Now
folks, to give you a little history of my background, I
was basically born and raised in hick-town, USA,
Colorado. The only dance you danced "together" was to
good ole "twang" comin' from them Guitars, some ole' boy
singin' with a wad in his mouth, whalin' about some ole'
cowboy's dead dog and ugly wife...
I hated that. I never wanted anything to do with
country-western music - much less DANCE to it for
crying out loud. (which is what I would have done,
if forced....)
ANYWAY, I was taken away and just thrilled to death
watching these people dance to this jazzy Spanish-Latin
type music called Salsa! I thought they were SO GOOD!!!
I was just thrilled to be there, and watched for about
an hour, having a great time, by myself.
Then, it happened. Two incredibly beautiful women
strutted in the club dressed to the hilt, with looks to
kill, and attitudes to match. One was an entrancing,
sexy, sleek model-type with a figure any woman would die
for. The other was a dark, gorgeous Latin bombshell-type
with a long black hair and a lioness prowl about her
that every man in the room noticed.
EVERYBODY watched as they entered the room. Then,
walking behind the both of them was this
flat-topped....man, man/boy, boy/man, ..... this Latin
...gentleman, toting a cigarette and strutting in like
he owned the place. He had the "slickest" mannerisms
about him, like someone right out of the Mambo Kings
movie. He looked around the room while he walked, hand
in his jacket, smoking that cigarette, checking out the
place, the women, the wine, waving to the DJ, giving a
little smile, and making sure the two women he came with
found a table and were well taken care of. He helped the
both of them take off their coats, and ordered drinks
for all three of them.
I tried not to stare, but something about them just
sparkled. They had something. I couldn't quite put my
finger on it, but they had something that was confident,
and very rare. They had a "feeling"; an aura about them
that resonated throughout the room. The feeling they
emanated was a connection with the music and the
atmosphere. I KNOW every single person in that room
could feel it that night. They seemed important for some
reason. They seemed they knew ... something. They
belonged there, at that moment in time.
My attention went back to the dancers on the dance
floor. A couple songs went by, and I was disappointed
that the trio that just came in were not dancing yet. It
seemed everyone else was. A terrific fast song came on,
and I noticed the gentleman extend his hand to the
model-type gal as she sat sipping her drink. He took one
last puff of his cigarette, put it out in the ash tray
while holding her tiny hand, and both of them walked
toward the dance floor. She seemed reserved and quiet at
first, looking almost shy. He however, looked at her,
then turned into a lion, ready for action. The music was
reaching the beginning stages of its climax when they
finally started dancing...
My heart began to race. I could not believe what I was
seeing. The pair had transformed this beautiful sound
into human movement, rythm, flair, style, grace, and
absolute passion! I didn't even want to blink my eyes
for fear of missing something! During the song, his
hands ran through her hair softly, then he touched her
face, grabbed her waist, thrusted her body and her head
lashed back.... it was phenominal. My mouth was wide
open, my head forward, and my palms sweating. Every beat
of the music was struck by a flash of a hand, an arm, a
fast hip action.... every peak in the rythm was powered
by a spin... then two... then three... then four... then
a pause, then what looked like a cross between a
Fred-Estaire / Ginger Rogers Waltz and a fast
Break-Dance - I was in shock! The woman had so much
style, jazz, and sex appeal. It was an absolute thrill
watching her. I had never before seen something so fiery
beautiful and at the same time partnered so
technically perfect on every beat. The entire crowd
cleared the dance floor as they danced. Everyone made a
circle around them, and just watched with just as much
amazement as myself.
When the song was over, the entire room cheered,
whistled, and clapped. I just stood there, paralyzed,
not understanding, nor realizing what had just
happened. I remember putting my hand over my mouth and
distinctly whispering to myself, "Oh my God."
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Folks, you
have to understand something. I never saw my
mom and dad dance together - ever. I never
grew up with dance. The closest exposure to
formal or couple dancing for me was watching
the Nutcracker on TV every Christmas, or
catching a glimpse the country-westerners at
the local pool hall in town while driving
by. I never really had an interest, nor had
any time to go out. I started my "night
school" degree program almost immediately. I
had been doing nothing but going to school,
working, going to school, and working....
for the past ten years! I got my degree at
night, and basically had zero social life,
nor life of my own. I was so busy working,
that ten years had gone by before I even
knew it. I had no idea "Salsa music" even
existed. I had no idea people even danced to
this music, much less moved their bodies in
this fashion.....while holding hands....
together ! |
A couple songs went by,
and I couldn't understand why they weren't dancing
again! I was getting rather upset, when suddenly, it
happened again. This time he asked the sexy bombshell
Latina gal to dance. I was totally ready for anything at
this point. When they started to move, I took a deep
breath, looked at them both dancing, shook my head, and
whispered to myself, "I can't believe what I'm seeing.".
The presence the woman
projected was incredible. She was dancing, what I was
needing. She was living what I was missing. She danced
with a passion that I had never seen before. I lived the
entire past ten years of my boring life through her at
that single moment in time. The guy led her into a spin,
then another, then..... SHE JUST KEPT SPINNING!! Three,
four, five, .... six, seven.... EIGHT TIMES!!! I almost
fell off my chair. It was the most amazing performance
I'd ever seen. Then, before I knew it, the guy
disappeared for about 5 seconds WHILE THE GAL WAS STILL
SPINNING. I was completely confused for a split second,
thinking, "Now that was real rude of that guy to just
leave that poor woman spinning by herself like that...."
Little did I know that he had suddenly appeared with the
first gal, and all three of them were on the dance floor
!
Then, before I knew it, he grabbed both of their right
hands, one with each of HIS hands, and started spinning
and dancing with the both of them simultaneously ! He
led the first girl around the second girl, while he
danced and held the first girl's hand with his right
hand, and the second girl was being spun by his left
hand! It was as if he was only dancing with one girl,
but both of his hands had each girl and was dancing and
doing entirely different moves with each one AT THE SAME
TIME - and keeping to the rythm!!. (talk about
confusing... try writing about it! )
I thought to myself, "This is the ultimate. I can die
tomorrow, because NOW, I have seen EVERYTHING." "OK God,
you can take me now. I have now lived a full life...."
That night, was when I saw
Salsa
Brava's Luis,
Joby Vazquez and Janette Valenzuela for the first time.
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That night
changed my life forever. That night, I
decided to change ME. I realized I had been
missing "life" ... a "life" that others
enjoyed, a life that somehow, I missed. I
was missing a world, a mysterious
underground world of this so-called "Salsa"
music and dance that seemed so familiar,
from a distant past, from a place that I had
been to, but cannot recall to this day. I
needed the rythm, I needed the passion, I
needed my life back again.
I needed to
finally
START
LIVING MY LIFE.
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I started going to that
club every week. Unfortunately, the trio never showed up
again. I was hoping they would, and was kicking myself
for being too terrified to ask them their names and
befriending them. I finally got the courage to dance a
song later on that evening, but I couldn't figure out
how my feet were supposed to go. I was basically a
"Disaster on the dance floor". A "Catastrophe" waiting
to happen - I just knew it. I had no confidence, no
rythm, no style, no nothing - just a love for the music,
and a passion to learn. I didn't know what the
difference was between Cumbia, Merengue, Cha, Cha, or
Salsa. I thought it was all the same - it all sounded
alike to me. I was just thrilled to be in someone's
arms, actually coordinating and trying to negotiate
steps !
I didn't know the guy was supposed to lead. I thought we
traded-off or something. It wasn't until a kind
gentelman in his 50's told me to close my eyes, and just
"feel" the music through his body and motions. He held
me close, and started to slowly guide me through the
steps, like my father used to do when I was about 4
years old. I used to stand on top of my father's big
feet, pretending to dance with him.
He could lead me anywhere !
That night, the older gentleman and I only danced one
song, but I'll never forget that kind man. And I will
always thank him for being so patient with me, and
showing me the basics of "following the man". I hope he
reads this some day. If you do, "Thank you."
I was starting to go out 2-3 nights a week. Then this
jumped to about 4-5 nights per week. I knew I needed
some sort of instruction, but was too shy, and thought I
was "basically good enough". I was a real tight-wad at
the time and I didn't want to spend the money on
lessons. I soon began to notice one thing however. VERY
FEW of the guys were asking me to dance anymore. In
fact, I had to start ASKING THEM! When I started getting
turned down right and left, and started spending the
entire evening in my chair, I knew there was a problem.
I still didn't get it. I HATED IT WHEN THEY TURNED ME
DOWN AND SAID "Uh, maybe next time..." or "Uh, I'm
really tired..." or "Well, I don't really like this
song..." and then a couple seconds later, I'd see them
dancing with someone else! This really pissed me
off. But I knew I still didn't understand the
rythm, nor the basic step. Guys HATED dancing with me.
I'll never forget one guy telling me "Uh, you dance
very.....uh....interesting." (thank you JOE - you
know who you are!)
One day, I went to the Grand avenue, and I saw the
"cool" guy that was at the Cantina my first
night out. My heart skipped a beat, and I stopped
everything to watch him dance. He danced with every
woman in the place - but me. I was basically hiding. He
made every woman in that place look like a professional
dancer. I befriended a woman who knew him. She had
the nerve to introduce me to him - without
me knowing about it. She called him over to our
table and yelled, "Edie, this is Luis. Luis, meet Edie.
Luis, Edie wants to dance with you."
I could have
killed her. I DID NOT want to dance with him. I
DID NOT want to meet him. I was afraid. AND TO THIS DAY,
I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. He just intimidated the hell out of
me. I was absolutely terrified of this man.
Within seconds, he
asked me to dance. I almost passed out. I almost said
no. I almost fell off my chair. I was looking for the
door - any door. I just KNOW my face
turned sheet white, because I broke out into a COLD
SWEAT and swallowed nothing but dry saliva. I gave him
that "deer in headlights" look, as he extended his hand
to me. I opened my mouth and nothing came out. I tried
again, and finally blurted, "Uh, I'm not a very good
dancer." He looked at me with a smile, and said, "Don't
worry about it, I'll go easy on you." I didn't believe
him. Reluctantly, I took his hand, and he led me to the
dance floor.
I started getting light-headed. The song came on, and he
started the basic step. He then stopped, and started it
over again. Then, once again. He then said "Relax,
relax..." I just knew he felt me shaking like a leaf. I
was trying to swallow, but I couldn't. My mouth was too
dry. I finally looked down and closed my eyes, realizing
that EVERYBODY was watching us. GREAT. This is just what
I need, ABSOLUTE HUMILIATION, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT ON THE
DANCE FLOOR, IN FRONT OF EVERYONE, WITH THE BEST
DANCER ON THE PLANET AND WHOA,
TERRIBLE ME. I stumbled through the song with him and
frankly, could not wait until the song was over. "I blew
it." I thought. "He will NEVER ask me again."He will
cease to acknowledge my existence."
He will
tell all his friends that I suck and to
stay the hell away", I thought.
Amazingly, just the
opposite happened. He led me by the hand off the dance
floor, kissed me on the cheek, thanked me, then said
"I'm an instructor. I give classes. I will help you
become a great dancer."
I just looked at him, gave him a blank look, and blurted
out "OK." We then made arrangements for a class and I
started taking privates first with him, then with both
he and his wife Joby. I just loved it. They were both so
friendly, and down-to-earth. They didn't sport snobbish
attitudes, or come across as "holier than thou". They
became my friends, and eventually my family. I gave it
my all. I treasured every lesson. I practiced when I got
home, I would dance with the dog, I would dance with a
broom, I would do the basic in the shower, I would
practice the right and left turn in grocery lines - I
DIDN'T CARE! I just wanted to learn so bad !!!
I dedicated myself to learning solid with them for two
months. I took privates and group classes with them
every week, until I felt confident enough to go out
again. Guys that had previously danced with me were
noticing how much "better" I was, and were no longer
"unwilling" to dance with me. FINALLY I could enjoy the
rythm of Salsa, and not be afraid to dance to it!
Because of Luis' willingness to teach me, and his
patience and understanding of what I was going through,
I am forever grateful. Thank you Luis. Thank you for
your compassion and patience. You will never know.
Luis and Joby Vazquez are incredible instructors -
probably the best husband and wife team in the country,
if not the World. If you would like to get in touch with
them, they will treat you like Solid Gold. I would not
be where I am today if it weren't for them. They can be
reached for classess and private instruction at
salsabrava@salsaweb.com
I used to have a
terrible allergy, asthma, and weight problem prior to my
Salsa discovery. These ailments have been DOCUMENTED by
all my physicians. I prayed to God for a cure for years.
He showed me this dance and music, and I'M NOT KIDDING,
within one month of my Salsa discovery, the asthma and
allergies affecting my body completely disappeared. And
because I was so happy (finally), I started rapidly
losing weight. I went from a a size 14 to a size 3 over
a period of two years... I HIGHLY recommend Salsa
Dancing as a prescription drug /vaccination for any type
of bodily or mental ailment...
Edie, The Salsa FREAK
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