Anyone can Dance and Shine - SSC09
January 30th 2009 04:28
Backstage Sydney Salsa Congress - Strictly Salsa Ladies in Red
Watching last night’s shows without dancing myself was a different experience, I could see things I haven’t realised before. The one that stands out is that anyone can dance. More than just that, no mater your physical type, your age or any physical characteristics, everyone looks good, the differences are only genetic make up. Being the night for the student shows the variety was bigger.
I have to confess that as a ballet dancer (by default always tending to the anorexic type) I do think professional dancers, have to take good care of what is their "bread and butter": their own body, their spirit's house. I spent my entire teenage phase counting calories of everything I ate. I cannot deny that great bodies on stage do appeal to the plasticity of the art. Nonetheless I also know that when not professional, dancers should think of only one thing: have fun! From training to performance.
I could see all types on stage, the outgoing and the shy, the gorgeous and the… not that pretty; some so thin I wanted to feed them at the end of the choreo, so thin I thought they were about to break, and the ones that I wanted to prohibit to take any food for a month, or two. There were the bold and the nerds, like they had it shining in their foreheads: “my life is indoors” and the outgoing ones that seemed to transmit: “come to papa”… a huge variety but all united by one thing: dancing. The stage adds to anyone’s power. There is always something nice to say: great smiles shine like super-novas up there, this girl with a white Charleston costume had a great body roll, that one from Groove Brazil, dancing with Angelo, could dip so gracefully, that guy was having such a good time it was contagious, the one dressed as a pirate, I felt like laughing out loud of sheer happiness seeing him dance.
The public knows about energy, how it feels when you are up there and the public likes it and every person helps all the time, screaming, clapping, wowing at the right moves. There are cheering crowds for a specific teams or cities.
One of the brilliant moves of this congress is not to be a competition, Jaime Jesus, Marcia Pinheiro and Angela Lau are the heads behind it all and from start they decided it was to be about sharing and growing and helping and it is. You meet people, make friends, have chats, the atmosphere is great.
Backstage Sydney Salsa Congress - Shiny Shirts Team & Me
I felt so loved last night… A lot of people came to talk to me, ask me what happened with my arm (also referred to wing, paw, sling, etc) showed love and sympathy. And I could see it in their eyes… they understood in a way only another dancer will. I also could feel they took it to their hearts when I said: enjoy it, every second, if anything happens like with me and you can’t dance, even for one day, you have to be able to think as I’m doing now: that’s ok, because I took it all from every dance I had until then: no regrets.
Other than Salsa, the other styles are getting more and more in the Latin scene: Zouk, Bachata, Bachatango, Reggaeton, Afro Cuban and Samba made their way to the stage with nice appearances.
Dance makes dancers beautiful, more powerful, taller and shinier than they could ever be just in the street…
Love to all the performers last night. You were all great, it was my privilege to watch and scream (sorry, couldn’t clap with one hand, although my legs are showing the results of my trying to clap on them).
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