Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wanderingsalsero]

I have a good, personal friend who's coming to town. If you like to bachata (or salsa) you'll enjoy meeting him.

His name is Jorge Elizando. Jorge is from McAllen, Texas and over the last 3 years has become internationally very well known as one of the best bachata teachers in the US.

I knew Jorge when I was in Houston and he lived in McAllen but I'd see him at some of the regional salsa events I went to. I didn't know him real well but I did know he was pretty good even then when he still had his job as a high school band director in McAllen.

In 2005 Jorge suggested I atten the Miami Casino Reuda Congress with him because not only was I interested in casino rueda still salsa but Jorge told me that a group from Boston was going to be teaching some classes on 'bachata rueda' (similar to casino rueda except that it's done with bachata rather than salsa).

I attended the congress and had a great time and began to realize how much fun bachata was (as an alternative to salsa).

Jorge and I came back from the congress and about 2 months later Jorge decided to make an instructional DVD about bachata. At that time there really wasn't that much commercial instructional material on bachata because it was just ....'that other dance'.

His first DVD was very successful, then he made some others, then a year later he quit his high school teaching job for full time involvement in the teaching and instructional material production business.

He's made several other DVDs sense then. Check out his websites:
www.bachatarueda.com
www.bachatafusion.com
www.bachatatango.com

I've been trying to get him to come over and see Korea and see especiallyh what a great salsa town Seoul is and he happened to be doing a congress in Tokyo last week so......he's got time to come see Korea.

He's got some teaching gigs already scheduled at YouCanDance studio in Itaewon. If you're really interested in bachata you can still get into one or all of the classes. Otherwise, you'd be more than welcome to just hang out with me and Jorge.

I teach in Jingeon/Namyangju so I won't be able to be in town every night that he's here. But I will be going into Seoul Tuesday night. I'll be taking Jorge out to see some clubs then. I'll most probably also be going into Seul on Wednesday because one of the clubs in Hongdae, Bahia, has a 'Bachata Night' on Wednesday and I'll take Jorge over there so I can show him ALL the clubs in Hongdae(there's 5).

If you'd like to contact Jorge, go ahead. He's a cool guy and easy to hang out with. Or if you want to contact me to check our latest arrangements and perhaps make plans to rendezvous with us somewhere , that's OK too.

Again.....if you'd like to have a chance meet a cool guy and great dancer.....you're more than welcome. I'm hoping that Jorge will see how cool Korea is, for dancers, and want to come back again later.

Regards,
Art
010 9122 8095
www.wanderingsalsero.net

[bogey666]

bachata is VERY cool (to listen and dance to)

but I can't quite "get in the mood" unless I have a cold Presidente and a hot curvy Dominicana rubbing up all against me

[wylies99]

This place needs MORE Texans...


...especially (Ranked #2 in the USA) Red Raiders!

[wanderingsalsero]

Yeah......more Texans would be a good idea. Especially Texans that like to salsa and bachata. I'd be for trying to put together some sort of periodic get-togather if anyone wanted to work on it.

I saw somebody post a message regarding Harris County (Houston) the other day so I know they're here.

I'm originally from Amarillo myself but spent since 80 in Houston. My favorite place in Texas would be either Austin or San Antonio.

Art

[wylies99]

There are SO MANY great places in Texas, but that general area around San Antonio and Austin is as good it gets anywhere.

[wanderingsalsero]

What makes Jorge's style of bachata different than the way it's been taught up until just recently is that he puts elements of other dances into it. And, he favors dancing bachata to music other than just traditional bachata music....which I'm a big proponent of too.

The only reason salsa gets most of the limelight is because, #1 up until sometime in the late 90's, the government of the Dominican Republic surpressed bachata because it was deemed too sexy and sensuous.

When that ban was lifted, it began to spread like wildfire. It was already throughout the Dominican community. But non-Dominicans generally weren't exposed to it.

Salsa teachers like to make salsa expensive with bullshit patterns that the majority of people are never going to be able to do in social dancing. And most dancing is social dancing. Bachata is so cool because it's really a very natural step....i.e. 1--2-3-tap(or 'hip'). It's not really hard to do at all once the student relaxes. Sometime I like to put the 'tap' on the 2. It depends on the music.

The Korean gals dance bachata generally very well. Nice and close. They're really into styling.

Best regards,
Art

p.s. If I'm sucessful at getting a job in Seoul next year, I'm going to try to start up my Korea Carruseles Dance Club again. It'll be free on my part but I might encourage whatever club I can get to sponsor me to charge something....i.e. to make people appreciate the free lessons. If that all 'comes down', I'll be doing casino rueda style salsa and bachata and bachata rueda.

[Starla]

I enjoyed taking bachata classes with my ex-boyfriend...very romantic and fun. The majority of the guys in my class were just looking to get as close to the women as possible without penetrating them. I find that to be the case with bachata classes. I learned a lot of styling patterns in bachata as well as salsa and I don't see why anyone would want to dance to anything other than pure bachata music. It's so beautiful and simple just like the dance. I prefer salsa though for dancing with strangers. The more distance between me and most dudes I've danced with, the better.

[bogey666]

[wanderingsalsero]

Everybody doesn't want or expect the same thing when they dance....guys or girls. And whatever they want doesn't make them good or bad. As for the inference that all guys just want to rub up against girls, well.........

*that's not true
*some girls like it too
*even if it is, so what? Girls over the ages always have to learn to pick and chose. Guys know that.

Most girls know how to handle guys whose advance they have no interest in. Or at least they ought to. And it's been my experience that in most serious dance clubs, whether it be latin dancing or swing or tango or country or whatever, the majority of people are there because they're happy with the primary purpose....i.e. to dance.

As you get a little older you realize that there's more to life than sex. Sex is OK but there are other things. And anyway, one doesn't have to chose between being either a good dancer or a good sex partner. It's possible to be both if you want to. Each at the appropriate time and place.

It's always seemed to me that the kind of person who wants to learn to dance and actually takes the time to learn how to dance well, whatever kind it is.....they're usually the kind of people that a girl can trust to not act like a complete animal (not in public anyway). Not always ........but usually. I've never seen nearly as many total at salsa clubs as I have at regular clubs (hip-hop, raggaeton, whatever). You can't really dance well when you're totally smashed.

As far as raggaeton goes, yeah..........I know it's been growing in popularity just about everywhere. But still, most of the people I know back in the Houston salsa crowd....they're not really into it very much. It's strictly a matter of taste

As far as bachata music goes.......yeah, the traditional stuff is OK and a lot of it is very nice. But if you want to hear what I'm talking about, check out Jorge's site
www.bachatafusion.com and notice the songs that play automatically there.

Jorge's got about 8-10 songs there(look at the player up at the top) and the last one is called "Chanson d'Amor". It's not traditional bachata by any means but it's the one that I like far above any of the others. I won't try to explain it other than to say that my musical taste is probably different and broader than that of most people because I was a music major in college.

I'm interested in what kind of music dancers dance to because I know that in most cases they don't have much, or any, musical training..... so I think they simply don't know what they're missing and they don't know what their options are.

The average guy or gal who goes to a salsa class is not a latino/a so to them it's simply a case of them wanting to be taught what they're 'supposed' to like. Somebody has to tell them (rightly or wrongly) what good (?) dance music is. And that's a shame because they miss a lot of music that's nice to dance to in it's own right....like the 'Chanson d'Amor' on Jorge's site.

I've got a couple of songs in my MP3 library that are actually belly dancing songs (or, at least, Arabic songs) and they're really nice to dance to. In fact, I have a salsa club twice a month with some students at my school and I've taught them to bachata and they enjoy these other types of songs and music just as much as the traditional kind.

And to be honest, I have heard some raggaeton that I like. But most of it I don't. It's just not 'pretty'. I like music to be more than just noise and anger.

That's what I think about that!

Best regards,
Art

[Starla]

[wanderingsalsero]

Yeah Starla. I think you've got the right taste in music.

As for the class conduct, in most of the classes I went back in Houston, the teachers didn't mind if a guy or gal only wanted to dance with thier special partner. I certainly wouldn't have any problem with that and I don't think Jorge would either.

The best thing to do, for people who have that preference, is to speak to the teacher beforehand. Once a class has started it's sometimes hard to delve into those intricacies.

I'll tell you something else about Latinos.

After I'd been dancing awhile in Houston, I began to notice there were a lot of latinos dancing, some very well, in the clubs, who had never had one lesson in their life. They had a smooth, comfortable, spontaneous style that would enviable. The very idea of taking lessons was foreign to them.

The reason for that was that they grew up with that kind of music and expressing themselves. Sure, they couldn't do lots of the 'tricks' that the gringos were learning, but they really had no interest in dancing like that.

Myself, I think there's a middle ground in there somewhere. The problem with people who never take any lessons seems to be that very often they can't dance with just anybody but rather only with other people who are also good dancers.

The advantage of taking lessons is that it gives a dancer more flexibility about who they are able to dance with. Whether they choose to or not is another matter.

I've danced with a lot of latinas who frankly were not fun to dance with. They either couldn't or wouldn't follow.

Also, I suspect that different teachers and different studios attract different types and levels of dancers. Some people, I think, do go to dance studios strictly to meet girls/guys. There's enough loose women out there that guys really shouldn't have to bring that kind of behavior into a dance studio.

But I still think it's a pretty crude type of person that would do anything such that a girl would actually have to complain about the kind of thing you've mentioned.

If I get a job in Seoul and we re-start our dance community, I think you'd like it.

Regards,
Art

[Starla]