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Welcome to Episode 61 of the Salsa Kings LIVE podcast
Andres has changed platforms and is offering free seven day trials on group lessons! Go to salsakings.com or download their app for details on how!
Today, you get to hear a favorite story of Andres’. It’s a story of one of his students. While working with his student Alex, he received a new perspective. During these unprecedented times, it’s easy to get depressed by all the difficult news and tragedy we learn about. It seems that we have overlooked the value of a joke, a song, and yes, a dance. In tough times, the ability to make one temporarily forget about the woes of the world, or even to just smile for a bit is invaluable. Now, more than ever, everyone can benefit from the healing and therapeutic power of dance.
In an era where physical touch is discouraged, dancing, stories, jokes, and its ilk are a good way to stay connected. By using our words and our bodies to communicate, we can give each other a sense of life and joy that we may feel missing from our lives. Dance has and can still connect us through this pandemic. Andres and other dancers are trying to do just that, keeping us connected through dance online and encouraging you to keep yourself motivated and energetic through practice and maybe even dancing with your loved ones.
Beyond that, Andres wants you to know the power that you have as a dancer. Your craft and skills are needed and you should continue your passions, as it is easy to miss how much you are helping people with your art. We all have people whose lives are improved by our art. Even if our ‘fans’ are just our mom or our significant other, what we give to them helps improve their lives. If you are helping at least one person, then that makes it all worth continuing and worth pursuing as an artist and entertainer.
Many like to look down on the arts, seeing them as superfluous. The fact is that stories, music, dance, humor, and all manner of things are in fact why we go on through life. Before falling into the trap of despair, think of what you’re doing and how it offers itself to so many people are helped by it. In the darkest times, dance can light up the world.
“It’s so easy for us to become disillusioned, for us to not want to continue with our goals and our dreams. Especially if it’s something like a side gig. Or something you’re just pursuing as a hobby. But again, there are many that are watching. Perhaps that you are not aware of, and you continuing and then seeing your little successes and you announcing those little successes is truly what allows them to continue putting one foot forward.”