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
Say Hey I Love You
This is *such* a fun song -”Say Hey I Love You” by Michael Franti and Spearhead. I’d love to do a full routine to the whole song someday. Anyone interested?
Here’s just the steps – some samba, some cha cha, some jazz, some hip hop, some …?:
And the same with counts:
And with the song (yeah!!):
For those who want to put a face with the voice, this is Michael Franti….
Not bad, eh?
On a totally off topic – I think most tattoos are … well, not a great idea. I don’t know why, but a lot of colored tattoos look strange to me, like they don’t really fit on people’s skin. It looks out of place, like some doodled on them with a marker. The only kind of tattoos I even vaguely like are like these – tribal design in dark ink. Even though I’m still not a fan of tattoos, at least they look like they “fit” on the body.
All righty – back to dancing!
Latin Jazz – Que Tengo Que Hacer
Here’s a little routine that we danced to “Que Tengo Que Hacer” by Daddy Yankee. It’s part samba, part hip hop, part jazz – hopefully lots of fun!
Lyrics, with English translation are here. For once they’re pretty sweet (sometimes Daddy Yankee is pretty raunchy!)
Here it is with the counts:
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!
I Like the Way You Move – OutKast
I’ve always loved this song, and particularly enjoyed putting together this “minimalist hip hop rumba” for latin jazz class. Thank you all for humoring me with this somewhat “off-beat” choreography!
Here’s the steps:
It’s great to have a chance to dance with a real “build” from very small movements into full body expression. Practice using your full range of motion, and start with no arms.
And here it is with the Counts:
And finally, with the Music:
(sorry if I look a little distracted, there were people making faces at me through the window!!)
If you want some amusing inspiration, here’s the original video the musicians put together. Ha!
See you in class,
Anna
Latin Jazz Rumba Routine – Do you only want to dance
Hey Latin Jazz dancers,
Had a great time dancing with you all this past week, and I finally did videos!
Here’s the steps for our latest routine to Mya’s “Do you only want to dance” from the Dirty Dancing Havana soundtrack.
and here it is with the counts:
and here it is with music:
See you in class soon!
Latin Jazz Merengue Routine
Hey Dancers!
What fun – merengue is such a joyful dance, and it’s great to have something we can play with and just have a great time!
Here are the steps to our new merengue routine:
And here they are with the music:
I’m not sure what the name of the song is – I’ll let you know what I get it identified. Till then, enjoy your dancing and see you in class!
Dirty Dancing Havana
Mmm salsa hip hop fusion. My favorite!
So I guess there was some movie remake of Dirty Dancing, but staged in Havana, Cuba. I didn’t see it (I heard it was awful) but I like the music from the soundtrack. This track is by Black Eyed Peas, called “Dirty Dancing”.
Here’s the first part of the routine, just the steps:
Here’s the first part of the routine with the music:
We’ll be doing this routine for a couple weeks, so get comfy!
Know any good subs?
Hiya dancers!
So have you taken a dance class from a particularly awesome local instructor? Did you like their Zumba style? Did you get the best workout of your life? Or did you take a jazz class from someone new and loved their choreography? Please let me know if you really dug someone’s class – I am always looking for more people to contact when I need a sub.
Or if you yourself teach please contact me – I have lots of Zumba classes, Hip hop clases, Bollywood aerobics classes, and latin jazz classes. I would love to have more people to contact in all of these styles for any future calamity.
Feel free to add comments below if you have anyone to recommend, or just email me directly.
Thanks!!
Latin Jazz routine – Silly Samba!
“I wanna walk like you.. talk like you do.. “ I’m really enjoying doing a little samba that’s just fun and a little silly to “I Wanna Be Like You” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Hope you enjoy these steps as much as I do!
Here are the steps slower:
And a little faster with the counts:
See you at Reach Friday mornings at 8:25 am or at Equinox Sundays at 11 am for more of this routine.
