Don't Forget The Lyrics! - La Vida Es Un Carnaval

A true classic! In fact, this is one song that has probably accompanied many dancers in the beginnings of their salsa journey. Beautiful and cheery lyrics too!.






La Vida Es Un Carnaval
by Celia Cruz


Everyone out there that thinks that life is unfair,
Needs to know that's not the case,
Because life is beautiful, you just have to live it.
Everyone out there that thinks they are alone and that that's bad
Needs to know that's not the case,
Because in life no one is alone, there is always someone

Ay, there's no need to cry, because life is a carnival,
It's more beautiful to live singing.
Oh, Ay, there's no need to cry,
For life is a carnival
And your pains can be alieviated through song.

Everyone out there that thinks that life is always harsh,
Need to know that's not the case,
That there are just bad times, and it will all pass.
Everyone out there, that thinks that this will never change,
Need to know that's not the case,
The bad times will turn, it will all pass.

Ay, there's no need to cry, because life is a carnival,
It's more beautiful to live singing.
Oh, Ay, there's no need to cry,
For life is a carnival
And your pains can be alieviated through song.
For those that complain forever.
For those that only critisize.
For those that use weapons.
For those that pollute us.
For those that make war.
For those that live in sin.
For those that mistreat us.
For those that make us sick

Credits: lyricsmania Read here

Cat Muses - Cross Body...Line?

Gentlemen, are you doing a cross body lead on the dance floor or are you crossing the line? Ladies, what should you do when a gentleman's actions seem less than innocent?

Social dancing is a close contact sport. After all, we often have to get pretty close to our partners on the dance floor and in the spirit of really feeling the dance, try to "feel" the music and movements.

Respect for your partner is something I believe most, if not all dance schools, emphasize and reiterate in their classes. If that's the case, why are there still gentlemen who do not act as gentlemanly as they are supposed to?

Yes, I'm talking about the hands that shouldn't be where they are. Yes, the accidental brushing against the side of her breasts, the gentle "caress" of her waist. Since this tends to happen to ladies more than gentlemen, this post shall focus more on these occurrences.

Before the men raise their arms in protest, do know that ladies are aware that it isn't easy being a lead and accidents do happen. However, please do know this as well:

Ladies know when your touch is more than just innocent.

That means that gentlemen should NOT assume that they can do something funny and get away with it.

Sorry if I am coming across strongly about this topic because this is a very serious problem that kills the scene. I have heard of ladies who gave up dancing because they were so traumatized by misbehaving gentlemen.

Gentlemen, whether by accident or intention, have you ever been guilty of one of the following?

• Placing part of your hand along the side of her breasts in an embrace position or during a cross body lead type of move


• Brushing your hand along her waist in a non-innocent manner


• Running your hand up and down her back, hip etc


• Placing/brushing your hand on an inappropriate area eg her breasts, butt.


• Pulled a lady unnecessarily too close


• Kept a lady in a lock position, pulled up against you

This list does not try to be exhaustive but these are some common examples of what has happened on the dance floor before.

For a gentleman, how do you know if you are being rude? Most of the time, if you do not have the intention, it would not translate into actions such as those listed above. However, if accidents do happen, please do apologise. A simple guideline is not to do what you would not to a woman you respect because I repeat:

Ladies know when your touch is not innocent.

As for ladies, should you be a victim of such behaviour, please don't suffer in silence. After all, it is your own modesty at stake here. There are many wonderful gentlemen out there who are sincerely out for a good night of dancing only. Actually, most of them are so don't let such incidents tar the bigger picture of good, clean fun in social dancing.

It is important to take personal responsibility when these things happen. After all, it is harder for people on the side to see what's happening to you.

That being said, accidents do happen. However, if you are very sure that a gentleman is not being just accidental, here are some simple tips:

• Use your frame or your styling to put the offending hands in place. Personally I have swatted a few hands off my waist before (laughs)


• Give him a sharp look if he continues the offensive behaviour


• Tell him firmly if he ignores your hints


• Stop dancing and walk away if the situation goes out of hand

Some of the measures above may seem a little drastic so exercise discretion when you execute them. While it is good to give the gentlemen the benefit of the doubt, do exercise your rights when you are certain that a gentleman has crossed the line.

As for gentlemen, please do not use social dancing as an excuse to touch the ladies more than necessary. If you insist on getting your kicks this way, my advice to you is: Leave.

The reason is simple. The scene isn't that big so word does get around. A gentleman who does not respect ladies while dancing will earn a reputation easily. Don't be surprised if you find yourself alone one day with no lady willing to dance with you or leave you embarrassed in the middle of a dance floor halfway through a song.

Catherine is currently an instructor with En Motion Dance School. She believes social dancing should be enjoyable and enjoys dancing as a form of expression. Leave a comment (preferred!) or contact her at catherine@dance-en-motion.com

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Don't Forget The Lyrics! - Lloraras

And so this is a song about lost love.

Given how cheerful this song sounds, who would have thought it's a song about lost love?



You Will Cry
by Oscar De Leon

I know you don’t want me to love you
You’re always avoiding me somehow
I go this way and you go that way
The only thing I want from you
Don’t make me hurt no more, you see

Because of your ill behavior
You will regret it
You’ll pay a high price for all my suffering

You will cry and cry
And no one will console you
And then you’ll realize
How much lies can hurt

Then you’ll come to me
Pleading forgiveness
But my heart won’t remember you no more

You will cry and cry
And no one will console you
And then you’ll realize
How much lies can hurt

You will cry, cry and cry
Like the way I did
No one will understand you
All your wrong doings
You will pay for them
And I will live my live
The way I want
Go ahead, now I’m gone

Credit: Maggz Read here

Don't Forget The Lyrics! - Rebelion

Do you know what the lyrics of the song you are dancing to, really means?

by Catherine

So often, we dance to songs in Union without knowing what the lyrics really mean because unfortunately we did not grow up listening to Latin music neither is Spanish the first language for most of us.

So a kind friend of mine, who is a native Spanish speaker and actually grew up listening to the music we groove to at Union, agreed to help translate some songs and shed some light. This is the first of the "Don't Forget The Lyrics!" section in this blog. This has no relation to the TV show.

Please excuse any grammatical errors and so on...they were probably lost in translation *laughs*


This is a song that I believe most of you would have heard of and danced to. It has a joyous, almost celebratory tone to the music but wait till you see what the lyrics really mean.




Rebellion (Don’t Hit My Woman)
by Joe Arroyo


I want to tell you my brother, a little bit of the (1) black history, our history, gentleman

And it goes like this:

Uhh!
Says!

During the 1600’s, when the tyrant ruled
In the Cartagena streets, this story witnessed
When the african slaves arrived, chained
Kissing our land, perpetuous slavery

Perpetuous slavery
Perpetuous slavery

Say it, Salome

An African couple, and his Spanish master
Who mistreated them, hit his wife

And then, the brave slave rebelled
Taking revenge for his love
And you still can hear in the fields his cry
“Don’t hit my woman”

Don’t hit my woman!
Don’t hit my woman!
Hey man!!
Don’t hit my woman!
No, no, no ,no, no, no,
No, no, no, no, no, no

You respect my woman!
You still can hear it, hear it in the fields
No, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, don’t hit my woman


Translation notes:
1: Black history refers to the african slaves who came to america after the spanish conquest.
2: He actually says la negra, which literally translates into black woman, but in Latin America is used as a some sort of pet names men give to women (usually their girlfriends and/or wives)


Now, wouldn't you see this song in a slightly different light the next time you dance to it?

Thanks a lot to maggz, who took the time out to do this :)


Video credits: youtube rax2099 Read here

Bachata – A Dance of Bitter Sweetness

by Gary & Catherine


Bachata is a genre of music that originated in the rural neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. It’s often characterized by romance, especially tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was amargue ("bitterness," or "bitter music"), until the term bachata became popular. Bachata, as a dance form, also developed with the music.

Throughout much of its history, Bachata music was frowned upon by the Dominican society and associated with rural backwardness and delinquency. Deemed as something for those from the lower social classes, there was a time when Bachata music was seldom played on the radio, and almost unmentioned on television and in print.

Bachateros were also barred from performing in high society venues - having to content themselves instead with gigs in the bars and brothels of the country's notoriously crime-ridden barrios. The music was influenced by its surroundings and many of the songs from this era spoke of drunkenness and prostitution, which only fuelled the cause of those seeking to brand Bachata as music for the ignorant and uncouth.

Despite its unofficial censorship, Bachata remained widely popular. By the early 1980s Bachata's popularity had grown to a degree that the media embargo began to crumble. Caving to popular demand, more radio stations began playing Bachata and Bachateros soon found themselves performing on television as well.

Bachata in the mean time, had begun to take on a more dance-hall sound: tempos increased, guitar playing became punchier, and call and response singing more prevalent. Bachata-style Merengues, or guitar Merengues, also became an increasingly important part of the Bachata repertoire.

By the early 1990s, the switch to electric guitar was complete, and the Bachata scene became dominated by two new young stars: Luis Vargas and Antony Santos. Santos, Vargas and the many new style Bachateros who would follow achieved a level of stardom which was unimaginable to the Bachateros who preceded them. They were the first generation of pop Bachata artists and received all the hype and image branding typical of commercial pop music elsewhere. It was also at this time that Bachata began to emerge internationally as a music of Latin dance-halls.

Today, Bachata is as popular as Salsa and Merengue in Latin American dancehalls.


Bachata the Dance

The dance consists of a four-step beat achieved with a walking Cuban hip motion, and a unique “pop”. The dance can be performed in two positions: open and closed, depending on the setting and mood of the partners.
Like Merengue, dips are not original to the dance and turns are done infrequently. The male leads the female with subtle communication using pushing and pulling motion on the hands to guide the direction in which to move or to hint on upcoming turns. The female may also provide communication using her left hand to indicate whether she is comfortable or not dancing in a closed position.


Dance Variations

Modern Bachata (Nueva bachata) is a new version of the traditional Bachata brought about through the younger generation of Bachata dancers. This style incorporates more free style moves. This involves intricate footwork: enchufles, lock steps, guapachas, slides, etc. The female, along with the male, will incorporate the footwork with a difference being in her isolated hip movements within the Cuban hip motion.

Bachata Tango (Bachatango) is a style of dance incorporating Tango styling. It is characterized by embellished kicks, dips, turns and long pauses generally used in Tango as well as other popular Latin Dances. This dance is performed in a very close position with fewer elaborated foot styling than Bachata due it's focus being more on sensuality. It focuses on overextended Cuban hip motion. The basic steps are the same 8 count as Bachata only that it produces a side to side motion, while occasionally moving back and forth. The “pop” count will be used to add elaborated sensuality and varied Latin dance styles. Although this dance has been used to dance to Bachata, it has evolved to being used to dance to Tango as well. It should be noted that 'Bachatango' is a foreign introduction and is unheard of in the Dominican Republic - Bachata's country of origin.


E.Motion Bachata

At En Motion, we have incorporated both open and close hold styles into our classes. Particularly, we incorporate a unique close-embrace hip leading technique where the connection of hips and body isolation movements are infused into the dance. This ensures control over both weight transfer and hip movement which help in ensuring synchronization of movements for both male and female (including the hip movement which is largely isolated in all other styles).

In addition, we have infused elements of many other different dance forms such as Tango, Jazz, Hip Hop and so on, into our syllabus. Another important component is the interpretation of different Bachata songs in a beautiful and artistic manner so that the dance may be felt even more deeply.

We term this affectionately as “E.Motion Bachata”.


Source: Wikipedia
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