Taking One For The Salsa Dance Team

Written by Abel Hernandez for OnlineSalsa.com

Many dancers find themselves having to decide between dancing Salsa solo, with a partner, or as part of a team. All three options are equally attractive, but which one suits best to what you are looking for will be up to you. Unfortunately, dancing solo is a bit risky, and you probably will not be able to pull it off unless you are “someone” in the (Salsa) dance industry.

Partners are very handy, they make things easier: a dance partner is easy to meet up with for rehearsals, easy to come up with decisions, and easy to fit on a stage. But, as we know, the best things in life never come easy. So why not give a team a try?

I will not “sugar coat” the truth: working with a Salsa team is a big mess. It is already difficult to organize your schedule to meet up for rehearsals with one dance partner, imagine synchronizing a whole team’s free time. If one member of the team misses a rehearsal, it hinders the rest of the group, you find yourself with an empty spot, a member without a partner, and the difficulty of organizing positions and changes without that person. It also wastes time because that missing person will have to be taught what he missed, while the rest are way ahead. Now, think about taking decisions. Imagine having to decide on colours or models for the outfits, one that everyone can feel comfortable with. Mission impossible.

Nonetheless, this article is not targeted to take away all your motivation if you were ever interested in dancing with a Salsa team. This article is about doing things RIGHT, how to make a team work properly and achieve its fullest potential.

1. A team is like a country: a Democracy with a Leader

Teams are made up of many people; each one with their own opinion, likes and dislikes. There will be times when decisions will have to be made, and it is here when we all must keep patience and comprehension. Egos must be left aside and you must think about the team as a whole, what benefits the team will benefit you in some term. So the best way to deal with these decisions is to cast a vote, and whatever the outcome, do not complain if things did not turn out your way this time. It is also very important to define some kind of leadership or a leader, someone who can guide the way through the decisions and keep some order in such chaos. Just make sure the leader does not become a dictator!

2. Making things different through … Homogeneity?

It is a huge contradiction, but that is how it works. A couple dancing on a stage has no reference whatsoever for the audience to know if a move was intended to be or not in such a manner. But when you are up there with a team, you look “clean” only when you all manage to move an arm, a leg, turn, exactly at the same time, and in a very similar way. If the members of a team each have their own unique style, then you will have to work out a common ground where you can all feel comfortable. You will not look clean as a team if every couple is doing things their own way.

3. Fill Up the Stage

When there is only one couple dancing on such a big stage as in a congress, it is much more interesting to watch when they manage to move through the stage during the choreography, as opposed to “hanging around in the middle”. This applies to a team as well. Take advantage of such a huge stage and moooooove, split to the sides, come back to the centre, change partners, rotate, etcetera. Exploit the visual aesthetics of having so many dancers on stage.

4.    Ten-folded Talent

Think about an acrobatic where you had to throw the lady up in the air. You were probably limited by your own strength. So unless you are a body builder, why not let another team member give you a hand? Working with others multiplies the resources, you can now go beyond your personal limits and try what you could never do on your own. Think about formations on stage, shifting from a square to a triangle to a circle to a trapezoid, endless geometric shapes that come and go in a blink of an eye.

5.    Bursting the Monotony of the Copycat

One thing that stands out in a professional dance team is its ability to look clean while keeping the choreography dynamic. If you read point 2, it is highly recommended for all members to “look alike” on stage, but this must not be interpreted as to everyone doing the same thing all the time. A lack of variety can make a clean choreography look dull. So, lets say, if you have four couples in a team, then arrange parts where couples 1 and 2 dance something different from couples 3 and 4, and then get back together to doing the same thing. These “bursts of difference” will keep the audience hooked for sure.

Here is an example of how a team uses all its members properly, changes from being different to being back the same over and over again. Enjoy the internationally renowned Salsa show team “Tropical Gem” from Milan, Italy.

About the author

Abel Hernandez is an emerging talent from the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. He has attended some of the most important congresses in Europe and is now working hard to find a place on those stages. His latest project involves a revolutionary dance company formed by some of the greatest dancers on the island. Abel is listed on Facebook under “Abel Hernandez”, which should be easy to find.