Product Description
Salsa…Solo! is a step-by-step instructional program for beginners. Yesenia Adame teaches a beautiful and diverse array of salsa moves you can perform solo. Perfect for solo vignettes within partner dance, or for non-partner performance and social dance occasions, Salsa…Solo! is a treasure chest of graceful step combinations, nimble turns, and swirls sure to make you look amazing on the dance floor. A winner of many top professional salsa competitions, special… More >>
Salsa…Solo! Dance instruction for beginners with Yesenia Adame
#1 by YogaGirl on April 11, 2010 - 6:44 am
I just finished doing combinations 1 & 2 of this dvd and I have to say I became quite frustrated. It was too fast for me. A little background about me. I am a complete salsa novice. I don’t listen to salsa music on a regular basis and I have NEVER tried to dance salsa. As such I didn’t get the salsa rhythm or the cuban hips. I can samba and samba reggae and I understand Brazilian rhythms. That said I wanted to learn how to salsa but I was completely lost with this dvd. Why? Several Reasons: 1. The music was too fast. 2. She didn’t explain HOW to listen to salsa music. In other words which percussion instrument to focus on. and 3. She didn’t fully explain the cuban hips motion. I’ll tried to explain each point.
1. The music was too fast. Yesenia teaches each combination without the music. Fist she teaches the steps, front and back while she counts the rhythm. Then she put the steps in a combination, front and back. She doesn’t always count. Lastly she does the combination with the music. Here is the problem. The music is faster than the practice sessions AND she doesn’t do the combination with the music from the back. By the time I got to the second combination I was exasperated. I stopped the dvd after cominbation 2 but previewed the rest of the dvd. The music gets harder to follow in the subsequent sections. This leads me to point 2.
2. She didn’t explain HOW to listen to salsa music. Salsa like samba is more than feet and hips. It’s also learning how to feel the music. Quenia Riberio’s Samba Dance Today is an excellent dvd for teaching you how to listen to dance music. She introduces you to each bateria instrument and then tells you to move on the beat of the bass drum, always. I’ve taken live samba dance classes and the teacher compared the bass to the beat of your heart. Every time I hear samba music, I hear and feel that bass in my body and I know what beat to dance on. This dvd would have been so much better if Yesenia would have included a rhythm lesson so that you could feel the music. Salsa music is multi-layered just like Brazilian music and you need a point of reference to focus on. Are you moving on the “1″ or the “2″ ? I know there is something in salsa music called the clave. Should you be listening for that? If you have taken salsa classes before or you grew up in the salsa world, all of this is second nature to you. But since this dvd was designed for beginners, I think she missed a vital part of teaching salsa to novices.
3. The cuban hips thing. I am fairly rhythmic, but I could not get my hips and feet to move in unison. I think that this is related to point 2, the lack of rhythmic training on this dvd. Also, I think she should have exaggerated the hip movement so you could see it better.
All in all, the dvd was a good first effort but I think it was incomplete and mislabeled. This is a dvd for advanced beginner salsa dancers not beginners or novices. I teetered between gving it 3 or 4 stars but settled on 4 stars for effort. I’m not saying that it is impossible to learn how to salsa with this dvd, but it will take a lot of rewinding and patience for the novice. If you really want to learn to salsa, my suggestion is to take a live class and then get this dvd so you can practice at home.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by Jena La Flamme on April 11, 2010 - 8:10 am
i am thrilled to say that Santa knew exactly what I wanted, and brought me just that, the Salsa Solo DVD from World Dance New York. I’d been eyeing it since it came out and was anticipating an amazing experience — and that’s what I got! I’ve done it twice since Xmas and not only are my ass and abs feeling firmer than ever, I had so much fun, learned a ton, and can’t wait to hit a salsa nightclub in NY to show off these move. Bravo, WDNY and Yesenia Adame!
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Alexis Z. Armijo on April 11, 2010 - 9:26 am
I LOVE Salsa, and anything from the New York Dance videos, I have to get.
I really liked how Yesenia broke each step down, and especially the angle from behind so you can see how it looks.
I am glad I bought this DVD.
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by Alejandra Vernon on April 11, 2010 - 9:53 am
If you’re not familiar with salsa moves, the easiest way to learn is solo, rather then the complexity of learning with a partner, as so many other salsa instruction DVDs offer. And Yesenia Adame is the ideal teacher; an expert in her field, she has clear verbal instructions, is beautiful to watch, and has a charismatic personality. And as Yesenia says in the beginning, “You’ll be having so much fun learning, that you won’t realize you’re getting a workout.”
After a smooth 5 minute warm-up, Yesenia and her 2 assistants, Ashle and Nicolette, teach you all the basic steps you’ll ever need in salsa (the rest is all embellishment!), and then move on to the 3 combinations. The preliminary section before each combination is learning those basic steps spiced up with added variations, and then you dance them with the music, which is by Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto and Benise. There is a final run-through which is a blast, and a great workout too! It ends with a short and stretchy “cool down.”
The production is excellent, and allows one to see the steps from the front, back, and a ¾ side view, making it very easy to follow along and learn each step. This DVD is tailored for beginners, and keeps it simple enough to not over-challenge anyone, but at the same time stays interesting so it never gets boring. “Salsa…Solo!” would make an terrific workout for older folks (both gals and guys too!) as there is nothing to stress any body part, but keeps one moving and can be quite an aerobic form of exercise if you’re dancing up to tempo.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Shara of Desert Dance on April 11, 2010 - 11:59 am
I’ll keep this short and sweet! This DVD will get you right into the salsa club! Spend a couple hours practicing with this and hit the club! This is fun! This is easy! This is great exercise, too! Now get dancing!
Rating: 5 / 5