06/06/2007: "Latin" classes will be starting on Saturday 23rd of June. This class is for complete beginners and will involve roughly half an hour each of Salsa, Cha-Cha, Merengue, and Bachata. Sunday classes continue as normal. Check the classes page for all the details. The social nights and special events pages have both also been updated.
05/05/2007: Added a couple of videos to the videos page. Check out the Tropical Gem vs U-tribe salsa batte! Makes me wanna get up and dance!
26/03/2007: This is a long update, but please read the section relevant to you as there are many changes being made for the next term onwards.
For all the updated times and class prices please check out the classes page.
Terms are now 4 weeks long instead of the previous 6 weeks.
I am now offering level 4 classes for those higher level dancers that have been asking me for them.
I have completely overhauled the level structure as follows:
The material that used to be in level 1 will now be spread out over level 1 and level 2. The old level 2 is now level 3. This should make the transition between levels easier, with more time to consolidate the basics before moving on. Anyone that has already attended a previous level 1 course may continue to do any future level 1 or level 2 courses for free, and may join level 3 at the normal price.
Level 1 and 2 are now 1.5 hour classes, with the class time mostly spent on figures/turn patterns (little to no technique work), and supervised practice. These are very relaxed classes just to get a feel for the movements and get the rhythm and speed of the dance. They will also incorporate more of the simple Cuban style steps and variations.
Level 3 and 4 will now be 2 hour classes, with the 2 hours split into 1 hour of personal technique (body movement, shines, spins and turns, musicality, timing, etc.) and partnering technique (connection, improvisation, styling, etc.) and 1 hour of figures/turn patterns. I would consider these levels to be for "serious" dancers that are interested in a highly technical level of dancing. These levels will incorporate a lot of drilling of basic exercises to consolidate your technique, as well as push you "out of your comfort zone" to expand your skill-set. Sounds a bit scary, but you will be a better dancer for it!
Also, level 3 or 4 may be attended "pay-as-you-go" at a slightly higher per session price than if paid up front for the term. If you are attending these classes casually, it will be your responsibility to stay up to date with the material as the term progresses.
If I may make a personal note, I am quite open about the fact that my interest is in creating and training highly skilled salsa dancers, not because I think salsa shouldn't be enjoyed "just for fun" (I wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun!), but specifically because there is a level of beauty, enjoyment and fun to the dance that is very hard to experience without a solid foundation in technique. When you are able to connect and flow perfectly in sync with your partner and have the skills to create and express with your body on the dance floor, there is something there that you will never feel just by haphazardly repeating someone else's moves verbatim. This is true for any partner dance, not just salsa. Unfortunately, salsa has a "look" and a common perception that it's not a "technical" dance, unlike say latin/ballroom or ballet. This is quite far from the truth, and salsa dancing is a hard skill to develop that takes effort, dedication and practice, much like playing a musical instrument, or excelling at a sport. Hopefully this doesn't turn anyone off the idea of learning to salsa though!
28/02/2007: Updated the events page with the very big news that Sonora Carruseles are coming to Perth in April! Also made some long overdue updates to the social nights page.
13/02/2007: New courses are starting this Sunday the 18th! Not much else to report otherwise. Keep on dancing and keep practicing! :)
29/01/2007: Added a couple of videos from youtube to the videos page. Also a friend told me about this new-ish Salsa movie called El Cantante, featuring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, about the life of one of the legends of Salsa music, Hector Lavoe. "Yo Naci en Puerto Rico" and "Aguanile" are a couple of his favourite songs of mine. The movie probably isn't going to win any academy awards, but one to look out for anyway.
09/01/2007: Added another level 1 term on Sundays to the classes page.
18/12/2006: Added a couple of events to the special events page.
12/12/2006: Tentative details for classes next year have been posted on the classes page.
8/12/2006: Well the West Coast Salsa Congress Australia is over and I must say I had a lot of fun dancing with the ladies from Sydney. They are all so awesome, and I had a really good dance with Yvonne on the Sunday night, which was the highlight of the weekend for me. Also in other news, this site is now on a proper domain, so hopefully you are reading this from www.azuquitasalsa.com.au and not the old dyndns site. There may be a few hiccups here and there over the next few days, particularly with the e-mail, so if you're having trouble accessing something, I'm probably fiddling with stuff. Am also just finalising the venues for next year's classes, so that should be up by the end of next week hopefully.
24/11/2006: One more week until the West Coast Salsa Congress. This is the biggest Salsa event of the year, so if you have some cash to spare, this is not to be missed! The most exciting thing for me will be all the great dancers coming from sydney and melbourne to dance with!
23/11/2006: I've noticed on the telly that they are showing Season 2 of the American series of "So You Think You Can Dance". An awesome show if you are into dancing, and very inspiring. I've seen the whole thing already, and I won't spoil it for you, but there are a few Salsas once they get to the competition phase, choreographed by the very famous Alex de Silva. While I'm not that keen on Alex de Silva's choreography, the contestants near the end of the series do a good job of what they were given. Also of interest, there is an Afro-Cuban Rumba routine later in the middle of the series, which is one to look out for if you've never seen it before (it's nothing like Ballroom Rumba). It's not danced terribly well or authentically by the contestants (compared to real Cuban Rumberos, although they do a much better job than I ever could), but it brings down the house and all the judges loved it, so it must have been good! :)
20/11/2006: Added some videos of myself on the videos page. Nothing too exciting, mostly just an example of my style of Salsa.
7/11/2006: New weekly Tuesday social night starting at the Eurobar on the 14th of November. Check the social nights page for more info.
31/10/2006: Sexy Sunday Salsa goes weekly. Have updated the social nights page to reflect this.
30/10/2006: Added LACA's annual Summer Carnival event to the events page. Have removed the Thursday night classes from the classes page (due to lack of numbers/scheduling conflicts).
23/10/2006: Site is under some major re-construction. Site is redesigned and tested on Firefox 1.5, Opera 9, and Internet Explorer 6. Let me know if you have any problems viewing the site. Thanks. See you on Sunday for Sexy Sunday Salsa.
21/10/2006: Have been filling out the Music and Videos pages with more content, as well as generally sprucing things up with graphics. On that note, I'm doing a photo shoot in the morning with my friend, and if all goes well I'll have a bunch of those fancy looking dance pose shots to put up here.
18/10/2006: Site is looking a bit nicer now. Really need to get some advertising happening, so if you're reading this you could really help me out by e-mailing all your friends and pointing them here! Thanks! :)
17/10/2006: Site is live and up and running. After about a year or so of everyone telling me to do my own classes, I've finally decided to give it a go. Wish me luck!
