Deadly Dips & Tricks in Social Salsa Dancing

In 1999, I met the now divorced Luis and Joby Vazquez for the first time during the second European Salsa Congress in Haarlem (The Netherlands). Joby and Luis executed a Double Neckdrop, a flashy and exciting Dip & Trick, during the dance presentation of the professional Salsa Instructors. This one Dance Show Element would change the way we dance Salsa in Europe forever.

In the following year (2000), executing Dips & Tricks was ‘the way to go’ if you wanted to stand out and attract lots of attention on the social Salsa Dance floor. A local teacher who at that time did not know LA Style Salsa very well started to dance his Salsa Style while executing one spectacular Dip, Trick, and Lift after the other with his dance partner. During the Gala Party of the third European Salsa Congress at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam he threw his dance partner in the air, stretched his hands out, but failed to catch her. She fell hard on her back. Everyone watched in disbelief as he picked her up and continued to dance as if nothing had happened. He did not even ask her if she was O.K. ‘The Show Must Go On’ on the Social Salsa floor.

International Salsa Dance Instructors were teaching their Dips & Tricks to hundreds of Salsa Dancers around the world following their workshops without giving them any warning or security measures in advance. As the local teachers learned more Dips & Tricks they started to teach these to their students. Many of these Instructors chose to teach the Dips & Tricks they themselves used during their shows. The difficulty level of the tricks grew hand in hand with the competition on the dance floor. Francisco Vazquez, the oldest of the Vazquez brothers, complained at the end of a workshop and commented on so many dancers using ‘his’ Neckdrop. He explained to us how he went to see a dance performance in a theater, saw the Neckdrop on stage, and mixed it in his Salsa Shows. What he seemed to forget was that he himself was the one teaching the Neckdrop all around the world and executed it on the dance floor whenever he had the chance? ‘Monkey Sees, Monkey Does’, right? 

Leaders went from doing Dips & Tricks only with the girls they knew well to executing them with every girl available at the time. This reckless behavior culminated in very bad accidents happening on a regular basis on the dance floor. ‘Normal’ Salsa Dance clients got very intimidated by these men doing dangerous flips, lifts, and other spectacular dance moves the Vazquez Brothers had borrowed from the Mexican ‘Quebradita Dance’ and the West Coast Swing. Other Instructors like Josie Neglia and Alex Da Silva also had a very big part in the promotion of this dangerous way of dancing Salsa. Club owners started to refuse these ‘Tricksters’, and teachers finally started to teach Salsa Dance Etiquette during their Dance Classes. Luis & Joby Vazquez, one of the first Salsa Dance Instructor Couples to teach their tricks to everyone, issued an instructional video titled ‘Salsa Brava Combinations, Tricks & Dips’, which starts with a lengthy warning about the dangers of performing Dips & Tricks on the social dance floor. ‘Better late than never’. 

The international Salsa Dance community is not capable to agree on lots of issues. But the use of Dips & Tricks on the social dance floor is one thing that has been banned from nearly all dance floors of Western Style Salsa all around the world. Albert Torres has created a special Cabaret Division of the World Salsa Championships for the ones who really like these Acrobatic Dance Moves to compete against each other. There are special rules and regulations to prevent the use of dangerous Dips & Tricks during the On1 and On2 Competitions.  

The same evolution of Dips & Tricks is happening now in the newest Bachata and Zouk Dance Crazes. The Instructors of these dance styles could learn a lot just by looking at the history of Salsa Dancing.