Korea Carruseles

No Casino Rueda 101 Class This Saturday

As I'm sure everybody knows, this weekend is a Korean national holiday.  Therefore there will be no Casino Rueda 101 class. 

Class will resume the following Saturday.......October 10, 2009.  Meanwhile, I hope everybody has a good time, enjoys their time off and perhaps I'll see you out dancing somewhere.

Matter of fact, last weekend I discussed meeting one of our casino rueda ladies, Belinda, at Bahia for Bachata Night this Friday.  If you'd like to come along or meet us there, let me know (010 5822 2277). 

I'll be going somewhere, maybe Gachi, Saturday night too.  Or maybe Caliente if Neon is going to be there.

Through the glass darkly..........?

Do you ever think about the future of dancing?  I mean....we know that art forms change and evolve and mutate, right.  But where will (for example) bachata be 4 years from now.  Particularly the latin dances we're familiar with?

I don't think anybody can tell for sure.  But it's fun to try to see.....through the glass darkly.

I do see a very real potential connection between bachata and kizomba and tango.  I'd really say that kizomba is where the two most intersect.

Point is, I found some very cool video clips tonight and a cool band called OtrosAires (www.otrosaires.com).  How I found it was through a 'friend' request through my Facebook account from a guy named VicTor Kizombafr.

I thought it was probably a fake name at first.  I still think it is but, after following through and clicking around I have a higher appreciation for the artist talent behind the name whether it's fake or not.  

He found me through a mutual Facebook 'friend' we have.....Jose N'dongala.  Jose, you'll remember, is one of my kizomba instructor friends.

Anyway, VicTor apparently has a band called OtrosAires.  They're Argentinians.  I haven't heard much of their music but the two songs I heard sound great.  It's the kind of progressive electronic stuff I like.

I haven't fully explored their site yet but I'll bet there lots more good stuff on it than what I saw.  Looks like it's a 'flash' based site too.  Here's three video I saw:

SSQQ and Jorge Elizando. Two great names.....in studios and bachata

This post isn't immediately relevant to anybody in Korea right now but I think it's nice for Korean dancers to know some of the more important events and people in the US dance scene right now.

Anybody who knows anything about latin dancing in Houston, Texas knows who SSQQ is.  SSQQ ("Slow-Slow-Quick-Quick").  SSQQ has probably introduced and trained more people in the various latin dances (i.e. salsa, bachata, merengue, cha-cha) than any three other studios in Houston.  In fact, that's actually where I first learned to dance.

And anybody who knows anything about bachata very possibly knows who Jorge Elizando is.  In fact, Jorge came to Korea last December and did a two day, 9 hour workshop over at YouCanDance studio in Itaewon that was very well received by over 30 people. 

Jorge is also a personal friend of mine and he's the guy who really opened up my mind to what bachata can be.  He's also the guy who, probably more than any other, has brought bachata 'out of the closet' and made it a joy to thousands of people in the US and Europe.  

No doubt about it.  Two great names in their respective niches of the dance business.  Now, for the first time ever, they're working together to bring two exciting days of bachata master-level training to the good people of Houston, Texas.