The Chicago International Salsa Congress - A Timbero's Perspective

Article and all photos by Bill Tilford -- All Rights Reserved

(This series of articles is intended primarily for Salseros who are new to Timba, but Timberos will hopefully also find some items of interest as well.)

(Yambú/Guaguancó Workshop)

Those of you who know that you are dancing "On 1" or "On 2"  but not too much more than that may not realize that originally, everyone that was dancing was moving to things with other names- Son, Guaracha, Guaguancó, Mambo and many others.  Some of the rhythms and dances (such as the Pilón and Pachanga) have all but vanished over the years because neither Salsa nor Timba preserved them intact.  This has been a loss both for dancers, who have fewer options today on the floor, and for musicians, who often end up playing fewer rhythms than they could because not enough people are prepared to dance to them.  We regret having missed the Mambo and Pachanga workshops at the Congress but were encouraged to know that they were happening. Even more encouraging was that there was a serious Yambú/Guaguancó workshop, a nice beginner's Rueda workshop and a West African dance workshop. Another workshop that we regret missing was the Salsaton workshop; instructor Danery Barraza tells us that this has come about due to some artists playing a fusion of Reggaeton with Salsa and Bachata.  It would have been interesting to see how that is affecting the dancing from both sides of that equation.   

(West African Dance Workshop)

There are significant differences between recreational dancing styles and the exhibition/competition dancing styles seen on the stages, but there is a place for both, and the CISC deserves credit for maintaining a good balance between the two. One thing that we were happy to see is that many of the stage dancers chose musical selections (including some Charanga - a pleasant surprise) that would also be used recreationally.  This is a step forward from the "Rhumba" ballroom dancing (not to be confused with authentic Rumba)  that we have frequently seen on television over the years. One thought that occurred to us after watching both the recreational and the exhibition dancers during the same weekend is that a few recreational dancers may be trying too hard to mimic the folks that they see on stage, and that may actually hamper their recreational dancing a bit.   An occasional spin, turn or dip is fine on the floor, but if you are doing a half-dozen of these in sequence, that might not be such a good thing in your local dance hall. (Definitely do NOT pick up your partner over your head or throw her into the air in front of the bouncer.)  Relax, have a good time, it's OK not to set records when you're out with friends.  That being said, some of the stage exhibitions were impressive, and you can see some photos of those in our galleries. 

(Rueda:  You can learn to dance this.)

A modest suggestion for  instructors and dancers alike is that of all the dances that you are in a position to learn or teach, Rueda may be the best road to learning to enjoy Timba music (there were a couple of Rueda workshops at the Congress, hopefully this will continue, perhaps even grow, in the future). It's not the only way there, but it has certain advantages. In addition to being fun, it has what some would consider the added benefit of being completely social; you hand off your partner rather quickly (almost like in square dancing), so if you don't like what you're doing or who you're with at the moment, wait a bit and it will change. That being said, outside of events like these Congresses, there appears to be something of a shortage of Rueda instructors in much of the country (merely knowing how to do Rueda is not always sufficient to effectively run public classes).  There is probably a yet-unmet need for people who can train instructors in addition to training dancers just waiting to be filled by one or more of you dance masters out there.  For those of you who are students, it is also worth your while to "graduate" at some point from "On 1" and "On 2" and learn actual Mambo, Guaguancó etc.  You'll actually find it easier to move to some of the songs after you do that.  "On 1" and "On 2" are great places to start, and we're glad that they exist, but places to start is what they are.    If you're one of those folks who goes out every week (may God bless you if it's to dance to live bands), you have the  time.  

In a about a week, we'll have more, including more about the Congress, more photos etc.  We will also be sharing some Timba For Beginners audio clips, where you will hear audio samples to help ease you into what you've been missing.   In the meantime, about those band and dancer photos you came to see -- click here for our new gallery from the Congress. 

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