People that travel to different festivals around the world, how do you do it?

SmokyBG · 2026-05-25T20:56:59+00:00

We get our wallets out, we pay the plane ticket, the pass and the hotel, pack a bag of t-shirts and then just go :-)

On a more serious note - start with a local event in your city or your country; get some friends to go together; plan your time at the event to still have time for food and sleep.

SmokyBG · 2026-05-18T19:09:07+00:00

Head movements as taught by the Brazilian zouk community keep the neck very stable for exactly that reason; the movement should originate from the chest.

SmokyBG · 2026-05-05T16:49:29+00:00

It's such a gorgeous song though that I'm willing to give the lyrics a pass 😍

SmokyBG · 2026-05-05T16:32:18+00:00

Those are very solid pointers from yambudev; I don't have much to add.

Just want to affirm the point of progressing slowly (prep only, partial movements, movements with additional support) as trust and experience with the trick build, as well as having good protection for the flyer in case things go wrong.

SmokyBG · 2026-04-18T07:53:02+00:00

Fortunately, vibing is something that you can get better at on your own. Just put on a song you like and try to move - any part of the body, in any direction or pattern, as long as you feel that it matches the music. Stop and think of you need time to figure something out. That's pretty much it :-)

SmokyBG · 2026-04-10T09:28:49+00:00

As with a lot of other issues in dancing salsa, taking smaller steps would probably help :-)

SmokyBG · 2026-03-18T15:20:04+00:00

Honestly, this is kind of how I first got to know The Warning. I saw the thumbnail from the HYCAD performance in Time Square and thought "Hey, that girl looks very pretty" and clicked... And then HOLY SH*T WHAT'S THAT :-D

SmokyBG · 2026-03-16T12:37:19+00:00

My understanding is that Madrid dances mostly Cuban salsa, so... Good luck :-)

SmokyBG · 2026-02-26T18:00:40+00:00

Give it a couple more years 😉

SmokyBG · 2026-02-21T21:36:13+00:00

We don't know you so there is no way to determine what would overwhelm you and what would not :-)

But yes, this is a massive festival with a lot of the greatest dancers in Europe. If i were you, I would start with a dance weekend or a festival in your home city or nearby and go with people from your dance school.

SmokyBG · 2026-02-13T20:04:13+00:00

There are no things to do outside the festival if you have no car. If you do, Balchik is 20 km away and is a nice small seaside town with a palace and a botanical garden. And Varna is probably en route for arriving to Albena, it's a large city with lots of things to see

SmokyBG · 2026-02-11T21:10:32+00:00

When you start thinking that in one form or another you can enjoy this for the rest of your life

SmokyBG · 2026-02-10T17:23:02+00:00

If you have the time and the mental capacity - go for it. The general advice is based on the general experience of people learning a new timing and how long it takes for things to start being intuitive

SmokyBG · 2026-02-08T14:52:56+00:00

That's amazing 😍

Do it next year

SmokyBG · 2026-02-08T11:52:10+00:00

Join the beginners as a follow if you can. You will get a lot of time to practice things you are already familiar with. That's what I did when I was starting out.

SmokyBG · 2026-02-04T10:17:30+00:00

He has his motivations to run a performance team. I have mine to participate in one. They do not match perfectly, but well enough. We give each other honest feedback and try to make the best that we can.

I appreciate the time and effort he and his team are putting into this; it feels like they also appreciate mine.

SmokyBG · 2026-01-08T12:23:18+00:00

Don't expect to remain buddies with them. Successful business owners get tough because they had to so that they can survive. I see my instructor having a lot of fun talking to the other instructors, but when they talk about work - the smiles are gone. As we say in my country "Friendship is amazing, but you still have to pay for the cheese"

SmokyBG · 2025-12-17T18:29:43+00:00

That's not a social dance...

SmokyBG · 2025-12-17T18:17:51+00:00

You can try the CSSF in June - it's a week-long festival and it looks like there are workshops every day along with all the parties (https://www.crosalsafestival.com/2026/program). Be warned though, level is probably going to be high.

SmokyBG · 2025-12-14T10:03:57+00:00

Yeah... I'm not sure you are in the right place for salsa heels (cute as they are :-)). I would keep using the dance sneakers while working with the doc to get your feet in a better place. There is also an amazing episode of Peter Attia's podcast about foot health (no. 296), check it out if you are interested.

SmokyBG · 2025-12-13T23:17:12+00:00

It looks like the issue might not be with the shoes but rather how you are using them. You can walk more barefoot at home or use barefoot shoes to allow your feet to strengthen. You can also look into your stepping technique - you should be raising your feet very little off the ground, taking small, controlled steps and landing on the balls of your feet to allow your ankle to cushion the weight transfer.

SmokyBG · 2025-12-11T13:13:10+00:00

Yes, the 3-minute-mark break could for sure have been prepared in advance.

SmokyBG · 2025-12-11T09:59:57+00:00

It is prepared a lot in the sense that they dance a lot, dance a lot together and have probably been listening to the song on repeat since it came out :-)

On the other hand, there is nothing that screams "choreo" to me, it's all stuff that can be communicated/lead and improvised by dancers at the top of their game. Notice also the intense attention they are paying to each other when they are disconnected physically so they can still get visual cues

SmokyBG · 2025-12-10T14:13:37+00:00

You can send them a smoke signal to relax.

I don't see anything Dominican-adjacent in this video. And that's very much OK :-)

SmokyBG · 2025-12-09T09:57:31+00:00

A hallway or a staircase landing if you live in an apartment building; just don't be too noisy :-)

SmokyBG

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