Orod & Dessy: Salsa for Beginners */**

Customer Reviews

** out of ***** stars Review by Fabio SalsaIsGood

There are two sides to this DVD. On the one side, it is well organised. The instruction starts from the very core of dancing: the timing. Dessi goes fairly quickly through the clave, conga, guiro and shaker, showing you how they sound and how to dance to their rhythm. This section is very basic, so will not replace a timing CD, but it is good to see it incorporated in a beginner DVD, which unfortunately is not common practise. Then both Orrod and Dessi will show you a set of different basic steps, the way to lead them and how to transition from one to the other. You will then learn a basic left turn and a basic right turn, and finally all the elements are put together into a recipe which will allow a beginner couple to have a reasonable dance. There is attention to some important details, like the change of weight during the basic step, and the camera makes an effort to show different angles and focus on details when needed. Instructions are given carefully for both the male and female part. So far so good. On the ‘other’ side, the DVD is quite out of dated in the style it teaches. The emphasis on back or side basic steps will drive any ‘contemporary’ LA/NY dancer crazy when he/she will try to dance with you. Also, despite Orrod curiously claims this DVD teaches Miami style Cuban salsa, this is really Colombian style: the lack of Dile Que No (Cross Body Lead) will equally drive any Cuban dancer crazy. The lead and execution of the turns is also old fashioned and you will need some work to convert it to the language commonly spoken in modern salsa clubs. Other things left me a bit perplexed; Dessi seems to listen to the conga differently than how I do, and the frequent switching between dancing on 1 and on 3 in the demo does not help a beginner student at the first contact with salsa. Nevertheless, we are not all compelled to learn ‘fashionable’ styles, and if an alternative (or even pre-loved) approach fires your curiosity this DVD may be a reasonable choice
(Posted on 3/9/2011)