Latin Jazz goes traditional
Hey dancers!
So we’ve been going all over the board with bolero, rumba, hip hop, salsa, and all kinds of latin jazz.
I thought I would take us back to a more traditional style cha cha to work on some basic technique and styling – so here with go:
explanation of the steps:
and with counts:
and with music:
It’s always good to go back to traditional style – but not necessarily in clothes. The costumes they used to use for cha cha… hm…. let’s say it’s good that some things evolve.
Looking forward to seeing you soon in class!
Rio Soul Dance Shoes & New Zumba Cha Cha
Hey Zumba dancers!
By the way, if you have not yet gotten some dance shoes, you can check out these totally awesome colorful pairs from Rio Soul. They are very light and comfortable – almost like a slipper or sock. They do not provide a lot of support or cushion, so if your feet need arch support you will have to add an insole. But the colors are so much fun – and they’re made in Brazil near my husband’s family’s home!
And on a completely different topic – If you want to combine your leg squats with some cha cha, here you go:
and with music:
Please note that Cha Cha dancing is from Cuba / the Caribbean / New York and not from Brazil. The two topics on this post are only related by what I’m wearing on my feet in the video.
GFit Around the World Class Performance
Every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 pm, I have a class at Google called “Around the World”. I’ve long loved world dance, and I really enjoy this excuse to practice, learn, and choreograph lots of new dance styles. When it came to GoogleMela showtime, this class voted on which of the many dance styles they wanted to perform. The two that came out on top – cha cha and tango. We ended up doing cha cha (as it’s a little more performance friendly). We then had to pick from the four cha cha’s that we’ve learned this year. After much deliberation (actually just one class worth’s of dancing and voting), we ended up with this piece. It was originally supposed to be both guys and girls… I dunno why the guys didn’t have time to come to practice. But the class is open to guys! I swear! Please come!
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The song, “In These Shoes” by Kirsty MacColl has great lyrics. In fact the whole album, “Tropical Brainstorm” is great. Pretty rare that a whole album is good.
The ladies partner up for cha cha time – by the way, we do not do partner dancing in class. The class is meant to be fun and really good cardio workout.
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Shouts out to Karina, our costume lead, who shopped around for these great skirts. You know you’re a dancer when you dance around in the dressing room to see how the skirt will flow. =)
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A big thank you to our photographer, Rebecca Dowell Mashhadian, who knows when the crosssover break is coming. It helps to have a photographer who used to be a professional dance instructor!
We worked a lot on getting into character for this piece. I think Lei got there for this photo.
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The only problem with interns is that they go away. We miss you Kristin!
Most fun Cha Cha
So DLG has a cute track called, “DLG’s Got a Hook on Me”, it’s pretty catchy and fun to dance to as well.
By the way, this is off an album called “Afro Cubano volume 19″. It’s one of these compilations made specifically for ballroom dancers by a company called Casa Musica. It can be hard to find in stores, but shop around and see if you find it anywhere.
The rest of the album is quite nice, you’ll recognize a lot of sambas and cha chas that I use in class. If you buy the whole album though, it will have Paso Doble and Jive on it – perhaps not as useful? =)
Here’s the cha cha steps:
And here’s a little bit of the dance with the song:
See you in ZUMBA class!
Stanford Dance Weekend Videos
Hiya Dancers!
Thanks so much for a totally awesome Stanford Dance Weekend.
If you enjoyed my classes, please feel free to check out my schedule. I teach at FNW, Starlite Dance Club, Google, Oracle, Equinox, Reach, 24 Hour Fitness, Vivre… all over.
In particular, if you liked the Bollywood class, please check either by 8:30 am Wednesday class at Vivre or my 10 am Friday class at Decathlon Club (only every other week!). Both are available to drop-in dancers, you don’t have to be a member of the gym.
If you happen to work for Oracle, please come to Bollywood class on Fridays at 3 pm. If you work at Google, check go/bollywooddance for info on classes.
Here’s the video for the intro to Argentine Tango – we went over a lot of basic technique on how to lead and follow with a partner, and how to interpret the music. Here’s the basic steps we covered (walking, rocking, outside partner walking, outside partner rocking, ochos, and grapevine):
And here’s the Salsa combo we taught (slowly just the steps):
And here it is again a little faster with the music:
We then covered an introduction to dips and tricks. We included a basic dip, rag doll dip, side lean, side hip bump, and side rotational lift. Please don’t try these at home unless you were in class and understood the full instructions:
I was happy to get a chance to offer my first ever Polka Cha Cha Fusion class. As Ethan said, the opportunity for mayhem was high. But we all succeeded, despite the heat, the crowd, and doing polka in 42!!:
And my rather brain fried overheated version of turns and spins – perhaps I will redo when less brain fried and overheated. =)
Sadly we did not video any of the Bhangra class – but you guys were such a blast to work with. Let me know if you have any comments below, or you can email me with questions.
See you soon!
Cha cha to Para toda la Vida
Hey Dancers,
I’ve always liked this song – Para toda la vida – by “Banda El Recodo” – hope you enjoy the steps that go with it!
Here are the cha cha steps:
See you in class!
If you want to watch some awesome cha cha dancing, look up Yulia and Riccardo on youtube – they’re awesome. =)
Cha Cha to Naci Orishas
I love the Orishas. They have great music.
If you’re interested in what (I assume) their band is named for, check here.
Always fun to have a little spiritual background to your cha cha.
And now they have a great new cha cha choreography!
Here are the steps:
And here’s the same to a little bit of music:
Hope you enjoy!
