Cosas

So I've been SUPER busy and haven't wrote a blog in over a month or so. I haven't really had anything to talk about but I figure I throw in that the New York Salsa Congress is in August of this year. I will be releasing more information when August comes closer. If you can't wait that long, you can visit the New York Salsa Congress 2008. Also, there is a "reality movie" called Salsa For Beginners "about a 25years old graduate chica who was leading a regular life till she found Salsa." Below is the URL to the youtube "movie."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9oawgmQX7U


Interesting website: http://www.worldsalsanews.com/.

Also, I was randomly searching through Google for Latina Poets and ran into a few that were quite interesting:

Julia de Burgos
Ana Castillo
Laura Esqueivel (Wrote the book Like Water, For Chocolate)


There are plenty of other poetic Latinas out in the world, but those three seemed to catch my attention.

Art Show

Alright, so I recently attended this art show at a College. I ran into some paintings that reminded me of salsa. These paintings are what I call "different" and abstract.

By: Jean Porreca



By: Sarah Joncas


By: Laurie Lipton

Take a closer look at the dancer. She seems to be dancing a spaniard dance and skeletons are in the background playing musical instruments.

New York's Longest & Best Social

Recently, I made my way to New York and got to experience NY's Longest & Best Social! Jimmy Anton's Sundays Socials are truly ALOT of fun.



From the moment I entered, people greet you and want to dance with you. Everyone was so welcoming and didn't care if you didn't know how to dance; they still managed to work with you. I was dipped, lifted in the air, turned, EVERYTHING! It was GREAT and such a wonderful time.

The Social is the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month from 5-9 p.m. Located in the DANCE MANHATTAN Dance Studio located at 39 West 19th Street (5th floor), NYC 10011. It costs $11 to get in, but it is TOTALLY worth it.

If you're around the way, I suggest you go and check it out.

To visit the site directly go here: http://www.salsanewyork.com/magazine/articles/jimmy_anton_social.htm

Sex & Salsa

Salsa dancing is known to be a very sensual, seductive, sexy, style of dancing. From where the hands are placed (lower back, etc) to the body sways between partners (pelvic to pelvic). When dancing salsa, you are 'connected' to your partner where both of your bodies are in sync, due to the different rhythms of the instrument. This can let the partners not only have fun, but become passionate on the dance floor.

Alex Labrador, an online writer, posted "50 Reasons Why Salsa is Just Like S-E-X!" You can visit the entire list on www.tosalsa.com, but I decided to pick a few that I thought were humorous.

#45 It's great to do it with music.
#37 You think about it day and night and you just can't get enough of it!
#36 You do it ALL NIGHT LONG and when you are finished, both of you are hot, sweaty, and completely exhausted.
#27 The more you do it, the better you get.
#23 You go to the club to get some.
#17 You get injuries, bruises, and scars and you tell yourself, "Oh well, that's just part of it."
# 5 There's nothing better than doing it with a pro..
#2 You never forget the first one who taught you.

Styles of Salsa

Salsa has it's many styles such as Cuban style, Los Angeles style, New York style, Colombian style, Puerto Rican style,Old School style and so much more. But the two styles that people are familar with are "On 1" or/and "On 2." Now you may be thinking, salsa is just salsa but dancing "on 1" is much different from dancing "on 2." Dancing "on 1" seems to be faster while "on 2" one can really flow and take their time when dancing with a partner or doing shines (fancy footwork one does individually). LA Style leans towards "on 1," while NY Style is "on 2" or also known as Mambo. Below shows how 'On 1' is different from 'On 2.' As you see, 'on 1' you start step 1 with your left foot, while 'on 2' you start step 1 on your right foot, then stepping foward on your left, on 2.

This Thing Called Salsa (Not The Dip)

Rose: So what do you enjoy?
Me: Salsa.
Rose: Really? Who taught you?
Me: Well we always dance Salsa at my family functions.
Rose: What?!? Don't you just eat Salsa?
Me: Lol.

So there's this sensual activity that leads to serious addiction; Salsa. It's the confusion of complex Latin and Afro-Caribbean music, that is becoming more and more popular. Out of all the percussion instruments, the clave is the most distinct sound in salsa (as well as the congas).

The clave is a rhythm which is played by hitting two sticks together.

The creation and origin is given credit to the Cubans and although Cuba and Puerto Rico have Salsa as their main dance, other Latin countries find enjoyment in this style of dancing. Salsa is becoming worldwide with Salsa Congresses in Italy, China, United States, just to name a few.

Salsa dancing is not only a style of dancing, but an exercise, a movement, an expression, my passion, and yes....a dip for chips..lol....