Salsa dancing borrows from Latin, Caribbean
ISSUE: 02/28/07 > FEATURES > salsa dancing borrows from latin, caribbean
A group of salsa dancers, organized by commercial voice major Brittany Beckner, meets on Thursdays in the Thrailkill Hall lobby at 9.30 p.m. before they head off to Ibiza, the salsa club downtown.
Beckner had her first taste of it when she attended a friend’s birthday party there in February 2006. After that, she started going every week and people started noticing.
“So many people asked to come that I started a Facebook group, ‘Gotta Love Salsa’,” Beckner said.
Just like at Otter Creek, a popular session at a church, at Ibiza there is a lesson an hour before there is social dancing. The difference is that Ibiza is free on Thursday nights.
Beckner goes to Otter Creek every other Saturday as well as Ibiza and sees the differences between the two locations and their environments.
“Ibiza is a little shadier than Otter Creek because it is a night club. There is a bar, there is smoking, there is drinking,” Beckner said. “But some people prefer the salsa atmosphere. There is a deep connection with the Hispanic culture and the dance and music is more sensual and passionate than swing. Swing is more all-American and wholesome.”
Beckner also shares an opinion with Rachel Mingus about social dance.
“The nice thing about social dancing is that in this day and age where girls are expected to make the first move, it is nice to have a guy come up and ask you to dance and then lead.”
But according to Beckner, letting a guy lead may not be as easy as it sounds. In salsa, it is all up to the male to do the leading. He is in control in the dance. The girl “just has to look pretty and follow.” But in a situation where the girl may feel as if the guy cannot lead as well as she would like, she may be tempted to lead. But she needs to learn to let the guy take control.
“You need to be able to coordinate your hips with your feet with your legs to the music,” Beckner said. “It definitely takes more skill than the typical bump-and-grind, hip-hop club dancing.”
There are now salsa classes at the Beaman Student Life Center on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.
Photos&Videos
