When I started teaching salsa, I was very confused with the salsa style I was using. I thought I was dancing Cuban Style. Then again, I was not. I wasn't exactly LA Style either.
For those of you who are confused, salsa has many variations of styles. It'll take me one whole article to write about the styles so I won't eleborate it here. It'll probably be in another article and I might just rip it off someone's website and post it here... hehehe!
To make it simple, the few main styles that I am aware of are Cuban, LA, New York and Columbian. There's also the Puerto Rican Style (and maybe some other style I've not heard of) but I seriously have no idea how it looks like.
Now, back to my story... I thought I was doing Cuban Style coz I know I wasn't doing LA Style. Even the LA Style salseras thought I was doing Cuban Style. Coz I danced in a circular pattern instead of the LA Style linear pattern. So I thought I was Cuban.
Or so I thought...
It wasn't until I met Cynthia Hung from Taiwan that I realized what was Cuban Style (the smart thing I could've done was go to YouTube and find out... which I didn't...) and that my style certainly wasn't Cuban Style at all. It was LA Style... but danced in a circular fashion instead of a liner one. Imagine my shock and utter disbelief!Cynthia was an instructor from Taiwan who specializes in Cuban Style. She now resides in Australia. She had spent a lot of time in Cuba to understand the Cuban Style and she showed me the world of the Cuban dancers. And so I went and learnt the Cuban Style from the guidance she gave me.
Not long after that, I chanced upon the opportunity to learn from Jaime Jesus from Latin Dance Australia. Jaime Jesus and the LDA Style was very famous for its smooth lead/follow technique and possess a strong foundation in building one's salsa knowledge and skill. He showed me the way he taught, the styles and the basic techniques used that made him such a wonderful lead on the dance floor. I also found out that you can do the LA Style in a linear or circular fashion. Its still LA Style but the majority of the salsa community would do LA Style in a linear fashion.
Imagine an instructor taking BASIC BEGINNERS lesson all over again but I realized how important it was to sometimes go back to basics and re-learn what we thought we knew but we didn't know.
Believe me, it was worth it. My lead has never been more smooth today... and many had commented that I was a good lead on the dance floor even before I learnt from Jaime Jesus. Imagine the lead now that I have learnt from him!
All these went into Rhythm Identity's salsa syllabus.
I had consulted Jaime Jesus on his syllabus and he advised me on quite a few things which I now have in Rhythm Identity's syllabus. So started my LA Style journey...
After learning from Jaime, I went on to further my LA Style skills with none other than Francisco Vasquez of Los Rumberos. He was one of the pioneer batch of people that made LA Style famous around the globe. Who else better to learn about LA Style other than the ones that made it big?Then I came upon Jaime's twin brother, Nestor Manuelian. Now, this is the man that had really changed my salsa life... and bachata life!
He taught me the basic stuff again, a second chapter following up from where Jaime Jesus left off. I knew my basics well but what he taught me made me realize there was still much to learn. And so I learn.
At this point onwards, much of my salsa style and knowledge had come from Australia. My students at one point even said it was Malaysia's "Aussie Style Salsa". To my knowledge, Aussie Style Salsa was made famous by Oliver Pineda of Latin Motion Australia; multiple World Salsa Champion title holder. Of course, the salsa style taught at Rhythm Identity isn't Aussie Style Salsa but it definately takes much of its influence from Australia.
Now, if you're a Rhythm Identity salsa student and you're wondering what kind of salsa style you're learning; its LA Style with a little dash of circular motion thrown in. Its also part Aussie Style coz that's where I got the influence from that shaped my current salsa style.
Let's just call it... the Malaysian "Aussie Style" Salsa!
Feel the Rhythm
Feel the Passion
Jaxen
"Salsa Daddy"
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