Connection

Forget sabor if you’re a beginning Latin dance student; you need to master connection and musicality first. Yet if you someday master the Zen-like state of sabor, you may discover there’s an even higher level of (un)consciousness - Connection V.

Of course, it all depends on how one defines connection. Wikipedia defines connection in partner dancing as “the primary means to communicate synchronized dance movement between the lead and follow.” But musicality can also be regarded as a form of connection. Thus, a dancer needs to connect with 1) his or her partner and 2) the music. But there’s still more.

When dancers talk about connecting with the music (musicality), they’re generally referring to rhythm, melody and musical notes. But what about the lyrics and often deeper, sometimes hidden, meanings? People who don’t understand Spanish may be utterly clueless about a song they’re dancing to; ironically, people who do understand Spanish can be amazingly clueless about la musica. Many people simply don’t care.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Partner Connection

When dance instructors talk about connection, they’re usually referring to the physical connection between two dance partners. In Latin dance, a pair of dancers usually consist of a lead (typically a man) and a follow (usually a woman).

One aspect of partner connection instructors seldom discuss is the mental connection, which isn’t limited to romantic attraction.

Physical Connection

Before you call me an arrogant know-it-all, check out the links to threads focusing on connection on SalsaForums below. The people who hang out on those forums are the experts on partner connection. In fact, much of what I’ve written here was gleaned from the threads I linked to. I’m arrogant enough to consider myself a relative expert on Connection III, which I’ll discuss later. :)

One of my favorite movie dance scenes - from the 1988 film Salsa - depicts a couple dancing in front of a billboard at night, with the man (Rico, played by Robby Rosa) energetically flailing his arms in a circular motion. The action begins near the end of this video. I think it looks cool, but some salsa fans consider it an example of “the windmill people.”

It’s simply hard to communicate through your fingers if you’re hands are flying around. In fact, salsa is a surprisingly smooth dance; ideally, dancers don’t bounce up and down, and they hold their hands steady.

Ironically, people with training in martial arts are said to excel at Latin dance, which can almost be thought of as a martial art or a form of wrestling. The difference is that the lead (usually a man) maneuvers his partner with a variety of cues, rather than brute force.

To better understand what a proper lead is, consider some of the more common followers’ complaints. Showoffs or idiots who like to run their partner through as many moves as possible (aka pattern monkeys or octopuses) are obnoxious. Leads who are too rough or forceful can be downright dangerous. Leads who simply haven’t been properly trained can be difficult to dance with (and vice versa).

Here are ten tips for maintaining a good lead...

Notice that virtually your whole body plays a role. Your lead originates in your torso and shoulders and is communicated through your arms, fingers, eyes and even foot placement. Your feet also dictate your distance and orientation towards your partner.

Another tip: It’s very important to accommodate your partner, which means knowing their approximate level or ability. If you’re dancing with a beginner, keep it simple.

If all the above sounds complex, it is. It’s pretty hard to get it without a good instructor and lots of practice.

Mental Connection

This is where things begin to get a little complex. When you hold someone’s hand and look in their eyes, there’s more than a physical connection. You could feel anything from lust to disgust, but it’s hard to feel nothing unless you’re a robot. (Then again, it sometimes seems like many people in today’s corporate society are little more than robots.)

This extra-physical connection - which we might dub Connection II - is one of Latin dance’s great mysteries. Is it love? Is it genuine? How should you reciprocate?

Of course, Latin dance is very sensuous, and dancers are often flirtatious - but don’t take it the wrong way. Perfect strangers may flirt on the dance floor, then walk away at the end of the dance without even learning each other’s names. Whether that’s cool or bizarre is a matter of opinion and perspective; either way, it’s part of the game.

Connection III: Musicality

The term for connecting with the music is musicality, which is discussed here. After you’ve mastered the art of connecting with the music and your partner at the same time, you’re ready to dance with sabor - Connection level IV.

Connection V: Lyrics

Advanced dancers aspire to dance with sabor, which some describe as an almost Zen-like state where the dancer is one with the music (and hopefully with his or her partner at the same time). That’s quite an accomplishment; it takes countless hours of practice to learn how to keep the beat, learn a variety of moves and combinations, then tackle something as complex as musicality - and learn to do it all while connecting with your partner at the same time.

Ironically, even salseros who dance with sabor may be ignoring what may be the most vital element of all - the lyrics!

Of course, it’s hard to criticize dancers for snubbing lyrics they can’t understand; after all, many Latin dancers don’t speak Spanish. In addition, it’s amazingly hard to find detailed information about many Latin songs on the Internet.

Still, it’s hard to imagine why it should be so hard for the community to pull this information together, considering all the time, energy and passion that goes into dance training.

Holistic Salsa

One might argue that there are three different kinds of sabor; anyone who listens to the music can experience a musical or cultural sabor, while dancers can also experience a more physical sabor. However, people who understand and appreciate the lyrics can in addition experience what one might call an intellectual sabor. Or maybe it’s better to think of it as a holistic sabor, linking the listener with the people who wrote the music, those who inspired the music and those who lived the music. Maybe it’s a form of reincarnation. ;)

Lyrics can be confusing, as they can actually mask a song’s real meaning. Consider the early bachateros who lived in the Dominican Republic under the cruel dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Writing a political song was a good way to get tortured or murdered, so they mastered the art of doble entendre (double entendre), masking their anger and pain in songs about debauchery and twisted sex.

Dominicans weren’t alone in their repression. First, the fascist thugs beat and tortured him repeatedly, eventually smashing his hands with rifle butts, so he could never play guitar again. Then an officer played Russian roulette with him, before he was finally killed, then dumped in a street, his body riddled with forty-four bullets.

Do you know who I’m talking about?

Victor Jara, a Chilean teacher, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile who helped establish the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement in Chile.

Victor Jara! He was one of thousands of Chileans tortured and murdered at the Chile Stadium (later renamed the Estadio Victor Jara) after General Augusto Pinochet staged a coup on September 11, 1973, toppling the government of Salvador Allende, who committed suicide.

Notice the date - September 11. The coup occurred exactly eighteen years before the 9/11 “terrorist” attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Moreover, the Chilean coup was supported by the world’s foremost terrorist state - the United States...the same nation that supported Rafael Trujillo.

These aren’t the rantings of wild-eyed conspiracy theorists; they’re well documented facts that many people ignore, either out of ignorance or contempt.

Though most salseros are familiar with bachata, Victor Jara was a folk singer. But many Latin music genres are heavily influenced by politics.

After I became addicted to salsa, I posted a question on an online forum soliciting information on the role politics played in the evolution of salsa. As I recall, someone insulted me for asking such a stupid question, and the thread was deleted.

Then I discovered the unfinished documentary, Politics of Rhythm. Watch the video, then tell me salsa is apolitical.

As I continued my research, I discovered that Latin dance was born out of slavery and was further shaped by the Cuban Revolution. Salsa is a product of the giddy social activism of the 1960s and 70s. Salsa superstar Ruben Blades is very political - he even ran for the office of President of Panama - and has been called the John Lennon of Salsa. His album Siembra was the best-selling album of all time.

But Blades wasn’t alone; other stars were considered political firebrands.

Iconic Argentinian/Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara is honored by the song Hasta Siempre, Comandante.

I’m talking about politics in the broadest sense of the term, which I sometimes refer to as politix. It’s about the age old struggle between good and evil, which manifests itself as an ongoing war between the masses and the ruling class that exploits them. It’s about the pain of slavery, poverty, bullying and intimidation. It’s about monsters - Rafael Trujillo, General Augusto Pinochet, George W. Bush, Obama and Bill Gates. But it’s also about the heroes who fight back - Spartacus, Simon Bolivar, Che Guevara, Hugo Chavez, the Zapatistas, Osama bin Laden and Gaddafi.

Do I sound deranged? Osama bin Laden and Gaddafi are Muslims (e.g. terrorists), right? Gaddafi was also a dirty socialist, similar to Che Guevara and Hugo Chavez. And what are the Zapatistas but a bunch of dirty Mexican anarchists?

This is why very, very few Latin dancers in the U.S. can ever achieve Connection V, in my opinion. They’re so brainwashed by the corporate media, they can’t distinguish a terrorist from a freedom fighter - and that’s assuming they care in the first place; most don’t.

This isn’t to say that dancing to the music while ignoring the lyrics is a sin; it isn’t. I just think it’s sad that most Latin dancers don’t have the tiniest clue about the history and deeper meaning of the music they dance to. In fact, Latin dance has in a sense been turned upside down in the U.S. Many of the most popular Latin music and dance genres originated among the people. Bachata is an example of a genre that was actually repressed by the elite.

Unfortunately, few U.S. citizens have relatives or friends who can teach them Latin dance. That means they have to take classes, and that leaves victims of the global depression (aka “recession”) out in the cold. In fact, probably a quarter of U.S. citizens can’t afford dance classes.

The situation is ironic when you consider that Americans are going through something similar to what many Latin nations have experienced; some might call it a form of blowback (revenge). Salsa evolved out of the giddy explosion in social consciousness and protests of the 1960s and 70s. Unfortunately, music died in the 70s, and one has to wonder if Americans will ever regain their voice.

Yet the ruling class is running a little scared. A spiritual salsa revival could be a really frightening thing for a corporate scumbag like Obama or Bill Gates. So do they actually monitor or even manipulate the salsa scene? Well, let’s just say I’ve seen evidence of such manipulation here in Yuppieville, corporate Seattle, probably the last place on the planet where anyone will ever dance Level V salsa.

For those rare individuals who know what I’m talking about, viva la revolucion!