"Trophy" dances?

[SDsalsaguy]

So here's a question...what makes a trophy dance (term courtesy of youngsta) a trophy dance?

Is it just the "name" of the person or does their have to be something more to it than that to make it count as a trophy dance? Enquiring minds - well, at least this one - want to know...

[youngsta]

It's mostly the name. The fact that they aren't any old dancer you can have access too. They almost seem untouchable (of course not true). I still haven't had my first yet :lol:

[SDsalsaguy]

Hmm. Well, I've had my second then. :?

[youngsta]

Hmm. Well, I've had my second then. :?
:shock: :headwall: :lol:
I WILL get at least one at the Congress...that's my mission!!

[salsachinita]

Hmm. Well, I've had my second then. :?

:? ......care to share with the rest of us.....?

*enquiring mind want to know :wink: *

[SDsalsaguy]

Joby

[youngsta]

Joby
NOOOOOOO!!! :shock: That's it...I'm hanging out with you from now on SD!! Was she down in San Diego this weekend?

[salsachinita]

:banana: Yay for you!

Is she working with a new partner these days....?

[SDsalsaguy]

Joby
NOOOOOOO!!! :shock: That's it...I'm hanging out with you from now on SD!! Was she down in San Diego this weekend?
Just last night from what I know. I hadn't known anything about it but two peopel mentioned it to me, within 5 minutes of my walking in, that she was going to be coming in later. Had just flown in from NY from what I know. Had two other women from Salsa Brava with her too (and yes, I danced with both of them as well). Not sure what she was in town for but I'd assume it was to work with one of the local teams.

[salsachinita]

:bouncy: MacMoto danced with Angel Ortiz :bouncy: !

Yay for you :banana: !

Tell....!

[squirrel]

:D I have never danced with 'the best of the best'... but I would love to!

For me, a trophy dance can also be dancing with someone you want to prove something to (maybe they offended you in the past, when you didn't really know how to dance and now you improved and wanna show them) or with someone you really wanted to (when I was a beginner, there was this guy in the disco, one of the best here, that I really dreamt of dancing with... and when I did, I was so happy! :D :D :D )

[MacMoto]

:bouncy: MacMoto danced with Angel Ortiz :bouncy: !

Yay for you :banana: !

Tell....!
Well, I danced cha cha cha with Angel, I can't say I did particularly well :oops:, but yes, this --> :bouncy: is how I was after that. My first trophy dance! It was very inspiring -- I've never seen a cha cha danced like that. Lots of playful shine steps instead of regular cha cha cha steps, tons of attitude, very cool. I hope local salseros were also inspired to take up cha cha cha lessons -- to improve my cha cha cha, I need leaders!

For me, a trophy dance can also be dancing with someone you want to prove something to (maybe they offended you in the past, when you didn't really know how to dance and now you improved and wanna show them) or with someone you really wanted to (when I was a beginner, there was this guy in the disco, one of the best here, that I really dreamt of dancing with... and when I did, I was so happy! :D :D :D )
I know what you mean, squirrel. I've had trophy dances of that kind, and they are definitely trophies to me. There's nothing like the sense of triumph and achievement they give you. :D

[salsera_alemana]

:bouncy: MacMoto danced with Angel Ortiz :bouncy: !

Yay for you :banana: !

Tell....!

Oh, me too!!! He (Angel Ortiz) and Addy Rodriguez came to the Netherlands in 1998 to give workshops. We lived there at the time and they also came to dinner to our house. We had a fun evening!

Ever since we we have been meeting Angel at all big salsa events we go to (Congreso in San Juan, Congreso in Stuttgart/Germany last year etc.)

Addy's husband Angel Rodriguez (Mr. Razz'm'Tazz) is in Europe a lot, also. I talked to him last in Ulm/Germany in January.Didn't dance with him, though.

[salsachinita]

Have I mention how lucky I think you guys are, living up north where the salsa traffic seems to be.....?

*me-----> :mrgreen: with envy*

How come most of the traffic never made it down here :roll: .....?

[SDsalsaguy]

How come most of the traffic never made it down here :roll: .....?
Ummm . . . distance?

[salsachinita]

How come most of the traffic never made it down here :roll: .....?
Ummm . . . distance?

Distance = Cost

It's not easy to recover such expenses from a country with a total poplation smaller than the entire NYC :roll: .........

Makes perfect business sense. But hey, we are salsaholics, we are not known to be sensible creatures :lol: :lol: :lol: ....!

[tj]

Is she working with a new partner these days....?

:shock: :shock:

Do tell!!!

[salsachinita]

Is she working with a new partner these days....?

:shock: :shock:

Do tell!!!

I'd like to know, too. Luis & Joby are no longer dancing together. He's going to dance with Melissa from now on, I think.

Salsa Brava will have one last performance at the up & coming LA Congress.

I was wondering if Joby found herself a new partner yet...... :?

[SDsalsaguy]

Is she working with a new partner these days....?

:shock: :shock:

Do tell!!!

I'd like to know, too. Luis & Joby are no longer dancing together. He's going to dance with Melissa from now on, I think.

Salsa Brava will have one last performance at the up & coming LA Congress.

I was wondering if Joby found herself a new partner yet...... :?
I don't have any information on Joby. Luis was teaching with Melissa at Reno (she was a lot of fun to dance with :banana:) and said that, after the LA congress, they'd be moving to Europe. Didn't say where though.

[tj]

Is she working with a new partner these days....?

:shock: :shock:

Do tell!!!

I'd like to know, too. Luis & Joby are no longer dancing together. He's going to dance with Melissa from now on, I think.

Salsa Brava will have one last performance at the up & coming LA Congress.

I was wondering if Joby found herself a new partner yet...... :?
I don't have any information on Joby. Luis was teaching with Melissa at Reno (she was a lot of fun to dance with :banana:) and said that, after the LA congress, they'd be moving to Europe. Didn't say where though.

They were both at the Hawaiian "Salsa in Paradise" Congress in January - so they're separated now?

Jeez!

[salsachinita]

so they're separated now?

:( Yep. They were here in the middle of March, I got it from the "horse's mouth" that it was the last international tour for them.......

Yet another salsa golden couple split....... :cry:

[tj]

Yet another salsa golden couple split....... :cry:

:cry:

They lasted longer than most, it seems.

[dragon3085]

Tim you and I collected quite a few 'trophy dances" in cancun then a few years back. Joby, Diana, Jami I can't think of the rest now. hard to believe that trip was so long ago.

[tj]

Tim you and I collected quite a few 'trophy dances" in cancun then a few years back. Joby, Diana, Jami I can't think of the rest now. hard to believe that trip was so long ago.

April 2002!!!!

Actually, I don't like hunting for "trophy dances". The salsa stars are polite and friendly/approachable and are, of course, amazing dancers, but there's something that's missing when I've had a dance with them.

There's this feeling of "professional courtesy" more than anything else. Maybe it's just me - I am probably more self conscious, and so I'm not at my best.

I hope I'm not ruining it for anyone else! This is just my own feelings about trophy dances...

[dragon3085]

April 2002? I thought it was 2001- guess that night a la bomba did more brain damage then I thought. :twisted: Maybe I'm not getting the concept of the whole trophy dance thing, I thought it was just a dance with someone you wouldn't normally have a chance to dance with? Not something you went hunting for or such.

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

Joby

Josie and now Joby? Lucky Guy!!!!

Joby would be considerated my ultimate trophy dance. Did she smile? Was she smooooth? How did she respond to your lead? How did it feel in general? Was is a slow or fast salsa? Most know more details... :wink:

[tj]

April 2002? I thought it was 2001- guess that night a la bomba did more brain damage then I thought. :twisted:

:D :wink:

Maybe I'm not getting the concept of the whole trophy dance thing, I thought it was just a dance with someone you wouldn't normally have a chance to dance with? Not something you went hunting for or such.

Oh? My take was that it was with a celebrity - thus the "trophy" aspect. I don't think, for example, my going back to Denver in a few weeks and thus, getting a dance with someone you wouldn't normally have a chance to dance with fits my mind's description of a trophy dance.

[SDsalsaguy]

Personally I'd have to say that I agree with tj...

Actually, I don't like hunting for "trophy dances". The salsa stars are polite and friendly/approachable and are, of course, amazing dancers, but there's something that's missing when I've had a dance with them.

There's this feeling of "professional courtesy" more than anything else. Maybe it's just me - I am probably more self conscious, and so I'm not at my best.

I hope I'm not ruining it for anyone else! This is just my own feelings about trophy dances...
I have no real concept of a trophy dance but it was a term youngsta had used before... hence my first post in this thread asking for clarrification. I certainly don't make a huge issue out of it, nor do I really try to "hunt" down such dances. I knew who Joby was and it seemed silly to pass up the oportunity to ask her for a dance.

[salsachinita]

As a follower, I have a different take on this one, I guess.

The 'trophy' dancers are kinda like "Lead-o-metre" for me to test my own following skills :oops: ......! The idea is that they can present me with challenges I wouldn't normally get from the local leads I dance with regularly.

*Having said that, I've been pleasantly surprised at how easy & enjoyable some of these guys are to follow :D .....! It seems, only the 'wannabes' tend to put me through horrendous cyclone cycles to REALLY challenge my skills.......the bigger the name, the more they seemed to just wanna have a simple dance, with happy little me 8) who is like :notworth: ! I often ended up doing moves I had NO idea I could do :shock: .........is this the definition of superior leading :? ? *

[DancePoet]

salsachinita: Although I'm not a huge fan of salsa and I have a very small repretoire of leads, I like how you describe being lead on moves that you didn't know you could do. This would be neat to get to the point where you could lead some one as you share. Likely says something very positive about the follower, too!

I realize this is on a tangent, yet it got me wondering...can a level of skill be attained where this can occur in the smooth dances?

And how creative can can one get with patterns in the smooth dances when they reach the higher levels of dancing? (Maybe this last question would be better for it's own thread on the Ballroom forum.)

[youngsta]

It's not something I try to hunt down. I look at it more as a test of how good I've become. A right of passage if you will.

[squirrel]

As I said before, I have never danced with one of the best-known leaders, but, as salsachinita puts it, it is soooooo easy to follow a very good leader! whenever I get the chance to dance with someone who is good, I notice I can do things incredible to me... triple spins are still quite challenging for me, so whenever I dance with someone who does triples and can follow, I'm extatic!

[Sabor]

i'm not impressed with names.. never have.. i've gone beyong being impressed with how one looks when dancing.. ofcourse i watch if i like it but i dont get seriously impressed.. the 'trophy' to me is how i feel when i dance with her .. if i feel like i've gone to heaven with her.. she is the trophy far as i'm considered and i'll pick her any day .. all day.. over the most famous of the famous :wink: truth :D

[salsachinita]

:notworth: Sabor :notworth: ...............

[SDsalsaguy]

Well said Sabor. Great connection is what I value in my partners. "Name" has nothing to do with it.

[youngsta]

Actually that's why we call it a trophy dance, that's all it is. Any of us that were good at anything when we were kids and have a crapload of trophies for it know what happens to them...they sit in the garage and get covered with dust.

I would never compare a trophy dance to that which I get from the women I really connect with. But still, everyone enjoys sharing the story when they met X celebrity at the airport, ballgame, etc. This is the salsa equivalent. So to all my favorite REAL partners out there, there's no comparison...BUT I STILL WANT A FEW TROPHIES IN THE GARAGE! :lol: :lol: :lol: