Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wanderingsalsero]

I've made the decision. I'm starting a new casino rueda class at Top Salsa Club in Apgujeong this coming Saturday at 8pm. It'll be about an hour and then we'll have social dancing as long as people want to stay.....or we can relocate to another club depending on what people want to do at that time.

I'd prefer to have people who have at least done a little bit of salsa or some other kind of dance because in casino rueda the important thing in the group part of it is that everybody have at least a minimal degree of rhythm. Coordination is very important because the leaders and followers are frequently switching partners.

If you have zero experience you can come and try it anyway but I primarily want to get the nucleus of a functioning rueda group going ASAP. Once we do that, then I can start another class for total beginners. Having a group that can actually do some rueda will help attract other dancers into our group and will help it grow.

If you're new to casino style, and rueda....check out these sites:

http://www.salsajunkies.com (instructional videos)
http://www.danceintimeproductions.com (actual performances)
http://www.rumbanana.org (actual performances)

My idea for this group, which I'm calling Korea Carruseles, is a social organization where people, regardless of nationality, can get together and hang out together and share doing something that's both fun and challenging. I'm not doing it for money. It's just something I enjoy a lot. I had a class back in Houston, Texas that had upwards of 50 people in it.....all free.

If you'll do a youtube search for 'casino rueda' you'll see that it can get really entertaining...and fun for those who are doing it. If casino ever caught on with the Koreans, they'd be awesome because they put so much diligence into their salsa. I think they'd especially like casino rueda because there's already an established international syllabus for it....like taekwondo or judo.

Another thing you can look forward to is that I'm going to start a group on http://www.meetup.com/. What that means to you, if you're interested in meeting people and making new friends, is that we'll have the Meetup online apparatus working in our favor. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. I'll be paying a few bucks a month for that...but that's OK.

I was over at this new club last Saturday and it's the best club in Seoul (although they're all actually very good). What Top has going for it especially is it's size and the fact that it's less than five minutes from the Apgujeong subway station.

Check out my post with videos and pictures on my blog at:

http://www.koreacarruseles.com

There's no charge for the class but there might be a 7000 KW cover charge at the door. I say 'might' because we'll be getting there before 9pm and in some cases clubs (back home anyway) don't charge cover charge if you get there early.

I'm amazed that there's few people going to this club as of yet but I'm confident that it will grow.....rapidly. For now though....we've got it pretty much to ourselves.

Another thing to remember about casino style:

A lot of people who are already into the 'salsa' routine mistakenly think that casino rueda is only for large groups and/or that it deprives dancers of their creativity. Actually the opposite is true.

In casino style salsa, 99% of the patterns have names. That means that you know where you are in your profeciency and you have a basis for discussing it with and relating to other dancers. Once you learn the basics (i.e. basic step, right hand turn, crossbody lead, plus just a few others) you can combine them any way you want. And the total effect is awesome.....just like watching any other advanced level salsa dancers.

Also, you can do the 'rueda' part of it with any group of two or more partners. In some ways, the smaller groups are more fun. And it's excellent coordination training too. There's no doubt that doing rueda helps your coordination, counting and execution in your regular partner dancing.

Casino rueda style is for salsa dancers who like to have fun and not just show off. You can get out there and be relaxed but still have a good time even if you just know about 20 basic patterns.....which can be learned in about 90 minutes.

OK...that's enought from me. You get the point. If this interests you and you want to keep up with what we're doing, I'd suggest you subscribe to my blog (I think you can . Don't hesitate to call me if you want to..... 010 9122 8095.

Keep those feet moving!
Art