Become a Salsera in Three Simple Steps

Are you tired of being the only Latina stumbling along the dance floor as you try to keep count in your head while dancing to salsa music? Are you embarrassed when you dance with other sultry, passionate salsa dancers who moves effortlessly to the music? Do you want to experience the tropical beats and harmonic composition of salsa music without ruining your pedicure by stubbing your toe? Well, you can. Many believe that salsa dancers, or salseros, were born with the gift to dance; they think that in order to be a good dancer, you have to be born with the innate skill. This is completely false. All you need is a burning desire to learn and a willingness to let loose. So how do you become that confidante salsera inflamed with passionate moves while having the time of your life? It’s easy; just follow the next 3 steps.
How do I find great salsa dancing music?
Nothing motivates us more to jump off the couch and dance than hearing a good song. Plenty of free podcasts and Internet radio sites allow you to discover salsa music. Itunes has a Salsa podcast, Susi Q Salsa, featuring episodes of salsa music from all over the world. With titles like “Explosion Colombiana” and “Felicidades Puerto Rico”, you will instantly feel your feet in fast motion. Another podcast on Itunes that you can’t resist to love is Ritmo Latino, which plays “booty shaking Latin music”. Ritmo Latino is more eclectic than Susi Q. It has contemporary and classic Latin musical genres from all over the world.
At Pandora.com you can explore even more salsa music by creating your own radio station. Simply type in the name of a favorite song or artist and it creates a radio station for you that matches the musical attributes of your selection: lyrics, rhythm, melody, vocals, etc. The catch is that you first have to find one artist or song that you love and then the radio station will play music similar to what you chose. If you are real salsa novice, type in the incredible salsa artist Ray Barretto. It is guaranteed that every salsa club plays at least one of his songs during the night. If you don’t like a song that was chosen for you by Pandora, you can just skip to the next one. Now that you have the right music, let’s dance!

Group dance class or free private lesson?
Take a Salsa Inventory.
So do you need to take a professional salsa lesson or just brush up and learn a few new steps? For the answer, you’ll need to take a salsa inventory. First, it is essential to blast your new found salsa music so loud that your neighbors will complain about the crazy Latina living next door (even if you are not). Once it is so loud that the walls are shaking, dance in front of the mirror alone as if you were a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. If you fumble and stub your toe on your bed post, you probably would benefit from taking a salsa lesson. Most nightclubs that play salsa music have free dance lessons with your entrance fee. In addition, studios have salsa lessons and only require that you show up on the day of the lesson and pay a one time fee. Not only will you have a blast learning how to dance with other aspiring salseros, but you just might meet your next best friend or Latin lover.
If you are desperate for help, but don’t want to pay for private lessons, you can watch free dance lessons on the internet. Addicted2salsa.com, which can be found on Itunes, has lessons for beginners and more advanced dancers. You’ll learn dance movements such as cross body lead, double-hand turn, and open break. Other lessons teach you how to develop your own style. Learn and practice the moves in the privacy of your home, and with a little dedication and perseverance, you’ll confidently hit the dance floors.
You Know How to Dance; Now the Fun Begins
The amount of people passionately dedicated to salsa dancing is on the rise. Why? Because dancing truly makes people feel alive. After you have spent time visiting different local salsa nightclubs in your area, a nightclub hiatus will be well deserved. So where else can you dance salsa? Salsa venues exist all over the world including The International Salsa Congress. This event takes place all over the world, from China to Switzerland. These festivals, which usually last for two to five days, consist of dance shows and competitions that motivate you to perfect your dance technique. Well-known Latin bands perform nightly and a multitude of workshops offer lessons in afro-cuban rumba, salsa swing, and tricks and dips to name a few. For links to upcoming Salsa Congress Events, look up http://www.alberttorresevents.com/congress/.
Ok, so maybe the salsa congress isn’t what you are looking for. If you feel that you are ready for something a little more original, why not try a Salsa Cruise. Salsa cruise ships usually offer the same highlights as the salsa congress: concerts, dance shows, and workshops. It’s a salsa congress on water heading to hotspot destinations like the Bahamas or the Mexican Riviera. Salsacrazy.com/travel and salsacruise.com are great websites to inquire about more details if you are ready to party like a salsa rockstar.
Following these three easy steps will officially make you a salsa aficionado. Tripping and stepping on people will be only a faint memory of the dancer you were. You will become a salsera moving across the floor with a rare combination of elegance, spunk, and fervor. Azucar!!!!!

My Engagement Party

My engagement with Ted was definitely something I wanted to celebrate with my friends and family, so on March 1st Geraldine and Albert were nice enough to host my engagement party. That Friday my mother flew in from Florida and surprised me at work. Having here at our engagement party was very special. My boss let me take off from work and my mom and I spent some quality time together. The next morning morning we went to the LA Flower market to scope out the selection for my wedding. I couldn't believe how many amazing flowers were all in just one place. We said that we were "just going to look" but we ended up buying the most amazing hydrangeas, I fell in love with its purple color instantaneously, and some other purple flowers that I can't even pronounce. I also took her to the Los Angeles River Center which is where I'm getting married next summer. She loved the place just as much as I do.


The party was a blast. Geraldine bought me purple calla lilies and even Dan and Magda bought me some that were already planted in a pot. (Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep them alive. They are not easy to grow.) We danced a little and played some of Albert's instruments while listening to salsa music. Everyone was so generous giving money, which we will be using for the wedding, and home items that I am very excited to use once we are married. The best gift we got was from Ted's parents who gave us a tea set that was given to them for their engagement party in Romania. Now we have family heirloom that I will treasure forever.

Seattle

Want to go to a place where you might get whacked in the face by a fish, see Starbucks on every street corner and get rained on? Well, Seattle is the place for you. Actually, there's more to Seattle than that. I didn't know what to expect before we went but I ended up loving it. The first place we visited was Pike Place Market. When I was studying at Chapman University I saw a documentary about these fisherman throwing fish when customers ordered it. The premise was about how you can enjoy your job and make it fun no matter what you do, even if you sell fish all day. So when I saw these guys in action, it meant more to me after having seen the documentary. We actually bought fish from the market for Ted's parents and carried it on the plane.

That same night we ended up at a cool wine bar/restaurant. Ted ordered a flight of wine and I was astonished with how much wine and alcohol this place had. It was great because we were able to order cheese samples and tapas while we tasted the wine.

The next day we hit up many of Seattle's attractions: Space Needle, Experience Music Museum, Safeco Baseball Field, and the Underground. The Underground was my favorite. We had the funniest tour guide who lead us as we toured the subterranean passages that were once the main roads and first floors of store-fronts in downtown Seattle. Above us were people walking on sidewalks. It was incredible. Now that I'm home I get all the funny jokes about Seattle when I watch reruns of Frasier.

My B-day

My April birthday was a great celebration that lasted a whole weekend. My best friend Carol's birthday is just two days after mine so we usually celebrate together. Carol has definitely taught me to live it up for my birthday. Normally just going out for a simple dinner sufficed but Carol inspires me to really celebrate it to its fullest and that's exactly what we did.

Friday started with a girls-night out dinner at the Irvine Spectrum. Carol and I got our haircut before and did a little shopping. Saturday Carol, her husband Enrique, Ted, and I all met up at the Biltmore Hotel in L.A. where we stayed Saturday night. In the afternoon we went out for sushi and had some drinks and then met our other friends at the restaurant Besos in Hollywood. There was a mistake with our reservations so we weren't able to sit together so we ended up sitting with boys and girls separated. How elementary!!! It was pretty comical. Besos is Eva Longoria's new, upscale Mexican restaurant. The ambiance was exquisite and the drinks were good. Ted fell in love with this drink they had which was basically lemon, blackberries, simple syrup, and vodka. We ended the night having more drinks at the bar in the restaurant. Gosh, we sound like winos!

Sunday Ted's parents threw me a BBQ party. It was a lot of fun. I finally feel like I have my own family who I can celebrate my birthday with, which was very special for me. Ted's parents made their home beautiful with purple flowers and candles, which is my favorite color and of course, the food was amazing as usual. I feel like I got spoiled this birthday and I really feel grateful for all the beautiful gifts and for having everyone there to celebrate with me.