Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Nine

Introduction
A heavy dancer. A light dancer. A deep action. A light action. A heavy groove. A light groove. What do these mean? Which properties are good and desirable? Which ones not so? How did these metaphors come about?

Concept: Apparent weight (Dance)
(Not to be confused with apparent weight in physics)

• Manoeuverability - This is the second-party i.e. dance partner's perception of: how capable a dancer is of movement; how much lead force is required for, or provided by, movement and the cessation of movement.
• Rhythmicity - This is the second-party i.e. dance partner's perception of: how capable a dancer is of interpreting rhythm with his or her body.

 Section I - Manoeuverability

Concept: The centre of gravity and basic divisions of the foot
The centre of gravity is the single point associated with an object where the force of gravity can be considered to act. Four parameters - front, back, medial (towards the centreline), and distal (away from the centreline) - coarsely divide the foot into four sections through which a dancer's centre of gravity appears to act. At which point the centre of gravity acts through the foot affects, profoundly, a dancer's ability to utilise force for motion.

Exercises: Kinesthetic detection of the position of the dance partner's centre of gravity, two-footed
Partnered. Double-hand hold, eyes closed. Weight evenly distributed across both feet. Centre of gravity acting through front or back of foot. The leader moves the partnership hand-hold gently and firmly away and towards his/her body, sensing the changes in contact pressure; the follower varies the exercise by changing from weight toe-ward to weight heel-ward. (An advanced practice involves the follower moving his/her weight toe-ward on one foot and weight heel-ward on the other foot.) How does the each partner perceive the 'lightness' or 'heaviness' of the other?

Exercises: Kinesthetic detection of the position of the dance partner's centre of gravity, single-footed

Partnered. Double-hand hold, eyes closed. Follower's centre of gravity acting through any quadrant of the supporting foot. The leader moves the partnership hand-hold, gently and firmly, away and towards, to the left and to the right of his/her body, sensing the changes in contact pressure. The follower varies the exercise by changing the quadrant through which his/her centre of gravity acts. How does the each partner perceive the 'lightness' or 'heaviness' of the other?

Exercises: Kinesthetic detection of the position of the dance partner's centre of gravity under turning, single-footed

Partnered. Single-hand hold, eyes closed. Follower's centre of gravity acting through any quadrant of the supporting foot. The leader executes HALO turns (see: http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/halo_fol/int_halo_fol.html) sensing the changes in contact pressure.

The follower varies the exercise by changing the quadrant through which his/her centre of gravity acts. The leader varies the practice through choice of HALO direction and height. How does the each partner perceive the 'lightness' or 'heaviness' of the other?

Concept: Mode of movement (Dance) and a mode library
Parameters, such as the part of the foot through which a dancer's centre of gravity acts, profoundly influence a dancer's quality of movement; and how it is perceived by his or her partner, and even onlookers. A dancer can configure a mode of movement through the setting of these parameters and proceed to building a library of modes, from which may be selected the most musically appropriate at any time.

Exercises: A simple mode, full dance context
Partnered, to music. Deploying a simple, single-parameter, mode: selecting which point of the foot through which the centre of gravity acts; in full dance context.

Section II - Rhythmicity

Concept: 'Depth of penetration' of weight into the dance floor
This is a progression with pedalling, based on its learning metaphor of 'pressing a nail into the floor' (see 'Learning Tips' in http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/lbaction/det_lba.html). To 'drive the nail deeper into the floor', the dancer smoothens and slows the pedalling action, taking up more of the beat. To 'tap the nail onto the surface of the floor', the dancer shortens the time of the action.

Exercise: Salsa walk, 'driving the nail deeper into the floor'
Solo, then partnered. Kinesthesia - detect the tone and relaxation around the hip, and co-relate it with the intensity and progression of pressure registered through the soles of the feet. Does this groove feel heavier or lighter?

Exercise: Salsa walk, 'tapping the nail onto the surface of the floor'
Solo, then partnered. Kinesthesia - detect the tone and relaxation around the hip, and co-relate it with the intensity and progression of pressure registered through the soles of the feet. Does this groove feel heavier or lighter?

Concept: Lower body action (pedalling) affects rhythmicity
The 'depth of penetration' of weight qualitatively affects two aspects of the lower body action: attack i.e. how rapidly the heel contacts the floor; and duration i.e. the breadth of time over which weight is transferred. Both of these are parameters in percussion and by extension, rhythm.

Exercises: A simple mode, full dance context
Partnered, to music. Deploying another simple, single-parameter, mode: selecting the quality of lower body action; in full dance context. An advanced variant is to deploy a different mode per leg.

Exercises: Compound modes
Solo, then partnered. What are all the possible modes which can be created when two parameters: where the centre of gravity acts through the foot; and quality of lower body action, interact?

Section III - Modes in practice

Exercise: Compound modes to music, solo
Solo, to music. This is an action-event practice: deploying modes of movement to music and assessing their musical qualities.

Exercise: Compound modes to music, partnered
Partnered, to music. This is an action-event-partnership practice: deploying modes of movement to music, assessing their musical qualities in first and second person, and understanding how modes influence apparent weight (and hence how others perceive you as a dance partner).

Loo Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Eight

Introduction
Building on the arm-functionality begun in the previous workshop, this session uses an actual flamenco rhythm interpreted on the hands in synchrony with lower body movment. More complex body isolations and arm positions are detailed.

Section I - Basic flamenco castanet rhythm

Warm-up reprising Exercise: A basic hand and foot rhythm to Nuevo Flamenco
Solo. Basic rhythms on castañuelas (hands) and zapateo (feet). All wrist gates.

Concept: The basic flamenco castanet rhythm
Left hand is the time-keeper; and
Right hand plays the roll from little finger to first finger.

Exercise: Basic flamenco castanet rhythm co-ordinated to a simple walk
Solo. Basic flamenco castanet rhythm on castañuelas (hands) and walking (feet). Heart wrist gates.

Exercise: Basic flamenco castanet rhythm co-ordinated to a simple walk, to music
Solo, to music. Basic flamenco castanet rhythm on castañuelas (hands) and walking (feet). Heart wrist gates.

Section II - Lower body action

Concept: Knees as regulators of the lower body action
The rate of extension of the knee joint is critical to the timing of weight transfer; its alignment with the heel and the hip determines the nature of the hip deflection: whether achieved through muscle tension or relaxation. And yet is probably the most overlooked aspect of the lower body action. As salsa dancers are least likely to be developed with respect to the proprioception and cortical mapping of the knees, the final section of basic lower body action will address this.

Exercise: Pedalling revisited
Particular emphasis on the smooth, horizontal plane, backward travel of the knee joint. Detecting the initial effect of the backward travel of the knee by sensing pressure on the sole of the supporting foot. Detecting the advancing effect of the knee by detection of pressure and displacement around the hip joint.

Exercise: Pedalling to flamenco castanet rhythm, static
Synchronising the pedalling action to the basic flamenco castanet rhythm:
heel - knee (commence) - knee (continue) - knee (complete) - hip

Exercise: Pedalling to flamenco castanet rhythm, walking
Without, then to music.

Section III - Compound body movements, horizontal plane

Practice: Body isolation exercise, seated, upper body (torso), compound circular paths
Figure-eight motif e.g. centre-west-centre clockwise one rotation, centre-east-centre anticlockwise one rotation. Repeat. (Note: Inverting the direction of rotation i.e. anticlockwise and then clockwise creates the reverse figure-eight.)

Practice: Body isolation exercise, seated, upper body (torso), compound linear-circular paths
Horizontal-plane loops e.g. north-west linear to north, full clockwise circle plus 90degrees to east, linear to south-east.

Practice: Body isolation exercise, seated, upper body (torso), compound linear-circular paths
Vertical-plane loops - "rocking the cradle".

Likewise:

Practice: Body isolation exercise, standing, lower body (pelvis), compound circular paths
Figure-eight motif e.g. centre-west-centre clockwise one rotation, centre-east-centre anticlockwise one rotation. Repeat. (Note: Inverting the direction of rotation i.e. anticlockwise and then clockwise creates the reverse figure-eight.)

Practice: Body isolation exercise, standing, lower body (pelvis), compound linear-circular paths
Horizontal-plane loops e.g. north-west linear to north, full clockwise circle plus 90degrees to east, linear to south-east.

Practice: Body isolation exercise, standing, lower body (pelvis), compound linear-circular paths
Vertical-plane loops - "rocking the cradle".

Learning point:  Side-of-hip points to little toe
Observe that the lateral mobility of the hip is constrained by the supporting joints beneath it; the ankle and the knee. A general, though not absolute, guide is that 'the side of the hip should point to the little toe of its supporting foot' when that side of the pelvis laterally rotates to its forward-most position.

Concept: A fundamental difference between rumba and son action
The 'side of hip to little toe' phenomenon is used in defining the movement characteristics of rumba and son:

• rumba action has less foot turn-out and hence the hip rotations are further forward, resulting in an even 'figure-eight' pelvic movement-path when viewed from above.
• son action has more foot turn-out and hence the hip rotations are hardly forward, resulting in an asymmetrical 'figure-eight' pelvic movement-path which is flattened on the frontal side (facing the partner) when viewed from above.

Section IV - Arms

Concept: Constraints of the castanet positions
Having to hold the castanets from audience view behind the hands of the dancer, limits the distance which the castanet arm gates can be located distal from the body's centreline - the wrist of the outer arm can only bend inward so far.

Concept: Fan and skirt gates
Gates more distal from the centreline can be defined, and understood more easily, with the hand fan and the skirt. If necessary, a cape can be substituted for males.

Concept: Inner gates, castanets. Outer gates the fan and skirt/cape
These constructs determine the spatial location of the limbs and the routes of travel they trace. Additionally, they determine the conformation/shape of the hand(s).

Exercise: Positioning the arms through the external gates
Upper (fan), upper-outer (fan), outer (fan or skirt), lower-outer (fan or skirt) gates

Section V - Guaguancó fundamentals

Concept: The elemental guaguancó dance rhythm
The basic dance rhythm is a regular one alternating between unaccented and accented beats. This is translated into movement as step-accent-step-accent-(repeat).

Concept: The basic guaguancó movement mode is lateral
The functional constraint of the male having to circle around the female, yet still facing her, results in the foundational movement being laterally-based. Culturally the definition of the circle is important as it represents the circle of creation. Guaguancó is classic pursuit-and-capture.

Exercise: Basic guaguancó walk
Solo. Lateral movement. Side-tap-close-tap-(repeat).

Exercise: Basic guaguancó walk
Solo, to music. Lateral movement. Side-tap-close-tap-(repeat).

Yeo Loo Yen

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Seven

Introduction
Current arm work is dominated by the 'styling' approach, whose emphasis is solely aesthetic, and is divested of its underlying tenets of physical functionality. This workshop takes a historical and cultural route to arm positions and movement, as a counterpoint to the styling industry. We also consider how the principles of arm-flow differs in performers with above-average limb-length, and how these are reflected in the strategies they employ.

Section I - Arms

Concept: flamenco's gates
Adapted for Afro-Cuban dance. Spatial way-points for the passage of wrist and elbow joints. Gates explored (wrist): hip, centre, heart, crown and high. The importance of developing cortical mapping, spatial mapping, and proprioception.

Introduction to flamenco's castañuelas
Adapted for Afro-Cuban dance. Deploying castanets as a means of providing auditory feedback for the (unsighted) positions of upper limbs in space and time.

Exercise: A basic hand rhythm to Nuevo Flamenco
Solo. A basic rhythm interpreted on castañuelas, wrists at the heart gate.

Exercise: A basic hand rhythm to Nuevo Flamenco
Solo. A basic rhythm interpreted on castañuelas, wrists at the central gates.

Exercise: A basic hand rhythm to Nuevo Flamenco
Solo. A basic rhythm interpreted on castañuelas, investigating all remaining gates.

Concept: flamenco's zapateo
The practice of zapateo [foot-tapping] as a means of providing auditory feedback for the (unsighted) positions of the lower limbs in space and time.

Exercise: A basic hand and foot rhythm to Nuevo Flamenco
Solo. Basic rhythms on castañuelas (hands) and zapateo (feet). All wrist gates.

Concept: gate linking
The flow, control and angles of the arm-joints as they travel through the various gates perform the functional and aesthetic characteristics of the dance.

Exercise: Offerings on saucers
The parameters of the start positions are: right hand or left hand or both; clockwise or anticlockwise; above or below the shoulder. The objective is to keep the saucers as level as possible throughout the movement, keeping the travelling smooth, even, passing through all the relevant gates, and maintaining an upright torso as far as possible.

Section II - Torso

Concept: finishing the compass points
Compound action of previous torso exercises to achieve linear and circular movements

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, north-east to south-west

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, north-west to south-east

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, compound linear paths
Linked X forms e.g. north-west, north-east, south-west, south-east, north-west. Repeat.

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, circular
As per: http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/chest_movement_circular.html

Concept: rhythmic changes in movement
The 'push-pull-push' or 'chachachá' movement variation, especially in the linear paths.

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, all linear paths, chachachá variations
Substitution of chachachá rhythmic movement variation in all linear path exercises.

Additional Materials
Gravity by Jesse Cook

Dance Ethnology Distilled

"Dance sets politics in motion, bringing people together in rhythmic affinity where identification takes the form of histories written on the body through gesture."

From Delgado, C.F., and Muñoz, J. (1997). Rebellions in everynight life. In Everynight Life: Culture and dance in Latin/o America.

Loo Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Six

Introductory briefing
We can use salsa as a stepping stone to rumba. The first section of the workshop will involve the development of skills in the salsa context which are transferable to the rumba rhythm group. The second section is directly pertinent to guaguancó: the timing, or at least one possible timing, of the vacunao and the defense against it. An introduction to a dance gearing in columbia is the subject of section three.

Section I - Salsa's Heartbeat

Concept: locating, hearing and feeling the conga open tones of the tumbao moderno
Hearing the tones as the 'lub-dub' of the heartbeat.

Exercise: tapping the 'lub-dub'
Solo, to the isochronous conga track. Tapping on the chest over the heart (a la Dirty Dancing).

Exercise: tapping the 'lub-dub', dancing
Solo, to the isochronous conga track. Tapping on the chest over the heart while dancing the salsa step rhythm.

Concept: in dialogue with the open tones (salsa context)
Call-and-response between the drum (conga open tones) and the dancer (salsa dance rhythm).

Exercise: the dancer calls, the drum 'responds'
Solo, to the isochronous conga track and later the conga plus piano track. Note that this is an illusion, a pre-recorded drum cannot respond.

Exercise: the drum calls, the dancer responds
Solo, to the isochronous conga track and later the conga plus piano track. Note the slight latency in timing which softens the attack of the dancer. This is a prerequisite skill for rumba and dancing to live music performances.

Practice: both call-and-response variations, partnered
Using the isochronous conga track, then the instrument layers tracks in increasing complexity, and finally complete pre-recorded salsa tracks.

Section II - Vacunao and defense timing

Practice: playing martillo on the bongó

Exercise: stopping on beat one, starting on beat eight
Solo. Beats as counted by Europeans. Drumming the martillo on the bongó. To bolero, chachachá and timba tracks of increasing tempo.

Exercise: stopping on beat one, starting on beat eight
Partnered. Beats as counted by Europeans. Dancing the rumba basic. To timba of increasing tempo.

Exercise: a basic vacunao and defense timing
Partnered. Beats as counted by Europeans. Dancing the rumba basic. To timba of increasing tempo. Addition of the leg-raise vacunao on beat one (or five), with women's defense on the 'and' of beat one (or five).

Demonstration: points of flexibility in a basic
Two fundamental variables:

• how a rumba basic may be flexed in its centre to give rise to changes in orientations; and
• how the close step can be substituted with a front cross step.

Exercise: dance-creating four variations of a rumba basic
Solo, to music of increasing tempo. Maintenance of orientation discipline is stressed.

Section III - Dance Gears

Briefing: tresillo as a common motif in Caribbean music
Identifying the tresillo as the 3-side of son clave.

Exercise: clapping tresillo
Solo. Moderate tempo salsa and timba music. Begin by clapping son clave, then substituting all 2-sides with the tresillo.

Demonstration: tresillo as an alternative gear in rumba
Dancing a rumba basic using the regular downbeat-based dancer's rhythm, and then switching to a tresillo dance rhythm.

Exercise: dancing rumba, switching gears
Solo. To 'Sandore' by Suzzana Owiyo. Dancing rumba basic, switching between the regular down-beat gear and the tresillo gear.

Additional Materials
Loo's Instrument Layers CD
Timba Teaching CD1
Timba Teaching CD2

Yeo Loo Yen

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Five

Introduction: workshop objectives
One of the greatest challenges of Afro-Cuban dance is the learning of gestures which aren't present in the Western/European cultural lexicon. The theme of today's workshop involves the learning and practice of component movements from which the gestures are constructed; and understanding the importance of repetition in cortical mapping and building internal models of movement in the cerebellum.

Briefing: The impact of commercialisation with the Cuban cultural boom
Cuban (and non-Cuban) cultural mediators have had to consider the questions "what can I sell?" and "what do I think non-Cubans are interested in?" This has had a filtering/accentuating impact on their cultural information abroad, both subtractive and additive.

One of these is the portrayal of the guaguancó which has been hyper-genderised; disproportionately accentuated for performance purposes, and to render it more obvious from yambú. The spectrum of transition has been lost, creating perceptual genre boundaries. Portrayal of the guaguancó with greater emphasis on performance, in what is already display-based pursuit-and-capture dance, heavily biases its learning by cultural outsiders in favour of type A personalities.

Section I - An African Context

Concept: Luo movement as a context for women in guaguancó
The Luo peoples are river-based with a soft vowel rich language, who have had significant interaction with the Bantu (from whom some important aspects of Afro-Cuban culture is derived like the conga drums). The Luo women based around Lake Victoria dance from their shoulders; providing an alternative 'back-to-the-source' context for the learning of movement by non-type-A women, which can be translated into the guaguancó.

Practice: a Luo basic, in place
Dancing from the shoulders: lateral over vertical.
How the shoulder-blades meet: upper, middle and lower positions.
Quality of movement: legato (smooth) over staccato.
The effect of head position: "ears pulled up".

Practice: Luo basic, with weight transfer

Practice: Luo basic, with weight transfer, and slight change in orientation

Practice: Luo basic, timing cycles
Performed to Western cycle. Performed to African cycle.

Section II - Body Skills

Concept: 'shoulder-blades back' versus 'chest out' - more than just semantics

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, north-south
As per link below, with emphasis on shoulder-blade movement.
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/chest_front_back.html

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, east-west
As per link below, with emphasis on shoulder-blade movement.
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/chest_sidetoside.html

Practice: body isolation exercise, free-standing/supported, hips, north-south
As per http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/pelvis_front_back.html

Practice: body isolation exercise, free-standing/supported, hips, east-west
As per http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/pelvis_sidetoside.html

Section III - Rhythm Skills

Briefing: playing open tones on the bongó
Effect of finger extension on speed.
All fingers of the hand extended, index finger slightly depressed.
Striking zones on the drum head.

Practice: bongó open tones, accenting whole beats
Alternating hands, dominant hand accent.

Practice: bongó open tones, accenting upbeats
Alternating hands, non-dominant hand accent.

Practice: bongó muffled tones, upbeats
Alternating hands, non-dominant hand thumb and fingers (in alternation) on macho drum head.
Dominant hand open tones on hembra drum head.

Practice: bongó muffled tones, upbeats
Alternating hands, non-dominant hand thumb and fingers (in alternation) on macho drum head.
Dominant hand open tones on  macho drum head.

Practice: bongó, martillo

Practice: bongó, accents on rumba clave
Alternating hands, macho drum head only, accents on rumba clave.
3-2 and 2-3 orientation.

Section IV - Guaguancó Context

Concept: the damp teacloth exercise
Developing power, commitment, and timing in the arms.

Exercise: variations of elemental arm movements
Three heights - upper, middle, lower.

Exercise: timing of the vacuano and warding it off

Context: choreography ideas
To 'Somos Cubanos' by Los Van Van.

Additional Materials
My Roots by Suzanna Owiyo
Mama Afríca by Suzzana Owiyo
Llegó... by Los Van Van

Loo Yen Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Four

Introductory discussion
As a dancer knowledge of percussion deepens cultural understanding, strengthens relationship with music, increases timing resolution, and helps discern genre boundaries. Put another way, it both raises the potential of a dancer, and the ability to realise that potential. To that end, rhythmic development as a percussionist is explored, and made relevant by using drumming concepts in a dancing context.

The bongó is the instrument of choice because of its:

• wide variety of tones;
• portability;
• presence in a large number of genres; and
• adaptability (can be used to interpret rhythms from other instruments).

Section I - Percussion

Briefing: salient features of a basic martillo
The ubiquitous Afro-Cuban rhythm of the son and rumba (modern) rhythm groups.

Practice: drumming a simple martillo, complete rhythm
To bolero music, increasing tempo.

Briefing: salient features of the modern guaguancó drum rhythm
The similarities, differences and ethos of modern Havana and Matanzas variants.

Practice: drumming a simple guaguancó, complete structural rhythm, Havana variant

Practice: co-operative drumming of guaguancó, Havana variant
One drums the tumba tones (ponche), another drums the conga tones.
Highlights the necessity for a master rhythm (clave)

Practice: co-operative drumming of guaguancó, Matanzas variant

Section II - Guaguancó

Concept: the engine of rumba guaguancó
The upper solar plexus as the seat of power, the cyclic motion of which ripples to the body's periphery. The upper back is a good indicator of strong drive from the engine; stretches for the upper back and shoulders is recommended when training for guaguancó.

Practice: activating the engine of the guaguancó
Solo, in place. Vocalising the guaguancó core drum rhythm.

Practice: guaguancó's basic step
Solo. Matching the basic dance rhythm to the (vocalised) core drum rhythm.
Basic step as per http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/salsaone/cucabas.html

Practice: effect of tilting the engine
Solo, in place. Vocalising the guaguancó core drum rhythm. Preparation for creating contra-body movement in the guaguancó basic.

Concept: gender roles in rumba guaguancó
Introduction to gender affirmation in Afro-Cuban dance. The unique gestures of the vacunao and ward-off.

Practice: a basic hand position and its timing
Solo. Vocalising the guaguancó core drum rhythm, later to music. Male and female positions.

Demonstration: advanced guaguancó rhythms
A comparison of folkloric, modern and popular forms. Reiterating of the centrality of rumba clave in the interpretation of guaguancó.

Briefing: some properties of clave in Cuban music
Understanding the similarities and differences of rumba and son clave. Drumming 'guaguancó con clave' and 'guaguancó contra clave', and its cultural implications.

Practice: clave from a dancer's world
Partnered, salsa. Feeling the difference in relationship between salsa's dance rhythm and rumba or son clave.

Additional Materials
Rumba 3 (Popular) rhythm pages from "Latin-American Percussion: Rhythms and Rhythm Instruments from Cuba and Brazil" by Birger Sulsbrück
Basic Strokes and Martillo rhythm pages from "The Bongo Book" by Trevor Salloum
Guaguancó 69 by Justi Barreto
Tempest by Jesse Cook
Aquí El Que Baila Gana - Live in Miami (Disk 2) by Juan Formell y Los Van Van
Llegó... by Juan Formell y Los Van Van
Pa'l Bailador by Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad
Fresquecito by Elio Revé
Homenaje 50 Años by Elio Revé
El Explosión del Momento by Orquesta Revé

Loo Yen Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Three

Introduction: workshop objectives
The ultimate objective for the day was to reach the state where the bolero and salsa become mutually supporting. This would require the bolero to evolve from its simple basic into a flexible, living and breathing form. (Quite the ambitious challenge for one session, but I was very confident!)

Warm-up: dancing the bolero
Performing the bolero basic, partnered. With emphasis clearer form. There were two main learning points:

1. The value of using the third (foot) position: to liberate the hip action, and provide unsighted tactile feedback.
2. A full, correct, settling of the hip in the preceding step facilitates the accurate deployment of the third position.

A principle in the development of physical skill:

"A visible fault is a delayed symptom, the error resides in the preceding step."

Practice: breaking the bolero basic
Partnered, in both lead and follower roles. Understanding the concept of flexibility in a basic. Two points were investigated:

1. Substitution - backward steps replaced with forward steps; and
2. Re-angling - 90 degree angles increased to more obtuse angles up to 180 degrees.
   (Re-orientation was not addressed)
   

Discussion: emotional expression in music
Facets discussed were:

• The multi-layered nature of Latin music allows for interpretations/arrangements to be biased on a gradual spectrum between the extremes of the lyrical-melodic to the rhythmic-percussive.
• Melodic expression may or may not be congruent with that of the lyrics.
• A dancer's expression of emotion does not necessarily require comprehension of a song's lyrics, nor privilege their meaning over that of the melody.
• The right of interpretation is that of the dancer.

Concept: the grammar and syntax of Latin dance (Part 1)
Within the context of Latin dance of which there are groups of proximal (i.e. related) genres, where there:

• is a core relationship between the dancer's rhythm and the music's which is unique; and
• are elements/properties which are portable across related genres.

Practice: Elucidating core transferable elements from salsa
Solo and partnered. Walking elements:

• Linear walking elements: forwards; backwards; sideways, chases and step-throughs.
• Circularised walking elements (rueda) (Salsa equivalent of Merengue Orbits detailed in http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/orbits/core_orbit.html)

Turn elements:

• HALO turns for Followers (salsa context of http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/halo_fol/int_halo_fol.html).
• HALO turns for Leads (salsa context of http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/halolead/int_halo_lead.html)
• Neutral turns for Leads (salsa context of http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/neu_turn/int_neutral_turn.html)

These utilised a variation-based approach, which is the best way to identify blind-spots in a dancer's element vocabulary. All turns were performed across multiple bars of music, to:

1. eliminate the bias of followers assuming the turn would span just one bar, and lead themselves around accordingly; and
2. develop sensitivity to pressure as an indicator of turn direction and speed.

Demonstration: construction of a simple combination
Partnered, salsa context. Two variations of a simple combination comprising: Follower's HALO, Lead's HALO, Follower's HALO, and Neutral Turn.

Exercise: developing drive in the forward steps (salsa)
Learning points:

• reduce number of steps per distance;
• maintain full hip action.

Exercise: driving the Latin basic
Performing the Latin basic (six steps per cycle) and the extended Latin basic (twelve steps per cycle) over the greatest distance, whilst retaining correct hip action.

Practice: deploying core transferable elements into bolero
Partnered. The process of deployment occurred in the following order:

1. modifying the basic (reprise);
2. addition of linear walking elements;
3. circularisation of walking elements; and
4. addition of turning elements.

Concept: identifying salsa songs with bolero DNA

Practice: deploying the bolero mode of movement in salsa
Learning points:

1. filling out the space in-between beats
2. slower, slower, slower
3. strong, long, hip action

Additional Materials
"Transnational Salsa" draft reference by Loo Yeo
The Voice of Cuba by Hanny
Tata Masamba by Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca
On Fire by Orquesta La Palabra

Loo Yen Yeo

2nd March 2012 Los Van Van @O2 Academy, Leeds

I wasn't sure about giving Cuba's veteran super-group second chance; so lacklustre was Los Van Van's (LVV) concert at the Roundhouse thee years ago to the week. What swung it in the end was that the concert would be happening in a town nearby (Leeds), and that I'd be catching up with a load of great salsa friends at the very least.

Once ticketmaster's palm had been crossed with silver, I headed on over (electronically) to my favourite Latin music shoppe and placed an order for the latest Los Van Van album they would be tour-promoting. 'La Maquinaría' turned up last month, and a good portion of four weeks was spent pitching a critical ear to the studio album. It was a bit of a slow burner. My initial impression was that a majority of the cuts followed a predictable formula established by songs from preceding albums 'Llegó...' and 'Chapeando'. It felt as if some of LVV's creative brightness had dimmed with the exit of César Pedroso. Nonetheless, there were two numbers which stood out straight away: 'La Bobería' and Yeni Valdés-fronted 'Que Tiene Ese Guajiro Que'. Although I've since come to appreciate 'La Maquinaría', I can't say that it's captured my imagination as much as 'Llegó...' did before.

In the run-up to the concert last Friday, Los Van Van suffered lineup upheavals which seems to have plagued them since Juan Formell took a back seat. The band's press release of 11th October 2011 announced the departure of Mayito Rivera, the only singer who displayed real passion that fateful night at the Roundhouse. I was dismayed, but cautiously welcomed the news that his space on stage had been given to Armando 'Mandy' Cantero, formerly of César Pedroso's ensemble. Then there was the tragic loss of their conguero Manuel Labarrera less than two weeks before tour, which triggered the departure of their bassist Pavel Molina not long after.

Gulp!

So I walked into the O2 Academy in Leeds not expecting too much - a combination of previous experience, and knowing the backdrop to the tour. The venue has a capacity of about fifteen hundred, of which more than a thousand tickets had already been sold; no mean feat, and largely due to DJ Lubi Jovanovich's titanic promotion efforts. This was our old stomping ground, where Lubi used to have his Thursday night Casa Latina residency  in the basement called the Underground. Above it would sit the Town and Country club which has played host to Eddie Palmieri and Issac Delgado (with a fledgling salsero me in the audience).

Now it's whitewashed, blue-LED lit, dark-floored, and modern.

Oops!?! Los Van Van still setting up after doors open

Much to my surprise, some of Van Van were on stage. That indicated to me that they'd probably only recently arrived, and that there might not have been a full sound-check. Okay... things were going to be interesting. A quick glimpse at the Front-of-House (FoH) desk told me that it was a Soundcraft Vi6, about forty-thousand pounds of digital mixer; the engineer had better know what he was doing to be let near the thing! I put all of that to one side and indulged in antics and banter, surprised to see the likes of Chunky - an  instructor with Red Hat Salsa - from as far afield as Reading. When all the introductions were said and done, the only thing left was the moment of truth.

The band opened up and the singers strode onstage.

I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I'd been holding. Los Van Van were hungry and they sounded like they'd appreciated the lengths to which some of their fans had travelled (I met a young lady who'd flown from Ireland). Their delivery was consummately polished and nimble, with the ensemble's powerhouses clearly being Samuel Formell (on drumset), Yeni Valdés and Mandy Cantero. The years have been kind to Yeni's stagecraft; she now exerts a commanding presence where she only showed glimpses of before. Mandy was the real surprise of the night, giving it as good as Mayito ever did; perhaps moving away from Pupy's group to LVV will prove to be the liberating challenge that his performance career needed.

The band didn't reprise any of their previous material. Neither did they play 'La Bobería'. I understand, because there had been only a few months for Mandy, less for some others, to learn the songs they had to sort their priorities out. And knowing U..K salseros' preferences for up-tempo music, it was also natural to expect them to shy away from the slower numbers. Although Los Van Van's performance lacked the rage of Maikel Blanco's (I think that their gig in London the night before took a lot out of them), they convinced me enough to be a concert-goer for them again.

But not at the O2 Academy.

Sadly, FoH sound failed to match the calibre of the band. The order of instruments which the sound engineer chose to tackle: brass, vocals, bass, keyboards told me he was unfamiliar with Latin music; and the opportunity to create a strong acoustic space for one of LVV's key assets, the lead vocals, (and well within the Vi6's capabilities) was overlooked. Aggressive high-frequency distortion from a damaged driver on the top-left of stage remained untamed, as did the low-frequency boom left to chase itself in the auditorium's corners.

An enthusiast of live Latin music based here learns to look past deficiencies in Public Address provision (due to their lack of familiarity with the genre) and peer into the heart of a performance. I, probably more than any of the 1000 present, was grateful to find Los Van Van with a properly thumping one.

Loo Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Two

Introductory discussion
The bolero at 80-120bpm provides an open, more controlled context for the development of physical skills than salsa at 160-220bpm as the space between beats is further apart. But the danger in learning off a dance i.e. using it as a stepping-stone is that it can be mis-represented as a poorer genre; as has occurred in the U.K. with the merengue. The bolero will be treated as a genre in its own right.

Most salsa dancers begin their development with attention paid to physical abilities e.g. step sizes, pivot speeds, set-ups, hip action. It is natural to overlook the invisible. Understanding the dance-floor as an environment of potential perturbations which exist physically (being bumped into, changing spaces) and invisibly (changes in audio quality affecting the perception of rhythm; changing tempo; shifting genres).

Charting the progression of rhythmic skills:

1. Rhythmic Resilience - resistance to perturbations by development of consistency of the internal metronomes, calibration to multiple tempo sources.
2. Rhythmic Supremacy - recognition, navigation, and resilience across the prevalent Caribbean genres, culminating in 'future-proofing' i.e.  resilience to rhythms not yet created, via synthesis from historical connections in knowledge-base.
3. Rhythmic Transparency - the ability to render rhythmic supremacy transparent (impalpable) to the observing third person, replicating the results of acquired rhythmic skills.

Warm-up: dancing the bolero
Focus on the long side step over the open tones, partnered.

Practice: play the bolero rhythm while dancing the basic (Part 1)
Individually, on thighs, right-left-right (boom-bim-boom).
Bolero conga rhythm played.

Concept: the double palm-to-palm (2p2p) hold with fingers folded
Introduction to a basic symmetrical partner hold found in the Caribbean.

Practice: play the bolero rhythm while dancing the basic (Part 2)
Partnered, using hands in 2p2p hold, right-left-right (boom-bim-boom).
Bolero conga rhythm played.

Concept: foot position definition
Introducing first through fifth position.

Constructing the full bolero basic by the addition of two complete weight transfers
Partnered, in 2p2p hold. Bolero conga rhythm played.
Hands playing bolero open tone rhythm, right-left-right (boom-bim-boom).
Legs performing bolero step and rhythm: long-short-short / slow-quick-quick
The impact of foot position on  hip action and partnership distance
 
Contrasting activity: grounding a bouncy partner
Leader: leveraging the lower gate (lumbar curve).
Follower: distributed, equilibriated contact across the shoulders; use of body-weight with softened knees.

Contrasting activity: merengue, floor relations and hip action; an introduction
Two basic actions: surface skimming and deep floor driving
An advanced action: 'double-tapping' i.e. two-impulse deep-floor driving

The Spectrum of Circular Movement
An underpinning principle of the rueda style:

• One extreme: the leader pivots on axis as the follower is led to describe a circular dance path;
• The other extreme: the leader describes circular dance path while the follower is contained on axis; and
• Mid-way: both the leader and follower describe an orbit of identical distance and angular velocity, rotating around middle axis.

Practice: spectrum of circular movement
Partnered, palm-to-palm pressure-only contact, clockwise and anti-clockwise.
Partnered, contredanse hold, clockwise and anti-clockwise.

Practice: bolero basic to increasing tempo

Ethnomusicology: bolero and bachata as the daughters of trova
In the absence of bolero music being played in the U.K. social dance scene, bachata provides a suitable real-world substitute based on a shared heritage. An introduction to the similarities, the differences, and the sociopolitical evolution of the genres.

Practice: bolero basic to bachata music

Highlight: common (subconscious) compromises made by the taller dancer

• inclined torso - restricts the forward step and forward hip motion of the taller dancer, restricts mobility of the backward step in the partner.
• flexed knee - restricts the the development of lateral strength in the ankle; prevents stacking of torque curves to the hip; confounds the development of hip action.
• lack of travel - stunts development of drive i.e. the anterior and posterior power chains, especially in the thighs if in conjunction with flexed knee (above).

Practice: dancing bolero 'Tall'
Partnered, various holds.
Emphasis on loooong side step during the open tones.
Compensating for height-length-mobility differences by moving through arcs.

Contrasting activity: Seat of Timing
Introduction the the concept of timing, calibrated to a specific anatomical plane.
Use of the "rope attached to side of foot/hip/heart" learning metaphor.

Practice: Seat of Timing
Lateral exercise using the side-to-side basic.
Employing the rope metaphor at the levels of foot, hip and heart.
Solo then partnered, in a 'mix-and-match-and-detect' style.

Contrasting activity: Whole-body cascade
Foundation skill for the utilisation of torque. As per Body Movement Exercise: Whole-body Cascade.
 
Additional Materials
Bolero rhythm pages from "Latin-American Percussion: Rhythms and Rhythm Instruments from Cuba and Brazil" by Birger Sulsbrück
Sobre Las Olas by Latin Brothers
Repetidiendo La Dosis by Orquesta Canela

Loo Yen Yeo

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 Advancement Workshop One

I reckoned it would be a good thing to log the workshop's contents on Salsadiary, as a historical record and reference. So here goes.

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.

Learning Materials
Salsa Teaching CD2
Chachachá Teaching CD1
Bolero Teaching CD1
Arroyo, Joe - Rebellión (CD)
Fruko y sus Tesos - Todos Bailan Salsa (CD)
Grupo Niche - Etnia (CD)


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

23rd September 2011 Palenke @SalsaWorks, The Engine Shed, Wetherby

Tony 'El Caballero' Piper understands how central the breaking of bread together is in creating strong social bonds. That's why he makes the run to his local supermarket twice weekly, to nab provisions for his salsa classes and his social evenings - it's an effort he makes that's over and above any other promoter I know.

So I'm perched at the breakfast bar of the Piper kitchen, scoffing one of Mary's cupcakes and watching the last batch of sausages emerge from the oven with a predatory eye. It's been a while since I was here last and I find the rhythm of this household to be refreshingly different. Already I've been Tony's grocery trolley dolly, a slicer and chopper, and packer of various comestibles; and as soon as my host's back is turned, those piping bangers are going to get a right menacing.
I'm staying over to enjoy one of my favourite salsa dance bands, Palenke, perform at the Engine Shed.

Palenke's Fernando, Adriana, Lisandro and Bill are the warmest characters you'll ever meet, and I surprise them side-stage just as they're about to soundcheck. We go back a long way. Smartly, the band provide their own PA, which means they can remain competitive with other ensembles who don't, and still being able to take home a more live-able wage. It's something well-established working bands do.

Both Tony and I feed back that the sound's a bit bright, so Fernando juggles the controls to tone down the migh-mids as the dancers begin to trickle in. SalsaWorks at the Engine Shed features a band on its programme once every six months. It's something they don't have to do (in fact they just about break even) but the team feel it's important to support live music otherwise "where would future recorded music come from?"

Palenke, giving it plenty @The Engine Shed

Alfredo and Christine take the intermediate salsa class on the main floor, while Tony leads the willing beginners (and one house guest) up to the smaller dance area. The theme of the 'beginner' lesson (as opposed to 'absolute beginner' of which there were none) is cross-body lead with "Titanic" variations, where us gents play Leonardo DiCaprio to the ladies' Kate Winslet with varying degrees of aplomb. Since these manoeuvres, though commonly found in the wild, aren't in my active dancing vocabulary, El Caballero's ship-encounters-iceberg hour made for a mischievous diversion.

Shortly afterward, the band struck up.

Palenke are in the midst of producing their second album. Strictly speaking, it's Lisandro who is its central custodian and midwife; he's always dreamt of having the band's album made in his home of Colombia and finally decided to take the plunge. Their two live sets featured numbers from the upcoming release, and if they're anything to go by, their production should be feature a cracking number of dancefloor-fillers.

There were signs, which only an experienced eye could glean, that the band weren't entirely comfortable with their foldback (i.e. onstage sound) during the first set - that's part of the risk with not having a dedicated live engineer - and as such I think Palenke delivered their second with more surety, with a well-judged mix of salsa, son montuno and bachata.

It's on past record how brilliant I feel Palenke are. That has not changed. They still reside at the pinnacle of salsa dance bands in the UK, and have been so for more than 20 years when others have been and gone. Dancing to them is a joy and a privilege, especially in a such a venue as the Engine Shed.

Basking in the warmth of their music and of dancing friends, this has been one lovely highlight to this year of salsa.

Loo Yeo

"La Lucha For Cuba" by Miguel A. De La Torre

Illustration Copyright © 2003 University of California Press Ltd. All Rights Acknowledged.

I was drawn to this book by its cover: a protester clutching a Cuban flag, a sash of cordon tape across his chest, being restrained by three concerned blue-clad police officers. It looked familiar somehow, and it turns out that it was an exilic Cuban protesting at the Los Van Van concert at the Miami Arena. I remembered watching the DVD of the concert which opened with scenes of the protest, and wondering why salsa - a phenomenon which sometimes sells itself on the basis of Latin American unity - inspired such fervent anger.

There was another reason; research into augmenting the History of Salsa on my website, with sections on Colombian, Venezuelan and Miami salsa.

The author, Miguel A. De La Torre, writes about Miami exilic Cubans' power geometry in the contexts of Dade County, the United States, and against Castro's Cuba. The work unmasks the structures of oppression  deployed by exilic Cubans to maintain their position of power; it is piercingly insightful, utterly convincing and written with relentless candour. He is a brave man. I can only imagine what he risked as an insider, in the publication of 'La Lucha'. Laura Pérez, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies in University of California Berkley, regarded it as an "... extremely important, courageous and long overdue project about cubanidad...".

It is heavyweight, erudite, and yet personal. It is not light reading. But difficult endeavours, and their accounts shouldn't be. His writing is compact, succinct, heavily laden with meaning. I think the value of his commitment is best be revealed through some of his own words (In order to avoid misunderstandings due to my purely personal choice of excerpts, I strongly urge you to obtain a copy of the book to read them in the context as the author intended):

In his preface he observes, "My hatred for Fidel Castro has been ingrained in me since childhood."

And of the institutionalized racism he and his family encountered when they moved from Miami to Kentucky he says, "The day we moved, I woke up "white" in Miami, but that night in Louisville I went to sleep as a man of color. This experience illustrated that while in Miami, I benefited from the power and privilege obtained by Exilic Cubans, yet when I left Dade County, I suffered because I was seen as a Latino."

And for me, most importantly,

"The Cuban clergy was predominantly from Spain... trained during the Franco dictatorship and highly influenced by the bitter Spanish Civil War victory over communism."
"These priests transplanted the atmosphere of a religious crusade against communism from Spain to Cuba."
"The Cuban Revolution occurred before the churches in Latin America became radicalized by the Vatican II (1962-65)... which articulated the basic tenets of liberation theology." [page 27]

This was the 'a-ha' moment - all of a sudden, things made sense. It was worth the cost of the book for the value of page 27 alone.

'La Lucha for Cuba' has brought me to a cross-roads. Should I augment the history with a deeper analysis which would necessitate consideration of political (and hence polarising) influences? Or should I maintain the history's accessibility to all by side-stepping the controversies which lie at the very heart of salsa?

Perhaps there is a middle path, should Elegguá be kind enough to show me the way. Otherwise, my instinct tells me I should follow De La Torre's example, and trust my readers to know the price of the difference.

Yeo Loo Yen

M is for Metaphor

I've been working my way through Beard and Gloag's 'Musicology: The Key Concepts' (2005), using musicology as a lens through which to study dance. To be frank I've found the book a bit of a struggle, more due to the density of subject concepts than the writing style (see the review in a later post). But along the way, there's plenty of stimulus for thought. Take the opening section on the entry for 'Metaphor':

[Quote]

Metaphor is a concept that defines our relationship to music. For example, music cannot be said to be sad; rather, sadness is a quality that we may ascribe to it (Neubauer 1986, 151). Metaphor arises in all forms of discourse about music, even when, as in theory and analysis, it attempts to treat music as an autonomous object (see autonomy). Naomi Cumming has summarized metaphors about music as 'a projection onto sound of aspects of our own mentality' (Cumming 1994, 28). In a critical appraisal of Roger Scruton's discussion of ways in which metaphor has informed musical descriptions, Cumming comments:

If explanations of music commonly make it an 'intentional object' by treating it as the object of understanding, not as a thing which can be described 'in itself'... then references to qualities which derive from our own cognitive mechanisms rather than from any acoustic property of the music are bound to appear.

(ibid., 28)

[Unquote]

An aspect of the philosophical use of analogy is that confidence in validity of the comparison depends upon the level of similarity between the things being compared. Based on the Latin American concept of 'ritmo' which refers not only to rhythm in music also to its associated dance, we can derive these analogous statements of high confidence:

• Metaphor is a concept that defines our relationship to dance. For example, dance cannot be said to be 'hot'; rather, 'hotness' is a quality that we may ascribe to it
• Metaphors about dance (can be described) as a projection onto movement of aspects of our own mentality
• ...references to qualities which derive from our own cognitive mechanisms rather than from any kinesthetic property of the dance are bound to appear

Through this lens, we can pierce the marketing veil to look at underlying constructs and contradictions.

Of Hot and Hotness
A glance of the salsa dance listings in the United Kingdom is replete with terms like: fuego [fire], fever, heat, and spicy. The marketing implication is that one can be 'hot' like the constructed Latin American. However if we ascribe the property of 'hotness' to salsa, or at least the potential for it, then it leaves responsibility for achieving it in the hands (and bodies) of the interpreters.

'Hot' allows the engagement to be passive, just by participating in the activity renders the dancer 'hot'; whereas 'hotness' demands active engagement, requiring the conscious and continuous act of interpretation to realise potential. But as salsa is rendered here as a decontextualised activity, how much Latin American hotness should we expect to achieve?

Projections of our own mentality
In the content of our salsa lessons, move vocabulary vastly outweighs rhythmic strength demonstrating our cultural pursuit of the pinnacle at the expense of the fundamental. That our prevailing style skims across the surface of the floor instead of deriving a strong hip action off it, privileges the European roots over the African.

Qualitative references derived from cognitive mechanisms
The segregation of salsa communities into those brandishing salsa, mambo, contratiempo, On1 and On2 markers tell us that salsa is the being treated as an 'intentional object'. It causes us to ask the question, "what is the underlying intent?" driving the promotion of these markers.

And the next concept is 'Modernism'... Hmm...

Loo Yeo