Customer Reviews

Let's Dance Salsa - Beginning Lessons 1 VHS

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

of all the videos i have bought, this is the one (without a doubt) that is the best! it is easy to follow and has so much to learn on each video. well worth every penny i spent. i recommend it above all others.

The video does show salsa moves from South and Central America to give you an idea on some of the moves they do there. However, after watching the video I am sure glad I don't dance that badly. The dancers on this tape have no "sabor". I would not recommend this video.

Where do I start -
My primary language is Spanish, so I am used to listening to folks with heavy accents. I coulnd't even understand half of what this guy was saying. The dancing is sloppy, the music should be classified as "noise pollution". These "wanna be" instructors have absolutely no chemistry. The lady lost her step more than I want to remember. I purchased 2 videos (only opened one - thank God) and I am returning the unopened one immediately. I strongly urge anyone interested in learning how to dance Salsa to look elsewhere. Don't do the mistake I did.

If you want to be spoon-fed one regimented unvarying way to dance salsa choose another video. (Then God help you when you want to dance with a partner who didn't learn the same exact way you did). If want to learn the more "formal" New York mambo style choose another video. If you want formal ballroom/dance studio salsa look elsewhere.

However if you want to learn a cumbia backstep style of salsa, Marlon Silva's set of videos are the only ones I've found. If you dance with many different dance partners from different parts of Latin America, this will make you a more flexible leader who's better able to find a step to match her style. Or if you teach beginners to dance salsa - once again - I like this step better. Marlon Silva teaches you to switch and vary your "basic step" and later to improvise and find your own personal style. And if you want to watch lots of new moves there's lots of interesting material here that you can incorporate into *any* style of salsa.

I switch back and forth among different steps and styles, but if I had to choose one I prefer this cumbia-style of salsa to the New York mambo style. I won't bother to argue with those who say the New York style is the "proper" style of salsa. I've danced salsa most every week for seven years and dance to have fun with my partner, not to impress dance judges in a "Strictly Ballroom" competition setting. I first learned salsa (and merengue) in a university town with lots of international students right off the plane from Central and South America. And if you dance salsa where there are plenty of dance partners from Latin America (particularly the Caribbean) just look around: this is the style I see a lot of people dancing to *salsa* songs (and not just to cumbia songs).

In my opinion this cumbia-style salsa step feels more smooth and flowing and makes it easier to get swept up in the music than the New York style. And when I'm teaching a beginner to follow, that means this style makes it easier for them to catch onto and enjoy the distinctive feel of salsa rhythms (I often hear "aha" from women who had a quick lesson in New York style and didn't "get it"). Most complete beginners I ask prefer this style if they try both briefly. Later I teach them the New York style too for variety.

Marlon Silva doesn't spoon feed you a single basic step. Before he moves on to even basic turns, he suggests ways to vary your basic step and find your own style. Once you get more experience, he will encourage you to improvise. I chose another simpler video to get my "spoon fed" salsa to start off with, but quickly moved on to this one. Marlon Silva is more of relaxed informal natural street dancer, not a studio instructor.

I would agree with some of the other reviewers that Suzie Neff appears a little stiff and uninspiring in these videos. Maybe that would make a bigger difference if I was trying to learn the woman's part - I don't know. It doesn't affect my opinion of the video as a way to learn how to lead salsa steps and moves.

If this is a style of salsa you'd like to learn, Marlon Silva's instructional videos fill a valuable and neglected niche.

This has to be the worst instructional video I have ever seen.

I don't even know where to start this video is so bad.

1. The dancing in these videos are horrible.
2. The man is hard to understand when he speaks.
3. The females look awkward and uncomfortable when they dance.
4. The casio keyboard music is really corny.

These people have some nerve selling something so horrible.

I recommend Juan and Diane's NY videos. Actually I recommend any video more than this one.