My name is Ares. I recently established a group here in the Philippines which used to be called Manila Salsa group. However I realized that there is an existing professional group of salseros with the name Salsa Manila. Therefore, we change it to Havana-Manila Salsa group. We are not professional dancers but I must say we share one thing in common - that is, our passion towards Salsa as a music and as a dance. Perhaps it is because of its close connection to Habanera, Danzon and Pandanggo... dances which became popular among the Filipinos during the hispanic period, and also Cha-cha which in the 50's revived our awareness of our hispanic link and ancestry. In fact, we developed our own Cha-cha steps different from how it is danced in Cuba and America. I call it Filipino cha-cha.
Now-a-days, many Filipinos can dance cha-cha but do not have the opportunity to do so. Anglo-American influences brushed aside our traditions - both indigenous and hispanic. The coming of "salsa" revived this passion for our cha-cha and hispanic dances, via the US media. There were many Filipinos who wanted to learn to dance salsa but couldn't because they could not afford to pay a dance instructor. In fact, I had a hard time getting a dance instructor here to teach me salsa. I had to rely on other sources like the internet and vcd to learn to dance. It was fortunate that I had a friend who danced salsa and accompanied me to a nearby club salsa to practice it. Because of this, I established a group that is willing to practice and improve our dancing of salsa. Also, since I established the group last year, we have conducted free salsa lessons for beginners.
I hope I meet other Filipino salseros here in this forum. Perhaps, we can share more about how we can contribute in enriching our own culture as part of a larger hispanic culture.
Now-a-days, many Filipinos can dance cha-cha but do not have the opportunity to do so. Anglo-American influences brushed aside our traditions - both indigenous and hispanic. The coming of "salsa" revived this passion for our cha-cha and hispanic dances, via the US media. There were many Filipinos who wanted to learn to dance salsa but couldn't because they could not afford to pay a dance instructor. In fact, I had a hard time getting a dance instructor here to teach me salsa. I had to rely on other sources like the internet and vcd to learn to dance. It was fortunate that I had a friend who danced salsa and accompanied me to a nearby club salsa to practice it. Because of this, I established a group that is willing to practice and improve our dancing of salsa. Also, since I established the group last year, we have conducted free salsa lessons for beginners.
I hope I meet other Filipino salseros here in this forum. Perhaps, we can share more about how we can contribute in enriching our own culture as part of a larger hispanic culture.
