I didn’t want to send u a message to bore you with my story but the whole thing is that I adore you very much. I watch your performances all day long at work everyday! LOL

I like to pick things up from you and try them myself. I am a very fast learner.

I just watch and do it myself and just add a little of my style to it.my dream is to one day own my own studio and teach and travel and perform for a living. I am trying my hardest to accomplish it and I know with my potential and my drive that I will be where I want to be .i know it takes a lot of hard work and patience and I am so willing to do it all…I really hope to see you at the Orlando salsa congress I will be there this year. I would really like to meet you and just at least say hi 🙂 well I hope you have a wonderful day and week..cuidate mucho

Hi Edie

You did it Edie, BRAVO!!! You really inspire the world of salsa with your courage and beautiful dancing….

I saw one of your DVD’s—it was super.

Thanks

Dear Edie!

Thank you for your wonderful letter and words you devoted to us.
It is very nice to hear that the festival was great and that you had a great time.

We have heard very many good words from people who attended the festival.
They liked your workshops; they liked you, your friendliness, and your kindness.

Best regards,

Hi Edie,

I just wanted to tell you that I’m having a wonderful time learning from
your syllabus 101-106 DVDs and your DVD with Salsafix. It has really helped my lead
a lot.

Last Saturday at a salsa club, I had three people come up to me
wanting me to teach them those flashy moves (Mummy, Wheel Barrel, Surprise
Dip, Titanic, etc.) that I learned from you. Thanks. I just ordered your Men’s
Styling DVD with Jazzy.

There are no better partners on the dance floor than those who have learned from Edie. She turns regular men into partners who pull the best from me. I can recognize them on the dance floor by their moves and the way they treat me. They are gentleman. She has made them into the strong men they always had buried inside of them the same way she turned me into the beautiful woman that was buried deep inside of me

Hi Edie,
It was great dancing with you here in Austin, TX 2 weeks ago. I was so honored to meet and dance with you. Thank you so much for your kind words, They have inspired me to work even harder on becoming the best dancer that I can be.

I just wanted to take a little time to let you know that the more time I spent with you and the more I witnessed you in action, the more it struck me that your unique qualities and utter fearlessness is what separates you from others. You are willing to do more, take risks, and be unconventional. I saw myself overcoming my own fear and benefiting from your experiences. I’ve decided that I’ve got nothing to lose. You have engraved in me the ability to embrace chaos and change, and the mental alchemy you can affect by thinking of any adversity as an opportunity for power.n – Kelvin

Because Edie Is my homie, I am always available for her and her team. If you need anything just ask! Team be amazing leaders! You have a woman [Edie] that truly makes gold with whom ever she teaches.

Good Morning:  I wanted to share a conversation I had with my husband after my lesson with you yesterday.  He asked how my class went and here’s what I answered:  “I go there feeling like I can’t do anything, and leave feeling that I am actually able to do so much!”  YOU are responsible for this, and you are so much more than a dance instructor.  Thank you for being in my life, instilling confidence in me when I can’t myself, and having faith in my capabilities when I doubt.  Enjoy the cruise!
Sincerel

Thank you Edie always for your inspiration and positive eneergy. You have always been a driving force in my life, whenever I have desperately needed it.

Edie, somehow the Universe has always brought you to me and you have propagated huge and wonderful changes in my life. I will be forever grateful to you for that . Thank you so uch from the bottom of my soul. And sincere, “Thank you” isn’t enough.

Amy Tuarez “Lady of Salsa”

Hi Edie,
It was great dancing with you here in Austin, TX 2 weeks ago. I was so honored to meet and dance with you. Thank you so much for your kind words, They have inspired me to work even harder on becoming the best dancer that I can be.

Edie, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you as a salsa instructor, and more importantly, a person who is changing my life. I never could have imagined that someone could have made me realize things about myself, and about life itself more than you have in the short time that I have taken Salsa lessons from you.

You are a truly amazing person {women} I cannot thank you enough for giving me a new outlook on life. And embarrassing to say,[ My balls back ]. I have been divorced for over 2 years and have been unable to be truly happy, let alone knowing about what women were about or want. You have given me hope, and my life back. I was wondering if I would ever find myself again. You have made that possible with your amazing way with people.

Thank you so much for being more than just a Salsa instructor.
My life is truly changing
A very happy, and one day very good Salsa dancer.

Hey Edie!

With the way that things have been so busy (and productively fun!), I haven’t really had a chance to say thank you for everything. Thank you for the Men’s Styling DVD, thank you for the free refresher w/ the spins workshop, but most importantly, thank you for contributing your time and support with our personal growth in Salsa. Considering how you’re one of the most sought-after salsa instructors in the world, I already feel like I won the lottery by living in the same city where you have monthly workshops, but I’m super appreciative for the way that my Salsa has skyrocketed because of your presence. I was surprised when you decided to give everyone a taste of the partner stealing at the end of yesterday’s workshop, I think it’s pretty amazing how people are noticing what we’re doing. The very BEST part is that all of this is taking place just because we’re having fun doing something that we really enjoy, and none of this would have happened if it weren’t for you. A guy can’t ask for much more than that!

I had a great time the workshop yesterday, and I’m glad that I was able to contribute and make it a success! Look forward to talking with you soon. 🙂

Thanks

HI EDIE. MY REAL FRIEND , THE SALSA QUEEN, MY IDOL!!, I CAN ONLY SEE YOU IN YOUTUBE.COM AND IN THE DVDS YOU SENT ME BACK IN 2000. YOU KNOW SOMETHING EDIE? I HAVE TRIED MY HARDEST TO FIND A DIED HARD SALSA DANCE PARTNER LIKE YOU HERE IN MY COUNTRY AND I HAVE NOT FOUND IT. THEY ARE JUST FEVER 4 SEVERAL DAYS AND THAT’S IT. I HAVE NOT BLOOD IN MY VEINS , I GOT SALSA!! AND MY DREAMS IS TO FIND A PARTNER WITH THE SAME INTENSITY, TALENT AND PASSION LIKE YOU. THE CLOSEST I WAS TO PERFORMANCE WITH YOU WAS BACK IN 2000 ITALY SALSA CONGRESS ….. I HAVE SO MUCH TO THANKS YOU EDIE, I STILL USE YOUR DVDS TO SHOW MY STUDENTS HOW A LADY MUST TO DANCE . I FELT EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE DANCING SOCIAL WITH YOU. YOU ARE THE GREATEST GIFT WHICH GOD HAVE BLESSED THE SALSA WORLD.

Hi Edie,

Edie Teaches MORE THAN JUST MOVES.She Always Throws “Life”
in there as well!

I do love this. Just a few lines….. : I bet my T-shirt you don’t remember me at all, and that’s normal but let me say two words. I met you first time in LA, 2001 I arrived from France and you came to fetch me at LAX airport, you revealed me you’ve just got married with Al, I took a personal salsa bootcamp with you. Then we met again in France a few months later while you were teaching a “salsa lifts” workshop in Paris (at that time I got surprised by your “Matrix Move”)! For some reasons I stopped dancing salsa, but went on dancing Swing & ballroom; I had to come back to Reunion Island (where I am from) and only one day in 2009 I happen to watching a couple of You tube clips of yours that throwing “life” again in my salsa life… your musicality dancing on Salsa Pantera, your partnership with Peter Fige, your partnership with Nery Garcia dancing on a Willi Colon song… incredibly, those clips have given a second life to me for coming back dancing salsa. Since I saw those clips (thank to you, for your posts on Utube) I emphasize my musicality dancing first, giving less importance on stressful fancy moves, difficult to remind on the dance floor.  Here’s your “never-aware” job you have done on me Edie!

The Musicality workshop was a blast! Had couple of things I thought I’d share…

First off, I really enjoyed watching you dance with Jim right before the two of you had demo’d the hijack – for some reason, watching you guys dance made it really sink in that a guy’s looks matter much less than we oftentimes think, as a strong presence and feeling the music makes women react in a much stronger way. That probably wasn’t even the intention that you two had when you danced for us, but it was something that I was able to take with me. 🙂

Second, I loved…loved loved LOVED…the end of the workshop where we practiced stealing partners! There’s no way we could have learned that and NOT gone out that night. Mark, Dmitry and and I hit the D-Note that night, and I kid you not – we spent the ENTIRE night stealing each other’s partners. I was about to say “you wouldn’t believe”, but I’m sure you know – how these women just lit up while we were taking over back and forth. We even pulled the turnstile interference (at which I was cracking up, just because we were able to pull it off)! I also saw Jim, and we pulled off the dip switch w/out a hitch (hey, that rhymed…). I actually had a gal come up in between a conversation that Mark and I were having – “Excuse me, I hate to interrupt your conversation…but would you dance with me?” Of course, we were the only guys doing this, as I almost never see partner stealing at the D-Note, and it’s always instructors when they do it.

Mark and I also ran into each other at the Turnverein on Wednesday, where we practiced partner stealing a little more. I actually got feedback a woman, with whom I really enjoy dancing – she said that she’s been stolen before, and by someone who she considers to be one of the top dancers she knows – but he wasn’t even close to being as smooth as Mark and I were! **Fist bump** You get more props here, Edie. I can’t tell you how much fun we had doing this.

Anyhoo! I’d like to purchase a copy of the men’s styling DVD, so if you could send me the discounted invoice, I’d love to pick it up! Let me know if you need any additional info from me.

Thanks for doing what you do, as you’re definitely making my salsa game go through the roof.
…. Also – while I don’t have an amazing story like I did from the bootcamp, I did have another interesting something take place, for which you deserve props. Remember the section of the class where we learned to brush her hair from her face / fix the spaghetti strap / etc? Well, I went and pulled the “hairbrush” technique at La Rumba that night…twice…with completely favorable results! Super cool move; I liked it right away when you first demo’d it in class.

Now – before I tell you the rest of the story, I have to preface it by saying that I do not go dancing with the intention of meeting women. It’s certainly a nice perk to meet new people, but out of the 5 or 6 years I’ve been salsa dancing, I’ve only asked someone out once (and I knew her from high school). However…this particular weekend at La Rumba, I happened to meet someone new (one of the gals on whom I tested said hairbrush technique), and we happened to have noticeably strong rapport, so we decided to get together shortly thereafter. Well, the next get-together we had also went well, so I ended up pulling the same hairbrush move, with a slight modification. I pulled her in for an embrace with my right arm, brushed her hair with my left hand, and instead of just a chin nudge, I used my knuckle to raise her chin up slightly so that I could kiss her. She recognized the technique, but didn’t see the last part coming – and I must say, it was pretty slick. Hehehe…

I’m not the kind of guy to kiss and tell, but you deserve props for that one. Thanks for the awesomeness that you share with us in your workshops. 😉

Let me know about the workshop DVD! Talk to you soon.

Edie,

I felt myself nodding to your response to Question 27 about Players🙂 I never really told myself out loud what they did to cover-up their infidelities (lie after lie and are good at it), but rather, could just “tell” by their behavior; Behavior that I should have categorized ages ago! Your response about players is one of the best on the internet because it is extremely precise that I was surprised that you were a woman! Most of the advice is usually given by men, so I applaud you for having your column! You’re like an answer to my prayers, thank you so much!!!! Take care.

I met only two very beautiful Latin ladies in my life and guess what you are one of them. 

Dear and wonderful Edie;   Over the years you have given so much to people. Tens of thousands ofpeople have benifited from your teaching, dancing, and caring for them. I am lucky to be one of them. Every time they think of you, they are sending you a valentine of thanks and love. You are one of the “good” people in this world. So take a couple of minutes and realize what a blessing you are to this planet.I love you and am looking forward to seeing in a couple of months

Hi Edie, Thanks for your visit to  Kansas City and conducting the Bootcamp.  I really enjoyed it and it was outstanding learning experience.  I have gone through numerous salsa workshops/classes during my one year of dancing span and I found your approach unique and most beneficial, specially your repetition technique to bring all students on same page.  As a result, I remember every thing you taught in the workshop and I can perform them confidently.

I viewed all six DVDs I bought after Bootcamp and they make much more sense after taking the Bootcamp and I found them very comprehensive.  I’m going to recommend your DVDs to all my friends in Detroit . Thanks again and look forward to see you at Miami Congress.

Edie,

I saw you at Steven’s last night. I briefly introduced myself to you in between one of your many impressive dances in the big room! I know you meet many people during your travels, so if you vaguely remember,
I just basically wanted to introduce myself and meet you in person and to let you know, once again, that you’ve been a major inspiration in my very short and relatively new salsa adventure. I’ve read many of your posts in the stories section of your website and have learned so much from them.
May God continue to bless you in many ways.
By the way, I love the energy you exude. Your dance technique is superb, however the aura and energy you exude is better yet! Take care!

Hey Edie,

Couple more stories for you that you might get a smile out of.

The Pizza Story

I went to get pizza after dancing one night. I had to wait 15 minutes for my pizza. So went in the alley behind the shop where no one could see me and practiced my Bachata (invisible partner) plus any salsa moves I was (and still am) trying to improve. I have done this every week for the past 6 months. Hey, beats waiting around, and I need the practice. So I’ve been REALLY exaggerating the hip movement (circle to the left, circle back to the right) so that it becomes more natural when I am not thinking about it.

Then out comes the pizza dude to give me my pizza. I said, “How did you know I was here?” Straight faced, the guy says “powers of the surveillance video camera.”

ALL this time the whole shop must have been CRACKING up laughing at me.

Oh well. I’m still going to dance. Now that I have an audience, I will pay extra attention to my movements so I have more motivation. What else can I do while waiting?

Last week

I went to this LA style club (I dance Cuban so I do not usually go there) and I saw this tall beautiful girl standing by the side having a drink. I figure “what have I got to lose?” (My attitude when asking new girls to dance.) and asked. She said yes, so we started grooving away. She said she learned to dance in South America and asked where I learned. I said with a massive smile, “I am still learning!”

So we’re dancing away and a guy friend of mine comes and playfully bumps me as usual. He is an AWESOME dancer. He has danced 16 years or so but in different styles to me. So I smile and laugh.

So then I do this tricky flirty funny move (enchufa variation)

We keep dancing and the music changes so we change the style. Anyway, here am I thinking how lucky I am to be dancing with this beautiful girl whom I have not met. My friend comes up again and playfully bumps me. He says that I “better be careful” and looks at my partner.

The girl then says ‘you know my brother’. THEN IT HITS. THAT IS my friend’s sister.

I felt like I had swallowed my WHOLE foot. Immediately I felt like I was dancing with this girl in front of her father sitting and watching with a loaded shotgun. I was like “I’ve got to keep my distance” all respectable-like because I did not want to disrespect my friend.

I know he is a cool guy and all and probably would understand guys are just dancing with his sister but man, I did not want to cause discomfort or anything. That is my story of the night for sure.

• My friend is short and stocky. His ‘little sister’ is 6 feet tall with long dark hair; skinny but curvy, and has olive skin.. So now I know why he did not introduce me. 

2 steps back, 3 forward

I write this for me as much as anyone. All of us have been frustrated at some point. We have been judging ourselves harshly and unfairly. Most of the time we cannot see the forest from the trees. I think the key is for us to all remember and ask ourselves in our down time:

If you were to dance with you now and then you 6 months ago, how much better would it be now!

There are MANY times we NEED to go backwards to improve our dancing. Sometimes bad habits creep in and really need EXTRA attention to be smoothed out. During that time, you may be frustrated as you are focusing on something requiring improving and feel that you are not progressing. NOTHING could be further from the truth.

Imagine your favorite shirt. Beautiful. Looks good. Feels good. EVERYONE loves it. So you just want to put it on and race out the door. Not so fast, fashionista. How much better would that shirt look if you ironed it first? Now, you do not have to. You can still go out looking and feeling good. BUT imagine how much better you would look and feel with this perfectly prepared and ironed shirt. Wow! Plus, the process of preparing the shirt. Ironing it. Getting to know it intimately and making it your own through hard work makes wearing the shirt SUCH A BETTER AND DEEPER experience! It’s the same with your dancing. It is a process of wearing, preparing, wearing, preparing and so on. Everyone can choose how far he or she wants to go in the process. I hope that my passion for dancing and life continues so that I continue to iron out each wrinkle over time in my dancing so that my dancing will be as wrinkle free and as clean pressed as possible!

 * everything should be done in moderation though. Remember the key is YOUR enjoyment!

 Finally, a few key points for us all about frustration:

• Frustration is PART of the salsa learning experience. A good part.
• Frustration is merely awareness of areas to improve
• Frustration is merely bad habits leaving your dancing
• Frustration is ignorance being washed away
• Frustration is merely fire to light your journey to improvement.
• Frustration is impetus and a catalyst to change/improvement
• Frustration is an invitation and crossroads to leave your comfort zone and increase your enjoyment of life!

• Another thing about dancing that I love is that most of the principles apply to your non dancing life too!

Dancing is the celebration of life! – You never know if a bus will hit you!

If there was one way I would describe dancing, it is that dancing is truly the celebration of life. Dancing, a magic ritual of energy, danced before our time, during our time and way beyond out time. Dancing though is a way of communicating with our ancestors and predecessors which transcends limitations of time and proximity.

Appreciate this. Appreciate the moment and your dancing will always be the best it can be.

Yesterday was my new birthday. The 25th May 2007. I am one day old. The night before, I went out dancing as per usual. As usual, it was unusual. Every night is different, but all are fantastic!

I awoke that morning, looking forward to riding to work and sharing my stories with everyone on Salsa forums. I thank you all for the help in my ‘improving my lead’ thread as your words and encouragement truly helped and I had many compliments about my VASTLY improved lead. The best compliment of all was that a beginning lady who does not dance much and is not asked much, I imagine because she is a bit bigger, danced EVERY step I knew. Even way beyond what she had been taught herself. What started as me thinking I was doing her a favor in a sense by getting her on the dance floor, turned into her doing me a favor by dancing with me, as she was a SUPERB follower. Her improvement is astounding and inspiring. Best of all, she has the best fashion sense ever. Every week she wears THE LARGEST SMILE ever!

The night was electric and full of so much energy that on some big beats whilst I was in guapea, I found myself crouching to the floor and playing the rhythm on the wood and then springing back up keeping in time.

It was such a brilliant night that I sent this email to my head instructor before I left for work:

Dear Danza Loca,

Last night I had the BEST night ever. Just FANTASTIC. I danced salsa all night, and even did a meringue. You probably know that already and have known about that for a long time. However, I and many of your students, are quite new to dancing, thus it is an AMAZING discovery for us!

I just thought I would take the time to give a MASSIVE thanks to you and your wonderfully assembled team of brilliant instructors. You have successfully managed to assemble some WONDERFUL individuals whose synergy creates a tremendously positive and welcoming environment! Each of you is a positive character in your own right, with individual flourishes which add flavor to everyone’s experience.

I truly believe that dancing is the celebration of life! Some of the other students and I were chatting about our great experiences and wonderful times dancing last night and it inspired me to write this thank you email as you and your team cannot get enough credit for the wonderful job that you do!

Thanks again for letting me, and many others, appreciate life a little bit more. I look forward to many more great classes and experiences with you and your team.

Sincerely

Edie,

Little did I know that may have very well been MY LAST COMMUNICATION WITH ANYONE WHILST I WAS ALIVE. Seriously, that thought chills me.

As I rode to work on my bike, I was cycling straight along a road, close to the gutter. I do this about 30 metres before the bike path begins. All of a sudden, BOOM! I found myself waking up on the pavement some 5 metres away from the road and what was once my bicycle. I got up and was thinking ‘what happened’ and stumbled around. Then the pain hit me. I felt like collapsing but I didn’t as I was completely out of it and could not remember how to collapse.

A bus driver pulled over and came up to me looking worse than me I imagine. Saying sorry and asking me if I was all right. I said “I do not know, I cannot move my arm.” about 3 times. Long story short, I ended up in the hospital with a suspected broken arm. I was planning my one-armed leading salsa classes at that stage 🙂

Otherwise I was fine. I was VERY LUCKY. I was thrown from the impact and my bike was destroyed, not me. The impact was so great that, my clip in pedals on my shoes which lock your feet into the pedals, were broken off. Literally the pedals broke off with the force I was thrown back with. As I sat there in the hospital (I had to stay for a while to be monitored because I had a concussion) and waited for my x-rays. I could not help but think ‘WOW, last night (dancing) was so fantastic! If I had to have a last night, dancing is a great way to do it! As comical as it sounds, it makes sense. LIVE LIFE. Don’t wait or hold back. You NEVER know. The girl you want to dance with, ASK! The class you are thinking of doing, GO!

The x-ray was positive and no broken bones. It was a miracle, as the Doctor’s said, but I am home now. Bruised up, with my arm in a sling (pulled muscle apparently) some cuts, etc. MOST IMPORTANTLY, I am ALIVE!

I’m hoping to go dancing soon; if for nothing else, than to watch.

Remember the saying; life is NOT a dress rehearsal…

thank you

Dear Edie,
I came across your website while doing searches on “salsa”.  I am so impressed with your background, talent and also your warmth and kindheartedness which comes through your published responses to letters.  Most importantly, I find that it is no coincidence that I came across your website, because I am a Christian with concerns about how to be a dancer in a predominantly secular world, especially that of salsa, where there is so much temptation.I took my first salsa class on September 25th, only two weeks ago.  Since then I attended another class and have been to three salsa dance clubs: the Whittier Radisson, the Granada in Alhambra and Steven’s Steakhouse. What incredible dancers I saw at Steven’s!  Wow. I am hooked on salsa!  I love the music!