Hello again W2S Family

Hope you all had a fantastic Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. Here in W2S we took some time off to spend time with our families and loved ones, and of course to have some good Salsa dancing. There was no better way to celebrate 2014 than with family and Salsa dancing.

In NC: The month of December was one of the best "Salsa Months" of the year in our beautiful state of North Carolina (NC). This is the month when some of the biggest Salsa Parties of the year take place.

- Mambo Dinamico: These are our Salsa brothers and sisters from one of the biggest Salsa dance groups of the state, they held their Holiday show case. Christmas Party is where they showcase all their different routines that they perform throughout the year and invited performers from the local area and others from out of state. This was one of the best Salsa nights we have attended all year. Elegant location with a large dance wooden floor with a great DJ and a live band, with the best dancers of the state and surrounding areas. https://www.facebook.com/events/542920025793375/

- Mojito Night: This is a Salsa Party hosted by the Cobo Brothers Dance Company at our new Salsa location Latin Quarters NC (LQ). This was a night where some of the best Salsa dancers of the triangle area (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill), and like the name would indicate they had special on the mojito drinks, so if you want to have a good Salsa night and some of the best mojitos in the state this is the night go out. https://www.facebook.com/events/645452995496758/

Washington DC: One of our members went to our nation capital to support our Salsa friends from DC and have some fun on the dance floor.

-The Salsa Room: This is one of the primary Salsa locations in DC, which they put together for all Salsa and Bachata lovers: Mr. Mambo's & TSR Presents ROJO- The Red Party Featuring Bachata SuperStars Roberto Lay & Tamara Valle! This was a fun night for all the people in attendance because the DJ was on fire, the dance floor was spacious, lot’s of high level dances and the performance that Tamara & Roberto put together was fantastic. https://www.facebook.com/events/208972105952155/

Ohio: Again one of the W2S members got on the road and went to visit the Salseros of the great state of Ohio (OH), that is were he brought in 2014. You can see that Salsa can take you all over and you will never know where you will end up when you are looking for a good dance, lol.

-Nazca Restaurant: This is a nice Peruvian restaurant that has a large studio attached to it and was hosting the biggest New Year Salsa party in the city of Cleveland. They had one of the best DJ’s in the city DJ Nacho (I know it sounds funny), a small Salsa Band, and the international known Bachatero Jay Style http://dfwsalsa.com/ that held a work shop for the weekend before the New Years. We brought in the New Year the only way we know here in W2S; with friends and Salsa dancing at a fun place with some of the best dancers of the city and surrounding areas. https://www.facebook.com/events/183003041901807/

Pizza Dip

Prep Time/Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: Serves varied

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

8 oz jar pizza sauce

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese and Italian seasoning together.

2. Spread into the bottom of an 8 x 8 casserole dish. Top with half of the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

3. Pour pizza sauce on top of the cheese. Then top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with more seasoning.

4. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with crackers or nachos.

Dancer’s Winter Driving Precautions

It is a well-known fact that Salsa dancers do not let anything stop them from getting to the club to dance to their heart’s content. Sometimes, though, the unexpected happens, and your car breaks down leaving you stranded. What can you do to help keep healthy and fit while waiting for help, especially in the cold winter months. In addition to taking the normal safety precautions to insure that your car is properly equipped, here are some things you can do to insure that you personally stay healthy and fit while waiting for assistance.

1. Keep some non-perishable snacks on hand, such as high-energy nuts, dried fruits, and water.

2. Have some hard candy handy on hand to keep your mouth moist.

3. Keep blankets, heavy woolen mittens, socks, a cap, etc., to keep you warm, and help prevent frostbite and hypothermia (you have to protect those hands and feet for leading and following).

How to Prepare for a Congress

Salsa Congresses are one of the best ways to grow as a dancer and be exposed to a variety of styles. This fun experience can however turn into a disaster if we don’t properly plan for it. Here are some recommendations on the preparation to maximize the fun at a Congress.

As soon as you find out about it and have decided to attend a specific congress, go ahead and reserve your plane ticket and get the early bird discounted price. Doing so can save you sometimes up to 50% of the normal cost.

Put together or purchase your day, evening and night outfits. While selecting your outfits, look for items in your closet that complement each other. Neutral colors such as black and white can pretty much go with most outfits. Bring ie. track pants & t-shirts, NO shorts. Don’t forget to also pack at least one set of practice/workshop shoes, dance shoes with suede soles (for hardwood/smooth dance floors) and another with leather soles (for carpet dance floors).

Pack light and remember not to bring to many accessories, which can get in the way of your dancing. Only bring items you are going to need and if you have to bring miscellaneous items put them in a separate bag. The last thing you want to avoid is having a misplaced luggage with all your dance stuff stuck in some airport you are not in.

Comfort items such as hand towels for gents and hand fan for ladies can go a long way in between dance. It is not pleasing or attractive to drip on your partners’ eye in the middle of a dip.

Depending on the venue at the Congress, you may need to pack the appropriate costumes, whether swim suits or theme parties, you want to make sure you are prepared to fit in. When everyone has the proper costume and one does not, it becomes an eye sore, the person can be easily identifiable and probably will not be a first choice in the official photos.

Bring a camera or video recording device to capture your favorite workshops so you won’t forget them as soon as the Congress is over. Make to bring extra cash to purchase maybe t-shirt, DVDs and remember some vendors may not take cash for that item you so desire.

Bring plenty of gum, candy and deodorant. Bad breath or kicking body odor is not so attractive and does not increase the possibilities of getting multiple dances.

Lastly, bring a positive and friendly attitude. No one wants to be associated with someone who is not nice before, during or after a dance. Attitude is contagious and if a person is in a bad mood, it will transfer to his/her partner; this may dim the lights as soon as that person walks in a room. So start preparing early, prepare smart and have lots of fun while respecting others.

More Salsa dance tips at www.want2salsa.com.

BASIC FOUNDATIONS OF SALSA DANCING

Shoes – Would you play basketball with your golf shoes? Would you play tennis with your soccer shoes? Having the proper gear can make a huge difference in the way we participate in any sport or leisure activity; dancing salsa is the same. Investing in a pair of dance shoes can boost our confidence level, allow us to better execute certain move pattern and spins. Also protecting our investment with a shoe bag shows a certain level of commitment and may even get us few dances.

Clothes – Dancing Salsa can be very physically demanding at times. It recommended dressing in layers or bringing extra cloth as the dancing gets hotter and hotter. By dressing in layer, the bottom layers absorb most of the seating while the upper layers provide a comfortable feel and appealing look. Those of us who sweat excessively, it is recommended to invest in a dance towel (for gentlemen) or a dance hand fan (for ladies). Try not to drip your sweat on your partner, lol. If you do, simply apologize for it and clean yourself at the very first opportunity.

Cooling down – Most dancers use slow Salsa, Bachata or any other type of son they don’t feel like dancing to cool down. This is a perfect moment to either network with other dancers, use the restroom, fix your appearance, catch your breath, stretch, take pictures and more.

Understanding the music - When dancing salsa, you will realize that some songs have a more distinctive or recognizable beat, while others require more attention to distinguish the beat. You will also recognize there are different up and down tempo within every song. The better we become at recognizing the different Salsa beats and tempo variations, the more fun we will have dancing; the more fun we have dancing, the more likely our partner will in turn enjoy dancing with us. To learn more about Salsa musicality we recommend attending a timing and musicality specialty workshop.

Eye contact – Many novice and season dancers often fail to maintain a descent visual contact with their partner. Having a descent eye contact does not mean staring at your partner; it means having an acceptable visual contact enough to read your partners visual communication. This becomes really important for example in establishing that psychological connection with our partner, which opens up the doors for a more relax and enjoyable dance. In addition, keeping a good eye contact helps with spotting while executing multiple spins.

Leading and following – Dancing Salsa is a team effort, which requires each partner to fulfill their individual roles. Gentlemen are leaders and Ladies are followers. Whenever these roles are not respected and for example the gentlemen are not leading properly, this encourages the ladies to take charge and start leading the dance; this causes the gentlemen to be purposeless and psychologically beaten. When leading and following it is important to respect each other’s privacy. Over leading, forcing, styling and spinning can hinder a good dance.

For more dance tips and articles, please visit http://www.want2salsa.com/#!blogger-feed/c13ta

Keep Well and Keep Dancing Even in Cold and Flu Season

The cold and flu season has returned so quickly. How can we prolong becoming a victim, and help our dance peers prolong it too? Following these tips will allow us to have more dancing days in the winter season.

1. Keep warm – Many of us do not like to go inside of a club wearing big and bulky coats. If there is a coat room, then there is no problem. If not, and you still don’t want to take the coat, dress in layers, wear a sweater or two, gloves, scarf, and a hat. These don’t take up too much room, and can fit on your chair or in your shoe bag.

2. WASH YOUR HANDS – Universal rule. Since it is impractical to wear gloves while dancing, try to wash your hands after a couple of dances, or use hand gel between dances.

3. Keep moving – exercise. Salsa qualifies, so you should have no problem here.

4. Take vitamins and probiotics – Really important to take during the winter, as less fruits and vegetables may be eaten during this time of the year. Reports have shown that taking probiotics can increase the body’s resistance to bacterial and viral infections.

Want2Salsa Happenings

Hello W2S Family:

We have so much to tell you about the month of November, it was one or maybe the best month we have had for the year 2013.

In North Carolina:

We had a great time over here in HQ because we got to go to a lot of costume parties do to the 31 of Oct being during the middle of the week. We started the month partying at Carmen’s Cuban Café they had https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/412132928908921/ an event which was crazy fun with people in some really original costumes and the dancing was just spectacular. We followed up this party by going on the Nov 2nd to Latin Quarters Raleigh celebrating with Mambo Dinamico and their Palladium Night; It was like traveling back in time to the 1920’s and yes the costumes were something to marvel at, the feeling and the lay out of the club was just perfect for this this event. https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/185181158335495/. The highlight of this month and maybe the year when it comes to parting, having a good time, and meeting Salseros from around the world; the Aventura Dance Cruise 13. https://www.facebook.com/events/list/2013/December#!/events/306878712755594/

In Florida (Miami):

W2S was strong in the cruise with all our friends from: Fayetteville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Texas, South Carolina, and New York. We made new friends during this trip, there were some of the nicest people you could ever meet anywhere and some of the best Salsa dancers in the world. https://www.facebook.com/Want2Salsa?ref=hl#!/media/set/?set=a.658722230838622.1073741854.416205811756933&type=3