This Week in Salsa

Eddie Torres also known as "The Mambo King" is a living legend in the Latin dance community. He has trained world-famous salseros like Adolfo Indacochea, Wilton Beltre and Eddie Torres, Jr. Along with June Laberta, Eddie developed what we call New York style salsa where dancers break "on 2". He danced alongside and collaborated with Tito Puente. Like we said, a living legend.

LDC caught up with Eddie at the Chicago International Salsa Congress. Luckily, we brought our microphones! Here is part 1 of our interview where we cover The Palladium, Tito Puente, how Eddie got into dancing and much more. 

Show Notes:

• Augie and Margo dancing at the Palladium
• Eddie Torres website
• Eddie Torres YouTube page
• Eddie & Maria Torres with Tito Puente
• Eddie Torres and June Laberta at the studio

Anybody want to be a dance instructor? Where to start? How does an average instructor become great? Apparently, it takes more than just being a great dancer!

Mike del Campo and his wife Gina have been teaching dance for more than 20 years. They are the owners of "Del Campo Dance Studio", one of the most popular and highly rated dance studios in Sacramento, CA.

On this podcast, Mike shares his years of experience with us, and gives some tips and advice on how to teach beginners, how to deal with students who have a hard time and are clearly out of their element, what to look for in teaching assistants and even advice for people who want to open their own dance studio.

For Mike,students are a reflection of their teachers, so he makes sure all his students are well taught.Click on the player below to listen to some useful information on how to become a great dance instructor. Even if you are an expert, I'm sure you will pick up a few pointers.

The World Latin Cup is this month. Dancers from all over the world will flock to Miami Beach and attempt to impress the judges to come home with a title.
How do champions train for a dance competition? The road to any dance contest is hard, but it involves more than just learning and practicing a routine. On this Podcast episode of LDC, dance champions Will Orrock and his wife Constanza talk about how they prepare to compete. They spend hours at the dance studio, but they also train at the gym, they eat well and prepare mentally. Listen to the podcast to find out what else they do to train and win!

Will Orrock studied dance and choreography at the University of the Americas in Chile. He's a two-time South American salsa, bachata and merengue champion and also national ballroom champion in Chile. He currently teaches in the South San Francisco Bay Area. 

If you live in San Francisco and wish to train or take classes with Will and Constanza you may contact them at (408) 480-2769, or send them at e-mail: [email protected]. You can also visit their website: http://www.wevolvedance.com/

Why does Michelle like to hijack the lead from her partner when she social dances?

Because sometimes it's a good idea!
Listen to Michelle Donehew talk about how she comes up with new choreography, the importance of teaching beginners and how to manage a dance team effectively in order to have a strong dance community.

Michelle was born in Hato Rey, PR, and she's been dancing since she was 9 years old. Her dance training is extensive, and includes ballet, tap, jazz musical theater, and Latin dancing. For nine years she was part of  "Salsamania", one of the most renowned dance teams in San Francisco. In 2015 she joined forces with her very talented partner Manny Villarreal to be the co-director of Sabor Latino-Oakland bachata team. She is known for her feminine, fierce, and sassy style which has helped her win many awards and championship titles in her career.

Michelle and her partner Manny Villarreal plan to shock audiences and the judges at the World Latin Cup again this December. They need our help to pay for travel and lodging expenses, so click here to help them achieve their goal, and as always, thank you for supporting our community.

DJ Mario B has been mixing tracks for more than ten years in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area. He's currently the resident DJ for the new Latin nightclub "Millennium",and he keeps everyone dancing for hours.
How? He does his homework, he pays attention to the crowd, but most of all, he loves music.

So what does it take to be a DJ?
Click on the player below to listen to "DJ Mario B's" story, including some great advice for new and aspiring nightclub DJ's.

Today's chat is with Richie Kirwan, LDC author of When Dancing Becomes Groping: Time To Clean Up the Dance Scene! Sadly, within the Latin dance community there are some shady characters. Richie sheds light on these guys and Rob gives some self-defense tips for the ladies. If you enjoyed Richie's post, you are going to love this interview!

This week's song is 'Merecumbe' by Johnny Colon, aka the birthday song, as chosen by our guest, Richie.

Remember to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher. And I would REALLY appreciate you leaving a 5-star review so that more people can find out about us :)

This week's show features an interview with Jonathan Goldman. Jonathan plays trumpet for Spanglish Fly, a boogaloo bound based in NYC. If the name sounds familiar, that's because we had him on the show last year for his fantastic Fania 50-year anniversary tribute.

He's back talking about the band's new album dropping on September 18th. Listen to the show to hear the story behind many of the songs as well as sneak peek listens of top tracks.

And for those of you that listened to this episode, here's a link to the Cuarenta Dos video featured by the NY Yankees.

Remember to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher. And I would REALLY appreciate you leaving a 5-star review so that more people can find out about us :)

This week's show features an interview with Del Dominguez of Mixed Motion Art Dance Academy. Del is passionate about figuring things out and refining them to the best of his ability. This goes with his dancing, his art and his teaching. Known as a refined dancer and meticulous instructor, Del’s mission is to make MMA the go-to destination for higher learning in social Latin dance.

This week's song is Mi Desengano by Roberto Roena.

Resources from this week's show:

Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes & Stitcher…and if you enjoy it leave us a review too!

Today's show features Michael Johnson, bachatero y salsero hailing from Gainesville, Florida. Mike is a wealth of knowledge on all things Latin dancing. This was a fun deep dive into the social dynamics side of the scene along with plenty of discussion about technique. Enjoy!

This week's song is Fantasia by Quarter Street. I found this sweet tune courtesy of DJ Condorito so if you like it, let him know :)

Resources mentioned in today's show:

Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes & Stitcher…and if you enjoy it leave us a review too!

Over the past few days, one of our LDC posts has gone crazy viral! So naturally we turned it into a podcast episode :) Calling it Quits: Why Some Social Dancers are Hanging up Their Dance Shoes a powerful piece on the Latin dance community and why some dancers are opting out. And it has truly struck a chord with our readers. Hopefully it will do the same for our listeners. Enjoy!

This week’s song is Mango Mangue by Los Totos, a salsa/chacha old school tune.

Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes & Stitcher…and if you enjoy it leave us a review too :)