were shared. Just because slavery ended, it did not mean an end to misery nor poverty. These urban experiments in housing the poor were Pan-Caribbean and objects of institutional shame in the early 20th century, "teeming with mullattoes and blacks" (Irene Alice Wright, Latin American Studies Association Conference, Miami, Florida, 2002) and associated with squalor.

"Why on Earth would you name it after that?!?" you might ask in horror.

I believe that our greatest social dances were born out of poverty and social injustice. Solares doesn't celebrate it, solares acknowledges it. The sessions will look to allow for the African voice to re-enter the dialogue of Caribbean dance - a voice I believe erased when U.S.American and European ballroomers codified Latin American dance. The central courtyard was a focus of social activity, and despite abject conditions, ritmo continued to be produced, to flourish and to grow in these communal spaces throughout the Caribbean.

The Solares Workshops will not be about salsa. It will be ambitious. It will be about the Pan-Caribbean experience of music and its embodiment in its communities.

Loo Yen Yeo

Clear Objectives: A Return to Teaching

Esh and I have been talking about offering dance lessons.

That's for want of a better term. It's stemmed from my one-to-one workshop sessions with him,.and we'd had Elaine, a mutual friend drop by the occasional three-hour Sunday who'd gotten quite absorbed in them. So it occurred to me to ask, "how about we open this up?" Not in a commercial sense, but to people we know whom might be keen. After all, it's just as easy for me to run a session for a small gathering of individuals as it is for one; and, there's the opportunity of developing partnered skills.

Besides, given the unconventional format and flipped-learning model, I wouldn't anticipate that attendee retention would be high, given that the general populace of dancers have already been pre-selected and optimised for conventional instruction.

But I'd have to get something out of this as well, apart from an altruistic joy of teaching. It wouldn't be financial - I've always preferred a social contract to a financial one. So I've articulated some clear personal objectives should I choose to proceed. I think it's crucial to have these, not only to determine the direction of development, but also to judge the value of the activity.

Principal objectives

1. Explore the externally-perceived value of a contrasting pedagogic ethos
2. Data generation for on-going dance research
3. Validation of pedagogic hypotheses
4. Continued personal development as dance educator and proponent

On the up-side, that commercial viability is not a necessity will allow for plenty of scope in implementation. On the down-side, how does one satisfy the contradictory notions of: being able to accept newcomers/accommodating people who have essential commitments flexibly, with the need for clear progression?

Loo Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Twenty-Five

Warm-up: bi-rhythmic practice
Playing rumba clave (arms), and alternating between stepping on pulse and salsa dance rhythm (legs).

Warm-up: rumba guaguancó knee action

Concept: rebound of the knee
If the stepping of the foot is atiempo, then the knee action is contratiempo where: the outward articulation of the knee is active, and the inward articulation is rebound-passive.

Practice: rumba guaguancó knee action with rebound
To rumba clave only track. On the spot, then walking all directions.

Concept: "It has to sound great!"
Within the historical context of rumba with its simple instrumentation, even the sounds of the dancer's foot rhythm has got to groove.

Practice: Pulse-Clave transitions
To rumba clave only track, 143bpm. Alternating between dancing pulse for two phrases, and clave "pa-pa, pa-pa-pa'um" in 2-3 orientation.

Learning materials
Rumba clave timelines by Jeremy Wise and Loo Yeo
Flor Pálida by Marc Anthony

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Twenty-Four

Warm up, to rumba clave only tracks
Walks in all directions: forwards, backwards, to side, linear and rotated; changing between stepping on pulse and salsa dance rhythm.

Analysis: distribution of movement energy
In front of mirror, stepping between pulse and salsa dance rhythm, upper body engine. There is rhythmic dance energy apparent above the waist than below. It looks unbalanced.

Concept: increasing lower body dance energy
Engaging the knees rhythmically introduces the involvement of the adductors and abductors, increasing lower body dance energy.

Concept: body-part substitution in rhythm interpretation

I - Body-part substitution in salsa dance rhythm

Practice: salsa dance rhythm foot to knee substitution, on the spot
To rumba clave only tracks. Salsa dance rhythm: instead of foot-foot-foot, to foot-knee(out)-foot, static practice. Centre-of-gravity remains a constant distance from the floor, which causes the ankles to raise off the floor as the knees move outward.

Learning points:

• listen for the foot-knee-foot action. The auditory feedback should be "thump" (foot strikes floor), "rustle" (clothing brushes knee), "thump" (foot strikes floor)
• lower centre of gravity to produce more power
• the knee movement is undamped, being allowed to swing freely yet rhythmically.

Practice: salsa dance rhythm foot to knee substitution, walking
To rumba clave only tracks. Salsa dance rhythm: instead of foot-foot-foot, to foot-knee(out)-foot, walking practice (all directions). This is the rumba guaguancó knee action.

Learning point: the knee action is deliberately exaggerated at low tempi so that it will be observable at the high tempi of guaguancó.

Practice: rumba guaguancó knee action, strengthening exercise
Walks to rumba clave only tracks. Intersperse with four steps on same foot, taking successively deeper steps. This develops physical flexibility and strength, and timing compensation for step size.

II - Body-part substitution in rumba clave rhythm

Practice: stepping to 3-2 rumba clave
To rumba clave only tracks, sidewards walks. Six steps to the compound rumba-son clave vocalisation (3-2 orientation) "pa, pa, pa-um / pa, pa" as *side, close, back-side / side, close*

Practice: stepping to 2-3 rumba clave
To rumba clave only tracks, sidewards walks. Six steps to the compound rumba-son clave vocalisation (2-3 orientation) "pa, pa / pa, pa, pa-um" as *side, close / side, close, back-side*

Learning materials
Rumba clave timelines by Jeremy Wise and Loo Yeo
Flor Pálida by Marc Anthony

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Sixteen

Introduction
Having achieved the First Stage of Independence, we enter phase two of the rumba guaguancó development plan where the emphasis is on the quality of execution: increasing detail will be followed by cycles of repetition to achieve naturalisation, and then further to achieve hyper-learning. Hyper-learning is the basis of improvisation, a key skill spanning phases two and three.

The theme of this rumba guaguancó workshop is:

1. to develop a solid understanding and feel for its basic structure;
2. to be able to open spaces in the structure; and
3. to learn how elements may be inserted in these spaces.

Section I - Basic structure of rumba guaguancó

Concept: Joint rhythm on the horizontal plane
The hip movement for women and the knee movement for men is actually executed to a new rhythm timeline, and it contributes to the composite time-code. In both instances the joints move to a "cha-cha-cha" rhythm with the first 'cha' co-incident with the foot-fall on the pulse (to a count of 1-and-2, 3-and-4). Women's accents are 'chá-cha-chá', whereas men's are the inverse 'cha-chá-cha'.

Practice: Male knee action for guaguancó
Solo, without music, then stepping pulse to rumba clave only track. Forward walks. The feet are placed on two parallel tracks, the gauge between the tracks is one important variable. The knee orientation for the 'cha-chá-cha' is 'straight-out-in' (relative to the centreline).

Practice: Dancing to rumba clave
Solo, to rumba clave only track. Performing in order of priority: stepping on pulse; clave vocalisation "pa, pa, pa-ún; pa, pa"; torso engine; chachachá hip/knee rhythm, clapping pulse (centre-left-centre-right-).

Practice: Dancing to rumba clave, full music context
Solo, to En El Malecón De La Habana tracks. As practice above but to timba music, same order of priority.

Discussion: Nature of the engine and gender movement differences
Women's chachacha hip action dissipates the lower stroke of the engine cycle, therefore the torso pulse can only be implied when it is deployed. Men's knee action does not interfere with the torso pulse. Hence women must be discerning as to the choice of application between the engine stroke or the chachacha hip action.

Practice: Female upper limb action in guaguancó
Solo. As per the above two practices, except the hand claps are substituted with holding two ends of a shawl or kerchief, or two folds of a skirt. Hands move centre-left-centre-right- on pulse beats.

Section II - Opening up rhythmic spaces in rumba guaguancó

Concept: 'Stopping' and 'starting' points
Ceasing the step rhythm i.e. stopping; and resuming the step rhythm i.e. starting, does two things: it

1. creates rhythmic tension; and
2. emphasises preceding and following movement through juxtaposition.

At this stage of development, the engine cycle is maintained even when the step rhythm stops.

There are several potential stop-start points relative to the clave vocalisation. Given that previous learning was with instructors of European bias, we will begin by using two points which European find easier to comprehend:

• on the pulse beat after 'pa-ún' i.e. on European beat one; and
• on the pulse beat before 'pa-ún' i.e. before African beat one.

Practice: Stressing the first pulse beat of the European rhythmic cycle
Solo, to En El Malecón De La Habana tracks. Stepping on pulse; clave vocalisation "pa, pa, pa-ún; pa, pa"; torso engine; chachachá hip/knee rhythm, clapping pulse (centre-left-centre-right-). Emphasis is placed by a stronger step on the pulse beat immediately after 'pa-ún', and a louder clap (centre-left-centre-right-).

Practice: Stressing the last pulse beat of the European rhythmic cycle
Solo, to En El Malecón De La Habana tracks. Stepping on pulse; clave vocalisation "pa, pa, pa-um; pa, pa"; torso engine; chachachá hip/knee rhythm, clapping pulse (centre-left-centre-right-). Emphasis is placed by a stronger step on the pulse beat immediately before 'pa-ún', and a louder clap (centre-left-centre-right-).

Concept: Four combinations are possible
With these two points on the European timeline, four shapes of rhythmic space can be opened. These combinations are, in order of increasing difficulty for 'Europeans':

1. Stopping on the pulse beat after 'pa-ún', Resuming on the pulse beat after 'pa-ún'
2. Stopping on the pulse beat before 'pa-ún', Resuming on  the pulse beat before 'pa-ún'
3. Stopping on the pulse beat before 'pa-ún', Resuming on the pulse beat after 'pa-ún'
4. Stopping on the pulse beat after 'pa-ún', Resuming on the pulse beat before 'pa-ún'

Practice: Stopping-Resuming to rumba clave, solo
Solo, to rumba clave only track. Stepping on pulse; clave vocalisation "pa, pa, pa-ún; pa, pa"; torso engine; chachachá hip/knee rhythm (optional). Stopping and resuming using Combination 1 above, one cycle pause, maintaining engine cycle. The pause should then be lengthened from one to two, three and four cycles.

Practice: Stopping-Resuming to rumba clave, partnered
Partnered, to rumba clave only track. As above. Partners are given the discretion to pause:

• asynchronously
• synchronously
• synchronously, as with a verbal/non-verbal cue from the leader (each partner taking turns being leader).

Practice: Stopping-Resuming to rumba clave, partnered, full context
Partnered, to En El Malecón De La Habana tracks. As above.

Practice: Learning the remaining combinations
Repeat practices sequence of the rumba clave, solo / rumba clave, partnered / rumba clave, partnered full context (above) for start-resume combinations 2, 3 and 4.

Section III - Inserting elements in rumba guaguancó

Concept: Filling the rhythmic space
Combinations are improvised to fill the rhythmic space opened up in Section II. But as we've learned in Section I, improvisation arises from hyper-learning. The strategy is therefore to emphasise practice-to-mastery of two elements so that a simple combination can be executed.

Element: Shimmy
The basic shimmy action is generated identically in both sexes; from the core muscles around the spine centred between the points of the shoulder-blades. The action is genderised:

• females - hands constrained by shielding the groin, 'shoulder-points' forward allowing the upper arm to partially shield the side of the breast. This results in a 'coquettish' upper-body action.
• males - hands upper and either side of the groin, elbows out, decreased distance between the upper shoulder-blades. This results in a 'bravado' upper-body action.

Practice: Shimmy, solo

Solo, rumba clave only tracks. Fast and slow shimmy, over one and then two clave phrases.

Practice: Shimmy, solo, to music

Solo, Ay Díos, Ampárame tracks. Fast and slow shimmy, over one and then two clave phrases.

Practice: Shimmy, partnered, full context

Partnered, Ay Díos, Ampárame tracks. Full basic guaguancó then stop, pause (with engine), fast and/or slow shimmy (over one and then two clave phrases, no engine), pause (with engine), resume guaguancó basic.

Element: Slow turn
The simple version of a slow turn is achieved by:

1. the placement of one foot behind (and to one side of) the other, resulting in a crossing of the legs; and
2. the legs uncrossed though rotation of the pelvis, pivoting through the control points on the front of both feet.

Practice: Slow turn, solo

Solo, rumba clave only tracks. Slow turn over one and then two clave phrases.

Practice: Slow turn, solo, to music

Solo, Ay Díos, Ampárame tracks. Slow turn over one and then two clave phrases.

Practice: Slow turn, partnered, full context

Partnered, Ay Díos, Ampárame tracks. Full basic guaguancó then stop, pause (with engine), slow turn (over one and then two clave phrases, with engine), pause (with engine), resume guaguancó basic.

Case study: a basic combination, inserted into guaguancó rhythmic space
Partnered, rumba clave only track.

1. guaguancó basic
2. stop the basic (your choice of stop point), vacunao (lead)
3. defense (follower)
4. pause
5. shimmy
6. slow turn
7. pause
8. resume guaguancó basic

Note: the shimmy and slow turn may also be executed simultaneously

Practice: basic combination, inserted into guaguancó rhythmic space
Partnered, full music context of students' choice.

Additional materials
Ay Díos, Ampárame by Los Van Van
En El Malecón De La Habana by Los Van Van
Como Se Formó Una Rumba (DVD) film by Iván Acosta

Loo Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Fourteen

Introduction: parting the curtain to recognise salsa's heart
Learned dancers in the European context are taught to synchronise their movements to one timeline, usually a count. Sometimes an event: the conga open tones are included in the count timeline, but since instructors adapt their count rhythm to synchronise and phrase identically to the dance rhythm being taught, a compound time-code is not established.

Hence their dancers do not usually learn to synthesise a compound time-code of two or more timelines.

Afro-Cuban music employs polyrhythms, many of which differ in their phrasing. It is in that relationship between one rhythmic timeline and another - synchronised yet differing in phrase and phase - where some of the music's richness lies.

The 'rhythmic plateau' is the phenomenon where advanced dancers are restricted to the phrasing of a single timeline. A pedagogic strategy to 'amend' or overcome this rhythmic plateau requires:

• awareness of another rhythmic timeline and its properties - it must be synchronous yet different in phase;
• the development of ability to synchronise the dance rhythm to this other rhythmic timeline - thereby establishing a compound time-code;
• perception and eventually interpretation of the phasing/phrasing events that arise from this time-code.
   

Concept: Clave is at the very heart of Cuban music
All musicians who play Cuban and Cuban-derived music do so to a master timeline, clave, be it overt or implied, son or rumba or 6/8. It is the one constant in this music; and mastery of the synthesis of the elemental compound time-code, comprising clave and dance rhythm, lies at the very core of Cuban dance.

Briefing: Contratiempo predates a tiempo
Son and its earliest form changüi, as precursors to salsa, is danced contratiempo; the compelling argument being the synchrony of the son basic dance rhythm with the martillo rhythm interpreted on the bongó (which is the son's rhythmic time-keeper). Since son arose in Cuba's Oriente in the 1880s, and salsa in New York City in the 1960s, contratiempo predates a tiempo (on the premise that salsa then was danced a tiempo) by some eighty years.

Concept: Rhythmic underpinning
Whether salsa dancers dance "On1", "Break on 2", or "On 2", the naming convention alone indicates an European, not an African, judgement of salsa rhythm's start position. Rhythmic underpinning involves:

• stimulating an awareness of any cultural bias, usually pro-European;
• increasing sensitivity to African-descended components - ways of listening and phrasing;
• interpreting both influences as a hybridised sliding scale as a direct reflection of salsa's music; and
• establishing the perception of contratiempo rhythmic phrasing as the core mode, from which other variants are modifications - a genetic perspective.
   

The Cuban Conservatory Method
Contratiempo son basic to son clave. This method is appropriate to this style of workshop as it is event-based, using a listen-and-feel mode using non-verbal sounds.

Exercise: Recognising contratiempo dance rhythm's starting beat relative to son clave
Solo. Using the vocalisation: "pa-pa-'ee', pah-pah-pa" (2-3 clave orientation). Then vocalising the 'ee' whilst clapping son clave.

Exercise: Vocalising the contratiempo dance rhythm's starting beat
Solo. Vocalising 'ee' on the starting beat, to isochronous son clave tracks at various tempi.

Exercise: Initiating the contratiempo start with a sideward weight transfer
Solo, then partnered. Synchronising a sideward weight transfer with the vocalisation of 'ee' to isochronous son clave tracks at various tempi. Note the kinesthesia of the side-step: the changes in muscle tone around the hip before, during, and after the vocalisation.

Exercise: The complete son basic, contratiempo to son clave
Solo, then partnered. Using isochronous son clave tracks of increasing tempo. Note that the son basic is more lateral than longitudinal in movement. The relationship of clave and to dance rhythm is one that can be felt as that of tension-and-release.

Concept: Son clave changes its character according to tempo
Actually it's the synthesised time-code which changes its character and maintaining its stability at the extremes of tempo is what is most challenging: at lower tempi, the clave feeling becomes diffuse and less rhythmic tension is generated; at higher tempi as the beats draw closer together, the distance between the actual and expected beats lessen, again lessening rhythmic tension. It is also easier to slip into a tiempo dance rhythm at higher tempi.

Additional materials
Isochronous son clave only tracks

Loo Yen Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Thirteen

Section I - Rumba Guaguancó

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk, accenting with a 'drop'
Revision of this practice from Workshop Ten and Eleven. Additional refinements: the reaction force of the 'drop' on the floor is used to reinforce the up-stroke of the engine; the stroke size of the engine is varied according to prevailing conditions e.g. partnership strength and musical characteristics.

Exercise: Guaguancó static basic, vocalising the basic drum rhythm
Solo. This exercise articulates the relationship between the dance rhythm and guaguancó's a capella music. It also establishes a two-component time-code. The Havana variant is used and vocalised as 'gung-ging-ging-gung'.

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk, vocalising the basic drum rhythm
Solo. Basic walk with 'drop' accent. The walks are initially side to side, then forward and backward, then with changes in orientation.

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk, vocalising the basic drum rhythm
Partnered. Basic walk in pursuit-and-capture mode.Without and then with music.

Exercise: Rumba torso engine development
Solo. Static practice, feet shoulder-width apart. Shifting weight every torso cycle: centre-right-centre-left-(repeat). Ensure that shoulders remain level, and that weight is fully transferred to each leg when cycling to the right and the left. Add vocalisation of drum rhythm.

Section II - Contratiempo

Concept: Synthesising a time-code to musical forms
Rhythmic timelines exist in all forms of popular music. In Cuban-derived music, a dancer:

1. recognises at least one existing auditory timeline;
2. creates a dance rhythm timeline
3. synchronises the dance rhythm timeline to the auditory timeline; and 
4. synthesises a time-code of two (or more) timelines.

He or she might optionally add physical interpretations of other timelines e.g. torso synchronised to the pulse. Time-code stability is enhanced with successful incorporation of each rhythmic timeline. 
 
Briefing: Importance of the tumbao moderno's slap stroke
The slap stroke is a dry sharp sound which though distinct, can be masked by other sharp sounds like the wood-block or bell. In the basic tumbao moderno, it is located on the second African downbeat or first European backbeat (European beat 2). Locating the position of the slap stroke is important because one step of the dance rhythm is synchronised to it.

Practice: Drumming the African downbeats/European backbeats
Solo. Playing the double-open tones and slap strokes. Without music, and then to music.

Exercise: Vocalising the African downbeats/European backbeats
Solo. Playing the double-open tones and slap strokes, then vocalise "gung-gung" and "pak" synchronously, respectively. Without music, and then to music.

Practice: Converting a count to non-verbal cues of action
Solo. Contratiempo example, to music.

1. Initiate a four-beat count: "one–two–three–four–"
2. substitute 'pak' and 'gung-gung' accents: "one–pak–three–gung-gung–"
3. substitute a ghost syllable 'um': "um–pak–um–gung-gung–"
4. synchronise dance rhythm to the vocal accents, where the first beat/step of the dance rhythm coincides with 'pak', and the third beat/step of the dance rhythm coincides with the first 'gung'
5. subvocalise the cues.

Exercise: Comparing the synchronisation of movement to verbal and non-verbal cues
Solo, to music. Assessing the qualitative nature of verbal and event-led (non-verbal) cues to movement.

Exercise: "Is the difference between the use of verbal and non-verbal cues externally discernible?"
Partnered, to music. As the exercise immediately above. Can your dance partner tell the difference?

looyenyeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Twelve

Section I - Movement Dynamics

Concept: The dynamics of movement
A movement can be broken down into three simple phases: commencement, continuation, and completion. The dynamics of movement are governed by the intensity, the transitions and most importantly the relative duration of each phase. For example, emphasis on movement completion results in a rapid, contrasty, staccato action, whereas emphasis on commencement and continuation results in a smoother action.

Exercise: Lower body action, emphasis on completion
Solo. Smooth control of motion is paramount, irrespective of speed.

1. Commencement (rapid): descent of the heel, extension of the knee
2. Continuation (rapid): transfer of weight, deflection of hip
3. Completion (slow): final settling of the hip, preparation for next commencement

Understanding and appreciating the kinesthesia of high-contrast motion.
Learning point: quickly pushing nails into the floor then standing on the nail head.

Exercise: Lower body action, emphasis on completion, to music
Solo, to music. What kinds of musical styles is this kind of highly dynamic motion best suited to?

Exercise: Lower body action, emphasis on commencement and continuation
Solo. Smooth control of motion throughout.

1. Commencement (slow): descent of the heel, extension of the knee
2. Continuation (slow): transfer of weight, deflection of hip
   
3. Completion (short): final settling of the hip, preparation for next commencement

Understanding/appreciating the kinesthesia of low-contrast motion. Notice how the phases push the timing to later on the beat.
Learning point: easing the nails powerfully into the floor with a brief tap on the nail head just before the next commencement.

Exercise: Lower body action, emphasis on commencement and continuation, to music
Solo, to music. What kinds of musical styles is this kind of smooth motion best suited to?

Exercise: Lower body action, changing dynamism, to music
Solo, to music. Practice changing dynamics of movement within a song. Some songs are arranged in a manner which suggest that the dynamics of movement should be altered.

Exercise: Lower body action, changing dynamism, to music
Partnered. As per the above practice. What does it feel like when your dance partner changes his or her movement dynamics?

Exercise: Lower body action, exploring phase ratios
Solo. Plan and execute the lower body movement with different ratios of the three phases. What are the results? What does it feel like? When would it be used?

Concept: A universal approach to movement dynamics
Although movement dynamism was explored using the lower body action as a case study, the same principles can be applied to other movements in dance, for example, rotational body speed, foot speed, and arm speed. The process universally applicable to movement. It requires:

1. the disassembly of a motion into its sequence of component parts;
2. the segregation the sequential components into the three phases;
3. a decision regarding the relative duration of each phase; and
4. execution and evaluation.

Section II - Movement Targeting

Concept: Conscious planning of motion
Movement is understood to be planned subconsciously in the premotor cortex. However, there is nothing to hinder a person from planning motion consciously; expert dancers often do so and naturalise the mapping of the start-points, trajectories, speeds, routes and the end-points of movements. This results in clean, deliberate, well-timed motions - making transparent the dancer's execution of expression.

Exercise: Visualising the end-point, arms
Solo. Visualise the spatial position of a gate, imagine the feeling of the wrist being at that gate, imagine hearing the sound of the beat when the wrist arrives at the gate. Execute the motion to tempo.

Briefing: Check-points for legs
Ball-spots are target-areas on the floor into which the medial-front quadrant of the foot is placed. Heel-spots are the target-areas where the heel would land to 'crush the grape' or on the 'head of the nail'. Ankle-gates are the lower-body's analogue of the upper body's wrist gates.

Exercise: Visualising the end-point, legs
Solo. Visualise the spatial position of a ball-spot, imagine the feeling of pressure on the sole of the foot being at that spot, imagine hearing the sound of the beat when the foot arrives at the spot. Execute the motion to tempo.


Section III - Skills in Context

Concept: Increasing power in salsa
A partnership couple can be viewed as a closed energy system. The kinetic energy content of the system can be increased through:

• additional body isolation movements, usually interpreting rhythms over that of the dance rhythm;
• a change to the dance rhythm to include additional steps; and
• the inclusion of accents to increase dynamics (however beyond a certain point the accents decrease dynamics)

Exercise: Power variation to salsa rhythm
Solo, then partnered. Inclusion of a ball-heel across the null beat of the standard a tiempo dance rhythm, synchronised with the double-open tones of the tumbao moderno. This contributes up to a 67% increase in lower body energy.

Practice: Power variation in context
Partnered, to music. Swapping between the standard dance rhythm and power variation, feeling the difference in energy.

Exercise: Deploying accents in the salsa dance rhythm
Partnered, to music. Emphasising pulse beats, back-beats, ponché only and whole beats of clave.

Section IV - Case study of rueda elements

A simple analysis of arm positions, partnership angles, distancing, body alignments and overlooked angles in rueda (starting with the diagonals to the line of dance).

Loo Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Weekend Workshops Ten & Eleven

Note: In the following schedule, I will use term 'African' to  describe those who are cultural insiders to African or African-derived practices, and 'European' to describe cultural insiders to West European practices. This division, extreme and artificial, is purely for explanatory purposes.

Introductory briefing
In 2003, Brochard and his co-investigators reported a seminal piece of research; finding that their subjects perceived a monotonous metronomic sound as a 'tic-toc-tic-toc' and not a 'tic-tic-tic-tic'. In other words, the human brain added subjective accents to every other beat; and that the first beat was accented. Therefore odd-numbered beats were perceived as stronger than even-numbered beats.

This little-known work in the dance world is crucial to understanding an element of salsa's cultural diversity, and forms part of the basis of the "Why Men Shouldn't Count" dance research paper I will present to Conseil International de la Danse UNESCO. This weekend workshop provides the ideal opportunity to explore the phenomenon of subjective accenting, the European cultural bias of transnationalised salsa, and the redress of bias.

Concept: The beginning of the African rhythm cycle
Africans perceive the beginning of salsa's rhythm cycle as occurring one beat earlier, which coincides with the tumbao moderno's double open tones (as interpreted on the congas); what Africans hear as beat one, Europeans hear as beat eight! Therefore, from the findings of Brochard et al. (2003) where Africans would subjectively accent beats 1,3,5,7; to European ears these accents would fall on beats 2,4,6,8.

Evidence of this can be garnered from Afro-Cuban rhythms, which accent:

1. the African downbeats (odd-numbered beats), perceived by Europeans as being on the backbeats (even-numbered beats); and
2. the start of the African rhythmic cycle called the ponché [punch] explicitly or implicitly.

 For example,

• conga - the tumbao moderno's double open tones (the first accenting ponché) and slap stroke;
• bongó - the martillo's open tones on the hembra (accenting ponché) and macho;
• timbales - open (accenting ponché) and closed tones on the hembra;
• clave - the last beat of the 3-side (accenting ponché) and the first beat of the 2-side; and
• bass - the tumbao's 'anticipated' beat (accenting ponché).

Supporting material on the above is available:
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/salsatwo/tutprogsal2.html
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/forplayers/onstage.html

Section I - Son

Exercise: Listening for the African start of the conga's tumbao moderno
Solo. Locating and indicating the rhythmic location of the correct set of open tones which denote the start of the African cycle. Using the 'gung-gung' vocalisation.

Exercise: A side-step on the ponché
Solo, then partnered. This is an event-action practice of synchronising the taking of a side-step with the onset of the ponché open tones.

Concept: Contratiempo and Dance On2
It's very important to recognise that both of these terms are culturally European-biased as they reference features of rhythm relative to the start-point of the European cycle, with contratiempo literally meaning 'counter-time' backbeat emphasis. Although both contratiempo and Dance On2 have the same dance rhythm, stepping on (European) beats 2,3,4 and 6,7,8; they differ in accents and phrasing:

• Dance On2 - accents on beats 2 and 6; phrased 2-3-4, 6-7-8
• Contratiempo - accents on beats 4 and 8; phrased 8-(1)-2-3, 4-(5)-6-7

Exercise: Son basic, contratiempo
Solo, then partnered. To tumbao moderno on congas, and martillo on bongó. Understand which parts of the step rhythm synchronise with the instruments' accents. Note the feel of contratiempo phrasing.

Exercise: Son basic, Dance On2
Solo, then partnered. To tumbao moderno on congas, and martillo on bongó. Understand which parts of the step rhythm synchronise with the instruments' accents. Note that the phrasing is shorter with less flow.

Exercise: Change phrasing between contratiempo and Dance On2
Partnered. Preferred social dance movement vocabulary. Developing the African perception of rhythm.

Section II - Rumba guaguancó

Concept: Rationale behind rumba guaguancó's dance rhythm
Basic guaguancó's regular dance rhythm is a structural counterpoint to the drum rhythm, which when combined, create genre's rhythmic tension. The dance rhythm's simplicity is to allow for easy transition into and out of the improvisatory mode and other more advanced dance rhythms.

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk
Solo. The first walks are sideways to the left and the right, comprising side steps with chasing-close steps: side-close-side-close.

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk, complete rhythm
Solo. Interleaving each step in the basic walk with an accent: side-tap-close-tap-side-tap-close-tap

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk, complete rhythm, to music
Partnered. Facing each other, mirror imaged. Full guaguancó basic dance rhythm i.e. side-tap-close-tap-side-tap-close-tap, to music.

Exercise: Guaguancó basic walk, substituting the tap with a 'drop'
Partnered, to music. The 'drop' is achieved by flexion of the knee of the supporting leg, such that the sole of the foot of the non-weight-bearing leg contacts the floor entirely simultaneously. The drop is timed by/further accented with the downward phase of the torso engine cycle.

Exercise: Isolating and understanding torso engine synchrony with the lower-limb rhythm
Solo. Static practice. Fire up the torso engine, accentuate the up-stroke and down-stroke further with (discreet) amounts of knee extension and flexion respectively. Then transfer weight from one leg to the other with each engine cycle. Add the 'drop' accent.

Additional materials
Salsa Gitana by Orquesta Gitano
La Llave de Mi Corazón by Juan Luís Guerra
My Latin Soul by Bobby Matos
Güajira Natural by Polo Montañez

Loo Yeo