2015年8月3日 星期一

Spins & Turns part 4- Salsa Spins Tricks

In general, multiple spins in Latin Dancing is more is quite is similar to Jazz's, however, as one of the Latin Dances, Salsa has a different description of spin. First of all, it allows bent knees; second, the unweighted foot is gliding along the floor.

Trick 1- Paddle
Salsa instructors teach beginner to lower the weight to as it is easier to keep balance, these days some even say you can use the unweighted to tap or paddle so as to give momentum again, and you search from YouTube to find that quite a number of free how-to videos with Salsa instructors to do it with knees bent, feet apart, paddle for momentum, and they can't demo a multiple spin solely. Everything sounds definitely different. 'Paddled Spin' is a fake spin, it is executed the same as Paddle Turn (you can find it in part 1's video) but without the hip movement and the unweighted foot tapping closer to the supporting foot. 

Trick 2- Touch Turn
The Paddled Spin is clearly a 'fake' spin, there is another great trick which will definitely give you a better look. Remember that when Salsa first appeared it was called street jazz? There was a nice step borrowed from Jazz dancing called the Touch Turn. It is named so since there is a weight change in between turns- this video demonstrates how it should be. The key is to make the weight change subtle, so as to give a smooth look. I paused a little bit so you can see how weight should be shifted.




No Trick- Proper Technique for spinning
Tricks help beginners to taste the great fun of 'spinning', the above are not wrong ways to do it, however, keen dancers can still find a nice Salsa spin more like a Latin Spin except the bent/straight knees. Here are some cool videos for great Salsa spins:


Pretty much the same as Latin Spin Technique. These spins are also great for ladies, if ladies can spin well on their own, they can only be better when they have a lead. Happy Spinning!