The Wandering Salsero

I'm not HERE anymore.....kapish?

2005-04-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's come to my attention that a few readers have been looking for new content here and have been surprised that nothing new seems to be going up.

Well, nothing new is going up here and the reason is because I don't write here anymore. For the last few months now I've had a new blog over at a slightly different address....here.

This new blog is on "Typepad.com and the reason I went there was because I saw some formating options I liked better than Blogger.....mainly to do with pictures. I'm paying about 15$@ month at Typepad but I think it's worth it. However, Blogger is still a great place to get started if you're new to blogging.

Over the next several weeks I'm going to be taking the better posts from Blogger and copying them over to typepad. I figure there's probably 3 or 4 people who haven't seen them.....so a little re-hashing ought to be OK (sorta like reissuing a movie or a book :-)

Run Salseros! Stop!

2005-02-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

While some of you were getting ready to make your trip to San Antonio, I went to bed early for my 5K Rodeo Run. I was cold, drenched, and hungry, but I made it to the finish line! My friend took this picture and I am the one in the middle, grinning from ear to ear. The event raised $140,000 for the Houston Livestock Show Educational Fund! I was glad to be a part of it. Do I feel pain? Not me, that run was a warm-up.

This will be my last post on this blog. Art has set us up on another one. So, come on over!

http://wanderingsalsero.typepad.com/wanderingsalsero/ Sorry, unable to put link on there. Art has it on his post.

Eddys' good folks up at Texas Two Steppers.

2005-02-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

Eddy's got a beginners class up on FM 1960 at Texas Two Steppers. It's only 4 people but they're good folks. I substituted for him last Wednesday night. Here the post about it (over on Typepad :-)

Stand By Your Statue!

2005-02-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is immediately hilarious! I gotta start doing this tool......but maybe with some sort of WanderingSalsero twist. Hmmmmmm....lemme think now....

More on the Typepad "WanderingSalsero"

2005-02-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here's the URL: http://wanderingsalsero.typepad.com/wanderingsalsero/

Yeah, I know the name's a little long. I think that last 'wanderingsalsero' is because of something I did accidentally when I was setting it up. Maybe I can change it later.

I'm still tinkering with it. There are three issues I have help tickets in for right now but haven't heard back from them yet. You should see how HUGE thier help section is. It's monstrous. I still think I'm going to like it and you will too. It does seem to have noticably more flexibility in design and layout.

Matter of fact, the more I think about it, I wonder if blogger, as long as it's free, could logically be expected to have as many features as a blog that has some associated cost to it. I mean, you just can't expect something for nothing can you?

Maybe for awhile but not for long.

I think that I'm going to start putting most, if not all, of my posts over there but I'm still not ready to ask Eddy to change the link from his site. In the meantime, I'll probably just put links here that'll take you to the typepad blog.

As usual....your comments are invited and appreciated.

Why are the clubs so slow?

2005-02-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

I don't know for sure. Only thing I can think of is that there are more of them than there are of us.....sorta like 'more bread but the same amount of butter'.

The situation still changes almost monthly doesn't it? I think that West Side is down to just 2 Sundays a month now. I hardly ever hear anybody talking about Elvias anymore (although I'm sure they'll always have their own unique crowd). Rumba Club isn't nearly as popular as it used to be. There's the new club Monoco (which I'll be checking out this coming Wednesday).

I do know one thing. People act (i.e. do stuff) either to gain a benefit or avoid a loss. If peoples' actions change.....there's a reason. What would cause a patron to leave a club and start attending another? What are they looking for that they didn't find in the first club?

I can't articulate it precisely but I know it's got something to do with the social side of dancing culture. What else could it be? There's not that much difference in any of the other factors. Everybody's got pretty much the same drinks, the same Cokes, the same bathrooms, the same parking, even the same music (although I still think Chibcha has the best music).

What makes a club unique, in the long term, is the social 'environment' and the way those factors are combined and (yes, even) manipulated. It's unique because people are all unique and the combinations and permutations are endless.

It'll probably never happen but I think that clubs ought to have some sort of 'social director'. Sorta like the Director at a U.S.O. Club (where I used to work when I was in Vietnam). The director, and the staff, ought to make it a point to greet, circulate and get to know the patrons....make'em feel appreciated and special. People won't leave a club where they feel special.

And....yeah, rueda again. I remember how much fun we had at Club 112 rueda nights. Seemed like we were all the time sucking innocent bystanders into the circle. And they always had fun.

Club 112 was kinda unique. It was usually a bit chilly, the floor sometimes was a little sticky, and it seemed to have a slant toward the bayou (maybe that was for drainage..I dont know :-), and it was 'downtown'.

I remember that one night we had over 40 people there...beginners and intermediate level.....and I think that potential still exists. I don't know whether it was rueda itself or if it might have been the unique dynamic duo of Solomom and Rocio that broght people down there....but they did come. The sad thing is that there just weren't enough people coming in to watch.

I'm convinced that if somebody was doing rueda lesson in a club that wasn't so hidden away (like Club 112 was) that it would be a big attraction and would be good for the club too. I'd be real curious to know what the rueda dynamic (i.e. the agendy, schedule, environment) is in the Miami clubs where I hear rueda is very common. Perhaps somebody somewhere out there in reader-land could make a comment and tell me.

Anyway, the connection I see between this club patronage situation and rueda is that I think rueda could be a good thing for the social side of salsa. Somebodys' just got to assume some leadership. You know, they say that ' if you keep doing the same thing...the same thing will happen.' So I wish we could get together and actually 'do' something different.....as opposed this endless 'club-of-the-month- thing.

Worth getting upset about?

2005-02-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

You decide.

Here's an email I got from Rocio recently:

Dearest Salsa community,

Your assistance it needed

Yesterday on the front page of the Chronicle there was an article about the health risks of being in night clubs because the chemicals in the air from cigarette smoke. A doctor from MD Anderson is trying to get Bill White to include night clubs and bars in his new city wide ban on smoking.
If you can get all the Salsa dancers you know to write our mayor, you will probably decrease the risk of cancer in the community and improve the health of your friends! You might remind friends that spending one stamp and a few minutes now is immensely easier than spending time in chemotherapy later!

The mayor's address is

Mayor Bill White
City of Houston
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, TX 77251

mayor@cityofhouston.net

PHONE: 713.247.2200

If you want to send a form letter that people can copy and paste, you could send this one:

Dear Mayor White,

Please help my friends and I dance without increasing our risk of medical complications and cancer. Please include night clubs in your new smoking ban for our fair city!
Gratefully,

Well, I don't smoke either and I don't like people blowing smoke in my face but I usually also don't mind telling them to stop it. Furthermore, I personally haven't been bothered by smoke in clubs. But I know some people who apparently are more sensitive to it and have commented on it.

So for that reason I suppose Rocio has a good idea and a worthy cause. Most salsa dancers don't smoke.

But wait a minute!

You wanna get the 'red ass' about something? What about all the loud music we have to put up with? There's something where the solution is right before our noses......i.e. the club managers right there at the time it happens. We all know what that kind of loudness does to the ears of rock musicians over time so what makes us think it's not going to have the same effect on us?

I can't count the times I've noticed the music too loud.....I've asked several people if they noticed it too.....they say, 'Yeah, a little.'........but very very seldom will anyone say anything to the club manager about it. A quick and easy solution right there in front of their noses and they won't stick up for their rights as a consumer.

Point is, if you want to exercise your rights.....why not exercise all of them? Go ahead and write the mayor and while you're at it, why not mention that you think the music is a bit loud in some of these clubs too. I don't know exactly how legal it would be but it seems to me that sound levels are measurable enough that there certainly could be some sort of standard. City councils regulate stuff like that all the time.

Update on agenda at Chibcha

2005-02-25T06:08:00.000-08:00

Looks like we're finally going to start learning some reuda. Our plans are that next Thursday me, Jules, Wilson and three ladies are going to meet there 30 minutes early to start learning and practicing some rueda. Of course it's just a start but at least we're finally moving in the direction that was our original intention.

If you want to participate, you're welcome, but bring a partner or be prepared to wait and see if a potential partner turns up for you(which can't be guaranteed). We'll start promptly at 8pm....next Thursday at Chibchas.

Otherwise, the regular lessons will continue. Class size has ranged from 14-28 people and classes typically have been running until around 10pm. Club management isn't paying us anything for it but they are happy that we're putting some 'bodies' on the premises. For them, it 'looks' better that way.

If my friend Cristina turns up, that'll be an extra lady for somebody like maybe....Victor (if he comes). I'll be calling Cristina today to tell her the latest news and see if she wants to participate (originally, she did).

Celia...this might be an opportunity for you?

If any of you salseros or salseras was to 'put your name in the hat' I'll try to match you up as names come in. Call me at 281 236 2852.

Talk to salseros anywhere in the world....cheap!

2005-02-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

For you penny pinchers out there, you might like this. Looks like the VOIP thing has taken another step forward for people who like to use the telephone a lot. Especially for international calls.

Rueda....recognize fun when you see it?

2005-02-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

Sometime in the near future (probably this weekend) I'm going to initiate a series of posts that'll feature video clips of rueda. I'm convinced that there's a lot of people who would like rueda if they simply had a better idea of what it was.

The fact is, there are other cities (and not just in Miami) where rueda is very popular and big. Through some series of events and catalysts that I'm not entirely clear on (otherwise I'd try to duplicate it myself :-) the community in those cities has gotten infected with the excitment of rueda. Therefore I'm going to do as much as I can to give you a glimpse of what it's all about.

Here's a site I found this morning. What struck me about the video clip they have is the variety of ages and ethnicities I observed......and they appear to really abe whooping it up! See for yourself.

And don't forget that we're supposed to be having several rueda classes at this deal up at Lake Conroe that Eddy and Tony are doing. Don't miss it.

P.S. I haven't had the time to post much lately because I've been heading up to Conroe/Woodlands for training in the new job I've got selling yellow pages advertising. If you know anybody up in the Montgomery County are who has a business to promote, our rates in the new book that's coming out in about 3 months are at least 30%-60% cheaper than the other books that are up there......and ours is much prettier and more user friendly.

This is Rudy Gonzalez

2005-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

Meet Rudy Gonzalez.

I think I first met Rudy back in one of the Cosalda classes. That was over a year ago and he's had a busy life since then. In spite of recenty getting through a divorce, he's still managed to be very successful in the swimming pool business and dance for awhile with Cosalda dance company. Rudy's as nice a guy as you'd want to meet and does go 'out'...usually to Tropicana.

I saw Rudy at Eddys' Afro-Cuban class and we did an interview after the class which for some darn reason I didn't get recorded properly. This technology can be very frustrating sometimes.

Anyway, say hello to Rudy next time you see him and, if you're a lady, ask him to dance. He's good.

Afro Cuban Part 2.......Eddys' class

2005-02-21T18:31:00.000-08:00

Finally, here's the pics I got from Eddys' Afro Cuban class. Nothing too special but it does indicate that a LOT of people were interested in the subject. Like I said in post #1 regarding Edgars' class, the Afro-Cuban stuff is something that is deceptivly simple. Easy in some ways but hard in others.

I noticed that there was a real assortment of people there. People form many different areas of the salsa community. Several of Eddys' regular students like me, Steve, Roberta, and Cory...but also Steve and Daniel from SSQQ (they're the new salsa instructors over there) as well as a lot of people I'd never even seen before. I suspect they might have been from some of Eddys other classes.

Just a few of the approximately 30+ people who took Eddys' Afro-Cuban 1 hour class Sunday.

And a few more......

Steve was there too......

And a few more. There's Steve up front and in back of him, in the white shirt, is Danielle. They're the new salsa instructors over at SSQQ.

And here's our final group shot......30+ of us. A good class for only 10$. Eddy plans on doing some more of these specialized classes every month.

Sorry I couldn't get better illumination for these pictures. That little pea-shooter of mine just doesn't put out the 'lumes'. If Amy'd been there, the pic would have been better.

All in all, last weekend was a blatent testimonial to all the quality of the teaching talent we've got here in Houston...i.e. with not one, but two Afro-Cuban workshops. Edgars' on Saturday and Eddys' on Sunday. Not to mention the somewhat surprising fact that so many people were even interested.

OK....but you know what I'm wondering?

What'll be the next 'hot' style. On2 has taken root..somewhat. So has Afro-Cuban. What about (1) L.A. style and (2) rueda?

I know that some people will think I'm nuts for saying it but I remember Alicia Sanchez, that gal who was going to be Eddys' partner (but it didn't work out). Frankly, I liked her style back then and I still think it was unique. I still think there's more room on our plate for more 'hollywood' in our dancing....if it's done with style. Cosalda was good at that. But I think Alicia was better.

2005-02-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

West Side Dance Studio Tonight -- How long will it last?

2005-02-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

Well, Art, it's hard to believe that I was somewhere you were not -- but I was tonight.

Back after 10 days in bed with the flu. Went over to West Side Dance Studio tonight and it paid off for me, since I danced with several guys and danced for two hours straight.

But, I probably got a lot of dances because there were only 20 people there max...(Even Solomon danced with me! lol)...Folks that had been there last week said that the crowd was even smaller then.

It's a really nice dance floor, Johnny Walden is very friendly and it's not a bar -- which I always like. But I wonder how long it will last. They couldn't have possibly done much more than break even, after paying the D.J, if they broke even.

I wonder if alot of people were over at Chibcha's. Though you'd think this dance community would be big enough to keep two places busy in the same night...but...maybe not.

Just some observations. Maybe Grammies had something to do with the poor turnout last week.

Minor, but interesting re: Denise.

2005-02-20T01:23:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Denises' family is from Argentina? I didn't. That's interesting to me because I've recently expanded my interest in South America to Argentiana too...specifically to tango which I plan on learning in the near future.

I was watching somebody write a check to her today and they put the name "Pozzerle". That sounded Italian to me so I commented on it and (somebody) told me that she was Argentinian.....although as she expressed it, it was her 'family' that was from Argentina.

Either way, that explains where she gets a lot of that classiness that I've always thought she has. We don't hear very much about Argentina here but I am very interested in it based on what I have seen and heard. Yeah, yeah...I hear the girls are pretty too :-)

Denise apparently is helping Edgar with some of the chores of administering the affairs of Guaguanco Dance Company. I say that because I belatedly noticed that I received an email from her about this workshop:

Also, mark your calendars for the upcoming Salsa Convention Tour!!
http://www.salsadallas.com/salsaconventions.shtml

Here's Edgars' phone number too, in case anybody needs it:
Edgar at 832.814.2129

Busy Weekend For Workshops! Part 1

2005-02-20T00:40:00.000-08:00

Amy wanted to do this post but she had some homework to do, so.......

Edgar, of Guaguanco Dance Company, had a good workshop (and made some pretty good money too!) at West Point Apartments (WPA) today. I almost didn't make it but luckily I called Amy and she reminded me that the classes did not start at 3pm like Germans' classes do.

The first class started around 1pm. It was a Beginners class. Then there was an Intermediate/Advanced at 3:15pm....where I came in. It was an hour. Then there was a 2 hour class in Afro-Cuban(I guess that's what it was called).

Actually my favorite class was the Intermediate. Even though there was only one lady there, she was very cooperative and helpful and Edgar showed us a nice little 5 part pattern along with a couple of interesting styling tips for the guys.

The Afro-Cuban(AC) class was good....I suppose. I say 'suppose' because, to me, that AC stuff, when you see it broken down...it's all really such basic body movements body movements that I always think, "I paid for...this??!!"

Edgar actually had 3 classes today (02/19/05) but I was only in 2 of them and only got this picture which is from the last class. On the fron, left to right is everybody-knows-Crystals' guy-Jerome, me (the origianal WanderingSalsero), and Mr. Guaguanco himself, Edgar. On the back row, left to right is "Standing Tall" Francisco, Mr."At Ease Troops!", Mr."Ready To Salsa Sir!", and our always-so-polite buddy Steve. .

But, one must honestly admit that regardless of how basic it really is, only a small percentage of us social dancers actually do it and sometimes it does look pretty cool. On the other side of the coin, I think it's safe to say that AC isn't hardly a part of the LA style (which I also like) at all. Around here, in Houston, Salsa Eddy is probably our biggest proponent of AC style. Rey Rodriguez does some too and also Claudia, Wilmer, Natalie and just a few others.

This was, to the best of my recollection, the first time I'd ever been in a class taught by Edgar. He passed! :-) I can tell that he is very conscious of detail and usually has a clear idea of what he wants the dance to look like. He doesn't just hop around randomly.

Another thing I recognized was that he's got a good handle on his busy schedule....i.e. he was talking about all the places he's going with his dance company and how, for example, he's going to be delegating these new Saturday workshops at WPA to Joey and Denise. To me, being able to delegate is a good business characteristic.

Here's a couple of audio generator clips I did on the way to the workshop as I was listening to a Cafe Cubana CD.

Another night at El Chibcha....

2005-02-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

I can't say much that I haven't already said. It was OK.....and I'm starting to feel like I know more people there.

I got there at 9pm expecting to meet Adriana. She got there a little bit later. But before she did, Kim and a couple of her friends turned up so when Adriana came in I was already dancing.

So actually I felt pretty good. Just my lucky night I guess.....i.e. that I had more than enough friendly ladies to dance with.

For some reason Adriana left early. I hope she wasn't upset that I was dancing with those other girls but frankly, at Rumba Club where I dance with her a lot too, I usually get the feeling she gets bored after just a couple dances with me. So I didn't feel like anything was wrong with me not dancing with her all the time at Chibchas. I was anticipating introducing her to some other salsero friends of mine there anyway because I know she likes guys who do a lot of tricks (which I don't)

Oh well...I'll find out why she left early eventually.

In the meantime, I had a great time with Kim. We actually birthed a new move....sorta a type of 'travelling butterfly'. Kim really is a very good dancer. I like her cause she stays in one place and doesn't bounce around like a lot of girls.

Guys, I'm starting to think I was wrong about there not being enough single ladies at Chibcha. I found two 'sets' tonight...i.e. two gals at one table and three at another. I danced with both of the two and one of the three. They all danced pretty good and I had a good time.

Anyway..Kim left right before the band started to play. I sorta wanted to stay but I sorta wanted to go home too. Since I'd already had a good night I figured I'd just leave while I was still a 'winner' so I left too.

Seems to me there's a good opportunity for someone to give lessons there on Friday nights but William, who is no longer the owner but just the manager, tells me that the new owners want to wait and see if Salmerum effects their revenue positivly enough. He's just not thinking about anything else right now.

But....if you'd have an interest in doing lessons there, I can tell you that It'd probably have to be for free. Trust me on that one.

I mentioned the new owner. His name is Tony something. I met him. I think he's from Cuba. Or maybe it was Venazuela. It wasn't Nebraska...I know that. He's what you'd call 'a character'. Apparently he has quiet a diverse background. He knows that artis by the name of Godoy(which I first saw on the wall over at Cafe Miami). He also dances although he didn't dance very much when I saw him dancing.

Nevertheless, like I always do, I'd recommend introducing yourself to him if you ever go in there. It couldn't hurt.

I'll know sometime this week what kind of crowd was there tonight. William told me that their second night (i.e. for Salmerum) the attendance was down to about 270 (from the first nights' 350). That's important because obviously Chibcha won't keep a band, with the extra expense, if it's not doing anything positive for their botten line. Time will tell.

I still like Tropicana though. Rumba Club...I guess it's 'history' now. I heard some people say the crowd there hasn't been big at all. Plus, we know that they've been putting more and more hip-hop and latin rock in the music mix anyway.

Long term, Tropicana is still the undisputed champion. I'll be there tomorrow.

Oh yeah....William told me that they're thinking about opening Chibcha on Wednesday. Now that, I think, is a very good idea. That's probably the most significant piece of news I heard tonight. He said they were trying to get Salmerum to play too. Imagine that!!!

Maybe your TOP online learning resource?

2005-02-16T03:32:00.000-08:00

Your going to LOVE me for this! Go ahead and make your day!.....by typing in "salsa dancing". I heard about this from Jim Edwards, the author of the "I Gotta Tell You" blog/newsletter. All his articles are always very interesting.

Workshops Alert!

2005-02-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

This coming weekend will be eventful as far as workshops go. Eddy will be giving a body movement and Afro-Cuban class this coming sunday. I have taken Eddy's spinning class and I'm sure this coming one will be just as good.

Guanguanco Dance Company will be giving workshops this Saturday. Finally! I have been keeping my hungry salsa eye on this group for awhile. You rarely hear a peep from the the first salsa company in Houston. Now that Joey and Denise are visually representing this group more people are becoming aware of its existence. Art and I want to check it out. Hope to see you guys there! If you want to know more about the workshops do a Houston SalsaWeb search, click on Dance companies, the click on Guaguanco Dance Company. Hope to see you there!

Why are there two of the same post?

2005-02-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

Hey there Art man! Why do you keep getting duplicates of the same post? I'm getting dizzy. By the way I checked out your new site. Definitely has potential but you need more color to spiff it up:-)

I need your help....

2005-02-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the baby has been delivered but it's still in the hospital. However...it is available for viewing now.

As many of you know, I'm in the process of trying out a new blog format and I would very much appreciate some input and opinions from you. Now that the new site is technically 'on' the net, I want to give you the URL. The actual url will be http://www.wanderingsalsero.com

As they say, it's still in Beta.....yeah, right! That means it's still a mess.

Nevertheless, the basic pieces and tools are there. I just need some help on getting'em organized in a way that is pleasing and useful to you..the readers, listeners, and (soon) the viewers. I still want the overall idea of the blog to be 'observations, opinions, and commentary...' about the salsa dance culture and lifestyle primarily in Houston, Texas but your opinions are also very valuable and important to me.

Here's some further explination:

You'll see this same audio clip over on the '.com' site too (if I can do it correctly). At this point I'm concerned with making the viewer experience as logical, simple, interesting and pretty as possible.

So that's why I'd appreciate it very much if you'd go over there, sign up as a 'member' and play with it as much as you can. Then let me know what you think about it at 281 236 2852, or 1 877 356 0398.

I'm still learning how to manage it myself so in the meantime I'll continue to make my usual posts here on the blogger format.

Thank in advance,
Art Williams
the WanderingSalsero

A Song for You: A Valentine Dedication

2005-02-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentine's Day. I was finishing up some homework and I was remembering a particular Valentine's Day I had when I was 16 years old. I had a huge infatuation with someone named Roy. Being my intensely romantic self, I decided to get together a composition of songs that I thought best described my feelings. Today, I decided that I'm going to open up my one-sided Amy's dedication line and do that for you guys. So, put up your salsa shoes for now, take hold of each other and dance slow because dedicaton #1 is here........

My first dedication is for the intense and passionate. ;-) You can even Cha Cha to this one.09%20Sign%20Your%20Name.wma

Terence Trent D'Arby-Sign Your Name
Fortunately you have got
Someone who relies on you
We started out as friends

But the thought of you just caves me in
The symptoms are so deep
It is much to late to turn away
We started out as friends

Chorus:
Sign your name
Across my heart
I want you to be my baby
Sign your name
Across my heart
I want you to be my lady

Time I’m sure will bring
Disappointments in so many things
It seems to be the way
When your gambling cards on love you play
I’d rather be in hell with you baby
Than in cool Heaven
It seems to be the way

Chorus

Birds never look into the sun
Before the day is done
But oh the light shines brighter
On a peaceful day
Stranger blue leave us alone
We don’t want to deal with you
We’ll shed our stains showering
In the room that makes the rain

All alone with you
Makes the butterflies in me arise
Slowly we make love
And the earth rotates
To our dictates
Slowly we make love

Chorus

The next dedication is to those that share a love that is so hard to find.
07%20Completely.wma

Jennifer Day-Completely

I give my all
Or not at all
There is not in between

I give my best
Won’t second guess
This feeling deep in me

Chorus:
You make me want to love you
With every breath I love you
Endlessly
I give my heart
Give my soul
I won’t hold back
I’ll give you everything
All of me
Completely

You fill me up
With your love
Oh I just overflow

When we touch
Can’t get enough
And I want you to know

Chorus

Tengo que usar una cancion de espanol. Enamorados y enamoradas, ′esta cancion es para Ustedes tambien.10%20Eres%20Todo%20en%20M%ED%20%28You%27re%20My%20Everything%29.wma

Ana Gabriel-Eres todo en Mi

Eres todo en mi
El sol que me ilumina y me hace tan feliz
La fuerza que conduce me existir
Solu tu, mi amor

Si me abrazo a ti
Yo siento que tu esencia de dispersa en me
No queda ni un espacio en mi sentir
Eres tu mi luz

Chorus:
Eres todo en mi
Y lluevo entre mis labios todo tu sabor
Cruzare mi bien oceanos mas profundos
Por saber de ti
Eres todo en mi
Por siempre y para siempre
Desde que te vi
Nunca mas tendre′
Temor, pues con tu amor volvi a sentir
Y a renacer

Volvare por ti
A un mundo donde beba solo de tu amor
Dejando la distancia tras de mi
Solo tu y yo

Chorus

Bailaremos hoy
Sobre una nube blanca que en el cielo esta
Tus ojos como estrellas brillaran
Para mi, por mi

Jamas se ira la magia de sentir tu aliento
Sobre mi volcando mis sentidos para amar
Solo port tu amor, mi amor
Bailaremos hoy
Sobre una nube blanca que en el cielo esta
Tus ojos como estrellas brillaran
Para mi, por mi

My last dedication is for the lonely hearts. This song is one of my favorites and you don't need words to feel its meaning.01%20Sleep%20Walk.wma

Santo and Johnny-Sleepwalk

Well, salsa lovers, those are my Valentine picks for this year. Remember, this day is not a reminder to love someone but a celebration of it. So keep dancing slow and we will do salsa tomorrow...............

Rice Extravaganza! Part II

2005-02-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Art did a great description of the events that went on at the Rice Social. The social's first success mirrored that of the success premier event at the Melody club. The floor was massive and my knees weren't jacked up because the spinning was smooth:-) Jeremy and Gabriel were pleased with the turnout. The music was a little too fast at times. How am I supposed to practice my styling? But I heard that complaint was noted;-) I definitely had a good time. Here are a few more pictures from the event. Unfortunately, I was dancing my little heart out.....I forget I had other duties to attend too. Next time, I'll be better. See you guys at the next event.

Vote for cutest couple. I'm sorry I don't remember your names. But it's good to see faces from the old 112 Rueda days.

Gabriel hanging out. I must say, I never thought I would ever meet another person that was lighter on his feet than Salomon. I was wrong. Gabriel you fly!

The beginning of my dancing spree. I'm sorry dude, I can't recall your name. Next time tell me;-) Thanks for the dance and my self dance portrait.

Another note: Did anyone watch the grammy's. The Janis Joplin tribute still has my heart beating! Great performances with the old school and the current.

Practical advice regarding colds

2005-02-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

Try Zicam.

Last week I'd been feeling myself developing a slight cold. I wanted to do something about it and it just so happened that I'd been hearing Rush Limbaugh advertise a product called Zicam. Supposedly it has something to do with Zinc and I'd heard that somehow zinc has the ability to combat cold germs so....I wanted to try it.

I stopped by a Walgreens(or whatever it was) and found some, bought it and used it.

It's a box of swabs that are permeated with this gel stuff. You stick'em up your nose and rub it around....and do it again with another swab every 4 hours. I only did it twice. It worked like a charm....i.e. I'm guessing that that's the reason I don't feel any cold symptoms anymore.

There was an 877 phone number on the package for anyone who wanted more info on the product. I was curious so I called. Roberta, you know I wouldn't be afraid to call'em up, right?

This guy I talked to was nice and he told me that most colds start in the nasel area first and that the zinc elements in the gel attack the cold germs there.

I guess it worked that way for me....although I did recently read somewhere else that a lot of doctors think that colds also can enter your body through your ears. Ears are connected to the nose and throat too, you know. It all ties together I guess.

Anyway.....it worked for me. Try it if and when you need it. Here's their URL.

In my new wanderingsalsero site, I plan on having a section on health and related issues. Maybe Ike can be our 'resident physician'?

Hey Ike! Got any comments on subject of colds?

A reminder about commets....

2005-02-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

We want'em.

Just click the word 'comment' down near the bottem of any post. They'll always show to anyone else who reads that particular post. Technically speaking, I could go in and delete them but.....I don't see any liklihood of having to do that.

I'm getting these in...one way or the other!!!

2005-02-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

I've been having a heck of a time getting posts that have several pictures together with multiple audio generator clips to display properly. Here's three that actually should have gone into the previous post about the event at Rice University. For some reason, when I tried to include them I got an error message, so.....

Our interview with Jeremey:

Amy and Crystals' impromptu salsa fashion discussion:

My on-the-way-home, post-event critique:

Successful Social At Rice University

2005-02-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

These are the three folks we need to thank for the fresh new social dancing venue at Rice University, Left to right you've got Gabnel (spelling?) Yamal, Vice President, Jeremy Beasley, President, and Leslie Guevara, Social. I didn't know any of these folks until last night but judging by the number of people who were in their free lessons and who stayed for the social last night, they've obviously got a successful formula of some sort.

The floor there at Rice (the event was in the student center) was excellent although I would say the sound system could have used a little more bass. I got there about 10 minutes after the free lessons had started and I gotta tell ya that everybody in the class was certainly enthusiastic ...if not precise. They were, I guess, all beginners.

As the evening wore on, some other folks you would know popped in too: Eddy, Rey and Lauren (see? I remembered!), Clinger and his lovely wife with the name that starts with an "M" that I have a hard time remembering, Joey and Denise, Claudia, Jorge Mercado, Edgar, Solomon, Muriel, ......and perhaps a few others I can't remember right now. By the way, if I missed anybody that wish they'd been mentioned.....remeber that I've almost always got my camera with me. Just come up and ask me to get a picture of you with your favorite partner and I'd be happy to do it.

Here's the 3 Salsa Caballeros with Amy the Sassy Salsera. Here you see (L-R) Solomon....he just got up, I think :-), Amy, Wilmer, and Edgar. Solomon is re-starting his classes at Melody Club soon, Wilmer is getting ready to compete at the Congress coming up next month(?) here in Houston, and Edgar is busy as usual (but don't forget his classes starting next week at West Point Apartments). Amys' flower in her hair was mighty pretty last night and.....she told me she doesn't really think I'm a tight ass. I'm relieved :-)

Here's Claudia, Jorge Mercada and....uhhhh. I know her but not her name (hey! you can add it in the 'comment' section, OK?). Jorge wasn't doing much dancing, for some reason....but Claudia was. As always, everybody wanted to dance with her. I introduced her to a lady who was looking to learn some ladies' styling. I've never taken lessons specifically from Claudia but I hear she gives good lessons and her rates are very reasonable. As she becomes more famous I'm sure the rates will go up.

I was just thinking.....ya'know, a lot of people owe their start in salsa to Jorge and his cohorts out there at U of H with Cougar Salseros. Jorge is from, I believe....Puerto Rico. He's had a hand in many many successful salsa events not only in Houston but in other areas of the country too. Jorge is well known for approaching salsa dancing not only from a performance angle but also as 'salsa therapy'.

Actually, I didn't get to dance with Claudia last night but I used the excuse of taking a picture with her to get a chance to hold her. She's such a cute little lady. If you can get through the crowd to ask her...she will dance with you

Claudia doesn't go 'out' as much as some of the other salseras in town but that's because in addition to becoming a world class salsera she's also pursuing an education at U of H and being the Director of Houston Salsa Dancers too. Claudia is one of our truly accomplished and nationally recognized salsa artistas. Last year she did something very special at the Salsa Congress in Puerto Rico (but I don't remember exactly what it was....really!)(Claudia......you can comment and tell everybody if you want!)

Also, guys....a fashion tip: See that shirt I'm wearing? It's actually a regular knit shirt underneath, with the collar hanging out over that gold item. The gold shirts has sort of an athletic weave. It breaths really well, it's very loose and cool but I like it most for the shine. I've got 4 different colors. If you like'em yourself you can get'em at Academy for about 25(?). They hold up to washing pretty well too. For that matter, I suppose girls could wear'em too.

Now this, in my humble opinion, is an excellent picture. It's Clinger and Denise. Clinger is a really cool guy I know from the Club 112 Rueda days. Denise of course....she's part of the salsa pantheon around here.

Ah yes....the little flower is wearing a little flower. I like flowers. Especially when they're on pretty girls. Here's Miss Amy....connecting with Steve, who you can't see. However you can see Doctor Victor in the back....barely.

Here's Miss Amy with the mystery dancer. Oh! It's Steve. Stever has been getting around a lot lately. Steve and Amy and I have been in a lot of classes together

Wandering Salsera introduces David at Chibcha

2005-02-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

Amy did a great interview at Chibchas with David, the new keyboard player. He's on the left. The gentleman on the right is Anthonly, the bands' bass guitar player. Davids' English is a work-in-progress so Anthony help us a bit. You can hear the interview here too.

2005-02-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

I'm re-doing this post because it didn't turn out right the first time. Here's the talented Ms. Amy rocking the crowd with....her smile.

I had my chance to get physical with the mic too....while nobody was looking :-)

Salmerum did a great job as usual. There to the left you can see the new keyboard man, David. And to his left, the bass player Anthony.

Here's David again. David is originally from Cuba but he also lived in Mexico City for 5 years. He originally studied and trained to be a classical pianist but somewhere along the road he got into the salsa scene. You could tell that he's good because he playes very effortlessly and confidently.

There's lot of hours of practice in doing what these hands do. 8 fingers and 2 thumbs, all working together to produce power chords and polyrhythms.

This is Tonys' saxaphone...an 'alto' saxaphone. Musicians sometimes refer to their instruments as their 'axe'. Tony is the band leader and manager and has done an owesome job in making Salmerum generally regarded as the favorite salsa band of Houston salseros and salseras.

I forgot to get this picture into the previous post.

Re-post of Chibcha/Salmerum Friday report

2005-02-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

This is the 3rd time I've done this post about Chibchas and the first Friday night that Salmerum played there so I'm a little less extravagent in my commentary than usual. The prior difficulty had something to do with the fact that I had so many pictures to put on the post and for some reason it didn't come out organized (on the page) correctly.

Regardless, me and everybody else had a good time and it looks like the post will get up correctly now. Here it is Saturday night, 8 days later and I didn't go out anywhere last night but I think Salmerum will have a good crowd at Chibchas.

I was at Chibchas Thursday and was talking to William, the manager. He told me the traffic was 'up' just a little bit that first night but he wasn't sure whether the club made a lot more money or not. Obviously having a live band has an associated cost too so it probably remains to be seen whether it'll work out botten-line profitably for the club. Only time will tell.

If you go there some Friday night, I can tell you that it was definately crowed but there was plenty of room on the back dance floor. I danced on both floors myself. On the front floor, most of the dancers were pretty well behaved...i.e. nobody doing backflips and extensions like sometimes at SkyBar.

In my opinion Chibchas really does have the BEST music library in town. I just like their music better.

I'm re-doing this post because it didn't turn out right the first time. Here's the talented Ms. Amy rocking the crowd with....her smile.

I had my chance to get physical with the mic too....while nobody was looking :-)

Salmerum did a great job as usual. There to the left you can see the new keyboard man, David. And to his left, the bass player Anthony.

Here's David again. David is originally from Cuba but he also lived in Mexico City for 5 years. He originally studied and trained to be a classical pianist but somewhere along the road he got into the salsa scene. You could tell that he's good because he playes very effortlessly and confidently.

There's lot of hours of practice in doing what these hands do. 8 fingers and 2 thumbs, all working together to produce power chords and polyrhythms.

This is Tonys' saxaphone...an 'alto' saxaphone. Musicians sometimes refer to their instruments as their 'axe'. Tony is the band leader and manager and has done an owesome job in making Salmerum generally regarded as the favorite salsa band of Houston salseros and salseras.

I had a really good time at Chibchas that night. One nice thing that happened was I met Kim coming in (as I was about to leave). Kim dances very well, and a lot, but you usually don't see her til later in the evening because she's a nurse and her schedule runs into the evening. But we had a good time dancing. She always has that pretty smile.

Another innovative use of blogs

2005-02-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting example of a way that perhaps somebody could use blogs to 'vent' :-) I thought it was curious that they used the same blogger template that we have on Wandering Salsero.

Here's the blog URL.

Maybe it would be a great way to express uhhhh....an exasperation or a frustration or irritation or sense of dissappointment with a co-worker, business associate, supervisor or even a dance parther.

Blog as a popular idea....corroboration

2005-02-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

OK....now that I've got that other thing off my mind :-)

I get a very informative newsletter about communication and corporate blogging. It's called Wordbiz (that's a link too).

Click here for a short but informative article they linked to that's about blogging.

Art is sorry he upset Amy

2005-02-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, Amy.(I still don't think I'm really a 'tight-ass') :-)

Want to learn some cool new patterns?

2005-02-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

I just got up. Seems like I frequently have new ideas on the top of my brain while I'm laying there awake but not physically 'up' yet. I've got one now.

You know how it's fun to go to workshops and be exposed to what, to you, are 'new' patterns? You see'em and think, "Hey, that's cool! Why didn't I think of that?"

And in the next hour or so you gradually learn the pattern. Then hopefully you go somewhere and do it (practice it) in public......right? Or not :-)

If you're like me, that last part is where you sometimes stumble. In other words, you got the pattern into your brain when you learned it but later you can't do it...or you can't do it all...or you have trouble remembering it.

I've got an idea that might solve that problem.

Take a look at the cornucopia of patterns over on sites like:

http://www.how2salsa.com

http://www.salsamafia.com

http://www.salsajunkies.com

http://www.clubmayan.com

There's tons of material there.

If somebody was to say to me, "Art, over at SalsaMafia, pattern #2245....I like to get together and learn that with you." I'd say, "Sure!" We could both study it in advance, then meet somewhere and practice it.

Or for that matter, if somebody had a way of bringing a laptop with wi-fi to a stuio or practice place, that would make it even easier to practice that pattern.

Point is, right there, on those sites, there's enough freely accessible class material to occupy anybody for a lifetime. All that's needed is someone with the common interest and willingness to utilize it. Much as I respect our local gurus who teach us most of what we know, I certainly don't think we're incapable of educating ouselves if we buy our own books and just read'em.

the new WanderingSalsero has been delivered...

2005-02-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

.....but it's not ready for public viewing yet. I've got access to it now but it's a bit premature yet because I haven/t determined what categories, blocks, polls, etc. are going to appear on it. George (my computer guru) called me today and told me how to get onto the site. Now I need to explore all the options on setup and configuration.

So I'm going to be tinkering around with the format for awhile to see what I think looks interesting. Then I guess I'll ask some of my special friends to look at it and when I get some approval from them I'll let Eddy link it from his site. And after that, I'll get my WanderingSalsero business cards which I'll be able to hand out when people ask me about my site (i.e. 'our' site :-)

As I said before, I earnestly solicit your input. Anything you'd like to see, or see more of.....please let me know. Don't be bashful to call me at 281 236 2852 or toll free at 1 877 356 0398. That's what telephones are for. And frankly, phones are usually more convenient to email. My ears and my mind work faster than my eyes and my fingers.

By the way, I've got a very intersting article from one of my internet marketing gurus, Jim Edwards, that I'll figure out how to make available to those of you who might be interested in that sort of thing.

I'm telling ya'.....blogs are cool!

What's the magic that makes you want to dance?

2005-02-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

I think it's the music...BUT.......it's not the same music for everybody.

That idea just ocurred to me as I' sitting here having my morning oatmeal. I'm listening to a song on SalsaStream (thanks again for the reminder Fernando!) and it's one of those songs that just makes you want to get up and do footwork.

Not that I'm any sort of footwork expert. But I've noticed that some songs seem to bring it out of me more than others.

So that's why I say 'it's the music'.

Everything depends on the music, doesn't it?

Another example that comes to mind right now is what happened to me last night.

I was over at Chibchas and encountered my friend Kim. She was just hanging out there because she's taking a barber course nearby that had just gotten out. So.....we like to dance together and we had a chance to do some of that.

They were playing some of the great music they have there at Chibchas. The band of the night, Mi Rumba, was getting ready to play....and I realized that I was enjoying it a lot more than I thought I'd enjoy Mi Rumba.

I simply prefer CD music better. More often than not, the CD music is 'sweeter'.

A lot of the salsa music we hear around here, both from DJs and bands, is just percussive noise. The bands strain too much and it shows. And the DJs play too much music that is just too 'hard'. It ain't 'pretty'. Sometimes I think it amounts to 'slam dancing' to the clave.

Anyway, I left Chibcha's because, as I told Kim, Mi Rumba isn't romantic enough for me. So I just now am realizing how important the music can be to how well a person dances.

You beginners out there, don't feel like the Lone Ranger when you don't dance good. It surely has something to do with how well you're relating to your partner and the music. It's supposed to. As your experience and sensitivity develops, you'll get better at dancing with music and partners you're not familiar with. I'm OK.....you're OK :-)

Man! SalsaStream is really good right now! I'm convinced that a club could have excellent music if they'd just rig up a sound system to play SalsaStream! Or wouldn't it be great at a house party?

Why you sometimes get two of the 'almost' same posts

2005-02-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

I'm never sure exactly who reads these things but I know that every time me or Amy or Roberta make a post or a comment, I get a copy in my email. Maybe it's because I'm the 'administrator'. Whatever....

But just in case you're also getting duplicate notifications of the various posts that we do here, there is a reason why:

First of all, for any post that has pictures, it has to do with the way that Picassa, Hello and Blogger work together. Picassa is the program that comes free (I think it did?) with Blogger that you can use to store and organize pictures. Picassa interfaces with Hello. Hello is a program to get pictures onto your blog.

I can type a caption under a picture. When I hit 'publish', withing Hello, it posts that picture and caption either immediately onto the blog or onto a 'que' (i.e. waiting line) of however many pictures I'm planning on putting into that post (like the one last night about Chibcha and Salmerum). It's all controlled by certain keystrokes at the end of the post.

When I've finally got my last picture and caption ready, I hit a different key and at that time everything is put onto a blog post. Not a draft. A real, completed post. If you're on some sort of distribution list, you get whatever is on it then.

The duplication comes when sometimes I'll see something I want to change. I go back into my blog control panel, hit 'edit', make the changes and then republish. That's when you get that second copy....slightly changed, if you'll notice carefully.

I wish there was a less ponderous way to format those pictures and captions. Perhaps there will be with the new geeklog format. Last night, after struggling to get it finally complete and right, I was thinking about what a pain in the butt it can be. So don't worry. If geeklog doesn't fill the bill, I'll be trying some other formats. Typepad and Movable Type look like they have a good way to make photo albums and I'm playing around with OneSpace right now.

Amy told me she heard some people say they wish there were more pictures and yeah, I like the pics too. So I'll keep trying to get a system that's friendly to pictures.

Remember that if you ever have any pictures you'd like to share with our readers (all 14 of'em now!) just let me know and I'll put'em up.

On another topic, unrelated.....don't be surprised if you see some advertisments here at some point in the future. If and when I do it, it'll be something of value and done as tastefully as possible. I don't want theis site to look like those commercial media patchwork quilts like I see on so many other sites.

I just realized why 'on2' feels different!

2005-02-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

At least....one of the reasons.

I'm here at International Wandering Salsero Headquarters getting ready to hit the street today (now that the sun is out again and I can go hunting)..and I'm listening to SalsaStream.oom

Lately I've been more frequently visualizing myself dancing 'on2', just for practice, and I think I've realized one of the things that makes it feel different than dancing on 1. It's this:

With 'on 1', (assuming you start forward, for the guys)...on the 3 count, check the position of your feet relative to each other. On the 3 and the 7, your right foot is slightly forward of the left foot isn't it? Especially if you're putting any hip into your steps.

On 2, (assuming the guy starts with his first step backward....the left foot)...on the same 3 and 7, which is the pause/slow part of the step, check the position of your feet relative to each other. If your feet work like mine :-) your left foot is forward of your right foot isn't it?

Plus, when 'on 2', your feet will be sorta further apart (i.e. one further ahead than the other) won't they? Seems that way to me.

To me, it's a different feel but not one that can't be mentally accomodated. I've noticed that it does seem to feel more comfortable on some salsa music than others.

Play around with it yourself and see if you can catch the same feeling that I have about it. And I'd love to hear what you think too.

Speak Your Mind

2005-02-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

By the way, we appreciate any comments you want to make. I'm happy that a couple of people besides ourselves had things to say. I know you guys are out there, you approach me when I'm out and about. To make comments you create a login here and then you can make as many as you want. Hope to hear from you..........all.

Rueda In New York

2005-02-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Art and Readers:

I'm partially trying out my new ability to post directly to the Wandering Salsero blog -- Thanks, Art!

Now that I can post, I remember wanting to post after returning home from N.Y. in December. Was up there visiting friends and family and made it to the Copacabana one night.
And low and behold -- Groups of people on the dance floor doing rueda! I was really excited to see that and wanted to let you know. People were also dancing all kinds of other couples dances very well -- but I'll swear that I wasn't watching salsa on 1, on 2 or any cumbia type style. It was more free style I think...

This was not on in the main Copacabana room (with the wooden dance floor) -- It was a concrete floored room, upstairs (There was a teenage party that night in the main room). But Art -- there is some excitement about Rueda up there -- maybe you knew -- but I didn't and I was excited to see it.

Now that I can post, I will do so when I feel that I have something to say of some significance and interest to others that read the blog.

Roberta

You'll be meeting Fernando Cruz soon...

2005-02-09T20:06:00.000-08:00

.....from a fellow named Fernando Cruz. Fernando and his business partner, Carlos Acevedo, have a website called Salsa-Rhythms.com as well as two studios....one in Los Angeles, CA. and the other in New York City.

You know how I surf the net a lot? Well, I stumbled across some 'part' of their e-presence several days ago. Partly just from curiosity, I signed up for some free 'on2' lessons which they offer over the internet. Over the next several days I got the lessons.

The lessons are pretty good. They open up in a nice, big Windows Media player window and the quality is good. It's Fernando doing the teaching. It's fairly basic stuff but it's still valuable. Especially if you're still new to "2" like I am.

Point is, by looking at these lessons, clicking around their website and by my conversation today with Fernando, I realized that there's obviously more than just a couple of guys who dance pretty good here. There's also obviously an entrepreneurial mind set too.

Well, you know me.....I'm usually not afraid to talk to somebody so that's why I had called (or was it email?) him a couple of days ago. He called me back today and we had a good conversation. We talked about a lot of salsa stuff and it made me feel good (and maybe him too) to discover how many things we agreed on.

That's the reason I invited him, Fernando, to become a contributor to the WanderingSalsero. And he graciously accepted.

I realize that WanderingSalsero is explicitly about the Houston salsa scene but I also think that as the use of the internet draws the world closer together it's maybe permissable to choose our friends, associates and correspondents not only based on geographical proximity but also on ideological agreement.

Fernando asked me what kind on content I was looking for and I shared with him that I wanted our content to tend toward the 'human' side of the salsa experience...not just the who, what, where, when and how but also the way that it makes us feel and how we react to it as we move along the camino de salsa. He said he understood :-)

Fernando tells me that he has a lot of 'clients' in Houston but he doesn't personally know a lot about it. So....maybe this little friendship might eventually result in some sort of beneficial exchange for a few, or many, of us. Eddy, Rey, Jorge, Claudia....I mentioned you to Fernando already so don't be bashful to contact him if you want to!

I've further perused his site and found that there's lots of good content there that I think you'll enjoy right away. I invite you to go over there and click around within it. Fernando has lots of tips and advice that'll do you good regardless of whether you dance on 1 or 2. And expect to see him doing some posts pretty soon.

You might be amused to notice that he uses the audio buttons like I do (he uses Audio Generator and another similar tool called Sonic Memo).

Rocio's got some shoes coming in

2005-02-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

Seems like I'm seeing more and more people wearing these super-comfortable and very inexpensive jazz slippers. I got my first two pairs, the canvas types, from Rocio.

Just in case you didn't hear, she's got some more coming in real soon:

Attention Salseros & Salseras

I have a footie order coming in this week.
Black, White and Tan
There are limited sizes.
$20 a pair
Feel free to give me a call and reserve your pair
I will have them with me at the Melody Club next Thursday.

Salomon and I will be teaching Every Thursday at the Melody Club
7-8 Men and Lady Styling
8-9 Cha Cha Cha
Classes for all levels!
$10 a class

If you're interrsted....give her a jingle at kyukette@yahoo.com. She's got
a phone number on the site too.

Yeah, she calls'em 'footies'....but you can't get'em in pink!

Adventure opportunity in Chile....

2005-02-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

As often happens, I had plans to do something else when I got home today but I opened up my email, started perusing various things and BAM....I'm sidetracked again.

But this is really unique information. I already knew that there was a lot of opportunity to teach English in Russia and as a matter of fact last night my computer guru, George, was encouraging me to do just that. So yeah, I'm still thinking about it.

This article not only is interesting on it's own but it further confirms the practicaly of teaching English abroad. What they say about the reasons English is 'hot' in Chile right now probably also applies to varying degrees in other countries too.

To me, this is something almost anybody could do for an adventure of a lifetime.....regardless of whether or not they were 'rich' here.

The article speaks for itself. Personally I think it would be a super cool thing for an adventurous married couple to do together. Even if they don't do any salsa dancing down there (which is highly unlikly), I'm sure they would like it if they saw it. Read the article here.

Tango styles...Argentine vs. American

2005-02-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking more about tango lately. Seems it's growing on me....or maybe I should say 'in' me. It's been fueled by a recent string of random events:

A few weeks ago I saw a movie on TV called Assasination Tango. It was good....and..it had several short but interesting tango scenes in it.

Then, completely as a surprise to me, I saw that couple from TangoTango, Eric and Susanna, at the Rumba Club event on Friday. I only saw their first show but I did like it. I interviewed them and got some pictures which are here in a privious post.

Since then, I've decided I'm going to learn how to do it and I'm probably going to take lessons from Eric. He says he only charges 30$ an hour which I'm told by other people is a very low rate for private instruction.

Eric told me an interesting story about how the two styles differ..i.e Argentine vs. American. And what he said was basically validated by my friend Jill Banta from SSQQ. Then just today, a Russian young lady I know who drives the ice cream truck that comes by Star Motor Cars frequently when I'm there told me essentially the same thing....i.e. American style is more rigid whereas Argentine style, while perhaps initially more difficult to learn, is more fluid and improvisational. That's what I want.

Here's the synopsis:

Toast scraping

2005-02-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

The only thing this story has to do with salsa is that it's told by my friend Ron, the artist, who eventually I'm hoping to get into a salsa class.

There's an art to telling a story well, you know. People who do it are sometimes called 'reconteurs'.

Boxing gloves for chickens!

2005-02-08T00:07:00.000-08:00

Really!

I heard it on the radio.

Sound clips....Everything must go!!!

2005-02-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

You know how you go into stores sometime and there'll be several tables covered with all kinds of odd, crappy merchandise that nobody except except a Conehead would want?

Well, now that my computer is back to working again, I'm clearing out all my various KPFT and KTSU clips. They're really not that bad. Sure, the fidelity isn't the best because they were all recorded from my radio in my pickup through my cell phone but...yes, I really do listen to those stations a lot. I realize everybody won't have my same taste in music but..I can get aay with it :-)

Here they are:

You're welcome!

Carneval time in Brazil...!

2005-02-07T23:24:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I'm back. I don't know what George did but it worked.

So....I'm checking my Yahoo news and I see a post reminding us that the Carneval in Rio De Janiero has just started. I would say that going down there and actually seeing that would be on my top 5 things I'd like to do on this earth.

Several years ago was listening to KPFT and they had a guy on who had written a book about Brazillian music called "Why Are These People Dancing?" I've long since lost the book but I did read it.

It was about the importance of the Carneval to the social fabric of Rio and most Brazillians. I discovered that entire neighborhoods get involved in 'their' parade productions.

There's contests early early in the year to determine who's going to design next years' costumes, who's going to write the music, who's going to to be the choreographer, etc., etc. It's very serious to them.

Those teams can number as many as 8000 people total. Yeah...8000! That's almost as much as an understrength infantry division! In fact, the organizational skills are akin to what it takes to manage a big military parade.

The Sambadrome, which maybe you've heard about, is an actual street (I don't know how long) that has reviewing stands for the spectators. In the several nights of the contests, there's about 14 samba groups that are in the final competition....sorta like a marching band competion (like I've been in).

I've got a video, over an hour long, of all the groups from a Carneval a few years ago. Man! Talk about dazzling....and sexy costumes! It's more than an eyeful. And I can't even imagine the sound of it all. Lots of drums..of course.

Several years ago I had a penpal in Rio who used to dance in the Carnevals. She used to talk about it all the time. I've lost touch with her now. She cut me off, understandably so, when I told her I was engaged to a girl in Colombia. I sorta respected her for that...actually.

So...here's a few links I thought you might find interesting:

Here's the Yahoo link. Click of the right one. Their video is good.

Here's another one...

And here's another one.

I've been sick...because my computer is sick :-)

2005-02-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

But here I am at the Harris County Public Library over off of 290 (@ Gessner?)

I've got limited time on the machine so I'll try to quickly cover several things(in no particular order).

1. Eddys' classes this last couple of months have been pretty good. Maybe the fact that Nicole has become a 'regular' helper is the reason. Maybe.

2. The events at Melody Club get better and better. 'Nuff said. Thanks to Jerome and Crystal..the perfect hosts.

3. My deal over at El Chibcha, with Wilson Cortez, is going.....well....OK. The numbers of people turning up the the lessons is pretty good. Mostly amateurs but I guess who else would you expect to turn up for 'free' lessons.

We (or perhaps I should say..Wilson) hasn't gotten into the rueda yet, other than a couple of teaser previews. I get the impression that he still wants to 'do' some rueda but it seems that I'm not as much a part of the decision making process as I thought I would be so....I guess it'll eventually happen.

I can say that I'm still wanting to get a few people together on my own so that we can get down to 'the bone' and start learning some rueda. It would make me one SUPER HAPPY CAMPER if I had 2 or 3 couples who were ready to do some rueda at this years' International Festival. Let me know if you think you might be interested (it'll help if you've got a committed partner).

4. Profuse thanks and kudos to Amy Cortez who has been making very nice contributions here on the blog.

5. Dionicio and Robert (DJ rated "R") told me, at Melody Club last Saturday), that they're working together on a salsa night downtown at a club called Copacabana. I'm not familiar with that club but I think I've heard the name. I believe they said it was going to be Friday night (but it could have been Saturday). Guys....correct me with a 'comment' if you need to.

6. I'm still wanting to make those changes to my blog format but that project is held up until I get my computer fixed. I hope my computer guru isn't rolled over in a ditch somewhere in south Texas.

7. You know how when you dance with somebody, you connect....and with other people at other times, you don't? Well, I really appreciated the couple of dances I had with Reyna at Melody Club last Saturday.

8. Do a websearch for 'podcast'. It's something fairly new that I just recently heard about. Sorta like an online radio show that can be downloaded onto an IPOD or similar device. I'm not saying I clearly see where it's going but I do see that it's another advance in the dissemiation of internet content.

The way I saw it explained, it's got something to do with RSS. You've been seeing that term a lot lately. Look it up. It's basically a refinement of information distribution..sorta :-) I can see that I need to get my site set up on an RSS feed already. If I'm not mistaken, you can get your own RSS 'aggregator' and it'll bring you the latest posts right now.

9. I got into the Jack and Jill contest at Melody Club. Yes, it was fun. As I was sharing with my SSQQ friend Jill Banta last week...I think we need more of those 'low level' contests around here. I enjoyed it and it seems to me that it would also be good for the overall profeciency level of our community.

10. I guess I could honestly categorize myself as an intermediate level dancer so this comment is for the people who consider themselves 'beginners'. It's basically this:

Eventually, if you apply you mind to it enough, it'll become easier and easier for you to visualize different patterns and moves on your own. Not that I'm a salsa 'Picasso' yet, but I have noticed that I'm thinking of more stuff on my own.
So..beginners...don't give up :-)

11. Sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks I'm going to be moving into a new International Wandering Salsero Headquarters ;-) in the 290 area. And when I get set up over there, I plan on doing some fun things with my Instant Video Generator. I think you'll like'em.

12. OK...don't know what I forgot. I'm sure I could think of something but....'in the interest of brevity', I'll stop here.

13. Not so much to make money, but I've decided I would like to have a beginners class. I have certain ideas of my own that I think would be good for beginners. I'm open to your suggestions if you have any :-)

P.S. I would like to have another male contributor for the blog. Give me a call if you'd like to talk about it.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Greatest Instructor of Them All?

2005-02-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

The answer is......it depends on you. I have talked to many of you out there about who to take on as an instructor. In fact, I have had several instructors. There is a certain criteria that I follow in choosing a new istructor. First, you need to know what's out there first. You can do searches for Houston Salsa dance companies, look on SalsaWeb, or ask around. I actually met one woman who had chosen an instructor because that person just happened to be first on the list. Funny! I told her not to worry, she had "chosen" well. You can also attend the free lessons that are given at clubs or events. That way you can check out the teaching methods of the instructor teaching. Are they articulate and knowledgeable about salsa? Which leads to the next thing that I do. Once you have chosen a few instructors, find out where they dance. The good thing about Houston, is that there are a good number of instructors. They each have their own style. Do you like their style? Is it something you would be interested in learning? I had seen my current instructor several times around the salsa scene. I was amazed and I loved the way he danced. I did some observing for my mambo instructors as well. Introduce yourself and ask questions. They would be more than happy to talk to you, if they're smart ;-)

Then comes the other question. Should a person take private or group lessons? You definitely need to evaluate your goals. If you just want to have fun in the salsa social scene and meet people, then take group classes. The people and friends I have met have been through paid and free group lessons. These classes are a lot of fun. Then you can have the opportunity to practice what you learned with your fellow students afterwards. But, if you have a more ambitious goal, say....Oh I don't know... to be one of the best dancers in Houston. Then private lessons are definitely the way to go. You will get undivided attention with your instructor. During your lesson, you would have the opportunity to discuss your goals and what you would like to work on. Through the course of my private lessons, my bad habits were corrected, tips were given for better timing, and now styling and shines are next on my list. There is one disadvantage in taking private lessons. They are more expensive than group lessons. It depends on how badly you want to improve. I'm willing to pay because I have a strong desire to be the best I can be. But if you want to stick to group lessons there is nothing wrong with that.

So, can you be a better dancer with just group lessons? Of course you can! There are three main things a student can do to ensure that they are on that road to successful dancing. One, take the time after class and ask your instructor what you need to work on. If he or she can't recall (only if you are a new face), then request a little time after class. For example, let's say you keep losing your balance. Have them observe you or better yet dance with you. Based on what you look and feel like, your instructor should be able to give you some tips. Second, take lessons from different instructors. Like I said, all theses instructors have something unique about them. Incorporate the best that all these instructors have to give into your salsa memory bank. Personally, I love variety! So, keep up to date on workshops from local as well as instructors from out of town. Eventually, you will be able to develop your own style. Third, practice, practice, practice! You will never improve if you don't practice what you learned. Watching is not practicing. You need to feel the correct and incorrect movements. Sometimes you will feel uncomfortable when something is done correctly. That's where practice comes in. The more you do a move, the more it will be comfortable. A good instructor will say it over and over again. Good luck!

Run Salseros Run!

2005-02-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

For all of you that know me really well, I am an avid runner. I started running when I was 21 to lose the famous added 15 when I was in college, then to stay in shape as gravity slowly casts its curse, then recently to prepare for training to become an FBI agent. Today, I am still running but for a different purpose.......I've begun my quests to become a marathon runner. Yes, this a nonsalsa promotion, but there is more than one side to a cube, right? For those that have seen the Michael J. Fox movie, Doc Hollywood, you will remember the line,"Peal on onion, you will find lots of layers." Therefore, I know you guys out there have other interests and other aspects of your lives that have nothing to do with salsa. Recently, I have discovered that quite a few of you have or will do marathons in the near future. Some do it for work, causes, fun, or to just prove something to yourselves. So! For those that want a taste about what it's like to cross a finish line, here is your opportunity, the ConocoPhillips Rodeo run. Hope to see some of you there!

http://www.conocophillipsrodeorun.com/registration/index.htm
Registration for the marathon.

Amy

West Point Apts and German...better and better

2005-01-31T00:14:00.000-08:00

Germans' classes and practices at West Point Apartments, on Lazy Hollow (off Westheimer) have been consistently good the last several times I've been there and I think the primary reason is because German himself is such a nice guy...even though he's a little hard to understand sometimes :-) German always teaches with a smile and is always happy to give individual help. Ila too.

About every third week he'll actually teach a new pattern....which is always a good one. There's a 10$ charge for those classes. The in-between weeks are no-charge, practice weeks where the same group of people simply get together to practice. You'll see many of the same faces from week to week but there's frequently some new people coming in too and German and Ila make it a specific point to make sure that everybody is introduced so....you won't be lonely.

Today (Sunday) I brought my portable DVD player and 4 of the rueda DVDs that bought (the set of 7 from SalsaLovers). I gave a brief explination of what rueda was, showed an example from the DVDs and offered to teach some next week....and it looks like I'll be doing some of that next week. It won't be the whole class of course but simply as much as the other students have an interest in. But I was gratified that the interest was there in several people.

Just remember that there is something worthwhile to do on Sunday afternoons...salsa-wize...at West Point Apartments.

You love to pay income taxes, right?

2005-01-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

This is not Salsa, per se, but it is a pet cause of mine and I'm certain that it concerns a subject near and dear to many of your hearts also...i.e. income taxes.

In case you're not aware of it, in the last 15-20 there's been a growing number of people who have questioned, and in fact disputed, the presumed right of our federal government to exact income taxes from 'us'....at least in the manner that it has evolved to at this point.

Yes, there are some people who have claimed some fairly kooky reasons that we don't have to pay federal (or state) income taxes but there are others who have some some pretty logical, reasonable and seemingly lawful reasons for the same thing. I happen to subscribe to some of those (later) reasons.

In essense, it all has to do with the Constitution which is, of course, the foundation of our supposedly lawful representative republic form of government.

Point is, one of the more prominent figures in this movement, often called the 'tax honesty' movement, is a fellow named Bob Schultz. You may possibly remember that he's the guy who, several years ago, went on a hunger strike....which he called off at the last moment because the government had finally given in to some requests that he had made to get some answers to some questions he was asking. The government later reneged on their promises and the battle continues to this day.

You might think, 'Well, if these anti-federal income tax people have the law on their side so obviously, why don't they just take it to court?'

Good question, Sherlock. The answer is that the courts don't always do what's right. That's just a fact.

But take heart! Because just recently there has been a very important ruling in the 2d Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals. They've basically reaffirmed some very important rights that we citizens are supposed to have against certain unlawful practices and procedures of the IRS over the years.

I subscribe to some Yahoo groups that keep track of this sort of thing and I saw this very interesting post tonight. I thought that, since this is that season so many Americans enjoy so much...tax season...that you might find the message interesting. At the least it ought to make you....wonder if you know all you really ought to know about the subject. You do have the right to make up you own mind you know :-) Here's the post:

Subject: [ZIF] Schulz press release--is the IRS notice of levy doa?

Does the Court’s decision mean that companies do not have to turn over a worker’s paycheck to the IRS simply because the IRS demanded it, and banks do not have to turn over to the IRS the contents of someone’s bank account merely because the IRS requested it?,

January 30, 2005 Contact: Bob Schulz
For Immediate Release (518) 656-3578

U.S. Court of Appeals Rules IRS Cannot Apply Force
Against a Tax Payer Without A Court Order

Taxpayers Free To Ignore An IRS Summons

Queensbury, NY – On January 25, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that taxpayers cannot be compelled by the IRS to turn over personal and private property to the IRS, absent a federal court order.

Quoting from the decision (Schulz v. IRS, case number 04-0196-cv), “...absent an effort to seek enforcement through a federal court, IRS summonses apply no force to taxpayers, and no consequence whatever can befall a taxpayer who refuses, ignores, or otherwise does not comply with an IRS summons until that summons is backed by a federal court order…[a taxpayer] cannot be held in contempt, arrested, detained, or otherwise punished for refusing to comply with the original IRS summons, no matter the taxpayer's reasons, or lack of reasons for so refusing.”

Without declaring those provisions of the Code unconstitutional on their face, the court, in effect, nullified key enforcement provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, stripping the IRS of much of its power to compel compliance with its administrative demands for personal and private property. The court characterized IRS summonses issued under Section 7602 as mere “requests.”

The court went on to say that the federal courts are there to protect taxpayers from an “overreaching” IRS, and that the IRS must go through the federal courts before force can be applied on anyone by the IRS to turn over personal and private property to the IRS.

In addition, the Court held, in effect, that the enforcement language of Section 7604 of the Internal Revenue Code is unconstitutional. In plain language, Section 7604 directs federal District Court judges to issue orders, merely upon a request by the IRS, for the immediate arrest and incarceration of a tax payer “for contempt” for not complying with the demands of an IRS administrative summons/request.

Prior to the 2nd Circuit’s recent landmark decision, the common practice of compliant federal judges was to issue such orders, often without an evidentiary hearing or allowing the taxpayer, in an Article III Federal Court, to challenge IRS claims before being subjected to formal enforcement proceedings (liens, levies, wage garnishments, searches, property seizures, etc.). The result has been widespread and egregious abuse of its lawful authority by the IRS, and substantial injury to millions of tax payers.

- more -

“Does the Court’s decision mean that companies do not have to turn over a worker’s paycheck to the IRS simply because the IRS demanded it, and banks do not have to turn over to the IRS the contents of someone’s bank account merely because the IRS requested it?,” asked Bob Schulz, the plaintiff in the case, and the Chairman of the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc.

Schulz asked, “Does this mean that at least in the 2nd Circuit, no individual, no third party (such as an employer or a bank) need worry about being threatened and intimidated by the IRS for refusing to comply with an IRS demand for personal and private property? Isn’t the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals stating, in clear language, that without an Article III Federal Court order, the IRS cannot apply force against a tax payer?

“We would agree, the use of force by the IRS against the person or property of any tax payer without an evidentiary hearing and formal order issued by an Article III Federal Court, is a direct violation of the Privacy and Due Process clauses of the United States Constitution. It appears that the IRS has now been put on notice – they are not above the law.”

In 2003, Schulz, was served several IRS summonses ordering him to produce his books and records. Schulz, as plaintiff, immediately challenged the IRS in District Court on constitutional grounds, claiming that the summonses were issued without any bona fide authority in law and with the sole, deliberate intent to harass and intimidate as a result of the Foundation's high-profile activism questioning the lawful authority of the IRS to impose a direct, un-apportioned tax on labor.

Despite the clear language of an IRS summons which states, “You are hereby summoned and required...” and the threatening language of the federal tax statute at 26 USC 7604 (which governs enforcement of IRS summons), the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has effectively ruled that the language of the Internal Revenue Code, and the administrative and enforcement practices of the IRS and DOJ, must comply with the strict Due Process requirements of the United States Constitution, and that the IRS will not be allowed to continue its practice of serving summonses upon average tax payers with the intent of intimidating them into compliance.

Naturally, this Appellate decision directly leads to further questions regarding IRS's other day-to-day administrative practices where substantial constitutional “injuries” are, in fact, inflicted routinely upon citizens and businesses in the form of liens, levies, salary garnishments, property seizures, etc. -- all of which are administrative, agency actions taken without any judicial review or court order.

The 2nd Circuit’s decision also carries profound implications regarding the Foundation’s historic Right-to-Petition Lawsuit now underway in the D.C. Federal District. (We The People, et al v. The United States, et al., Civ. No. 04-0211)

The IRS and DOJ, as defendants in the RTP lawsuit, have recently filed motions asserting that the government has “no obligation” to “listen to” or “respond to” the People’s First Amendment Petitions regarding the unlawful administrative and enforcement practices and the systemic abuse of power by the IRS and DOJ.

(more)

The 2nd Circuit’s recent decision could potentially have a powerful positive effect on the RTP lawsuit, and the People’s historic struggle to hold the IRS and our government leaders at every level, accountable to the law.

The Court’s decision in the Schulz case is an historic and courageous first step in restoring constitutional order to the administration and enforcement of our nation’s tax laws, and effectively puts the IRS and DOJ on notice that violations of tax payer’s Due Process rights will no longer be tolerated.

To read the Second Circuit’s decision, go to

www.GiveMeLiberty.org/rtplawsuit/courtfilings/2ndCirc-Decision-Jan-05.pdf

To learn about the Right-to-Petition lawsuit and read the RTP legal research, go to:

www.GiveMeLiberty.org/rtplawsuit/InfoCenter.htm

The Foundation’s website is : www.GiveMeLiberty.org

Yeah, I know this is a somewhat sensitive subject but I can personally promise you that if you knew some of the things that I know, and lots of other people know, you'd be fuming mad. At who? At those portions of our government who allow something as fraudulent as the federal income tax to continue to be enforced in the way that it is. It sure changed me. It doesn't make you unpatriotic to want to see things done in accordance with the Constitution.

Amalgame el Baile Showcase

2005-01-30T03:12:00.000-08:00

Milton & James Cobo with Samantha Erskine

Jerome and Crystal gave a very good event last night. I arrived there about 10 pm sharp because I didn't want to miss any of the performances. When I walked in the place was already in full swing. There were many new faces and people from out of town there, so that was a plus. Melody club is a real find because of the vast, smooth floor, good lighting, and a wide variety of music. I did notice that everyone was in a much more relaxed and festive mood. Can't beat the atmosphere. The performances began about 30 minutes later.

I enjoyed the performances more than I did at Rumba. I'm not saying that the performances were better than the night before, it's just that I had a much better view. Raye Avery and Irene Griffin were very smooth. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good shot at them because they were everywhere. So, I just gave up and enjoyed their performance. We also enjoyed two other non-salsa related performances. So, we got a taste of the smooth soulful moves of Ruby Lair and her partner from the Swing-out and 2-Step Club. Then we watched Heavy and Snowflake do their magic with a little swing dance number. Apparently, they have been married for 31 years. I saw a few innocent heated moves here and there. It's nice to see it is not over till it's over ;-) The salsa performances were done by Joey and Denise (always good together), Angel and Jessica, Claudia and Wilmer (man, that girl can spin), Salsa Eddy Dancers,and the house specialty for the night, the Cobo brothers with Samantha.

There were many highlights that night.

First and foremost, everyone said that they loved the atmosphere! Because the music was purely Salsa, everyone danced until they dropped. The music was versatile and sexy and lighting was jjjjuuuusssst right. I even eyed a few couples that got a little friendly on the dance floor. Too bad I didn't have a date. Many people said that they would definitely come back.

The Cobo brothers were hot!

Their performance consisted of Milton leading the very bodacious Samantha in a constant flow of moves while James garnished them with his series of body movements and shines. Afterwards, the brothers danced with the ladies of ALL levels. Samantha graciously danced with all those that were brave enough to ask. I hear that they had a good time.

There were people from out of town along with new faces.

Angel and Jessica from San Antonio

Alex and Mara from Dallas

I had the pleasure of dancing with both Alex and Angel. Thanks guys! I will note that Angel and Jessica are the most approachable people I know in the salsa scene. They were always gracious to me and I love the smoldering chemistry between them when they dance. I would also like to thank all the other people that asked me to dance. I met people from Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Guantamala, Mexico, and Canada. I always value dancing with people I don't know just to rate where I am as a follower. But I won't forget those that I do know. You know I love you guys too. I saw almost everyone I met in the past year at this event. Thanks for saying hello. I appreciate you guys letting me point my lens in your direction. I know it can be pretty invasive.

Overall, the event went pretty smoothly. There was only one mishap and the award goes to......................

Claudia and Wilmer!

Apparently, they were unable to play their music. But they still gave an amazing performance like they always do. While we were waiting, Rumba Y Bongo and Eddy entertained us. Thanks Jerome and Crystal for the good time. Now you guys can catch up on some sleep! By the way, nice dress Crystal! You definitely created a stir with that number. I just have one question for you...........does it come in red?

Amy

Additional Pictures at Rumba

2005-01-30T02:41:00.000-08:00

Reyna (SWAT) and me

Marco (SWAT),me, and Judy (Salsa Azteca)

Ladies from Tumbao Y Cache

Tango Performance

Angel and Jessica strutting their stuff

SWAT

Art pretty much covered all that went on at Rumba. I wasn't satisfied with the other performance pictures. The place was packed and had good energy. Unfortunately, I was just getting over a cold. So, I headed home after the performances.........

Rumba Club and the Art of the Embrace

2005-01-29T14:16:00.000-08:00

The short version of what I thought of the big affair at Rumba Club
Friday night is....very good.

Houston Salsa Dancers at Rumba Club.

Our salsa guru, big-time promoter, buddy
and doorman....Jorge Mercado.

Mi amiga Monica at the door.

Adriana takes a good picture...with Eddy the tractor-man!
Nothing dances like...a Deere on Salsa Eddy!

Flaco and Michelle looked real swanky and gave
a great performance!

Here's their brief interview...it was too noisey
inside the club to talk very much. Flaco has
studied with some pretty heavy-weight salsa
gurus!

Wandering Salsera and the Wandering Salsero
dancing.

TangoTango couple...Eric and Susanna.

Here's their interview:

And here's my total overview of the evening:

Last night at Rumba Club was interesting not just for the obvious reason of the wonderful shows that they had but also also because of two separate incidents, both of which I feel are related.

The total effect of the event was….. lots of dancing and some tremendous special shows. The shows included Houston Salsa Dancers, claudia and Wilber, Eddies' S.W.A.T., TangoTango(Eric and Susanna), and Salsa y Cachet (Flaco and Michelle. There was another couple too, from San Antoinio but I must apologize for distracted at the time and not getting their name. Maybe Amy (the other Wandering Salsero) caught it.

Another couple that I enjoyed, somewhat to my own surprise, was those two kids that did the free-style Cumbia. I thought they really ‘swung out’ Matter of fact, in a way, it reminded me of swing dancing.

I interviewed and got some pictures from the TangoTango couple, Eric and Susanna also and Flacco and Michelle of Salsa Y Cache. I know for a fact that Amy took a lot of pictures of the other so no doubt her post will have more pictures than mine. Amys' camera is much better than mine so, in the future that's probably where you'll be seeing the best pictures....which is fine with me.

The evening started out slow but by the time I left, around 1a.m. there was definitely a full house. I don't know the exact number but the floor was for sure crowded....with lots of pretty salseras and suave guys.

I saw and had a chance to dance with some special ladies....amongst whom was that primatologist from Galveston. It's been a long time since I danced with her but I really enjoyed it this time. I've always found it intersting to dance with somebody whom I have not danced with in a long time because usually the only impression they've got in their mind about how you dance is the previous instance they danced with you. Like most people, my style is constantly changing (and dare I say.....improving?) and it's always a nice test to try to detect any surprise and/or satisfaction in that dance partner.

I especially enjoyed dancing with this gal because she was good on her basics but wasn't one of the ladies that I felt compelled I had to try to impress with tricks (which I don't do a lot of anyway). We just had a good time dancing 'together'.....which is the way I like it. More on that general subject later.

Rey Rodriguez was there but I don't think he hung around too long. Jorge, of course, was there. Nicole, all 'fixed up' and looking mighty pretty with that sparkle on her face. Melissa looked especially lovely in that blue dance skirt she was wearing. Alberto (I'll be doing some pictures and an interview with him pretty soon....from where he works during the day) looked real spiffy in his SWAT outfit. And of course there were plenty of other ladies who'd look good even in their pajamas :-)

The DJ music was OK.......more of less. I did notice that there was several instances where the DJ kept changing the song....and changing the song.....and changing the song. Why the hell do they do that? I wish they wouldn't. There was a time, many years ago before all this hi-tech equipment was available, when they had no choice but to simply put the darn song on the turntable and let it play all the way out. Nobody complained then and I don't think anybody would now (do you?).

I've noticed that the floor at Rumba Club doesn't always feel the same. Sometimes it's a bit on the sticky side all over and at other times it's reasonably tolerable. Last night it was OK except for a spot over on the far side, by the entrance point, that felt like somebody spilled a case of coke's on it. Bad....bad!

Another thing I especially noticed was that Eddys' M.C. (master-of-ceremony) talents seem to have improved. I thought he did a good job. But who was that Blanca gal? I wanted to dance with her but didn't have a chance.

OK...so that's the surface observations and comments. Now for the deeper stuff....as I'm privileged to do, right? :-)

I'll be posting a picture and an interview that I did with the TangoTango couple, Eric and Susanna. And something they said really stuck home with me.
I asked them if they could explain to me the essence of tango and they didn't waste any words.....they said it was all about the 'embrace'....the 'connection'.

When they said that, I thought to myself, "Yeah....that does make sense!" A lot of sense. If it's done right... anybody who really observes tango can see that it is all about the embrace....the connection. I think there's an art to embracing anything…..tennis racket, steering wheel, pen, brush, guitar, or even another person.

Now, having said that, I'll tell you about the other thing that happened:

I was standing there watching the dancers when suddenly I felt two arms, reach around me from the back and hug me. Not a hard hug but just one of those soft, gradual ones like I like. My initial thought was to wonder if it was a guy or a girl. I could conceivably have been a guy but it took just a split second for me to realize that it wasn't a guy because it felt too good. It had to be a girl :-)

Next, I felt a warm, soft cheek against my ear(you know, the ear is really a pretty sensitive part of the body)..and I'm loving it and the last thing I'm going to do is turn around to see who this mystery-hugger is and mess it up! So at that point, just within those few senonds, my evening had already gone from 'pretty good', beyond 'very good', to 'memorable' .

I knew of course that it wouldn't last forever and sure'nuff, next thing I know, I hear a voice from this girl I know (one of my best salsa friends)....I'll call her Mz Alpha....saying, 'Hi Art...how'ya doing?'...etc.

Point is...all of that this place in just a few seconds but it was........nice. And it ties in with what Eric said about 'it's all about the embrace'.

I think what the Beatles and the flower children of the 60's used to say was and still is true.....it is all about 'love'. Love does make the world go around. Even wars are ultimately fought about love....in the sense that they're caused by men, who are fighting for power, so they can acquire 'things', to get or further satisfy women, so they can propagate. Everything else is just secondary formality, embellishment and ritual. (Yeah, I really do believe that. If you don't ......I don't care.)

Life is all about the pinnacle, that moment in time, of the embrace.

I've said it before but I'll say it again......salsa is good….but I don't think we get enough of the embrace. Life isn't just about running here and there and all over the place just as salsa doesn’t have to be only about the 'energy' you expend doing it. Sure we've all got a 'passion' for salsa but there's a continuum there too.

Towards the one side of that continuum the passion is expressed with super-kenetic, frenzied energy. But on the other side you've got the slower more deliberate, savor-able(there might be a better word of 'the embrace'. That's what I find interesting about tango….the slow, burning side of the passion of that relationship between couples that dances mimics.

I think we take embraces for granted sometimes. Maybe even more so in these socially liberated times. Everyplace you go you see people casually hugging and kissing each other when it doesn’t necessarily mean a thing. That’s OK, except….what about that time when it’s supposed to mean something? How would you know the difference? If all you drink is wine, how do you recognize good wine?

I sorta like the idea and opportunity to hug but, in principle at least, I think it’s better to have less and appreciate it more than to have more (i.e. abuse or overindulge) and appreciate it less. Off the floor, if a guy is just a casual friend with a girl, I don’t see the sincerity, or accuracy, of elaborate hugs. I think a handshake is OK because that expresses the relationship more accurately. Hugs ought to mean something. On the floor, from a dramatic standpoint…I think it’s OK .

All this is not to convey the message that I’m cold and heartless and not in favor of close relationships. I’m only trying to illustrate why I think tango is so unique…. because it elevates something that I do think is so important…the ‘real’ embrace. The one that means something.

I still think there is room in salsa for more of the soulful expression so obvious in the embrace of tango,. I'm not sure of how it would be expressed. I know that Bachata gives us a little, cha-cha gives us a little, Meringue gives us virtually none and Vallenato has the potential to provide a lot of it. I'll always remember the comment that Lisa made (Nelsons’ girlfriend from over at Germans' West Point Apartments classes). When I asked her what she liked about vallenato, her immediate response was, 'It's so soulful!'. I see that in tango too.

I can only speak for myself when I say that I do sometimes get bored with all that flipping and trickin’ on the dance floor. Sometimes I want to just dance. Sometimes I’ll be standing there watching people flippin’ and trickin’ for several minutes and then the thought will come to me, “What the hell are they doing? Why?” Where’s ……the embrace? For sure, I’m still trying to improve my ability to do the tricks but that doesn’t mean I’ll always use all of that ability. I think there’s more to dancing that that.

All in all, it was interesting to me that those two things would happen on the same night…i.e. I’d get that special hug and then have its’ significance validated with a comment from somebody else. It’s always nice to discover something about yourself or others or life, isn’t it? It was a good night for me.

P.S. Please excuse any irregular looking format of this post. I did some tinkering with the various blogger controls.

Saying Hello!

2005-01-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

Even though Art introduced me, it would be unforgivable if I didn't say Hello personally. I just wanted to thank Art (embarress him a little) for letting me on his blog and let me run my mouth off. So, don't hesitate to introduce yourself or better yet, ask me to dance! I will be the dork with the camera!

Amy (Dulcet salsa)

Salsa Eddy's Spinning Class

2005-01-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

It was a Sunday evening and I had arrived at the Dance Place located off of Chimney Rock. So with Jazz shoes in hand, I stepped in and I was greeted with approximately 40 faces ready to take Salsa Eddy's Spinning workshop. Impressive bunch. I always enjoyed meeting Eddy's students. They are the most diverse and friendly group I know. It's a pleasure to meet you guys!

The technical content of the workshop was really good. Eddy started out the class with the importance of spotting and had us do a small exercise that helped us with that. I smiled when he talked about spotting. I remembered in my beginner days when I tried to learn spotting and one embarressing incident when I lost my focus and I slammed into this poor soul. Aaahhh, fond memories. The class escalated to single turns, explanations and demonstrations of proper and bad form, a balance technique,a more complex spotting technique, and tons of repetition! My legs were aching. There were a lot of yelps, groans,embarressed giggles, a noise here and there but I was amazed no one got killed.

What's good: The technical content was solid. Many of these exercises reminded me of my salsa academy days. Because of them, my private instructor remarked that I was a good technical spinner when I first started taking lessons with him. Another good thing about Eddy's teaching method is that he always DEMONSTRATES the consequences of bad technique. That also includes what it looks when dancing with a partner(demonstrated by his lovely TA Nicole). You can actually see the students recoil in disgust when the bad is compared with the good technique. Yep, not pretty, but it has to be shown.

What's bad: The size of the class! Yikes. Eddy had to rearrange us so that we could fit(that is after they gave us the bigger room)! Many of the students in the back just stood there because they didn't want to get hit by the "traveling" salseros/salseras. I was a little disappointed that we didn't move on to double spins. I'd say about a quarter of the students were capable of doing them. But I understand these things take time. The "better" spinners were getting a little impatient. But Eddy did let us have a taste of multiple spins by practicing the 1 1/2 spin. Then he gave us tips on how to move on from there.

Student feedback: Although discouraged, many of the students thought the workshop was really helpful. Having noticed many faces I haven't seen before, I ask how they knew about the workshop. Many of them found out about the workshop on Eddy's website and having friends e-mail them. I always e-mailed events and classes to my nonsalsa buddies. Like good friends they are, they have supported me on my salsa passion. They have even seen me perform once or twice and have always enjoyed watching. Then they think, Hmmmm maybe I should try that........So, fellow salsa lovers always e-mail.

Eddy, from one friend to another, keep doing what you're doing! You rock!

Amy(DulcetSalsa)

Playing with Blogger 'new' Picassa feature

2005-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

Blogger has an integral, picture processing and organizational program called Picassa which has recently been updated in features. I took this picture I had of Aaron Washington from several weeks ago, fiddled with the lighting effects. I like it. What do you think?

I promise to....uhhhh.....

2005-01-26T11:20:00.000-08:00

uhhhh...not say, "uhhhhh" any more :-)

Well, uh...at least, not as much :-)

Tony Hsu....a Houston salsa icon

2005-01-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

If you haven't met Tony Hsu, you should make it a point to say hello next time you see him in a club. Tony is one of the 'senior' salseros of Houston. I met him back in my SSQQ days, where he was a teachers assistant. Since then Tony has gone on to become on of the friendliest personalities and most spontaneous salseros in Houston. Click the link below to here what Tony had to say when I chatted with him at Tropican Thursday night (last night):

The latest from Mike and Tali....

2005-01-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

At Tropican last night (Tuesday) I had a chance to dance with Tali and also chat with Tali and Mike, of United Salseros (did I get that right?). Actually Tali did most of the talking. Click below to here what's going on in their life right now.

Click here for the conversation:

Salsa Wednesday at Bossa....not!

2005-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

I saw the listing on Salsa Houston, was curious, called, and got a callback from Mark Townes. He tells me there's no salsa on Wednesdays there. He said they do play a 'mix' of latin music on some other night...Friday or Saturday....I forget which.

Here's the post you might have seen, like I did:

FREE SALSA WEDNESDAYS at Bossa (610 Main, 713-223-2622)
with MARK TOWNS SALSA ALL-STARS and RUDY RINCON!!!

Thought you might like to know. Honest mistake, I'm sure.

Comida a la Amazon...tasty, healthy and pretty.

2005-01-23T23:35:00.000-08:00

Amazon Grill is a place you ought to go try sometime soon because aside from being the new teaching venue for our friends Joel and Jennifer, it's also a very unique eatery. I had dinner at Amazon Grill tonight (Sunday). Check out this menu:

I say 'unique' because the menu selections are very authentic. They have a variety of items that you won't find anywhere else. Nothing wierd....just good.

There food comes not so much from Mexico (not that there's anything wrong with Mexican food) but moreso from Cental and South America....fish, chicken, some special types of steak, unusual ways of cooking them, exotic types of breading and coatings, salad dressings that you'd never dream of....but ought to. It's all real healthy, filling and reasonably priced.

The appetizer chips are fried plantains rather than the tortilla chips you might expect. In addition the a hot-ish salsa dip that you'd expect, they have a 'dip' that's composed of olive oil and parsley.....really tasty and good for you too.

I had a chance to talk with Bryant Culver, the manager. Nice guy. Listen here:

Here's Joel and Jennifer (the two new salsa teachers at Amazon Grill at Westheimer @ Gessner), Bryant Culvert, and me.

Looks good, doesn't it?

Joel and Jennifer teaching at Amazon Grill now

2005-01-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Joel and Jennifer have recently started giving free salsa lessons at Amazon Grill at Westheimer and Gessner (in that Randalls Shopping Center there...right next to Hooters). I was there today (Sunday) which was their second week to be there. We had 5 students (not counting myself) but the previous week they tell me there were 10 students. So.....not a bad start at all. The room they have there is very nice. The floor is some sort of mystery material that feels very nice and it's closed off so they do have reasonable privacy. Plus...it's a great restaurant.

The lessons start at 5pm.

We had a slight bit of social dancing after the class. Joel and Jennifer even obliged one of the students who wanted to learn some bachata too.

Nelson and Lisa...a classy salsa couple

2005-01-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice couple who frequently attend the practice and lessons at West Point Apartments....Nelson Stone and Lisa Pacheco. Nelson is a successful guy. He works from his home up in the Heights and is some sort of travelling sales representatinve. He goes to various Latin American countries a lot and has seen lots of varieties of salsa dancing.

The pretty lady, Lisa, is a teacher..at the high school level. And she's also a very good dancer. She dances with Nelson a lot so they've got some classy moves down really well.

We swapped several ideas today at the West Point practice and I got a bit on conversation with him and Lisa which you can hear.....here:

2005-01-23T23:08:00.000-08:00

Here's German at this Sundays' practice class at West Point Apartments. Good crowd today....about 10-12 people and, believe it or not...the class was even-steven guys vs. gals.

Here's German with a nice young lady who sometimes comes to the class. I think her name is Fazita..or maybe it's Fazeeta. I dunno..something like that. But she's very nice, a very stylish dancer. And she has some great outfits that she wears to the clubs (yeah...like....hot!)

Here's another pic of German and Fazita. German is a real sharing kinda guy at these practice sessions. He works with everybody who wants/need help on any kind of pattern. He's one of those types of dancers who is a lot better than he wants to tell you and part of the reason is very possibly because he's always working with other dancers trying to help them and sharing what he knows.

A couple of the other dancers at West Point today. Recognize that guy (the one with the nose). His name is Mike. If I remember correctly, he's Canadian. I first met him at Club 112 Rueda last year along with his girlfriend, MiMi or Lisa or something....from Mexico City....who happens to have a job in CanCun as a dancer now. They're still going together. I've been seeing Mike out at the clubs a lot lately.

German helping a dancer couple with a pattern.

German says, "It's like this!"

Are you a 'purpose driven' salsero/salsera?

2005-01-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, obviously I don't know. That's your business. But I do know that I'm still reading that book, "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren and it's chocked full of good ideas and nuggets of wisdom.

I'm in Chapter 21 right now, 'Protecting Your Church'. Here, he's talking about how Christians balence the forces of individualisn with the need for unity within the church and here I see a parrallel with real life.

He says that any organization, family...(or dance team) has both an ideal model and a real example. Some people are pure idealists and some people are pure realists. Here's what he says about the relationship between the two that I thought was interesting:

"Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is evidence of immaturity. On the other hand, settling for the real without striving for the ideal is complacency. Maturity is living with the tension."

I thought that was pretty good. Dancing is like that isn't it...i.e. what we'd like to be doing vs. what we actually do? There's always what we try to do on the floor and somebody who thinks we're great (dancers) and then there's always those nights when we don't do as well as we know we could have and somebody who thinks we're not (so great). But we live with it and keep truckin'

It's a great book.

The real Amy Cortez....salsera at heart.

2005-01-22T21:54:00.000-08:00

This is Amy Cortez. Now......you know who she is, right? Nice picture too.

Thanks, Amy!

One of my favorite vallenato clips

2005-01-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

Go to this URL for "Valle Sounds" and look in the upper left corner.

See the 'play' button?

Click it. This is one of the prettiest vallenato clips I've ever heard.

Some people, when you mention vallenato they say, "Oh, that's country music!" as if there's something negative about that.

Well, maybe it is. I say, 'Who cares'...if it's pretty and makes your feet shuffle or you hips move?'

I don't know who this group is..'Los Romanceros'. They must be somebody special in Colombia. They've really got a nice sound. Matter of fact, they sorta remind me of that Austin, Texas vallenato group 'Cerrunata' (I might be a little off on the spelling).

I wish wish wish they would play vallenato in the clubs. I'm totally, absolutely certain it would be a hit.

Colombia is really a beautiful country. I know one thing.....if I would have known then what I know now about Latin America, I wouldn't have majored in Far Eastern studies (at Thunderbird) in graduate school when I came back from Vietnam in 72. I'd major in Latin American studies.

Second week for El Chibcha salsa/rueda...good.

2005-01-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

We had our second week of the 'free lessons' at El Chibcha Superclub and Restaurant. El Chibcha is located at 9275 Richmond, Houston, Tx....you can almost see it from Tropicana. El Chibcha is probably one of the most underutilized salsa resources in Houston, The floor is excellent....in fact they have two of'em.

Wilson Cortez is the lead instructor. Wilson had everybody doing....something. I don't know what it was but they seemed to be having a good time based on what I heard over my shoulder. On the left there you can see Brandy, a real classy salsera who you'll also often see at Tropicana. During the day, she's a copywriter and packaging designer. Smart gal. On the right you'll notice a lady in red. She's Russian and a student and/or friend of Wilsons'. I danced with her and, as I'd expect from a Russian, she's very precise in her dance composure.

Wilson had everybody busy. Here's Brandy and some other people dancing.

More dancing.....there's Wilson on the left, Brandy again, and the Russian lady.

Here's a couple of the students pullin' some high "G's" in a turn.

This is Cristina and Phil dancning at El Chibcha Thursday night. They aren't going together or anything...Cristina was there helping me (and she was of immense assistence!) and Phil is an old SSQQ buddy of mine whom I hadn't seen in over a year but was there tonight just by coincidence. Phil's a good dancer. I told him about our rueda plans and he said he's coming back next week.

P.S. I still like El Chibcha although lately it seems that Williams, the manager, has a 'so-what' attitude about the music volume. Frankly, that really pisses me off because I look at it as an abuse of my rights but...it doesn't seem to be something that keeps most people from dancing. Personally, I won't stay long if the music is too loud. It might be that it's not so bad over on the 'back' floor. I'll check it out next week.

A wild table at Rumba Club

2005-01-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

At Rumba Club last night, here we see (right to left) Maribelise (excuse if I spelled it wrong), Rey Rogriguez, me, Lauren (Reys' sweet little dance partner) and Maribelises' brother (I forget his name..sorry!). They were sitting at a table, cuttin' up and having a good ol' time!

What's been going on with Joey and Denise?

2005-01-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

Joey and Denise still dancing and working hard!

Just about everybody knows (by sight if not by name), Joey and Denise. They've been around for awhile and for the last year or so have danced with Edgars' Guaguanco Dance Company. Prior to that, Joey danced with Cosalda.

Denise is the pretty salsera who some of you might have seen dancing at various clubs to promote Bacardi products. Both of them have competed and placed very high in many of our local and regional competitions and have their sights set on furthering their skill and accomplishments.

I saw them last night at Rumba Club and took that chance to find out what's going on with them lately. Listen here:

Joey and Denise are one of the cutest couples in our community. I always love to see them kiss...yeah, really. I wonder when they're getting married?

Amy talks to Rey Rodriguez at Rumba Club

2005-01-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

Outside Rumba Club (cause the music was so friggin' loud!)Amy, our new journalistic associate, talked to Rey Rodrigues about what's going on lately with him and his team. Amy had fun and Rey always has something valuable and interesting to say.

Here it here:

Welcome to the new WanderingSalsera..Amy!

2005-01-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

One of my coolest salsera friends is Amy (sorry I don't remember her last name...honest!). Amy and Maria and Rebecca and Muriel are those three foxy chics that you see hanging out togethr at Rumba Club all the time.

You'll be seeing more of her here on the blog...and the web site soon...(I hope she sends me a good 'solo' picture soon!)

Amy leads a busy regular life but I fequently see her at Rumba Club where I not only enjoy dancing with her but also enjoy talking to her. Dancing is fun, sure..but talking to people is part of the social environment that is sometimes overlooked (expecially if the music is too loud to talk, right?).

Amy saw my post about 'looking for for associate journalists' and said she'd like to be part of the 'opinions, observations, commentary...', etc. here on Wandering Salsero. Obviously, because this site is about 'us' and not 'me', I'm glad to confer upon her the rights and title of "Official Wandering Salsera" :-) Amy has some great ideas to expand the scope of Wandering Salsero. I try to provide some variety but you will see even more from Amy.

Welcome Amy!

p.s. Hurry and send me your email address so I can send you the invitation to get you onto the blog as a 'contributor', OK?

Here's a picture of Amy and Maria back from the early Rumba Club days. Amy, the new Wandering Salsera is on the left. Maria (AKA "Peaches"....to me) is on the right.

Happy Birthday Johanna!

2005-01-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

Johanna had a birthday last night and was gracious enough to share some delicious birthday cake with anybody who was hungry at Rumba Club last night. Thanks very much, Johanna! Sorry it didn't occur to me to take a special birthday picture of/for you.

Johanna has a position of unique prominence in our community for the simple reason that she is equally powerful both in the lead and following salsa dance role. I don't think she does much teaching of guys but I suspect that she's been a tremendous help to all her lady friends who get bits and peices of her advice and experience.

P.S. This is a picture I have from (I think) the Club 112 rueda days where Johanna was always a big help.

Ruby unveils(partially)...the Texas Salsa Congress

2005-01-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ruby Rivera, Director of Rumba Y Bongo Dance Company (lower, left)...seen at Rumba Club Friday night, where she shared with me some of the things she's been thinking about and working on lately...especially the upcoming Texas Salsa Congress.

Sounds to me like it's going to be a real Texas style mega-event. Listen to Ruby here:

By the way, if you ever have the chance...see that guy in the back? I think his name is Darnell. He's got some really cool hip-hop moves.

Looking for journalistic partners

2005-01-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm looking for two types of journalistic partners:

First of all, I've decided that I need to get re-focused on my original concept that the 'wandering salsero' does get around....not just to clubs but to other interesting places too.

What got me interested in writing in the first place was when I read that people can and do make good money travelling the world and writing about their travels, adventures and exploits. I've always liked to travel so I thought, 'What could be a better job than getting paid to travel?'

Knowing that I can salsa dance in most major cities of the US and world makes it even easier to envision a day of touring the city sights and nights of touring the cities' salsa spots....and getting paid to document what a great time I had.

That's why I bought that course Passport To Romance...The Ulitmate Travel Writers' Course. I've read through most of it although I have to admit I haven't done my homework assignments ;-)

But that's OK because I'm still getting practice...here.

So....I'm presently thinking that I need to start going other places, not exactly salsa places, and writing about them. I think it would be nice to have a 'sassy salsera' along with me.

I don't know exactly how it would work out but it does seem to me that for any salsera out there who likes the idea of getting 'out and around', writing about it, and documenting it with pictures....with the purpose of getting experience in the art of writing itself...this might be a fun thing.

The idea wouldn't be to right away be as good as Earnest Hemingway or Marlin Perkins (the guy from that old Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom TV show). It would be to just get 'into' the activity and find our orientation/talents/skill.

That's enough on that point....

The second area I'm thinking about is that I anticipate making some stylistic changes and content additions to the 'WanderingSalsero' soon and it will mean that I'll have what I think will be a good opportunity for other salseros and salseras to contribute their content to 'the WanderingSalsero'.

I've recently realized that there's no way that me or any other one person is going to be able to be totally omniscient about 'salsa news' so I don't even want to claim that I am. Nevertheless I can claim to be observant about what I do see and where I do go.

So I'm thinking it would be nice to invite, and feature, contributions from other salseros and salseras who feel they have a journalistic contribution to make. 'WanderingSalsero' isn't necessarily just about me..Art Williams...and having other contributors would increase the coverage, accuracy and objectivity of The WanderingSalsero as well as be fun for the writers themselves.

In some ways it might be a very good thing for them (i.e. those potential contributors) because they wouldn't have any committment or responsibility other than just giving me the content.

So...think about it. And if you might like to start writing down some of your thoughts and/or observations about salsa, or anything salsa related...I'll probably be more than happy to 'publish' you. It could be lots of fun for you.

Anybody up for a Sunday trip to Austin rueda?

2005-01-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

I had such a good time last Sunday when I attended the rueda classes in Austin that I'd like to got back sometime soon. Anybody want to accompany me? We can split the gas and the companionship will make the trip itself more enjoyable.

This would be a good chance for somebody who's curious about what the 'rueda thing' is all about to find out. Sandra Sleeper Moro, the teacher up there, is very good and she's got a group of already very accomplished casineros and casineras that'll be able to illustrate to you how much fun rueda is.

We can leave around 10:30am and we'd get back to Houston around 8:30PM

Salsa...part of a purpose driven life?

2005-01-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a book right now called "The Purpose Driven Life". It's by a fellow named Rick Warren and it's published by Zondervan .

It happens to be oriented around a Christian theme and whether or not you profess to be Christian I still would highly recommend the book.

Most people know that there's a certain amount of earthly wisdom in just about any of the worlds' great religions and I'd have to say there's a lot of good thoughts in this book. Just this morning I was reading Chapter 19, Cultivating Community, and I thought there was a lot of stuff in there that's applicable to anybody in a position of leadership or prominence in any type of community...even a salsa community.

The book is various places around town. The retail is 20$ but I got mine about 3 months ago for 13$ at Walmart.

I'd recommend the book. If you haven't read anything lately for the 'inner you'....get it and read at least some of it.

A friendly sample of KPFT international music programming.

2005-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

As I was cruising around last Friday (I think it was) I noticed that apparently KPFT has some good programming featuring genres of music from other parts of the world...again. They used to be real big on that, then they changed, then they stopped.

I've always been a big fan of Brazillian and Afro-pop music. Remember some of that stuff Paul Simon did several years back...Rhythm of the Saints and then later Graceland? They were great!

These clips here that I caught from my radio and got into my Audio Generator system show a prettiness that I'll bet most of you will find surprising.

Follow up on our first class at El Chibcha

2005-01-16T23:53:00.000-08:00

It was OK. Crowd was about 10 people. I talked to a few of them later and most of them felt they enjoyed the class. One had a constructive comment of something to change. Wilson and I are pressing forward.

Here's more detail:

One way to get big (i.e. in the salsa business)

2005-01-16T23:36:00.000-08:00

I don't claim to be the ultimate authority on the salsa, either the performance or business side, but I do know something about business in general and I do recall the stories, very similar, told by two leaders of multimillion dollar companies....A.L. Williams (now know as Primerica) and Success Motivation Institute (in Waco, Texas).

The leaders/previous leaders of both of those companies say that they didn't really begin to grow their companies until they learned how to delegate not only authority but also responsibility....with the realization that even though things might not get done as efficiently as they used to do them, only by delegating could they ever get to the point where the business had real, self sustaining momentum.

I was wondering if that could apply to the salsa business. One thing I do see....SSQQ is the only operation in town that has middle level management (to a degree). Not that 'stars' can't make money too (as long as they have good agents) but I know that for me, my career objective is still to get into some situation where I can 'leave' a business and still make money from it. I know I could never do that if I had to personally dance or teach to earn every dollar I make.

Another class over at West Point Apartments?

2005-01-16T23:27:00.000-08:00

Somebody told me that Edgar, from Guaguanco Dance Company is going to have his own classes over there in the same room that German does now on Sundays. Edgars' classes are going to be on Saturdays.

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

Blog and website ideas

2005-01-16T23:21:00.000-08:00

You've heard the computer software term 'open source', right?

Well, that's the way I like to be.....just an open source kinda guy. Here's some thoughts I've had lately about some blog/website ideas.

Making money on salsa related websites..why not?

2005-01-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

There isn't any 'not'. I think we ought to be able to.

Rueda in Austin......(Excellent Sunday excursion)

2005-01-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

The trip to Austin today (Sunday) was well worth it. Both informative and inspiring.

'Informative' because (1) I (sorta) learned a couple of new patterns(paseo and ....something), (2) I had a chance to review and polish one I already knew (besito) and (3) I had a chance to discover where my weak point was on another one (setenta complicado).

'Inspiring' because I had a chance to witness firsthand what this remarkable lady, Sanda, has done with rueda in Austin. She's really got it cookin'!

As I've mentioned on other recent posts, I saw something on an email to the effect that Sandra was giving free salsa lessons on Sunday in Austin. Even though I didn't know who she was, for some reason I got the idea that shooting up there some Sunday for a little investigative tour and mini-getaway might be a good idea so I sent her an email and/or called her and left a message.

She called me back, we had a nice telephone chat and I discerned that she indeed was doing something interesting over there in Austin. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, or how, but I thought it would be fun to investigate further....especially because, somewhere in our conversation, the magic word 'rueda' came up.

I drove up there Sunday morning, attended her two hours of classes, stayed for a little bit of social dancing then drove back. I don't enjoy driving as much as I used to but this particular trip wasn't too arduous. I think it took me slightly less than 3 hours to do it.

I took some pictures although not as many as I would have liked. Seems like my camera has almost exhausted it's first set of batteries. But I did get some pics.

I made a few recordings on the way up there, a couple while I was there (including one with Sandra), and one on the way back. The recording I did with Sandra might be cut off prematurely toward the end....I think my cell phone lost it's connection but....you'll still get the idea.

Sandra is sharp. Very knowledgable about rueda and committed to promoting it to the greatest extent possible. Near as I could tell, she's very popular with all her students. I could tell that she's taught them a lot because I saw them dancing together, informally, and it was very very good.

Believe it or not, I actually danced with one of her beginners who told me that the only way she knew how to dance was casino style. That's sorta funny isn't it? She didn't really dance bad at all. She just was unsure of her non-casino style skills because all of her skill thus far has been utilized within a casino and rueda format.

Point is, that's an excellent illustration of what I've always said, and Sanda stresses in this recording I made.....that casino style lends itself to both couple and group dancing. I don't think that point is adquately clear to most people. If it was, more people would be interested in casino style.

When I was watching them dance everything they were doing, I could tell, was casino style even when they were just dancing in individual couples.....and it looked just fantastic.

So it looks to me like Sandra has been successful in proving that the casino style is viable with real people here in Texas. I think we here in Houston ought to keep our eye on Sandra and what she's doing there in Austin. We've got more than enough talent to do it here too.

She's taught them not only a LOT of cool patterns but also the style to go with it.

Recording heading up there:

KPFT on the way up there:

Recording of the practice session Sandras' group had (you should have seen it!)

Great recording I did with Sandra. She's very clear on her mission.

My summary of the trip.

Sandras' got a website....here. And...her rates for doing a workshop here are reasonable. Anybody interested?

P.S. I will say this.....between Melody and Chibcha, we've got two excellent facilities for teaching rueda here in Houston. More people just need to show some interest. (Leaders lead from the front.)

I'll try to put the pictures here:

I finally get to Austin! Actually the trip went pretty fast. Beautiful day.

It was a nice day to travel. The road (Highway 290) is pretty good. When I got to Giddings, I immediately noticed a differnece in the local greeneray...i.e. seemed like there were more evergreens and the terrain was hillier. Traffic was going about65-70+ most of the way.

Ruta Maya Cafe is a pretty neat place. Here's several of the class attendees standing around before we started.

We actually did dance!

Another pic of their team practice...sorta dark-ish but...still nice.

Me and Sandra.

In appreciation to Tropicana management

2005-01-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

Luckily there were still a lot of salsa dancers in town last night (Saturday) who weren't in New Orleans and were at Tropicana....so I had some ladies to dance with. I even got some pictures (which I'll put up when I get back from Austin later this evening).

But.....I want to mention a gratifying experience at Tropicana.

For whatever reason, the music volume got really loud shortly after Germans' lessons were over. In fact, a couple people even mentioned it to me.

At first, I figured I wouldn't say anything to 'managment' because the guy who I know best, the manager, Albert, just happens to be on vacation in Uraguay right now. That's where he's from (I'll bet he's having a wonderful time).

So.....time wore on.....the music was still loud. Finally I figured it wouldn't hurt to mention it the the other management fellow who I do know at least by his face.

I asked him if I could make a 'comment' and his immediate response was, 'You mean about the music...yeah, we're getting it turned down.'

I thought to myself, 'Wow....way to go guys!'

So I just want to thank them for being so responsive to us...the customers. Not that I'm president of anything.......just maybe more vocal. Anyway I've always thought that they were very professional in their management style over there at Tropicana and I think this is a good exammple of it. I appreciate them being so sensitive to input from us, the customers.

Anybody wanto to wander up to Austin with me Sunday?

2005-01-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

I'm going to drive up to Austin tomorrow to check out the salsa casino style class that this gal Sandra teaches up there. It's casino style, OK? Two classes....$7, plus some social dancing after that. Then I'll be driving back to Houston.

Gimme a call(281 236 2852) if you want to go. I talked to her on the phone. She sounds nice...she has taught with Eddy before (she says) and see sounds like she knows what she's doing.

The lessons are going to be in the Ruta Maya Coffee House which just happens to be the place where I had my first rueda lesson.

News that isn't....really new.

2005-01-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Remember the Huntly Brinkley Report? Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were two of the original big network TV news anchomen....very successful for a long time.

I found a qoute by David Brinkley:

"The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were."

I guess that's sorta what salsa is about sometimes. It's possible to make even the basic stuff look good if you do it with style. I know I need to work on that more.

Note: I found this info on a....uhhhh.....a blog.

Consider the teaching experience.

2005-01-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

I've got some thoughts on that subject that I'll put down later but for now.....consider what it's like to 'teach' salsa. There might be more to it than you (or whoever) would initially suspect...and it might not be as easy as some of our teachers make it look.

Ask yourself...could you do it?

3 Bands.....3 sounds.

2005-01-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

Short post here.

I'm remembering that last night as I was talking to Lucio, the new trombone player with Salmerum, he mentioned that he used to play with Batacha and I was thinking about how I compare the various bands that we have here in our area.

We've got Salmerum, Batacha, and Mi Rumba, right? Fact is, I have different things I like about each of them and I guess we ought to be proud of the divirstity we have available to us here in Houston-town.

For a 'pure', primarily 'salsa only' group, I suppose Salmerum is the standard. However.....for the more eclectic* sound, I prefer Batacha. I haven't seen Oscar, their leader,for a long time but I assume they're still playing around somewhere.

Whereas Salmerum seems to be cultivating a more 'big band' sound, I get the impression that Batacha is more of a 'small combo' sound....although that's definately not to imply that they don't really 'jam out' when they want to. They do that very well. Their keyboard player is awesome...almost like a salsa-fied Dave Brubeck.

Then there's that band you see everywhere, Mi Rumba.

Frankly I used to be very bored with Mi Rumba for the simple reason that they played what I thought was way to much meringue. That was, however, their intent. The identity they originally were trying to cultivate was that of a meringue, party type band.

To their credit though, in recent months they seem to have swung back toward more salsa numbers in their reportoire and and depth in their instrumentation. I actually think they can play more and better salsa than they do. As to why they don't.....different strokes for different folks I guess.

But....all these band folks are good guys. It's easy to do when you're having the kind of fun that musicians have. And I think we're lucky to have 3 groups, with slightly different characters in our area.

* "ecletic": Selecting, choosing from various sources; not following any one system, as of philosophy, medicine, etc., but selecting and appropriating whatever is considered best in all systems; also, made up of what is selected from diverse sources; also, broad in acceptance of ideas, etc., from other sources.

Followup on first Chibcha class

2005-01-15T11:01:00.000-08:00

The class got started on time.

We had about 10 people in total with a slight overabundance of ladies.

Wilson conducted 99% of the class and I tried to fill in the gaps with some of the beginners who needed a little more 'testing', attention and guidance.

As might have been expected, we had people of varying levels of experience which of course makes it a bit boring for those people who do have more experience. Because of that, next week, I'm going to suggest to Wilson that I take the beginners by myself.

After we'd worked on some basic salsa for awhile, we made an attempt to teach some rueda. While obviously nobody is going to become an accomplished casinero or casinera in just one hour, it did seem that most of the students got the basic idea of how casina style is different from traditional social salsa.

As I expected, we had virtually the whole club to ourselves. William, the owner/manager showed me how to operate the sound system so we had control of that to our liking. I still say they've got a most excellent salsa library over there at Chibcha. I really like it.

Near as I could tell, pretty near everyone enjoyed the class. Sorry, but I neglected to get any pictures. No excuse. Next time I will.

This coming week, we'll still try to start the lessons as close to 8:30pm as possible. Hope to see lots of new faces.

And just so there's no misunderstanding, although our objective is to distill a rueda team from the people who attend these classes, the rueda instruction will be informal and'after' the regular salsa class.....for now.

Saw old friends and meet some new ones Friday night.

2005-01-15T03:02:00.000-08:00

Salsa Eddy, Ms.......uh (Reys' lovely dance partner and friend), Jorge Mercado and Rey Rodriguez at Rumba Club tonight.

After leaving Rumba Club I dropped by to visit my artist friend Ron Gordon at Dakota Lofts...downtown. They have a lobby where they're always an art show. Here's one of the nicer pieces (I thought) that was there tonight. It looks even better in real life.

Here's another piece that was there (in the lobby at Dakota Lofts).

And, last but not least, here's a cute little number that was hanging out in the lobby too :-)

Salmerum continues to enhance their already beautiful sound.

2005-01-15T02:44:00.000-08:00

I went to Rumba Club tonight (Friday) and had a pretty good time. The crowd wasn't as big as usual because apparently a goodly number of the 'regulars' were away at the big salsa event in New Orleans. Nevertheless I had a good time.

While dancing, I noticed that there was a beautiful trombone sound coming from the stage. It was their new trombone player.

Meet Lucio, the new trombone player with Salmerum. He's got a super tone on his instrument and adds a lot of depth to the already fantastic Salmerum sound. I also did an interview which you can hear by clicking on the arrow below.

First night at El Chibcha salsa/rueda was OK

2005-01-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

....more girls than guys. Detials later today.

About music.......KPFT et al.

2005-01-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

As I drive around during the day I'm usually listening to talk radio but lately I've switched over to my favorite music station KPFT a few times. In doing so, I've captured a few sound clips (anything but professionally recorded) from what I was hearing on the station and also some comments that came to mind as I was listening.

In essence, it's just some insignt I thought some of you might like about the 'inside' (technical) part of the music I was hearing and also some examples I thought some of my readers (all 12 of them) might like about the kind of music available on KPFT.

Most of the clips are from one day...last Friday I think it was:

In one of these (I don't know which one, now) I mention Plump....which I thought was the name of the group I was listening to....live from the KPFT studio. They were really good.....the kind of jazzy, folky, R&B, wierd mix that I like. I went to the Plump website tonight and found that it's a recording company and not specifically a group. So....I'm a bit confused about who it was I was listening to. Whoever it was, they were good.

But Plump (here's their site) has a very good website. If you click through the links to their various artists, some of them are especially good. My personal favorite is the one for Shawn Colvin, a female singer. She's got the kind of voice that I call 'sweet'.....sorta like I'd like to listen to with someone special just hanging out somewhere.

Several of their other artists are pretty good too. One, that Fierstein fellow is sorta radical, Vitapups is 'punk', a couple of the others are representative of what's called the 'Texas' genre.

Interesting site though. KPFT is the ONLY station in Houston where you'll hear this kind of variety. Now....if they just had a salsa program.

Crash courses at SSQQ are fun and worthwhile

2005-01-12T23:43:00.000-08:00

Rick Archer, Jill Banta and me last Saturday at the Dips and Lunges crash course at SSQSQ. Very good course. The teachers were Danielly and Steve....sorry I don't know their last names. They put on a very good class though and my understanding is that they're one of the new batch of 'advanced' level salsa instructors over there.

Rick and Jill haven't changed a bit. Rick is still the very active owner and manager of (very successful) SSQQ....where Jill is still one of the favorite teachers. Jill was one of my teachers in my early days when I was getting started at SSQQ. I can still remember her telling me, "No thumbs!!!"

We still see each other once in awhile but not nearly enough because she's a very good dancer. Her specialty is Cha-cha but she also is accomplished (I'm told) in C&W. Last year her and our mutual friend Jim competed in one of the events here in town. There's talk that, with the recent progressive improvements in format over at SSQQ, Jill might soon be teaching some of the advanced students in Salsa.

SSQQ has an excellent website, here, which you should check at least once a month. Their parties can sometimes be very good. sometimes their music leaves a bit to be desired and you will definately find a lot of beginners but there are some more advanced dancers there too and, most importantly, their attitude over there is always, 'Let's have fun.' You'll never have to worrry that you're 'auditioning' (like I sometimes feel at the clubs).

The crash courses, like the one I went to (thanks to the 'heads up' from Genos' blog), are 2 hour mini courses primarily designed to let people get a sample of a particular dance or style. They're priced around 11$...then you can enroll in a longer course if you want.

This particular one that I went to, Dips and Lunges had about 15+ couples in it...which tells me that dips and lunges is(are?) something people want to know more about. I know I did. I've mentioned to Rey and Aaron that I think it would be a good mini-class for them to do too. Time will tell, eh?

The face behind "Salsa News"

2005-01-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

In case you don't know who the genius behind Salsa Houston is......this is the guy.....Mick Chang. Micks' weekly email calendar of events was one of my 'required readings' every week for a long time before I connected it with the face of 'this guy' who I used to see all the time at Tropicana.

You recognize now him too, right?

I don't know how he does it...i.e. keep up with all that data that's available in his salsa news calendar. Clubs, Bands, events, announcments, dates, times, phone numbers, web links...tons of stuff. I recently found out that in his 'other life' he's a math teacher so I guess that implies he's very organized. Maybe that's got something to do with it.

You can subscribe to his weekly calendar of events by going to his website, here. It'll be well worth it. And be sure and say hello to him next time you see him at Tropicana...(if he's not lecturing me on....whatever :-) Always teaching! :-)

And another thing....he's actually much taller than this picture shows. I guess he didn't remember that I'm used to dancing with taller women :-)

Introducing Wilson Cortes

2005-01-12T23:06:00.001-08:00

This is Wilson Cortes....a picture I took when he met me over at Tropicana last week. He's the guys who'll be the 'lead hand' over at our salsa and rueda lessons tomorrow (Thursday) at El Chibcha, at 9275 Richmond.....just a bit west from Tropicana....you can almost see it from Tropicana. Classes will start between 8:30-8:45pm. The intention is that the classes will be basic salsa but Wilson and I will be looking (e.g. auditioning!) dancers for our rueda team that we want to put together too. The rueda classes will be 'in addition to' the salsa classes....before and/or after....and possibly also on other days of the week.

I know that some people will always prefer SkyBar on Thursdays and certainly SkyBar does have it's merits but we think there is room for a Thursday night alternative and that we'll see a reasonable number of dancers at Chibcha too. We're going to try to make it an enjoyable and worthwhile evening for everybody.