Category Archives: Salsa

This week Andres celebrates the 100th episode of the podcast by twisting things around a bit and allowing himself to be interviewed and discussing one of the most important elements that makes a great dancer. However, Andres isn’t necessarily talking about passion just in the way of loving dance, as important as it is.

On this episode of Salsa Kings live, Andres is joined by Albertico, who has been doing dance since 1999. Having started at the age of 7 and becoming proficient enough to teach at the age of 15, one could see why he has good foundations.

Nobody likes to be misunderstood, but it happens all the time even with words. Is it any wonder that we can be misunderstood when it comes to dance and to our passion? How do make sure that there aren’t misunderstandings and that we’re communicating our desires properly? There is a myth behind misunderstandings that Andres calls ‘static’. Static is a symbol of miscommunication.

The common reactions to danger are called fight or flight. Do you react to a tense situation by facing it or by trying to get away? In this episode Andres discusses how these instincts can get in the way of your dance.

Today, this podcast will be a safe space. How does one create a safe space for themselves and others? A good way is through nonverbal communication. Most of our communication is nonverbal, through physical cues in our faces, body language, and even how we walk. It’s important for dancing to be a safe space and part of that is of course knowing what a safe space is for you. What are your boundaries? Where are you comfortable being touched? What do you feel confident in?

To dance, you of course need discipline. Andres is joined by Dyanna Benitez to discuss what discipline is and what it takes. Born in Cuba, Dyanna was a creative child who had trouble eating and to get her to be more active and to eat more, put her through every sport possible. Until dance that was. She was put into ballet.

This week, Andres is going to talk about being innocent and the night when he realized one of the biggest changes in his dance, making it one of the most impactful days of his life. Andres talks about the role of teachers in dance and how they not only teach you the moves and steps of the dance, but also their help in giving you those epiphanies and realizations, such as the one that Andres had. 

This very special episode of Salsa Kings Live is all about how you can apply dance as well as the lessons this podcast gives about dance to your daily life. Andres is joined by fellow dance teacher Natasha Ferrera. Natasha is a second generation ballroom dancer with twenty-six years of dancing to her name and is versed in twenty-nine dances as both lead and follow.

Today we’re going to talk about attitude and style in this podcast, or to use a particular term; swagger. Yes, it is time to talk about the ineffable quality that you bring to the dance through attitude and confidence. It’s not something you can quantify, but it’s something you can always tell when somebody has it. This ties into a previous episode and the concept of juice. What does it mean to have swagger? Dancing will always have some form of swagger, a little bit of showing off.

The Fountain of Youth was said to be in Florida, where Ponce De Leon searched for it. Today, Andres is joined by Jose Luis Gutierrez to discuss their own search for the fountain of youth, metaphorically. Jose Luis has spent twenty years owning a dance studio and teaching dance and seventeen years as the founder of the Orlando Salsa Congress.

In this episode Andres explains the difference and conflict between soul and ego. Where is your dance coming from? Your soul or your ego? Which one is your dance feeding? And what is the difference? Psychologically, these are generally referred to as the Superego (the soul) and the id (ego). Note that Andres is using a different, more vernacular definition of ego than the psychological one.

This episode, Andres welcomes guest Jeanette Fiallo as they talk ‘Spanglish’, the amalgamation of the languages of two neighboring nations that created its own culture by mixing. A good deal of this episode mixes both those languages as many hispanic people who have been born in America do.

Today, Andres is going to talk about song structure and how it relates to your dance and enjoyment. He refers to the patterns in songs ‘seasons’. Much as a year has a cycle of change throughout the year, songs will go through changes as they play. Recognizing these seasons and moving with them are key to dance.