Most humbling salsa experience....?

[salsachinita]

Ever had one of those "we are not worthy" moments.....?

I just had mine last night.

There's a musical/dance show in town "Bar at Buena Vista" from Cuba, featuring some of the original members of the Buena Vista/Afro Cuban All Stars project, as well as one of the master dancers of son, Eric Turro.

I've had the pleasure of being a host to the legends.

I was fortunate enough to salsa with Maestro Eric during the week at our regular clubs, and have earn enough praises from the man himself :oops: :notworth: :oops: .

Then the moment happened. We were at an Argentinian function last night, with the guests. One of our local son/traditional band started playing Chan Chan. Carlos Gonzales (bongo player of Buena Vista Social Club, brother of Juan de Marco) got up & played with the band, while Eric took my hand to hit the floor :shock: .

The floor was cleared, crowd was quiet with anticipation. The mood was at a heightened suspense. I was filled with pride & joy, all the while simply could not believe how fortunate I was, to be in such position.

Then I hit the 1 :shock: .

I followed & glided with el maestro, but I saw in his eyes that I should have known better. After a couple of phrases he ever-so-graciously switched back to the 1, so I may follow seamlessly. Then he danced me back to my seat, bowed & kissed my hand, before taking the hand of another (not from my city) who knew son.

The whole thing flowed like a theatre show, I'm sure no one (apart from the immediate few of us) noticed. But I was absolutely disappointed. At myself. I really should know better :cry: .

*El maestro graciously gave me a pep talk wanting to reassure me that just because I didn't know son on2 doesn't make me a bad dancer :oops:*

This was the band we listened to and danced with every week. We know all the songs off by heart. Yet in my city, all of us dance son (traditionally on2) as if we were dancing salsa on1...........apart from a few Native Cubans, no one seems to know better, no one is sure exactly how it really goes.

The few of us who tried, were merely doing what we thought was son on2. :shock: :cry: :oops:

This is a truly humbling experience for me. A real wake-up call.

No matter how much praise you receive, how confident you fell, how good you might be believe yourself to be, etc. etc......

There is always someone who can teach you more. There is always room to learn more.

I've known this all along, but there's knowing, and there is KNOWING :shock: .

We all live in our own little ponds. Just because we are big fish in our pond doesn't mean that the ocean doesn't exist; with bigger fish there, no less!

:notworth: I'm so not worthy :notworth: .

Muchas gracias, el maestro, for giving me such a valuable lesson. I know my learning is greatly limited by the environment I live in, but that shouldn't stop me from knowing better & striving for more.

What's your experience? Anyone cares to share?

[brujo]

Thanks for sharing that.

I think every night that you go out salsa dancing should be humbling. Not in the sense that you are crying in one corner rolled into a fetal position, but realizing something new either from dancing or watching others dance.

[squirrel]

Salsachinita... so far this hasn't happened to me... of course, I cannot really dance on2... :( I tried with a guy from Canada at first and I sucked... then I tried with somebody from Puerto Rico... I could follow but each time he let me go to do my shines I would go back on 1 :oops: :oops:
Yes, there are many things people can teach you... :)

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

No matter how much praise you receive, how confident you fell, how good you might be believe yourself to be, etc. etc......

There is always someone who can teach you more. There is always room to learn more.

...and knowing this makes you progress much faster than the conceited people who think they know everything...

This has happened to me so many times that I realise there is so much more to learn than what I´ve already learnt. Thanks for reminding me Salsachinita. :D I´m glad I´m not the only one who gets these "awakenings".

[etchuck]

oiy... Sometimes you on-2 and on-1 camps have to agree to step on between the 1 and 2. :)

Sorry that the one thing upset what sounded like a wonderful dance experience. At least this wasn't a competition where the world championship of salsa/mambo was up for grabs. Or you had a wardrobe malfunction.

[salsachinita]

Let me clarify something here: in this particular case it was NOT an on1/on2 camp thingie, but rather dancing authentically of a rhythm that is traditionally danced on2 (old son style, NOT NY/ET on2......not sure it's even Power2 :? :oops: ), with the original 30s/40s olde worlde charm.

It's all about authenticity, paying respect/homage to the legends, and honouring the tradition.

I've experienced many treasure dances with Eric el maestro during the week, dancing salsa/rueda/timba, the modern stuff (authentically all on1), that's why this humbling expereince came as such a shock/surprise to me, as by this time, I was getting too confident (cocky :shock: ?) for my own good :oops: :oops: :oops: !

[DanceMentor]

Most humbling?
I once had this salsa that was pure garlic and jalepeno peppers. It tasted great at first and then my mouth was on fire. After that, everything smelled and tasted like garlic for the next 6 hours. :x :shock: :lol:

[salsachinita]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Respect the SALSA 8) !




:P

[starry]

OkaY, here's mine. Last April I ventured to Miami with a my best girlfriend. I have this wonderful pageboy-style wig that I've worn dancing without problems, so while I was at the hotel with my friend getting ready to go to a club to dance, I put on my wig. My friend said "Aren't you afriad if you dance in that wig it will come off?"
"Nah," I replied with absolute confidence, "I"ve worn it before and pin it on so well it never even moves." Well, Star had to later eat those oh-so-confident words. At the club, which was quite classy, and dressed to the nines, I was dancing with a really good dancer, a stranger, of course, and he led me into an underarm turn. As he did so, his watchband caught on the top of my wig. He was not aware it snagged until he attempted to lift his arm up and his partner's flaming red tresses rose skyward as well! Poor man. He quickly lowered his arm to the top of my head and exclaimed, "Oh my God. THAT has never happened to me before!" THinking of my girlfriend's comment at the hotel, I could do nothing but laugh like a hyena as he unraveled his watch from my now crooked hairdo. As soon as the embarassed man was released from my hair, I left the floor in a beeline for the bathroom. In the mirror I saw the wig had settled about two inches higher on my forehead, making me look like I'd gotten a very bad haircut. Needless to say, the man avoided me for the rest of the evening. It was certainly a "hair-raising" experience, and I haven't worn the wig (though I love how it looks on me) since.

[borikensalsero]

:shock: :shock: ... shocking but way funny!!! :roll:

[MadamSamba]

Oh, Starry. That's so funny. I'm glad you survived and thanks to your experience, I know to use extra bobby pins should I ever decide to don a wig!!! :)

[Sabor]

Ever had one of those "we are not worthy" moments.....?

i'm afraid not.. umm should i go get a check-up or something? :lol:

[Pacion]

Unlike you Sabor, not all of us are young enough to know everything :wink: :lol: :kissme:

[Sabor]

Unlike you Sabor, not all of us are young enough to know everything :wink: :lol: :kissme:

LOL.. has nothing to do with knowing everything lollipop..
just simple perception.. and a ravishing state of mind :wink:

[timbafreak]

Oh SC :friend: I have had one of those moments, dancing with a little old man in Cuba, never mind. Just take the experience and learn from it, it will definitely make you a better dancer.

Starry :lol: I don't know what to say! I too have worn a wig to salsa, and ended up backleading, to keep their arms FAR AWAY from my head!

[Pacion]

Unlike you Sabor, not all of us are young enough to know everything :wink: :lol: :kissme:

LOL.. has nothing to do with knowing everything lollipop..
just simple perception.. and a ravishing state of mind :wink:

:shock: Did you just call me lollipop :shock: oh no! Please don't! This means that I "melt in your mouth" and am not of consequence but a lollipop stick afterwards, which then gets discard :( :( :(


:lol:

[Sabor]

http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/spezial/Fool/sla.gif

[Lofland]

Two weeks ago I was having a blast, dancing better than I ever have, when I took too big a back-step and totally smashed the toe of the woman behind me with my heel. These were normal dress shoes with a solid leather heel, and I'm 6'4, 210 lbs. She was hopping around with an awful look on her face. I felt so bad, I apologized profusely. Fortunately she was nice about it. I hope I didn't break her toe. I've only been doing salsa for six months so I still need to work a lot on my floor management skills. It's hard to concentrate on giving my partner a good time while avoiding collisions at the same time.

[squirrel]

:( I am sorry for your experience... this happened to me too... lots of ladies (wearing high heels) step on me... :( this is why I tell my students to avoid using their heels while dancing!

[sweavo]

Big fish, little pond. I'd been dancing on1 for 5 years and on2 for at least 2, and perfectly confident just about anywhere in Britain. When I went to NYC I was less confident, but braved it out. The only comment I got back from a New Yorker was "don't worry, you'll get it!"...

[salsamale]

Ever had one of those "we are not worthy" moments.....?

The 2 times that got me to freeze what I was doing, and just watch in awe, was when watching what can only be described as the rawest of street salsa. The leaders, both times, danced with absolute energy and abandon. The followers were hot, too. The 2nd time, the guy stood next to me afterwards, to cool off, and I felt compelled to say to him, "that was amazing, awesome", and he was so humble, and said, "thanks, I just feel the music". All that, and no attitude. I was not worthy.

Aside from those 2 times, I am always humbled by advanced salseras who kick my butt on the dance floor :).

[samina]

Big fish, little pond. I'd been dancing on1 for 5 years and on2 for at least 2, and perfectly confident just about anywhere in Britain. When I went to NYC I was less confident, but braved it out. The only comment I got back from a New Yorker was "don't worry, you'll get it!"...

oooo... ouch!

:)

[quixotedlm]

Happens plenty to me... Every time I dance with someone who is very musical, my lack of musicality (or rather, my inability to be musical as a second nature and instead, having to be very conscious, and therefore, imperfect) become obvious to me all the time. Still, I get approving smiles which encourages me to keep working on it :)

[BrownSkin818]

One of my moments of humility came when I was dancing with a musician friend of mine. I've got a pretty good ear and am rather anal about timing so I get quite irritated if timing/tempo isn't respected in a song. Well I was dancing with this musician when all of a sudden *something*... some instrument, some section dropped out of the song. If I heard the song again today, I'd recognize exactly what had happened, but at the time (probably a year ago) all I knew was that I could NOT hear the one anymore. I literally felt like I was drowning. I was so frantic and sooooo lost. But my friend just kept on dancing (right on the time that I could no longer hear). My footsteps became hesitant and I eventually stammered out to him that I couldn't hear the one. He looked at me like I was silly, chuckled it off, and kept right on with the same tempo, the same break. Talk about walking a mile in another's shoes :oops:. I've since become less critical of chronic off beaters. It still irritates me a bit to dance with one, but I can certainly empathize now.

[salsamale]

I recently saw a snippet of myself in the background of some video. Valuable, and somewhat humbling - so much room for improvement.

Even more humbling: learning a new dance and beginning all over again.