Here's some videos I'm putting up specifically for our dancers at Waegook Cook in Gumi. These are most of the moves that we learned and practiced last week. We'll review them of course this coming week but we want to spend as little time on them as possible in order that we can move forward to other, more exciting patterns to spice up or choreography.
Here you'll see guapea (AKA: guapeando), dile que no, exhibela and enchufla (AKA: enchufe or enchufle). The only one I couldn't find just now was 'para el media' (or maybe it' s 'medio.......I don't remember :-).
Please review these and try to absorb as much of the flavor as you can. A couple of things I'd like you to particularly notice:
1. Notice that they don't bounce up and down......all the 'action' is in the knees and hips.
2. Notice that they don't take big steps but rather only enough of a step to make their hips move and to be able to feel the rhythm.
3. Notice that their knees bend when they're moving their legs. It hard to describe in just words but it is part of that 'latin hip movement' thing that all the teachers talk about. It sometimes seems strange at first and then suddenly.......you feel it and get it!
The new Casino Rueda class has started at Waegook Cook near beautiful, downtown Gumi, S.Korea.
And you're invited!
Yes friends, we had our first class last Tuesday and everybody agreed that it was fun. As usual, it started out a bit 'rough' around the edges but by the time the evening was over we were actually doing some simple rueda.
We introduced the class to these casino rueda patterns:
1. Par el media
2. Llevela abajo
3. Exhibela
4. Caminando
5. Taro
6. Taro y No le segues (note: spelling was not covered :-)
Derrick and Sugi, the owners and active managers of Waegook Cook actually participated in the class too. Plus we had an enthusiastic crowd of about 18 other students.......slightly more girls than guys, but......hopefully that'll improve in the future. The class started about 9:30 pm and finished around 11:30 although the original intention was to finish at 11:00.
Next week we'll start about the same time. First we'll review what we did last week, then it's my intention to add 1-3 more new patterns. I want to include lots of short, quick things which we can learn very easily in this casino rueda style ....e.g. foto, el fly and (one I invented called....) 'Excuse me!'.
You're invited to the fun this coming Tuesday. For more details you can check the Waegook Cook Facebook ..or call me at 010 5822 2277.
Casino Reuda is alive and reasonably well in central S.Korea. In the city of Daegu to be more exact.
Yes, I've been having lots of fun attending the Saturday night Casino Rueda Class at Babalu Salsa Club in the downtown (AKA: "Rodeo") area of Daegu. The classes are run by two young ladies, Susie and Melinda. And just recently our class has been integrated with a similar casino rueda class run by a Korean guy (who names escapes me at the moment).
Point is......it's there. And it's getting better every week.
The classes start at 8 pm and go til 10 pm. and are divided up into sometimes beginner, intermediate and advanced. There has been some talk just last week about getting more sophisticated in our certification of proficiency levels but.....that'll take care of itself.
I think it's safe to say that 99.99% of the moves we're doing would be found on DVD 1 or 2 of Salsa Lovers (I always like to use them as a comparison :-) . I think, now that the classes seem to be growing very rapidly, that we'll have a smaller group delving more deeply into more advanced moves.
I've got a bunch of videos and pictures that I just haven't had time to post here. But I will.
One thing possibly of interest to you...if you're thinking about attending. I think I finally found a reasonably priced jimjilbang in that area. That means that if you're coming from out of town to attend the class, you don't have to worry about an inexpensive, safe and clean place to stay.
There's actually at least 4 jimjilbangs in that area but this all of them, except the one that I noticed right next to the train station and finally tried this weekend, either had noise, comfort or distance issues. The one next to the train station is only 6000 KW, is plenty big, it does have a quieter/darker room for those of us don't want to stay up all night bullshitting (like some Koreans seem to like to do), plus it even has blankets if you want'em.
The rueda classes are 10,000 KW and that price includes a drink at the bar (of the club). Sometimes there's a dance at the club on Saturday nights. And sometimes not. There does seem to be a problem with getting good, English language, information about salsa happenings in Daegu. Even though there are at least 3 clubs (that I've been to so far).
If you're interested in finding about more about the casino rueda classes, they also have a Facebook page.. "Salsa For Foreigners in Daegu". It's open to join.
The only thing I'd like to see improved is that a lot of the people who come to the class don't seem to want to hang out much after the class, even if there's a dance afterwards, and do any casino reuda. Yeah....doesn't make much sense does it? But.....I think that's going to improve as the classes get more fun and as we develop a large advanced group.
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.
Here's the video I did for this coming Saturday's Casino Rueda 101 class. You'll see our group picture after the class also some pictures from the KoreaLatinandSalsa group social we went to at Macondo later that night
We had a great first class. A few people who I was looking forward to seeing didn't turn up but they had circumstances that prevented them from doing so and I eagerly anticipate seeing at least 2 or 3 of them this Saturday. It should be another stellar class.
Regardless, we still had enough people to have a good class. As you can see from this video, we had enough people for 4 couples plus one extra. That's not unusual....i.e. to have some empty slots in the 'circle'.
I especially thought Pat and Natalie did very well and they certainly looked like they were having fun.
So.......... HEY! GUYS!
This is your big chance. Lots of you joined KoreaLatinandSalsa because (you said) you wanted to learn to dance. Soooooooooo.........let's get on the stick. You won't find a more fun way to learn to salsa. Don't let life 'get in the way' like most people do.
Attend the class this Saturday and get in on the ground floor of this thing we're doing. Then, when we start our next class, I can probably get Pillhwan to let you attend this class again for half price and you'll get to be the 'big dog' with all the new casineras!
Plus, of course, you'll move along with our FirstTeam to bigger and better things.
This is probably the last Saturday we'll let new people come into the class. Remember that I said I wanted to build a small, hard-core group up to a reasonable level of proficiency so that we could have a demo group as quickly as possible. It's going to happen. Only question is......are you 'in' or will you miss it?
Remember, lots of people say they'd like to 'perform' but never have the chance. With casino rueda you've got the best of two worlds. You're a performer but you don't have to go through all the regimentation they do. Plus, in my humble opinion, the performances are more fun both to do and to watch.
Every time you do a rueda, it's a 'performance'. Anybody who's seen a group doing rueda remembers it. If you'll take advantage of these classes, you can be one of those people they remember.
We're on our way to getting our FirstTeam off the ground and flying. If you get in by this coming Saturday, you can still be a part of it. We especially need guys so.....girls, if you want to come, please try to bring a guy. Otherwise, expect to either have to dance lead or just have to wait your turn in the circle as we practice.
We still plan on going out dancing somewhere later Saturday evening. If you want somewhere to go and somebody to go out with Saturday night, come out with us.
By the way, there will be a test at the end of this class. Those who pass the test can move on to Casino Rueda 201. Those who do not will have to repeat the 101 class. I expect everybody will pass though.
Sometime in the near future we'll be starting a class designed for total dance beginners....i.e. people who've never done any salsa dancing before. Keep that in mind........not for yourself but for any friends you have who you think would enjoy learning this very social kind of salsa. I'm looking forward to that class because I've got some very specific ideas on what's beneficial for beginners.
So that's it. I hope everybody is well and enjoying sassy, sizzling, Seoul.
Yeah, it's a big deal in my mind! I'm instigating an event to try to get casino rueda kicked off in Seoul in some way that I can fit into.
A friend of mine that I met through my blog, Hyun Pil Hwan (AKA: Pillhwan), has a dance studio and he's a very progressive and open minded guy (and a good dancer too). He's graciously offered to host the workshop, for free, at his studio on Saturday, 4-6 pm, July 25.
His studio is absolutely gorgeous. It's also only about 3 or 4 minutes from the the Yangjae subway station. The only requirement we've set for attending the workshop is that you already know your basic salsa steps. We'll take it from there.
When I say 'we', I'm referring to me, Suki, Neon and Michelle.
Suki referrs to the teacher and ladyfriend of mine who I know from Seattle. She's one of the reuda gals I knew back in the states. She surprised me a few months ago when I discovered that she was coming over here to teach English and, as it turned out, she teaches just a bit 'up the road' from me. She's actually a little closer to Seoul than I am. She's a bit rusty on her rueda but she's got a lot of it in her head and she said she'll participate and help as much as she can.
Neon is a Korean fellow who has a small circle of friends who have been doing rueda on their own for awhile here in Seoul. His group isn't big but he does have a good style and dances regularly.
Michelle is a young lady in the www.korealatinandsalsa.com group with me. She's very open minded and loves kizomba and rueda too. She's helping me review and practice the patterns that I used to know and she'll no doubt be a big assist at the actual workshop.
If we have any success at this workshop at all, I'm hoping we can do it again later.....bigger and better. And eventually get Jorge Elizanda or Nick Van Eyck or Sandra Sleeper or some other 'name brand' instructor over here to teach us.
Here's a letter wherein I've come up with a fairly 'final' list of the patterns I'm going to try to cover. I wanted to find videos of all the patterns but couldn't, or haven't yet. If you see any here that you know where I can find a video of, I'd sure like to have the URL for the video. I'm trying to make it as easy and painless as possible for people to attend the workshop. We've got a lot of good salsa dancers in Seoul but rueda hasn't really taken much of a hold here yet.
I'm still planning on going over to Son Salsa Club Saturday night. I'm going out tonight too but I'm not sure where it'll be. It might be Bonita in Hongdae.
Son, for Saturday night, is in the Gangnam area. You can find a fairly good map of it's location on www.salsainkorea.com. I saw a phone number listed for them too on Salsa-In-Korea but that probably won't do you any good if you don't speak Korean.
To see the map you'll need to look under the section that says 'salsa clubs in South Seoul'. It's there. Don't give up til you find it. You'll need to scroll down a bit.
Basically, the way to get to the club is to take exit #3.... then proceed in that direction for awhile (depending on where you want to make your first turn to the right). At some point you make your first right turn and walk in that direction for what appears to be about one block.
Depending on where you turned right initially, you may need to turn left and make some more southerly progress(if that's the actual direction....I dunno) until you come to the club. It's more-or-less at a corner.
Check the map and be careful.
According to the map and depending specifically on what route you take, there are some landmarks...a Burger King, a Crown Bakery, a GS25 and a By-the-Way. It looks like it ought to be pretty easy to find. Once you get to the club, I can also tell you that it's upstairs on the second floor.
I'll have my phone(010 9122 8095) with me as usual so call me if you think I can help.
Brent had a bout with tonsilitis this week so he's a bit under-the-weather right now and won't be able to be with us. Probably by next week he'll be back into regular form. But I hope I can see some other members of our Meetup group.
Yuri and Iliana as well as Jae and Cathy have picked up on a lot of the practice we've had at our last two events (the ones at Gachi) so we definately are making progress in getting several members more comfortable and familiar with doing rueda.
As soon as we get through these holidays I'm expecting we'll get back into a regular meeting mode at Top (or wherever). I think we'll continue to get new members too so all these things should continue to compound and pretty soon we should start to show some significant and obvious progress. Pretty soon now we should be able to get some videos of our group actually doing rueda.
Let's keep our eye on the prize and keep our feet moving!!
I know it's a little bit late for this info regardig tonight's Meetup event at Gachi Salsa Club in Apjeong but...........in case we have any other events there in the future I thouhgt it might be useful for me to post some directions.
I'll have some pictures and/or videos later but for now I'll just post these directions:
Get to the Apgujeong subway station and take Exit #5.
As you exit you'll have Hyndai Department store across the street on your right.
Walk straight ahead. You'll also notice lots of pretty girls.
The first side-street you'll cross will be Hannarae-gil. You'll also see a Paris Croissant and........more pretty girls.
As you walk along the street you'll pass a McDonalds on your left.
The next side-street you come to and cross will be Songhak-gil. You'll also notice a Hyudai gas station and more pretty girls.
As you proceed along the street you'll notice a blue sign announcing a Catholic church and a street sign for Gyodang-gil. And more pretty girls.
Next you'll come to a couple of streets that come together. The first one is called Pinmaul-gil. You'll also notice a Wooribank. And more pretty girls.
Next you'll cross Haksujong-gil. There's also a business there called 'The Wine House' and, depending on the time of day you might see some.......pretty girls.
Next you'll come to a street called Garosul-gil. Legend has it that that name means 'steet of pretty girls' but I'm not sure how accurate that is. It might have some validity because right before that there's a ladies lingurie shop called 'Vitamin A'.
The next street and corner you come to will be Haengbuk-gil. Right there at the corner there's also a small sign on the buildig that says 'Hyunwoo Design'. Look to your left and you'll see the sign for Gachi Salsa Club....vertical and red with white lettering.
It's a 10 minute, or less, walk.....depending on how much you're distracted by all the pretty girls. Many of them are on break from where they work in Hyudai Department Store in the 'Pretty Girl Department'.
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