Salsa in the City

The trend in schools currently shows that women are outperforming men. In the business place we are seeing more women managers than ever before.  It is indeed a time where strong women are in the leadership role.  There is nothing wrong with this since women make up a large part of society and their contribution can be very much felt.  The challenge that lies ahead is producing great leaders out of men in this information age.

Recently there has been an up surge of on2 in the city of Philadelphia and the environs.  This brings the question “Does Dancing on2 make you a better dancer?”  This is not a new question but I wanted to put my spin on it having been exposed to the two styles of dance.  For anyone new to this topic, let just define Salsa as breaking on the 1 beat hence called on1 and On2 breaking on the 2 beat.  This is commonly called Mambo or NY Style.

Mike Andino is one of the original founders of Art In Motion, the oldest active instructor at La Luna Studio, and promoter of 2 of the most successful nightclubs in Philadelphia (Alfies and Brasils).  Mike has packed dance classes at la luna and at his own Estilo dance studio.  Mike has been rated the man to watch back in 2005 and now 4 years later Mike is only getting ...

Brasil’s Nite Club has been on the map of the Philadelphia Salsa Community for quite some time now.  I’ve been teaching Wednesday night Salsa class before all the dancing starts for over 6 years and would like to offer some tips/trivia to make dancing at Brasil’s on Wednesday night more pleasurable ... 

All beginners of any domain are faced with the same issues. First "how do I get better at Salsa Dancing" or a variation on this question is "how do I improve my Salsa Dancing".  I have wrestled with the question of becoming a good lead from the first day I started my basic step and I still ask myself this question every time I am getting dressed to go out dancing.  I am not going to get into what is the definition of a good lead here but I can maybe tackle that question in a Blog later on.  In this article I was thinking I wanted to write something that dancers could have as useful and practical landmarks along the salsa journey that steers them in the ...

Well for starters she is exotic as hell and quite a world traveler; I remember I first saw her in Trinidad. It was about 11pm and I was on a bar of a beach club called “Anchorage” where the Latin beats being played were penetrating over the waters of the ocean. The dance floor was fairly open then I noticed her for the first time. She was about 16 years old, long black hair, young and beautiful.

By Joe Figueroa

We all know that there are many great salsa dancers in the world. But there are few who can do what Mario Harazika can. Known around the world as Super Mario the Million Moves Man, Super Mario is considered to be one of the best salsa instructors in the world. In my opinion he IS one of the greatest instructors and THE greatest social dancers in salsa. While others shine only when dancing with someone familiar, Super Mario can grab any woman and make them fly. A wonder to watch every time he is on the floor and a pleasure for every woman who get him for a dance., I have the privilege of speaking with Super Mario in depth about salsa…Super Mario style……..

By Salsa In The City's Stephen Choo Quan

Stephen: When did you first fall in love with Salsa?
Orville:Hmmmmmm that is a tuff one... I really dont know when I fell in love with the stuff... whatever the case... I look it on some next ish.. it is not salsa to me... it expression.

by Joe Figueroa

When I last danced at Brazils night club, I was listening to what people were saying about the dancers and the dancing and heard that people thought the back end of the dance floor near the DJ booth is the prime spot reserved only for the "good dancers". Although I never looked at it that way, I attributed that observation to the fact that the bar at the front end of the club was where more of the people go when they want to have a drink and just watch so therefore, the hardcore dancers stick toward the back where there is more room to move. I don't know about you, but I hate dancing when I'm getting bumped every 5 seconds by someone making their way through. In the back there is less traffic. But I digress…. The discussion then turned into commentary on how only dance team dancers hang and dance in the back.

Photos by Paul Evans & Stephen W.N Choo Quan

There is a 10 year anniversary upon us here in Philadelphia. It isn't any date you'd remember unless you have been an active enthusiast of the changing salsa movement that has invaded Philadelphia in the last 10 years. Don't know what it is? Let me give you a hint. It has been that since Brasil's on Chestnut St.in Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood opened its doors and left complete control of entertainment to one man. Anyone who has been to Brazil's for some hardcore dancing on a Wednesday, Friday or Saturday night may not know the name, Jay Rockwell, but they know the music.