SALSA AND SOCIAL

We use to say that salsa is a social dance. The essence of salsa is socialty, group making, team building. A salsero get a tendency to associate with others salsero and to form a social group, to absorb and becoming one with the unit trough MUSIC and EXCHANGE.


- MUSIC :
Salseros are individuals in their style and flavor, but together they are a liquid sea of bodies, all synchronized to the salsa beats around and within them. The music dissolves the selves of all the participants into one collective mind, all experiencing the same sensations at peak moments of the night. This vocabulary might remind you something : in Acid Houses in Ibiza or Goa they called this phenomenon "Trance".
Salseros have something in commun with ravers since at the origin of the trance was the percussion.
In Cuban religion (Yoruba) percussionists play precise rhythms directed to specific god (Orishas) causing the Orishas to descend and possess priests of the religion (trance possession). The rhythms and forms of Yoruba religion are said to be fundamental to the development of many forms of music and dance as... salsa.

Nowadays this "embodiment" became an important part of salsa culture.
If you are lucky enough to plan a quick trip to Cali (Colombia) do not miss the "Feria", it is really a huge salsa-rave over christmas, an alternate reality of dancing, release, and free expression, an ephemeral existence wherein participants lose touch with the hard reality of war.

What about Hanoy ? Well,...
First time i hanged out in some salsa night in Hanoy, Ara was in the DJ-box spinning crazy records, aching to shout out to the world the sharp joy of playing good music until she opened her eyes... Everybody left. It was 11pm. She lived her embodied experience alone and i was sharing her pain.

Salsa dancers can experience a trance possession without using mind-altering substances, all what we need is good music, time and dancers. Ara brought THE music and she got some DJ skill to transport the dancers into an ecstatic ambience, but what can she do ALONE ? Why will she play music when everybody leave at 11 PM SHARP ? It is maybe part of the culture of Vietnamese people to leave early, i dunno.

Anyway, the fact is that Ara stopped spinning salsa songs.


- EXCHANGE :
As i said the formation of a social group means exchange, because social means community.
About Salsa it means dancing with everyone, not just favourite partners, and usually it means changing partners.
Dancing with a wide set of partners is a cornerstone of social dancing.
This general principle applies to everyone, including dancers who are romantically involved. A romantic pair that dances only with one another undermines the structure of social dancing by refusing to contribute to it, cause social means INCLUSIVE, rather than EXCLUSIVE*.

Ara also stopped inviting people at salsa party since being turned down for a dance is never fun.



As Hamlet used to claimed about Danemark, there is something rotten in the state of Vietnam.


* Dancing with everyone is also the best way to improve your leading/following skill but it is not my point for now.

Dear Anton,
Thank you for your sharing information, we are really appreciated!
I wonder if you can share information about Bachata for a Bachata lover as me
Tomy Tran.

Well, it''s a pity that Ara stopped spinning salsa songs just because some people left early. When you''re in Hanoi, you have to adapt yourself to the fact that people always leave before midnight . I can understand Ara''s disappointment when she opened her eyes but just accept it as Vietnamese culture
Anyway, your music is much much better than the one in Nutz. Keep going, enjoy yourself and don''t care about others

Hi Anton
You brough up a very interesting point: dancing with only one person on the dance floor.
Personally, when I see a dance floor with the same couples who only stick with each other, I consider them invisible and waste of floor space. Why? Because they don''t interact and so socially they are quite useless for dancers who go to dance club to exchange fun and experience different flavours of the same dance from different people. For some people this might sound very harsh but sorry everybody this is my personal opinion whether you like it or not. I myself when participated the dance with only 1 person in the whole floor, I consider that night of mine is not satisfying. Like Anton said the "social" aspect is lost. Not only the social meaning of the dance is affected, but also technically you are not gaining much.
Perhaps it happens to other people too but take Ara''s case for example. I know she is not the best dancer out there and not the most beautiful (actually it wouldn''t help if she is, either!) but every time she asked somebody for a dance, the persons would refuse her with the excuse "I am tired" and then immediately invite his partner to the dance floor (what kind of tiredness is this?).
I have myself experienced this problems many times, and everytimes it is the same explanation " because you did not smile enough", "because you look cold and distant", "because you are too good", etc.. I think frankly if you are willing to hurt others just to save your little ego, you need to review your maturity. We appreciate and respect those who are comfortable about showing his weak side and mature enough to face it.
On a personal note: I also would like to thank allllllllllllllll the men out there who have invited me to dance, no matter what. Especially to those who invites me again and again.

Why should i adapt myself and accept it as vietnamese culture ? I do salsa the same way where ever i dance.
Don''t you think that YOU salseros (vietnamese or not) should adapt to the salsa ?
P.S. : don''t worry, i do love you when i dance with you

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Why should i adapt myself and accept it as vietnamese culture ? I do salsa the same way where ever i dance.
Don''''t you think that YOU salseros (vietnamese or not) should adapt to the salsa ?
P.S. : don''''t worry, i do love you when i dance with you
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Actuallly dancers here are adapting to the salsa culture, Anton if you were here from the beginning of time you will see that the clothing style has changed, music, behaviour, "language", and many thing else Also one interesting point is many salsa dancers are students whose timing are still depended on the management of their family. Perhaps slowly it will change

Ah, you do salsa the same way wherever you dance, that''''s good but there are some factors that WE salseros cannot change. I just want to make you understand that. You dunno why Vietnamese people always leave early, neither do I. And I accept it. I have danced salsa until midnight and I was the last people leaving. After 11PM, there are FEW people. Ly''''s right. Salsaros here are mostly students and their timing is managed by their parents. Me too . That''''s why I can rarely go home late. How can I change when that''''s the WAY Vietnamese people do? Maybe I will ask why but there is no answer. So I accept and adapt, and of course still dance salsa as the way I do. It''''s very different from Europe or America and many foreigners have asked the same question as you.
P/S: When I dance I always love my partners though sometimes I don''''t know who they are. Emotion will make me dance more gracefully and smoothly (that''s my Signature)
Được basame85 sửa chữa / chuyển vào 15:19 ngày 21/12/2006

Merci Anton pour ce que tu as partages avec nous. Comme toi, nous sommes des amoureux de SALSA, et maintenant, nous apprenons a presenter nos amours pour elle. Donc, il faut du temps, et de tes aides aussi, pour que nous soyons, vraiment des salsaros et salsaras.
Souhaite que tu aies des bonnes journees a Hanoi, ;D, pas Hanoy.

Hi Anton,
I would like to be thankful your expression.
For music : As your description, I could find a part of my feeling that I was throughõ?Ưso that, I like salsa more than any else... I like to dance anytime too, but itõ?Ts not easy. You can see in Vietnam, it will be big problem for a girl that goes home after midnight . I can dance through night but: How can we dance without girls? ...and how can I go to work tomorrow, very difficult? Maybe, a day must be more than 24 hours õ?Ư Life is not easy.
I usually dance with at least 3 girls a night; I could reach a bit to my leading experience. However, I could not improve more my dance ability õ?Ư so, could you advise how I can do?
As my thinking, I should have a main partner to learn new salsa steps but I always dance with everyone in dance parties (learning a mechanical steps with a main partner is maybe not good way for you - an adv salsa dancer due to prefer creativeness, but it will be an easy way for a salsa beginner).
Best regard,

Thank you Anton for what you have divisions with us. Like you, we are the in love ones with SALSA, and now, we learn has to present our loves for it. Therefore, it takes time, and of your assistances also, so that we are, really salsaros and will salsaras. Wish that you have good days has Hanoi,;D, not Hanoy