Dance Card
By Susan Porter-Pintz & Kate Liebers |
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Salsa Columbus
A couple does the Salsa at La Fogata
Photo: Christopher Atwood
Salsa, both New York and L.A. varieties, is the fast paced club style Latin dance which is bold, sexy, and very much alive in Columbus. The salsa dance techniques seen at BOMA and La Fogata Grill are different and the crowd is different, but the passion is very much the same. Thursdays at BOMA feature local and guest DJs, bi-monthly live salsa bands, and a buffet. While BOMA is a 21-and-up venue, the Friday evenings at La Fogata are 18-and-up, with a high-energy crowd committed to dancing salsa in an intimate club.
Salsa Columbus has a strong following of dancers who are serious about the art of salsa and devoted to the fast rhythms which move their bodies and stir their souls. "But beginning dancers often have the wrong impression," cautions Oana Lungu, promoter of Friday Latin Nights at La Fogata. "The more advanced students are not just going to be showing off; that is the wrong perception. They are open minded, they were once beginners too, and will invite the beginners to dance . . . this is a devoted salsa community, an inclusive community."
For more information, visit www.salsacolumbus.com.
Two to Tango
A couple dancing the passionate Tango.
Photo: Christopher Atwood
If every dance tells a story, tango describes a love affair in motion. Alesia Miller, an instructor at Dance Plus Ballroom in Grandview, said the dancers represent a possessive male and his adulterous girlfriend, whose seductive dance moves are meant to entice her forbidden lover, watching from the audience. The characteristic quick turns of the face represent the couple's romantic conflict.
Not only is tango more emotionally complicated than salsa's fun, flirty style, Miller said it is also more physically challenging to master. Salsa's fast footwork has the dancers rotating, but generally in the same place. Tango dancers combine staccato steps with deliberate strides that send the sultry duo traveling across the room.
The two dances' cultural origins differ, as well. According to Miller, salsa began on hot Spanish beaches, where burning sand inspired quick steps. Tango, as legend has it, began as a male-on-male dance outside the brothel. Music was provided for the men as they waited; they used the opportunity to brush up on their dancing skills by pairing up with each other. With that history, one can imagine how tango became a dance between a jealous man and an unfaithful lover.
"You know how they say there is a fine line between love and hate?" asks Miller. "I think this dance shows that."
Originally Published: April 1, 2009
