Korea Carruseles

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:

Sample of Saturday's dance music

Here's some of the music we'll be dancing to on Saturday.  Call me if you need info on how to get to Candela Dance Studio....or anything else.  Art at 010 5822 2277

Life in other music too........don't forget bachata

Hi Friends:

Right now I'm sitting here in a slightly uncomfortable chair in an internet cafe in Itaewon.  The chair.......I don't too much care for but the music I'm listening to on www.batanga.com is very nice.  It's their bachata channel.

I haven't said much about bachata to you because I didn't want to cloud what I think is our initial objective.  But I think I would be remiss in my responsibility to you if I didn't mention an observation that's been reinforced several times to me lately about bachata. 

Bachata is also a very dynamic music in it's own right.  Most people learn bachata after they, at some point, learn salsa.  Or, as we say in English, bachata often plays 'second fiddle' to salsa.  But......Bachata is also a very dynamic music in it's own right.

I've always liked bachata.  I'll never forget the first time I went to a live bachata band concert, back in Houston, Texas where I'm from.  I was striken by the fact that the band played for almost two hours but there was absolutely no salsa......yet it was one of the most enjoyable concerts I've still ever been to and there were lots of people there too who obviously enjoyed bachata as much, if not more, than salsa.

I remember that at first, as I was learning it(and in retrospect) I probably overdid some parts of it.  Particularly the hip bounce part of it.  But I always liked bachata.  I learned bachat originally at the largest social dance studio in Houston, http://www.ssqq.com.  For a successful business model, SSQQ is tops in the dance business.  Other than some run-in's I had with the owner's wife (she's not there any more :-), I still have some good friends there.

Then, my good friend Jorge Elizonda from MacAllen, Texas and the guy who has been doing incredible things with http://www.bachatafusion.com lately.....he introduced me to bachata rueda at the 2005 Casino Rueda Congresso in Miami, Florida.  I remember he told me that he'd seen it there the previous year when it was introduced by the group who actually invented it, Hips On Fire from up in Boston, MA.

Well, he was right.  I did really like it.  Jorge waited a few months and when these guys from Boston (i.e. Hips on Fire) didn't make a commercial move to capitalize on the opportunity that Jorge felt they had, Jorge made his first two instrucional DVDs in rapid succession.  The rest is history.

Since then Jorge has gone on to more and more success with this one, specific new dance genre.  In a manner of speaking, it's still bachata but he has left his distinctive mark on it with lots of new influences, elements and innovation.  That's the reason he very recently changed the name of his style of bachata (and his new site) from 'BachataRueda' to 'Bachata Fusion'. 

Here just a few weeks ago he told me about the new name and new site and one of the things that struck a chord with me especially was the last song in the rotation that automatically plays when you land on the site. 

The song used to be called 'No Me Resigno' for some reason but apparently the real name of the song was 'Chanson d'Amor'.  That's what it says now.  You can click over there right now and listen to it....just click through to get to it.

I have no idea who the song is by although I think I'll eventually find out.  Point is......I think it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.  Salsa is still....special, but to be honest, I woudn't describe most salsa songs as 'beautiful'

That particular song, Chanson d'Amor, doesn't have what I would call a traditional bachata sound....and I think that's one of the reasons I like it and it illustrates the kind of innovation I like to hear in music.

I've noticed that I'm hearing a lot of 'new' sounding bachata songs lately.  Several songs I've heard lately have a much fuller, richer sound.  Chanson d'Amor features an accordian which I really like and I just now heard another song here on Batanga which had an almost orchestral sound and also featured an accordian. 

In case you don't know, 'vallenato' music (an ethnic music from Colombia) features accordian.  To me, it adds a kinda 'Italian' flavor.

Is it something they're doing consciously? 

I don't know.  All I know is that I like it.  I think music needs to be pretty as well as rhythmic (like salsa).  And I think good bachata music fills that void that sometimes you have with a lot of salsa on the market today.

One of the things that I try to do is be open minded to dancing to other kinds of music.  In my opinion most salsa dancers aren't......they aren't open minded about what they dance to.  And the reason they aren't is, I believe, because they're not really very musical.  They're not really hearing the music.  Of course, that really starts with the teachers doesn't it?

Anyway....here in Korea Carruseles and in our newly renamed RuedaFusion Meetup group, we're going to be dancing to some of these other kinds of music. I'm starting to keep my eyes open for sources to acquire unique bachata style music that I can download.

As soon as we 'get down' our salsa style, casino reuda basics, I'm going to show you what I know about bachata rueda.  I've been through several of Jorge's workshops.  I'm certainly not the world's best bachata dancer but, like casino rueda, I know the basics and I think I'll be able to show you what I mean and I think that you'll like it.

Meanwhile, there's now two or three songs on Jorge's rotation (on his site) that have a special sound I think you'll like.  I don't know for a fact that Jorge picked them for that reason but I'd like to think that he did.

And if you'd like to explore the bachata style further I'd suggest you listen to some bachata on www.batanga.com.  I wish I could recommend other sites where you can listen to bachata online but unfortuntely I don't know any.  If you do, let me know. 

Maybe Jorge can give me some tips next time I talk to him.  Matter of fact, maybe sometime in the near future, we can get Jorge online for a live 'meeting' that we'll all be able to plug into.

So.......Don't forget bachata!

Those of you who are coming to Top Salsa Club tonight...I look forward to seeing you there and having lots of fun.

Musical Diversity....

Hi Folks:

I thought ya'll might enjoy listening to this huge sample site of a band from L.A. called Ozomatli.  They're Latino and they play in a broad variety of Latin music styles.  I listened to the first third of it and found several songs that I thought were very nice. 

Click here.

Cubamusic.com.....a great resource

I've always been of the opinion that very few salsa teachers really know very much about the history of salsa or the various varieties of salsa music.  And that's a real shame too because it means that most students just get fed the same ol' kind of music 99% of the time.  And the same kind of dance patterns.

Most salsa teachers are intimidated by the idea of their students developing some musical or dance interests outside of what they're teaching or the music they're pushing.

I'm not saying I know everything there is to know about salsa.  I'll be the first to admit that I don't....but.....I'm always looking to learn more and I enjoy sharing it with others. 

The fact is that there's a whole genre of music, an entire nation of music, that we hear almost nothing from within the U.S. and little more of outside the U.S.  I'm referring to the music of Cuba.

I won't go into what's good about that music or what it consists of but I do recommend that you pop over to http://www.cubamusic.com and listen to the samples of the great music they have over there.  You can get a 45 second sample of anything in their library and it's for sale (by digital download) if you want to buy it.

I bought several songs from them last year but I somehow got lost in the download process.  But just because I had problems doesn't mean that you would and I in fact do intend to buy something else from them again soon.  I think it might have been computer problems that I had before.

Seriously though.......check it out and listen to some of the samples.  And when you hear something you like there you should then do some other research on the web.  Two places I'd recommend are www.wikipedia.com and www.amazon.com . 

What's good about Amazon is that (1) they have samples of most of their albums too and (2) it's my understanding that you can now buy (by download) individual tracks of most of their music....and, it's not restricted to how you can use it (i.e. it's not DRM).

Otherwise I look forward to seeing some of you at our second weekly Korea Carruseles Meetup even this coming Saturday at Top Salsa Club in Apgujeong.  For more info, click here or call me at 010 9122 8095.

I think it  would be really cool if we can enough practice time to learn some reuda so that we can actually do it (i.e. perform) at the concert the first of December when Orquestra Escencia plays there.

Bachata Musicality

Music is art and art is supposed to be a dynamic thing....i.e. it's not supposed to stay the same all the time.  It's supposed to change just like people change.  One of the less than totally desirable things that happens when something becomes popular, just like salsa has been in recent years, is that you start seeing the 'experts' trying to establish 'norms'.

Sometimes that's OK but sometimes it's not.

I'm thinking of how bachata is enjoying a burst in popularity lately.....if you know where to look for it.  I'm frankly surprised that more of the salsa gurus aren't teaching more bachata.  But, there's a whole new crop of bachata instruction stars circulating lately.  Bachata is very popular in Europe right now, as is casino rueda. 

One of the hot, new, bachateros circulating and spreading 'bachata-love' around the world lately is my friend Jorge Elizondo.  Jorge is from McAllen (or is it Brownsville?), Texas.  I'm from Texas too in case you didn't know.  Anyway, Jorge has been  travelling all around the US and Europe lately teaching bachata as well as salsa and some casino rueda.  He has yet to come to Korea but I'm trying to get him over here.  It'll be a real treat for Korean salseros, salseras, and bachateros and bachateras if he is able to come.

But......my point about the music and about 'art' is that it is possible and actually very beautiful and enjoyable to use the bachata style in conjunction with types of music other than traditional bachata.  These two video clips that I snitched from YouTube tonight will show you what I mean.

Notice that they both use non-bachata music.  And also notice the tremendous musicality of the dancing of the single couple clip:

This next one is the one that I especially like:

I did a post about this over on my personal blog, in case you'd care to see it:

click here