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This is a very diverse CD, so much so that you would be forgiven for mistaking it for a compilation CD with music from different artists. Rather, it is a full CD with music from Alfredo de la Fe, spanning music which appears to come not only from different styles but also from different periods. In such variety it is likely you will find something you like as well as, unless your tastes are really eclectic, something you won’t.

The opining salsa “Esta es la salsa” is a sort of celebration of New York, both for its role in the salsa development and as a multicultural spot. It is a nice salsa, at medium pace, which you will enjoy dancing on2 but also on1 if you don’t belong to the NY school. The rhythm is clear and I think instructors and students would find it suitable for salsa practises and classes. The violin solo from Alfredo de la Fe may remind of a rock guitar and you may or may not find it suitable to salsa music, but it is surely one of the features of this music.

“Asomate A La Ventana” has a clear cumbia influence, though you can surely dance it a salsa; it is slow has a nice melody and a very nice arrangement, vaguely reminding of bands like Latin Brothers. “Xiomara” is a very nice version of the famous Latin classics, and the musically inclined among you will enjoy the arrangement, interleaving violins, flutes and trombones (vaguely reminding of Los Van Van) and nicely complementing the gorgeous leading voice,

“Somos El Nuevo Milenio” is a Son Montuno of clear Cuban feel, but so slow that you may find it not suitable to test your Cha Cha Cha skills. “Sandra Mora” is also a reprise of an old classic, in a version probably closer to timba than to salsa, reminding of Issac Delgado in the intro and Micheal Maza afterwards, it’s not bad and it is suitable to bring out the salsa casino style in you. By this stage of the CD you are probably accustomed to sudden styling shocks, so maybe the next one will not take you by surprise: “Hilda” is a danzon which you can dance as a bolero or simply enjoy by following the nice violin virtuosism.

“Descarga Melao” as the name suggests is a Descarga, as such very fast, in my opinion not really suitable to dance as salsa unless you are training for the Olympics, but you may feel differently about it.

“Que Manera” is a poppish salsa characterised by a long violin solo and a quite fast tempo, like “Ge Ge” in my opinion too jazzy for a dancer.

What follows is another reprise of a super-classic “Muneca”; very much like “Xiomara”, this is a very nice version and very danceable.

“Batuasalsa” completes the CD. The name suggests a mix between salsa and brazilian batucada, though I find a lot of plena in the mix and the speed may lead you to dance it as a merengue, not a fortunate combination.

Seaon 'The Stylist' - Shines for Cha Cha Cha, Vol 1 (with Amanda Estilo)

Level: Beg-adv

Style: NY

Content: Shines and tyling for men and ladies.

General Comment:I can’t help being biased when it comes to Seaon’s DVDs, which I believe is most reasonable; he is one of my favourite dancers and instructors, whose DVDs I hold as among the best. The fact that this new series goes back to the roots by incorporating Amanda a peer instructor makes this even more compelling.

According to Seaon’s own words, this is a beginner’s introduction to cha cha cha for dancers already familiar with basic salsa. He and Amanda take you from the very basic steps, On2, to very popular simple shines, to less common ones, all seasoned with rich styling, body motions, hands decoration and the like. The structure of the DVD goes back to Eddie Torres’ original videos, so styling is demonstrated individually from Amanda and Seaon, who focus on lady’s and men’s styling at its very best.

The apparent simplicity of the shines explained in this DVD may be misleading; while an average dancer will probably master the footwork fairly quickly, it will take common mortals more than the allocated life time to equal the body styling, so there is plenty to learn for dancers of any level. And if the guys may find Seaon’s body expressivity a bit over the top for an average dance floor, again worry not, since most likely Nature will ensure that your body executes much narrower movements, resulting is suitably tamed versions of the same.

I like the windows containing written comments and hints on how to interpret and make the shines comes to life, which you can read while the material is demonstrated to music and will surely not annoy you as if they were spoken, should you decide to watch this DVD over and over, as I will surely do.

Reviewed by Fabio from SalsaIsGood - Good

Fact 1 . Roughly speaking, most people dance salsa either On1, or On2 Modern Mambo (NY style) or On2 Classic Mambo (Puerto Rican style also similar to Cuban contratiempo). Today Modern Mambo is used more frequently than Classic Mambo at congresses and salsa classes around the world.. more...

There are no objective answers to the above questions. They all, one way or the other, depend on subjective views on the artistic expression we call salsa, on what we like, and on what we intend by salsa in the first place. But we can still say reasonable things about the matter and make the creative process clearer and possibly easier. What follows are some thoughts of mine, mostly borrowed from my maths background. I am sure all this must have been said already within the art or humanistic literature, and if you are aware of work in this area please let me know, so that I can learn more.