MARCHANT BIRCH - ALCHEMY WAY

Marchant Birch - Alchemy Way Partnerwork
Dance: Salsa/Mambo - On1 & On2 versions
Website and to buy: www.alchemydance.co.uk Call: 07770 807049
Price: £25, both versions
Balancing the elegance of cross body with the instinctiveness of Cuban style salsa, Saffa Marchant Birch has magic when he dances. This is what makes him one of the most popular and sought after dancers instructors and performers on both the UK and international salsa scene, writes Editor, www.LondonSalsaScene.co.uk
     Marchant’s debut DVD delivers 8 salsa routines executed over 60 minutes, infused with Marchant's trademark smooth and fluid style. There are two versions, with the same routines executed On1 (Salsa) or On2 (New York Mambo).
     Marchant and dance partner Davina Morris offer sequences to challenge intermediate and advanced students. The learning curve is a steep one; expect to slow the DVD down in places to pick up finer points. Sure, you can learn routines parrot fashion, but this loses the heart of Marchant’s approach - you need to drink this one in.
     This is predominantly aimed at leaders (my partner didn’t feel there was enough for her).
To get value for money from this gents, you need a dance partner up to the challenge. If you want to get the hang of melting into the music when you dance, supplement practise with classes with the man himself. Practising with a jumper on a hanger over the door with one hand, a tinny in the other while checking out the footie isn't going to crack this one.

Marchant Launches New Studio

MARCHANT BIRCH LAUNCHES The Alchemy Dance Academy in Basingstoke, Hampshire on Thursday on 6th March 2008.
Marchant & Davina will teach salsa (On1) and mambo (On2) classes, courses and workshops for all levels at Oakridge Hall For All, Forsythia Walk, Oakridge Rd Basingstoke RG21 5S every Thursday from then on.
The venue has a sprung wooden floor, free parking and is close to Basingstoke town centre, M3 Junction 6 exit. Doors open: 7.30pm, 8-9 academy courses, 9-10 Drop in classes for intermediate/advanced and 10-11 Club dancing. ENQUIRIES & BOOKINGS:  info@alchemydance.co.uk 07770 807049 and visit www.alchemydance.co.uk

       The Reggaeton sound - hard, raw, earthy - has given rise to a pneumatic dance that is raunchy, raw and huge fun.
         You’ve got to have Reggaeton music thumping away when you’re dancing - or even practising in the privacy of your own home!
Without the music, moves don’t make sense, can look... erm... silly, a bit Mr Bean-like or a Latin version of the Village People’s YMCA. But, when danced to the music, the humour, fun and flirtatiousness of the dance come to the fore.
       Damarys and Ramon have an informal teaching style, emphasising fun and natural, authentic

   Alison Hurwitz (left) is an effective instructor - and her engaging personality comes across.
   This is well presented and well structured, with demonstrations given via back, side and front views, with and without music.
   Some of the so-called beginners’ footwork and styling are totally beyond the scope of even the most gifted beginner. BUT used discriminately, this will provide oddles of material to keep you going potentially over months and years, up to advanced level. 

Album: SALSA DURA NYC, 2007
Record Label: Music Rough Guides, www.worldmusic.net   RGNet 1177CD
Compiler: Pablo Yglesias
Listen to Rough Guide's latest release (to be released on 19 February) - Salsa Dura NYC - and you know where real, hard Latin dance music has its heartland – in the argy bargy of New York City street life.
   Picture of a couple of virtual, King Kong-sized Puerto Rican and Cuban soneros doing the business and re-mixing the City’s hustle and bustle, so horns honk in time to the clave, trash cans bang to the slap of the congas and everybody on the sidewalk steps out to a relentless 8-beat pulse.
   You ain't heard cool until you hear New York City's finest - the likes of Eddie Palmieri, Wayne Gorbea, Jimmy Delgardo, Jimmy Bosch & more losing themselves in the urgent salsa beat.
   You’ve got salsa's frisson, sublime cacophony, irresistible sabor and vitality captured in a 70’s jar but the oxygen’s flowing and so’s the music. It’s like one hellova descarga session and everybody’s tight to the beat – straddling the impossible divide between utter chaos and total control as great salsa music does. It’s made for dancing.
   Maybe some hard core salsa dancers will winge coz there ain't no UK club standards. Me, I say, I love club standards but if you want to keep your dancing fresh, you can’t be afraid to add new, spicey flavas. 
Editor, www.londonsalsascene.info

Salsa Combinations

- 90 minutes with Alf

Level: Beginner/Improver
To buy: contact:  www.method-recordings.com
Price: £15.00
This is a starter DVD for salsa and rueda – the Cuban wheel – with Parisian instructor, Alain Félicité – “Alf”. Alf isn’t so well known this side of the Channel so this is likely to introduce him to a lot of UK salsa dancers.
   Here, Alf teaches rueda as a couple dance, not as a wheel, breaking down moves thoroughly, with real zest and a sense of fun. There are performances of the wheel (but these do not necessarily feature moves taught) plus sections on turns and basic salsa footwork.
   There's plenty of repetition in slo mo and "real time", shown from different angles, so dancers can pick up moves readily. But I’d like to have seen more moves covered, especially some challenging rueda moves.     
   Buy this to get your salsa and rueda off to a good start; bluff your way in Cuban style if you’re an LA salsa dancer or - if you’re a nerd – discover maybe a new French rueda move (cortico?) or how to spell dile que no. This is un DVD sympathique, to be enjoyed with a friend(s) over supper and wine – French, of course.   www.londonsalsascene.info           Thanks to Helen J.

Exclusive Video Clip featuring La Montero Right click HERE, click “save target as as” and download to your desktop and watch as many times as you like. This is a big file so this could take a while. Ed

REVIEW - Ladies’ Styling II

Susana Montero’s
New DVD Delivers Serious Style 

Title: Ladies Styling 2
By: Susana Montero
Price: £20.00, plus £2.95 p&p
Production by: www.dancepix.net
Buy from: www.monterouk.com
email: info@monterouk.com

Susana Montero's latest DVD has got to be the most anticipated release on the UK Salsa scene. For years now, women have been eating up Susana’s 1st ladies styling video and  playing it a la muerte.

Salsa Diva Susana Montero and Million Moves Man Super Mario - exclusive interview see Features.

   Video recorders everywhere too have eaten them up – I’ve lost two copies to the jaws of steam driven players, biting the dust with that chilling scrunching sound. Nobody could be happier than me that somebody invented the DVD player.
   Well, now she’s done it - and it’s not for the faint hearted. If you take your Salsa seriously, want a one-2-one in your front room with one of the foremost instructors and performers on the international stage and are prepared to work at it, this DVD is for you.
   Susana on DVD is exactly like the real

techniques. As Susana often says, styling can only look good if it comes from a beautiful, totally fluid body movement incorporating every part of the body. If you’ve been dancing for a bit and think you know your Mambo from your Cucaracha, this might be a bit disconcerting at first. It’s enough to turn your common or garden Mambo basic step into a mini-shine.
   Once you’ve recovered from all the body isolation, you’ve got Susana all to yourself delivering 8 juicy shines. These are chokka with enough creative footwork to keep the most dedicated and disciplined dancer going from now 'til Susana releases her 3rd DVD!
   Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced dancer, you will benefit from an on demand, 60 minute-long, endlessly repeatable, private workshop with one of the UK’s premier teachers and choreographers. Buy it. Enjoy it.
Editor, www.lonsalsascene.co.uk

   Grupo-X are the dogs’ wotsits;
they serve up Latin fusion cuisine like nobody else. You can taste the graft, the heat, the sweat of the kitchen in the multi-layered rhythms and cock-sure musicianship. An incredible concoction of Latin flavours, with depth, complexity, matured over 10 years working together and five years alone on this album. This album launches UK Latin Soul from Cape Canaveral, firing on all boosters. Without a doubt, Food for Your Latin Soul firmly establishes Grupo-X as one of the UK’s top Latin Bands. Does what it says on the tin….gets to that place inside, hits the spot where the Latin blood flows, gets you off your backside, your feet pumping across the dance floor.            
Oracle, London Salsa Scene

   Three Ruedas and one Salsa Casino are performed live, with 40 moves including Dile que no, Enchufla and Setenta.
   There are three levels for beginners, intermediates and advanced dancers, with each move is shown from four different camera angles. It’s interactive so you can check out moves as they’re performed and learn at your own pace.           The downside of learning by watching live dance is that moves are not broken down. This doesn’t make this DVD ideal for absolute beginners/improvers.
   This is great value, with great production values and gives students a way of remembering moves they learn in class. It was useful seeing the names of the moves written down – I had no idea they were spelt like that!                 Moe Flex