Latin Jazz – Bachata inspired “El Triste”
Bachata is one of the the beautiful and very sexy slow dances of the Latin world.
For latin jazz class, we’ve been using the song “El Triste” by Frenesí de Bachata to dance a bachata inspired routine.
Here are the steps:
And here it is with music (and sticky shoes that wouldn’t let me turn!):
Hope you enjoyed this new style of dance, we’ll be moving back into faster tempo next week,
See you soon,
Anna
Move it Up Reggaeton
Here’s some Zumba reggaeton steps, taken from Beto Perez and Tanya Beardsley (and some from me!). Shouts out to Mahin for requesting more reggaeton – good to get it back into the rotation.
The song is “Move it Up” from the Zumba CD, but I think the song is available in other renditions as well. Here are the steps:
And here they are with the music:
Lirirrixa Samba
Shouts out to Kristin, hope you enjoy this at home as well as in class!
Samba steps:
And with the music, “Lirirrixa” by Babado Novo:
Not only is she a good singer, but she’s a very pretty girl….
Favorite New Style
Everyone asks me what my favorite styles of dance is. And I really don’t have an answer (really – I’m not just holding out on you!) I do really like West Coast Swing. And I’m also enjoying Bhangra and Bollywood.
But I’m getting to be a fan of this new styles, Quebradita, that I’m bringing into Zumba class. It is just so much fun! The syncopated rhythms and all the jumping around is pretty crazy – quite a challenge actually.
Here’s the steps slowly:
And here’s with the song “El Ritmo Caliente” from Zumba 22:
Some people say that each style is like a language. I like to think of different dance styles as having a “mood” that goes with them. I guess it’s not surprising that I like lots of “happy” or “joyous” styles of dance (big shocker with my personality). But I really do like the variety of dances for the variety of mood. If I only did Bhangra and Quebradita, I would get bored with all the happy (I know that sounds strange). But it’s one of the reasons I really like Argentine Tango (for it’s moody darkness) or American Waltz (for its wistful feeling). I enjoy all the dances for their particular mood – just one style would get boring.
What’s your favorite style of dance, and why? Comments below!
The Car Song
A Selena tune, “La Carcacha” is from the album Selena Remembered. The lyrics are pretty awesome – they talk about how even though her boyfriend drives a “clunker” she still loves him cause he’s faithful. Awwww – True Luv!
Here are our cumbia steps slowly:
And with the music:
Me Estas Tentando Reggaeton
Here’s a fun little song, “Me Estás Tentando”, by Wisin & Yandel.
Here are the reggaeton steps:
And here it is with some music:
Bailadora Samba
This routine takes some steps from Beto Perez and some from Tanya Beardsley, and some from me – put it all together for a nice fast samba!
Here are the steps slow:
And here with the music:
If you’re looking for an authentic taste of Brazil to keep you warm (and full!) on these cold winter days, you can check out the excellent Brazilian food at Senzala in Sunnyvale. Besides very tasty dishes at totally affordable prices, they have many special music and dance nights with guest artists.
See you in Zumba class!
Agustito Samba Steps
This song still reminds me of trampolining in Tahoe – you can ask for the story in class!
This choreography uses American ballroom style samba, instead of Brazilian samba. Hope you enjoy the chance to work out those hips a little bit!
Here are the steps slowly:
And here they are with the music:
See you in Zumba class!
Don’t Stop Samba Steps
Have you told a friend about Zumba?
In this Holiday season, give the gift that keeps on giving – bring a friend to Zumba class so they can discover how much fun it is to dance and sweat out all their worries!
A couple guest passes to class make a great gift for your friends so they can remember to work out with you – and have a blast!
This super cute Samba track is from the Zumba CD, it’s called Don’t Stop:
And with the music:
Solo American Tango Routine
Sooo… even though the class is “Latin Jazz” I thought it would be fun to branch out a little and do some American style Tango. Usually this is danced with a partner, so we had to get a little creative as far as choreography for a solo.
Here are the steps slowly:
And here they are with the counts:
We had some discussions in class about different kinds of tango music. Everyone things of tango as being just “strong, passionate, or fiery” but it can also be very “sweet, romantic, even sad”. When dancing the steps of a choreography, a great dancer will listen to exactly what the music is saying, and bring that character into the way they move. This is one of the more advanced aspects of ballroom dance competition. The competitors don’t know in advance what song is going to be played, and they need to go out on the floor and dance their routine to whatever music is played. The truly great dancers can change the way they do their steps to match whatever music is played.
If the music is more sweet and romantic, they can dance their routine more “sweetly”:
They can take the same steps and express a more “fiery or passionate” style:
Actually – I think I was too worried about dancing off camera to really get as fiery as I should! But hopefully this will help clarify how it is that ballroom dancers are expressive and musical within a “routine of steps”.
See y’all in class!
