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

Cultural Mark, Social Brand

There's nothing like a hard deadline to focus the mind. And with our commitment to launching our Latin dance social event, there's been a lot of focussing lately. I don't think Esh, Steve and I have been in such sustained contact, ever!

Apart from the bringing together of materials and investment in capital assets i.e. the operations facet, the most important long-term decision is, "what to call it?" It has to have the opportunity to grow into a name of social meaning, to reflect the uniqueness we feel the night can (and should) be. Yes, it will be a brand, but it'll be less the values of Monsanto and more Rainforest Alliance. Or maybe Eataly.

Whatever it is, I have a few parameters.

Alliterative
The word or phrase has got to have a nice internal rhythm to its pronunciation, to make it an easy handle to grasp

Cultural Dimension
I would like to see this as a place where both Latin Americans and locals alike feel comfortable. It has to have elements of cultural grounding in the Caribbean, and hence have 'authenticity'.

Pan-Latin
As I envision the music policy to be broad, encompassing such like: vallenato (for Colombians), gaita (for Venezuelans), cumbia (for Chileans, Mexicans), bachata (locals and Latins), merengue (for Latins), timba (for Cubans, Cubanophiles and Casinoholics), and a main staple of salsa (from romantica to dura); the symbol must have a dimension which crosses the Caribbean and South America.

Unique
It should be one that has not been seen before in the local environment, in this context.

'Empty' Term
I suspect my co-partners would want to go with something which has 'salsa' in the title. I feel that whereas that might help us get up and running quickly, as people hearing it would think they know what to expect, it is that same expectation which would hinder the brand in the long term. The better, (albeit harder) way is to choose an 'empty' term and imbue it with our own meanings, rather than try to adapt one with existing meanings.

Pronounceable
This is a concept most immigrant parents or those of different cultures face when choosing names for their children. A good number of them choose names which are pronounced similarly in both (or more) languages.

Social Dimension
Wherever and however the mark is derived, it has to convey a strong social dimension which I feel should be the core of what we do.

So, all in all quite one of the easiest things to do. I already have a few candidates.

Loo Yeo

New Year's Eve 2013 Old Skool Disco @Creswell Social Centre

I'd just settled down in front of the telly-box in anticipation of a musical evening capped with Jool's Annual Hootenanny. Everything was right: the comfy socks, the hot beverage, mince pies... New Year's Eve is quality 'me' time.

Then the phone rang:

"Loo, get ready. I'm coming by to pick you up in 30 minutes. We're going to an old skool disco," said Esh.
"Eh?" said I.
"Old Skool Disco.." enunciated Esh, much more slowly.
I thought he'd gone looney-tunes. 'Why on Earth would I give up a Hootenanny for a night that can't even manage to play one song all the way through?' I thought to myself.
"It's at a possible venue for our dance night," cajoled Esh.

At that point, the prospect of quality 'me' time bleated as it was sacrificed on the altar of Latin social dance. "Okay," I sighed.

An hour and a half later and we, Esh and I, were standing at the threshold of Creswell Social Club's main hall. This is what we saw:

Old Skool

Revellers shuffled from foot to foot, clutching their prized golden nectar in plastic cups, some mouthing lyrics from fragments of songs by Bon Jovi. Air, made acrid with artificial smoke, occasionally lanced by sharp beams of primary colour, pounded with the weight of an overpowered system. Spots of white versus off-white battled for supremacy across the lid of a giant box.

I looked to my right and read Esh's expression.
"Not feeling the love, huh?" I observed.
He shook his head, despondent.
"Don't worry, I can make this work" I said.
He looked surprised, tinged with a good handful of disbelief.
"Trust me."

This wasn't my first rodeo, and I could see its potential immediately. The plus features of the room were its:

• width - close enough for people to mingle and not feel exposed when crossing over to ask for a dance;
• size - large enough for a decent capacity yet, crucially, intimate enough that a good atmosphere could be had with smaller attendance numbers;
• height - the ceiling was high enough to draw away some of the heat, and had fans for circulation; and,
• dance-floor - a slightly-sprung hardwood floor, kept in good nick (even past the spilt beer), with no detectable steel-joist hard-points beneath.

All the key aspects for dancers' comfort were addressed in the room. With the right lighting, and imaginative dressing, this unpromising duckling could be swanified.

"I need to check their loos" I said. The business-person in me learned, a long time ago, that the state of the toilet facilities are the clearest indication of staff morale. Creswell's were modern and immaculate, easily the best I'd seen at a social club anywhere. Dancers with expensive dance shoes appreciate good facilities.

Steve then took Esh and I into the kitchen area to meet the venue manager, Pat - a slim lady, with bright eyes, gentle smile, and kind no-nonsense demeanour. She listened to our plans in an unhurried manner (in the midst of a busy New Year's Eve service period), then said, "Let me get out the venue diary for the year."

I'd expected her to say "let me think about this and contact you." Caught on the hop, I knew we had to take an immediate plunge or lose organisational credibility. We'd come prepared. I'd already identified the first Saturday of every month as the best candidate:

• Fridays were always a rush for most working people, yours truly included, whereas a Saturday evening event meant for a more leisurely build-up of anticipation;
• the first Saturday of the month slotted in well with the cycle of monthly events in the region, it having become available after a promoter had decided to cease a running regular event; and,
• previous experience told me that the first Saturday after pay day was less vulnerable to seasonal fluctuations.

We committed to start on the 1st of March 2014 - a mere two months away - and confirmed the dates for six months, pencilling the other dates for the remainder of the year (with a view to confirming them or not after an internal four-month review).

Esh and I left Creswell with a sharply renewed focus. There's nothing like making a commitment to crystallise the mind. Now I have to make good on my promise of transforming Creswell into a delightful swan of a place to Latin dance in.

I took a deep breath.
Loo

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

The Right Feeling (re-found in Barcelona)

Over the past few years, my re-acquaintance with a long-time friend has led to an increased return to the social dance floor at venues across the country. I'm struck by the heterogeneity in customer experience - in the music played, sound quality, lighting ambience, hospitality, venue setup, dance surface...

At the risk of wearing out my rose-tinted glasses, I recalled promoters putting more effort into their offerings. I put it down to a time when the salsa scene was niche, and, with the actual dance population being small, salsa nights had to have the capacity to 'fascinate' the larger non-salsa audience and draw them in, since they had barely a sense of what salsa was. Now that the salsa-experienced population has grown to a significant enough size, it seems that that attention to fascinate and welcome has drained away.

On more than one recent occasion, I found myself paying to dance in a box.

I've wondered, "has the salsa experience become commoditised?" "Would we, as first-movers in a fledgling salsa scene, have been able to grow it to what it is now by offering today's kind of experience?"

I was saddened. But at the same time, I realised that there was something in it. You see, two friends had been bouncing around the idea of starting up a salsa event with me; and I was only going to commit if the night came from the right place: from the heart. It had the right feeling.

And it just so happens that I'm in Barcelona with them.

They'd never been to the great Catalan city before, and had always wanted to see it. So I let myself be cajoled into being their guide, and I was keen to give them a touch of the Barcelona lifestyle they would treasure.

And it was in 'El Xampanyet' that they experienced the right feeling. 'The Champagne' is one of the city's finest bars, run by the Esteve Family for three generations.

Traditional, yet trendy

El Xampanyet's appeal lies in its dichotomous encapsulation of Iberian values (above). It's both old and new, trendy and traditional, a place to stay or to pass through.

Everyone creates the spectacle

The tapas bar, well-oiled with the elbows of locals, serves a mouth-watering array of fresh local produce and canned seafood in the Catalan tradition. The important thing is, that both the patrons and the staff, together, are involved with creating the spectacle (above). El Xampanyet's staff know this; that people inherently know how to enjoy themselves, and that all they have to do is to help.

A sense of place

Blue Iberian glazed tiles jostle for space on the bottle-lined walls with an eclectic mix of antiques. You know you're in El Xampanyet (above). There's a feeling of place. There's also a sense of timelessness; it doesn't occur to you to think about how long you've stayed.

A feeling of generosity

The offerings are always good. Everyone will prefer some things over others, but it's always good. And most of all, there's a heartfelt feeling of generosity (above).

People come back for friends

It might be the reputation, the drinks, and the pintxos (tapas) that draws you first time through its doors, but in the end, everyone comes to El Xampanyet to be with each other, be they friends or friends not yet made.

So there you have it. What a fledgling salsa scene once had, and lost. And perhaps what it might have once again.

Loo Yen Yeo

15th June 2013 Prince Royce @The Coronet Theatre, Elephant & Castle, London

"Royce? In London?!?" was my first thought.

The freshly-minted event cropped up innocuously on Facebook and I couldn't believe my eyes. My mouse pointer made like Usain Bolt, sprinting to the link before it dropped off my news feed. If this were true, it would be the first time, at least in my memory, that an international bachata artist had played on these shores. Questions careened about crazily in my mind - What would the audience demographic be? How might the live performance bachata differ to recorded material? Would the consumption of bachata differ to salsa? If so, why? Could I hack a whole evening of the Dominican sweetmeat (ahem)? Would experiencing the artist's live performance practice inform my understanding of his music? Would it help in the deployment of bachata in my DJ sets?

A ticket was the portal to answers.

On a blustery, changeable summer's morning, I was transported bleary-eyed after two nights of hard DJing via a fleet steel carriage to the great capital in the company of four fellow Roycers of unique intensity. A smacking Malaysian lunch; a trot up the Mall to Buckingham Palace into the teeth of a deluge which would have had Noah reaching for his nails and saw; an exhausted refuge in a pub cellar, failed to dampen spirits. We joined the tail of people at the Coronet Theatre at the appointed hour.

And we waited. And we waited. In the coldly stiffening evening breeze.

Preliminaries
The minute-hand traced more than a full lap around the clock-face; its progress increasingly confirmed that the promoters, Ritmolatinobaby, had bitten off more than they could've organisationally chewed - there was no extra capacity for management to dispel uncertainty and misinformation. I crossed my fingers and gazed at the dishevelled blue cube of a building that was the Coronet Theatre, lodged as it was against the shoulder of London's unofficial hub of Latin American life - Elephant and Castle's shopping centre.

Venue
When we were finally loosed within, I was frisked after the metal detectors (a stark reminder of club life in the big city) and ushered past the box office where my name was crossed off a list. Inside the Coronet was much more promising. Its previous life as a place where actors trod the boards is still evident: the entry ramps brought us in at Circle level with a bar and facilities at the rear, Front-of House (FoH), DJ and lighting booths to the front. Steps on either side of the booths led down to the former Stalls area, now a well-proportioned dance space with obligatory security pit in front of the stage. Above was the Balcony area where the seating had been retained.

The sound quality was the first thing which struck me - it was good. Probably was a result of its former purpose, the acoustic coverage was even across both levels and without boom. A lack of sibilance from the flyers indicated the quality of the set-up, good enough for me to distinguish easily when lossless or data-compressed music was being played. The settings on the digital mixing desk reassured me that the band had been sound-checked, possibly the cause of our delayed entry.

Pre-show
Once the doors opened, the influx of people was steady and controlled. Taking a tour around both floors I estimated an attendance of five hundred souls; average age in the early twenties; more than a third Latin; 60% women; and socio-demographically class A, B and C1 due to the comparatively high ticket price. Looking at their movements, more than 90% of them were there to see the concert; there being just a handful of couples doing their fancy twirly salsa and bachata thing.

Which segues nicely to the Disc Jockeys.

There was a whole battery of 'em - all teen-aged, male, and facing directions contrary to that of their caps. "Since when did DJing become a gang activity?" I mused. What started off as poppy post-internationalisation bachata moved on to reggaeton then k-pop/latin-pop. At first instinct I felt it strange, but then looking at the demographic of young, probably first-generation British-born Latinas, it was well-judged. What was not well-judged was the quality of their music samples. Perhaps they'll learn their craft in time. An MC came on extolling the greatness of Dominican bachata, exhorting us all to worship at the altar of dance (or something like that), steering away from mention of hot-dogs or any Bronx-based artefacts from Royce's birthland. Then the MC in concert with the DJs colluded to drum up a couple of false starts, just to wind up the crowd.

I was feeling bear-baited.

Royce the Entertainer
At last the lights dimmed for real, an hour later than billed. The band musicians assumed their posts at their instruments: rhythm guitar, bass guitar, trap-set, conga-bongo-tambora, keyboards, güira-shaker, midi, and backing vocals. Then BAM! Geoffrey Royce Rojas aka. Prince Royce exploded onto stage in a blaze of reddened yellow light.

Clad in jeans and a leather jacket over a white tee, the young man opened exuding charisma and confidence. His manner of stage presentation and engagement was very much in the United States' school, of which Christina Aguilera is a prime example: slick, sure-footed, and well managed. Always mindful of the camera, his stage coverage was heavily biased to stage left where the feed to his video wall backdrop was shot from. He filled the room with most of his 'Phase II' numbers including "incondicional", plus stalwarts from his eponymous debut release like "corazón sin cara".

Prince Royce's songs all have a mid-tenor's tessitura and a vocal range hardly exceeding two octaves: singing which is all about accessibility, about feeling comfortable, not about virtuosity. His musical intonation was good, apart from a rough patch just past halfway through, when the band's in-ear monitoring systems failed. True to his professionalism, Royce gave little indication of this to his audience. I was actually pleased to hear that, because it indicated his confidence to perform without auto-tune's safety net, although I should add that more scale-work would give him better pitch stability.

Unsurprisingly there were no deep moments of personal revelation - he's not far enough along the road for the stage truly to be his home. Instead he went down the well-trodden routes of searching for someone in the audience and singing to her when he found her two songs later; and holding a mini-dance competition with the (unexpected) winner selected via the audience voting-by-applause. These activities were strategically timed to give his singing voice respite in a concert which lasted a good eighty minutes.

Bachata practice
Unlike in salsa, it isn't overtly clear that internationalised bachata's structure is capable of accommodating musical and lyrical improvisation, even though its ancestral genres were. Therefore in comparison to salsa, Prince Royce's performance practices resulted in music which:

• was closer to studio recorded forms;
• lacked the flexibility for new interpretations of musical and lyrical themes; and
• was compact, requiring more numbers to be played in the concert.

The primary mode of consumption was overwhelmingly passive - there was little participation in the interpretation-reinforcement of ritmo on the part of the audience nor was it encouraged from stage. In total, the experience highlighted an unseen division in this country; where the more avid consumers of bachata's music is by non-aficionado dancers, and the more avid practitioners of bachata's dance is by those somewhat indifferent to its music. This is far away from the Latin American cultural concept of 'ritmo' where dance and music are an inseparable whole.

And that Prince Royce's performance practice inherently lacked ritmo integration speaks volumes of his own cultural divestment, despite literature alluding to his Dominican authenticity.

Conclusion
I got my answers, although I must add the caveat that these general observations are not statistically accurate. I have a better feel for why Geoffrey Royce Rojas wrote his songs and what they mean to him personally - it has very much informed me as to how to deploy his music better in my DJ sets.

My friends and I found it strange that although his concert was billed as part of a "world tour promoting his 'Phase II' album", there was no merchandise on sale at the venue. It transpires that Prince Royce is now signed to Sony, leaving the label of his first two albums - Top Choice - on less that amicable terms, if reports are to be believed. It remains to be seen whether this will prove to be a wise move. Sergio George, owner of Top Choice, has an incomparable Midas touch in crafting hits. Sony, in my opinion, has had its fair share of slaying golden geese.

The experience of the concert was memorable and worthwhile; I would be happy to get the Royce treatment again. There are plenty more questions in search of answers.

Loo Yeo

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

14th September 2012 SalsaWorks @The Engine Shed, Wetherby

Closure is about beginnings.

Twelve months ago when the Pipers and I left the Engine Shed at the end of the night after Palenke's gig, there was no inkling of the turmoil which would buffet the venue, SalsaWorks and the lives of those involved. The Shed's unfortunate closure removed a salsa landmark from England's North, leaving a vacuum which many have since tried to fill. With true doggedness the SalsaWorks team continued to put on the same schedule of attractions - performers, teachers, and disc jockeys - re-homed at York's Holgate Club. But the Engine Shed's uniqueness, the atmosphere, the friendliness, the feel, the spirit, remained elusively... unique.

Then when Tony told me over the phone that the Shed was to open its doors, still as a dance venue, once again; and that SalsaWorks was back in Wetherby, I felt it was time for closure. That I had to be there for the re-opening, to put to bed the awful sadness of having been there when the sight and sound of the doors drawing shut could have been for the last time.

In the early afternoon, Tony picked me up from York station and delivered me to Piperland where, over cups of tea, our chins wagged and we put our kitchen skills to use on the night's buffet. Dusk was ushering in the night when I was chaperoned speedily south along winding country roads. The Engine Shed's front doors were shut exactly as I remembered them, but this time, signs of life on the other side cracked them open and I stepped through to a flood memories painted from her best of times.

The forms of Lorraine and Les of Mancuban were in the far corner, pacing out the content of the night's coming lesson. Alfie, I surprised with a generous hug and a bottle of champagne to commemorate what I hoped would be the closure of an uncertain year - I didn't make an effort to conceal my disappointment that Christine could not be there.

As salsa played, the main salon began to fill. A quarter of an hour later than billed, the pre-club lessons fired up: Lorraine and Les leading the main group downstairs, with Alfie upstairs introducing newcomers to possibly the most profound change in to their lifestyles. The main session's pacing was deliberate (I would have taught a classroom session at a quicker pace, but a club session in the same manner) with frequent partner changes, breaking the ice for everyone to meet each other.

Tony and I skulked about in the shadows rigging the video equipment, receiving the performers to their dressing area, and taking photos.

SalsaWorks bill this as a salsa night and are true to their word - only two bachatas, two bachata-tangos, and one kizomba dotted the un-apologetically salsa playlist - with Lorraine, Les, Alfredo and Tony alternating thirty-minute sets. Space on the dance-floor was tight but not un-navigably so; more than two hundred dancers had travelled from as far as Hull, Newcastle, Preston, and Sheffield to participate in the re-awakening.

The dance show provided a contrasting punctuation mark. Tony's never been one to shy away from controversy and has sometimes made room in the programming schedule for something a little different. True to Engine Shed form, this re-opening night was no exception, and he billed it as:

ANZHEXEN Dark Fusion Dance Troupe (Leeds)
This group of very scarey ladies is led by Beverley Spracklen. They deliver an extraordinary fusion of North African tribal styles in a deeply Gothic mood. Beverley said, ‘Our performance is designed to be unsettling!’ I said, 'Unsettle them as much as you like, Beverley!'

I found it conceptually interesting, but for me, the African tribal message struggled to emerge from the performers' strongly Gothic demeanour. Choreographically, a stronger movement style and increased floor coverage would have provided the dynamism to complement the high-contrast look.

Until it happened for real, the success of Engine Shed's re-opening was a great unknown. A number of events had sprung up in the calendar same slot - a year is a long time in salsa promotion. But whereas a number of events I've been to recently are traded as pure commodities - a 'promoter' hires a room, a DJ, and announces it on Facebook - SalsaWorks is old school. They talk to you, make you feel welcome, dance with you, listen to your thoughts, provide means of forging that most primal of social bonds through the breaking of bread together.

For the revelling faithful, it was as if the Engine Shed had never been away. "It feels as though it's just missed a week" was a familiar sentiment, so easily did the vibe come back. I felt it too, dancing the rounds, reconnecting with old faces, and beguiling the new. It's still one of the few places where I have no reservations about approaching someone for a dance.

The doors shut once again. But this time there was, is, a prospect of a second, third and fourth time.

Closure, as I said, is about beginnings.

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

32nd World Congress on Dance Research, Conseil International de la Danse, UNESCO

Background
The Conseil International de la Danse is the only international organisation recognised to represent all forms of dance. Called the "United Nations of Dance" it was founded within UNESCO offices, hence its acronym CID-UNESCO; and its members, institutions and individuals, represent those who have had the most significant, long-term, world-wide impact in their fields.

The people who made it possible - UFI and CID UNESCO
32nd World Congress on Dance Research, San Marino

This would be my first time at a world congress (representation by more than forty nationalities is the requisite for being called a world congress) despite being a member for nearly a decade. The timing was perfect - I'd just finished a piece of significant dance research and had a window of opportunity to travel. The prospect of returning to Italy and presenting in the Republic of San Marino proved an irresistible lure.

The Location
I arrived for registration at the sugar-white monolithic building of the Kursaal; which accommodates San Marino's state conference facilities sandwiched between Interpol's offices on one side and Radio San Marino on the other. As my security pass was being issued, I caught up on the revised schedule (I'd been travelling around Emilia Romagna with sporadic internet access) and got serious indication as to the prestige with which CID membership is regarded; the government of San Marino had not only made the Kursaal conference site available to us, and resourced it with full technical support and real-time interpreters into Italian and English, but had also reserved its historic 18th century Teatro Titano exclusively for our use over the duration.

The People
The first ones I encountered were the faces to the names with whom I'd been corresponding with for years and weeks: the organisers from CID-UNESCO and the Unione Folklorica Italiana (UFI). Then the attendees: dance practitioners - choreographers, educators, performers; and dance academics - researchers, disseminators, historians, biographers in equal measure. Their subject-matter expertise spanned from the folkloric to the modern, the sacred to the secular, the classical to the popular.

The Format
Three parallel programmes were held during the daytime.

• Dance workshops by the practitioners addressing choreography, teaching methods, dance techniques, and introduction to genre. These lasted thirty minutes.
• Dance video displays by academics and practitioners covering technical, biographical and cultural subject matter. These lasted thirty minutes.
• Dance presentations by academics on the latest research, new interpretations of existing phenomena, and previously unseen archival gems. These lasted fifteen minutes followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session.

The inclusive nature of CID tries to accommodate as many applications for programmes slots as possible but this has a down-side; there were a a number of 'no shows' due to travel funding arrangements falling through at the eleventh hour, or inability to obtain immigration visas. This led to a fluid situation where the organisers were put under considerable pressure just to keep scheduling up-to-date. The night-time hours belonged to performances at the fabulous Teatro Titano.

The Experience
The scheduling was kind to me. Either that, of I was rewarded for being organised by being scheduled to present in the first session of the first day; other people know who you are and what you do right from the start. Also, it allowed me to relax for the rest of the congress. The presentation itself was thoroughly prepared, and contrasted greatly with the majority which followed because of its pure science approach to the research, as compared to a social science one; and the large data sets involved.

The majority of the congress attendees were dance practitioners; 'do-ers' who preferred to spend their time in the more practical workshops. That's not to say that there was such a distinct segregation, a handful of us spanned both practitioner and academic arenas. I personally elected to spend the first two days supporting the lesser-attended lecture presentations, attending the workshops during the 'no shows'. The most notable workshops for me were: Karen Smith's "Give my regards to Broadway: choreography for musical theater"; Marco Santinelli's "Lyrical Contemporary Jazz"; and all of the ones on Turkish folkloric dance.

Tamalyn Dallal in Teatro Titano, San Marino
32nd World Congress on Dance Research, CID UNESCO

The theatre performances were a privilege to experience, with top billing going to all of those from the two Japanese sections who'd travelled a long way to put on a superlative expression of art. Their power and precision would have been culturally expected, but it was their expressiveness which was astounding. Also spectacular were: Tamalyn Dallal's entrancing "Middle Eastern dance performance"; Daniela Morais of Luís Damas Dance Company's fluid "Invocation"; and Nalini Toshniwal's near-spiritual "Kathak: Indian classical Dance".

And the after parties... boy, were there after-parties as only a group of pure dance professionals can have them.

But then, that's where the real value of going to a congress like this is, in the connecting of people - lunchtimes spent talking about the healing aspects of dance with dance therapist Özlem Lale Kaleli and Islamic African rhythms with Tamalyn; bad behaviour with contemporary dancer Ana-Maria Bogdanović and contact-improvisation specialist Bruno Couderc; strolling the walls with Luís Damas.

But quite ironically, it was my handling of the unexpected which left a greater mark.

The Impromptu Lesson
I'd earmarked two workshops in the morning session of the second day 'must gos'; they were on 'Cuban Salsa' by Cubans Pedro Ricardo Henry and Felix Ricardo Lopez Valdés. I turned up to the dance hall to find a rather forlorn bunch of (non-salsa) dance teachers. On asking, and after a search around the Kursaal, it turns out the Cubans were no-shows. I was crestfallen. It was the looks of disappointment and resignation that did it.

I told Marilena (Caponis, one of the organising members) that if they really wanted a salsa lesson, then I'd be happy to conduct one off-the-cuff. What's the point in being a salsa teacher if you don't teach salsa when you could? Their eyes brightened.

Now I was under pressure. The music which I'd hoped to use (it was part of my previous day's presentation) was on the slide-show laptop which was in use. I explained the situation, asked for their indulgence and said, "we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way".

I knelt down on the floor in the middle of the circle and drummed the tumbao moderno on my thighs; getting them to feel the groove, and asking them the vocalise 'gung-gung' with the double open tones.

Then I brought in the concept of call-and-response, and introduced the three beat salsa dance rhythm as a response to the 'gung gung'. At this point, with everyone present being dance educators, I explained the difference between acquired (walk-based) and learned (using structured basics) Cuban dance.

By asking my colleagues to help me by continuing the event- action (vocal cue-dance rhythm) practice, I was freed to vocalised montunos over their rhythms to provide a broader musical context. They began to get into the swing of things, especially Ingo (Guenther, master of baroque dance) who was happily 'gung-gung'ing away. They were partnered up into dance couples to increase interaction and reinforce each other rhythmically.

I swapped their partnerships often, mixing up the content with salsa walks and basics.

Then they started asking about quality of movement; so I explained the key features of East Cuban and West Cuban movement to música bailable (this was billed to be Cuban salsa after all), demonstrated it, executed it, taught it; and they all learned it, replicated it and then interpreted it - an reminder that this class comprised an altogether different standard of attendees.

Then came the obvious question, "When and why would you use which quality?"

I thought to myself, "erm... now how do I explain that?!" Then it came to me.

With my colleagues dancing salsa using Oriente (East Cuban) movement, and vocalising gung-gungs, I sang sones phrased to son clave with traditional intonations and attack. We then did the same using Occidente (West Cuban) movement, as I sang rumba-derived timba songs to rumba clave. There was even time to do a cross-comparison, which they all experienced as very valuable.

Eighteen minutes was all that I had had: from the delayed start, to the next scheduled workshop. And I made it with time enough for remedial work and to engage with some penetrating questions.

Jumping in to provide the lesson allowed me to connect with my fellow CID colleagues in a personal manner, making me a more 'known' and hence 'comforting' quantity. I left the hall having a different stature to that of when I entered. I was no longer simply an academic subject-matter expert; I was now also regarded as a dance practitioner with performance-level abilities as an all-round musician and singer; and an educator who could answer the "whys" and teach the "hows".

The Enduring Memories
The 32nd World Congress on Dance Research was declared a success despite the low attendance (earthquakes in the region a weeks prior put paid to that), and I agree. To be privileged enough to have effectively private viewings of world-class performances in a beautiful theatre, to be able to exchange ideas with people at the very top of their game, to laugh with new friends, and to dance a dreamy bolero under a vault of stars in a Sanmarinese piazza. What else could one want?

Loo Yeo


To visit Loo's Facebook photo albums on the '32nd World Congress on Dance Research, Conseil International de la Danse, UNESCO' and San Marino 2012, click on the links below.

Part One: 
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151094558390555.502507.668465554&type=3&l=594f82a341

Part Two:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151159507785555.509703.668465554&type=3&l=85010e4583

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

Why Men Shouldn't Count

That's the title of the dance research paper I'd submitted for presentation at UNESCO CID's 32nd World Congress on Dance Research. And it's been accepted. That's why I've been as quiet as a mouse recently, and I will be for another month - the congress in San Marino and apart from preparing the presentation, I'll be taking the opportunity to talk dance with my colleagues in the International Dance Council, travel the Emilia Romagna region and an cap it all off with a return to beautiful Rome.

I'll cover the congress experience in a post or two, with photos, when I get back. In the meanwhile, here's the summary of the paper to whet your appetite!

San Marino, Baby! Loo Yeo, Conseil International de la Danse UNESCO

[quote]

Why Men Shouldn’t Count: Designing and assessing an event-led multimodal approach for the learning of salsa

By Loo Yen Yeo, Salsa & Merengue Society UK.

Summary
The conventional verbal approach to the teaching of salsa dancing was investigated and results indicated a bias in favour of females. A nonverbal event-led approach was developed and assessed for success rate and sex bias. Both pedagogic systems were compared and their neurological bases were discussed. Results imply an increased transfer in the burden of learning from student to instructor using the event approach. Extrapolation from neurophysiological studies leads to the hypothesis that sustained deployment of the conventional approach yields a cultural bias favouring salsa’s European component over its African influences. Exciting avenues for future research arising from salsa’s continued transnationalisation are indicated.

Keywords: dance – neurology – pedagogy – salsa – sex bias – cultural bias

[unquote]

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