Bachata
Caribbean Style

Today's Salsa CD review:

Gilberto Santa Rosa - Esencia

They call him ‘El Caballero de la Salsa’, not for his looks, but for the refined and elegant flavour of his music. He has been around for a while, starting his career in the ‘salsa romantica’ era, and despite the fact that he has received his Latin Grammy only last year, he had already developed his own signature style and reached the finest musical peaks a decade ago, and continues to deliver masterpieces almost yearly.

Esencia is my favourite. It is a collection of romantic salsa songs, thankfully not executed in ‘romantic salsa’ style of the early 90s, rather dressed in pure Armani by stunning arrangements: original, tight and technically spotless. You will find a few slow songs, like Amandote, Esas Lagrimas, Me Falto, Siempre Acabo Igual, Yo no Queria Conocerte, which will help beginners not to rush through their first routines, and faster ones, like No quiero na regala’o and Y Eso Duele, which will please intermediate dancers. But all are really beautiful and I expect experienced dancers will also be captured by the quality of the music, which you may enjoy dancing both on1 and on2. If you can understand Spanish you will find the lyrics exceptionally poetic and you will be captured by his vocal interpretation.

If you twist my arm and ask me to find a spot in this CD, I will say that the music, unlike the songs, may sound at times a bit cold despite the excellent arrangements. It is probably the result of the excessive precision in the execution, almost too perfect, which may sound a bit sterile, compared to the ‘sabor’ we normally enjoy in salsa. But this is almost like complaining about Botticelli’s painting, because they are too pure; and don’t forget that it was not my intention to say this, you just twisted my arm.

Today's Salsa DVD review:

Nelson Flores - NY Style Mambo Shines

Level: Intermediate

Style: NY on2

Content: In this DVD you will learn some of the most common shines being danced in NY. You will be able to apply these shines to either your social dancing or to a choreography. The shines range from Low Intermediate to Advanced. Nelson illustrates how he goes from one shine to another without doing a basic step in between. The shines include: Four Corners; Reverse Crossover into Susy Q,: Mambo around the Clock: Side basic Cha Cha: Three Point Hide 'n' Kick and Cross Over Hop. This DVD was earlier released on video.

General Comment: As a newcomer to shines you will have the opportunity to learn the basics of mambo shines here as well as some more advanced moves. This means that you can join a group shines class without feeling like a complete idiot! If you have been partner dancing for a while you shouldn't have much trouble picking up the moves as long as you are prepared to put in some time practicing in front of a mirror. The shines are shown from the front and back view with occasional close-ups of the feet. They are shown individually and then put together into a routine without music. Eventually they are put together with music and this is where you get to finally see Nelson shine! It is a shame that the moves were not shown with music throughout the DVD.

Reviewed by Ally - OK

General Comment: Nelson Flores has the rare reputation of being a good performer, a good choreographer and a good teacher too. This is a promising combination for a DVD which displays a solo routine better suited for a show than for the dance floor. I would define the combination as ‘unisex’ since I can imagine both a man and a lady performing it. It is fairly diverse, including not only footwork but also some body work and ideas taken from mambo, jazz, cha cha cha and more traditionally Cuban movements. Nelson thinks ‘big’ when he directs shows (including the now famous Broadway production Latin Madness) but thinks ‘small, informal and friendly’ when it comes to DVDs. As others from his repertoire, this is very much a home made production, with fairly rough editing, but if the routine is what you are after (as you should) then there is all you need to learn it. The routine is taught according to standards: broken down into small sections, shown from the front and back, and put together at the end both with and without music. The DVD is 30 minutes long, including 7 minutes of clips from Nelson shows, at the beginning. BTW, needless to say, it is on 2, NY style.

Reviewed by Fabio - OK

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Salsa DVD review page

An exhaustive list of salsa and Latin DVDs, with information about style and content, for you to better choose what to learn

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Check out our
Salsa CD review page

By dancers for dancers,
to help salsa fanatics, students in particular, to choose what music to purchase for their enjoinment and for their practise

more...