Ballet Steps Through History

From its advent in the pageantry of the Renaissance period of the 15th century, ballet has become an expression of your soul by dance. During the Renaissance period in Italy, Domenico da Piacenza, a master of the arts, taught nobles and others to perform in the court. These musicians and dancers performed for extravagant events such as weddings. With the introduction of the Ballets de cour, performances showcased dancers with beautiful costumes and voices for song. The art of ballet saw great development in the courts of France in the 16th century, when Catherine de Medici of France married Henry II of Italy. Catherine de Medici helped ballet flourish in France, thus most of the terms have French origin.

In 1581, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine was performed in Paris and told the story of a magical sorceress, Circe, being defeated by King Henry III. This was considered to be the first ballet and was staged by Balthasar de Beaujoyeux. He was an Italian composer, violinist, dancer and choreographer. He worked in the court of Queen Catherine de Medicis.

During the reign of Louis XIV (the Sun King) from 1643 to 1715, ballets of the French court thrived. Italian-french composer, Jean Baptiste Lully, and French choreographer, Pierre Beauchamp, created many of these ballets. Beauchamp is credited for documenting the five basic positions of the feet.

L'Academie Royale de Danse was established in 1661 under Louis XIV. Here professional dancing was born in a room of the Louvre. Initially, dancers were men until 1681 when female dancers performed in Le Triomphe de l'Amour.

Ballet began to evolve, in time. Elegant moves were displayed with toe dancing. The lines of the body could be better seen in tutus as opposed to floor length hoop skirts. This was evident in La Sylphide, a romantic ballet danced in Paris in 1832. La Sylphide is the story of a sylph (fairy) and a Scottish farmer named James on his wedding day.

A famous ballet, Giselle, followed in 1841. Giselle is a peasant girl, who becomes a beautiful sylph known as a Wili that dances in the Rhineland forest. The Wilis have met their fate by dying before becoming wed. After midnight, filled with a grudge, the Wilis descend upon human males who may happen into the forest, never to be seen again.

In the latter part of the 19th century, Marius Petipa, chief choreographer of the Imperial Russian Ballet, contributed to the brilliance of the ballet world with The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake (also choreographed with Lev Ivanov of Russia.) The score to these famed story ballets were by Tchaikovsky.

The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet which begins with the celebration of the birth of Princess Aurora. Unfortunate events occur when the King and Queen forget to include the evil fairy Carabosse who in turn casts a spell upon Aurora to die on her sixteenth birthday. The spell was to be invoked after Aurora gets pricked by a pin. The kingdom's fairy of protection, the Lilac Fairy, casts her own spell for Aurora to sleep and awaken 100 years later by the kiss of a Prince. A famed ballet virtuoso of the time, Enrico Cecchetti, danced the parts of Carabosse and the Blue Bird. The Cecchetti method of ballet, named for Enrico Cecchetti, involves strict technical training and the understanding of individual ballet movements to the body as a whole.

Set in medieval Germany, the ballet Swan Lake tells the story of Prince Siegfried and his love for the captivating Odette who is a swan by day, gliding in the lake of tears. From midnight to dawn, she lives in her human form. Odette and her companions have fallen under the spell of the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. The only way to undo the curse is to marry a prince who is pure of heart. Through deception and storms, Von Rothbart tries to maintain his spell. However, his efforts were in vain, foiled by the true love of Prince Siegfried and the swan Odette.

The Nutcracker premiered in 1892. This famed work itself had a journey. Initially, the ballet was based on the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," by E.T.A. Hoffman and later revised by the French writer Alexander Dumas. Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky, director of the Imperial Russian Ballet decided to make Dumas' transformation entitled "The Story of a Hazelnut-cracker" to a ballet. Marius Petipa and Pyotr Tchaikovsky again collaborated.

Unfolding at the annual Stahlbaum Christmas Eve party, Clara, a German girl, is given the gift of a nutcracker by her godfather Drosselmeyer. Her brother Fritz breaks the nutcracker which is soon repaired. Yet after the party, a worried Clara sneaks down to check on her beloved nutcracker and falls asleep. Magical dreams come to her of the nutcracker, a mouse king, a prince, and lands of snow and sweets.

In modern times, The Nutcracker was staged with the vision of George Balanchine. As a youth in Russia, Balanchine danced for the State Theater of Opera and Ballet. He also had exceptional knowledge of music having studied at Petrograd Conservatory of Music. With this experience and his genius, he became principal choreographer for the Ballet Russe. He later brought his expectations to the United States in 1933 and revolutionized American Ballet. Under Balanchine, The New York City Ballet Company performed The Nutcracker in 1954. The Nutcracker remains a holiday classic.

Throughout the centuries, ballet has become so refined in music, costumes and movements. Exquisite extensions are showcased from the point of the toe shoe to the aura surrounding the dancer. Ballet steps through history as art.

Learn more about the art form of ballet by visiting me at: http://ballet-steps-of-shannon.com/

View the original article here

Tips for Performing Mind Reading Tricks

These tips for performing mind reading tricks should help anyone new to the art of mentalism get off to a pretty good start. There are many misconceptions about this branch of the magical art, so I'd like to start by clearing those up. First of all, despite the necessary mystique surrounding mind reading, it's something anyone can learn with a little practice once they know what the secrets are.

And the second thing that we really need to get clear at the outset is that no one can really read anyone's mind. That's a fact. Mind-reading is a magic trick just like any other magic trick and the techniques used in mind reading are essentially the same as those used in any other form of magic trick. Namely, sleight-of-hand, misdirection, gimmicks, stooges and so on. There are no psychic powers. Anyone who claims to genuinely read minds or have psychic abilities is either a liar or deluded. Mind reading or 'mentalism' as it is popularly known is simply a 'performance persona' for these tricks.

It might seem almost mystical in its effects - and you certainly want it to if you're performing it - but it is just a series of clever psychological techniques and close observations of behaviour and, in all honesty, some simple gimmicks and tricks that have nothing to do with psychology at all, that enable a mentalist to create the illusion of psychic powers.

It is little wonder that all the mind-readers and mentalists that I have ever heard of or met (apart from that wicked phoney Uri Geller - one of the worst magicians I've ever seen) are all debunkers of 'psychism' and the miraculous. Why? Because they know how it's done! Think of James Randi, Penn and Teller and Derren Brown, for example. The truth is that only the most despicable low-life would stoop so low as to take advantage of people's trust and misfortune for their personal profit. Witness any number of TV 'psychics' for examples of this. Okay, rant over. So we know we're dealing with a performance art, not a mystical one and it's just for honest fun, not for taking advantage of the gullible.

So what are these secrets that enable mentalists to apparently understand your secret thoughts, read your mind and even control what you are thinking?

There are three aspects to mental magic: gimmicks, sleight-of-hand and misdirection. I'm afraid that's it. Antone who was looking for psychological secrets for manipulating people thoughts; time to laugh at yourself for being so taken in! The techniques of mentalism are the same as all other magic tricks. Any bluff about NLP and other such stuff is all just part of the act.

So, get some mind-reading tricks tutorials and learn these tricks (video tutorials are an excellent way to get started) and bear in mind these tips for performing mind reading tricks:

1) There's no need for a huge repertoire: 5 decent tricks is plenty. Just choose five good tricks and learn them to perfection.

2) Know Your Character - Mind reading involves a,lot more bluff and misdirection than most magical disciplines because it play-acts at mystical powers; having a strong magical persona or character part can often really help induce the right atmosphere and sense of credulity.

3) Tell a Good Story - This has nothing to do with once upon a time but everything to do with leading your audience up the proverbial garden path! Every mind-reading trick has to have its story, its false premise. It could be that you claim 'conversation with the spirits' or maybe 'focussing mental energy' or as is more acceptable these days (because its pseudo-scientific language sounds more plausible to a modern audience) 'clever psychology' 'muscle reading' or 'neurolinguistic programming'. Whatever nonsense it is, know what it is, beef it up and stick to it. Under that cover, you can switch cards, check the mirror, get the signal from the stooge etc.

4) Only Do It If You Know How- Mind-reading is once again very popular and everyone wants to get on the band wagon. There's plenty of room aboard, just make sure that you know what you're doing. If you don't get the story right, the bluff, well then it's going to look just like any other magic trick (...because it is). It's all in the act.

5) Practice - This follows on from the last tip and is always true: you cannot do enough practice and many professional magicians will tell you that they don't feel happy with a trick until they've performed it hundreds of times!

That said; if you don't want or need to go into that kind of depth, there are other options to get started. There are some cool mind reading and mentalist routines that are powerful and effective and will work just a little practice if you get a good tutorial. Things like spoon-bends, card predictions and 'book test' tricks are excellent places to start. Nothing helps like a good visual demonstration and explanation. That's why increasingly I recommend video downloads as a trick-by-trick method for learning magic. You can see and hear what's going on and get a real handle on the presentation and routine rather than just the trick. You can also rewind, pause and so on as often as you like. If this is an option that interests you, then you might like: Mindbender Book Test, Thought Transmission and Emotion as tricks to get started. These and more are all available from the Video Tutorials page of The Magic Tricks Homepage.

I'm sure you'll find these tips for performing magic tricks useful and if you get yourself some video tutorials you'll be off to a great start. I have to say, that mind-reading really is one of the most enjoyable kinds of magic trick to perform. Enjoy it!

Austin Hackney is a performing magician, entertainer, theatre practioner and writer of many years standing, always keen to share his experience and encourage the novice. His website, The Magic Tricks Homepage is a great free resource for magic tutorials, articles, visual guides, eBooks and more. If you want to learn magic well, not just a huge number of tricks but solid performance skills, the site is well worth a visit. You can download magic video tutorials here which is a great way of learning and building a repertoire.

View the original article here

Using a Phone Patch in Your Voice Over Home Recording Studio

 How will a Phone Patch enhance your voice over job opportunities?

The latest trend in voice overs is to have your own home studio. This allows you to work from home and to accept work from anyone in the world. Often the scripts are sent to you via email and you interpret the script, record it, and return the finished files to the client. However this process requires that you fully understand the requirements of your client so that you can direct your own performance. But what if the clients wants to listen in and direct you as you record? This adds another layer of complexity to your studio setup so you can supply this capability with your studio gear. An easy and inexpensive way of doing this is with a Phone Patch.

A Phone Patch allows two way communication with the client

A Phone Patch is a electronic box that allows you to connect your mixer or digital audio interface to standard telephone lines. When you talk into your microphone the mic signal is routed to the telephone as if you are speaking into a telephone receiver. And when the client speaks, their voice is routed into your headphones. Also, when properly set up, you can play back recorded tracks for the client and they can hear that as well. Overall the experience feels like you're in a studio with the client in the control room speaking over the "talkback" mic.

Allowing instant adjustment and correction of your performance gives you a much higher probability that the client will be satisfied with the end results. This reduces the need for retakes or pickups at a later date and makes the entire recording process more efficient and quicker.

You should add Phone Patch capability to your studio

Today's voice over market includes online casting. This gives you the opportunity to perform for clients all over the world. And you want these clients to feel as comfortable hiring you as the talent who lives down the street. Directing with a phone patch session will make them feel just like they're in the next room. They will experience your personality. They'll be able to judge your response to direction. You can solve pronunciation questions immediately. You can even chat about the weather or the Yankees chances this year. Remember building rapport with the client is an important part of voice over marketing. We all want to work with someone we like.

Analog and digital hybrids

The actual box that you buy to create a phone patch system is called a "hybrid." There are two types. The older version is analog and passive, meaning it doesn't require a power supply. The newer versions are digital and need power to operate. There are two benefits to the digital version. One is much greater separation of incoming signal from the outgoing signal. A regular phone needs to lower the incoming voice so it doesn't feedback into the outgoing signal. Callers don't want to hear their own voice coming back or worse a loud feedback whine. A digital hybrid can lower (attenuate) the signal by 50 dB. The second advantage is, since the unit is powered, you can supply gain to the signals. That means if you can't hear them or they can't hear you, you can turn the volume up. The analog hybrid does mix a bit of the two signals together but still provides 20dB of attenuation. And usually the phone signals are adequate so yo don't have to turn anything up. Also if you're using a mixer you can supply some gain with the mixer.

Hooking it all up

I can't go into specifics for each piece of hardware and recording software but you will need a mixing board or a separate audio interface to hook up the hybrid. Most of the audio interfaces have "virtual" mixing capabilities which you can access from your recording software. So here's the secret to hooking it up.

The hybrid has a phone connector--the typical "phone jack"-- on the back to plug the phone line into. (You can also plug a regular phone into an additional jack so you can use the phone line as a regular phone.)

The hybrid also has a "line in" connector to which you supply signals that you want to go down the telephone line to the client. And it has a "line out" connector which supplies your mixer with the telephone signal from the caller.

There are five different signals that you will have in a typical session:

1. Your Microphone in--plugged into the mixer providing your voice to the recording software and to the clients telephone
2. The Playback Tracks in--routed into the mixer so you can play back the recorded tracks and hear them in your headphones and have the client hear them on their phone.
3. The client's voice in--coming from the telephone line via the hybrid's "line out" into the mixer.
4.The signal out of the mixer to your headphones
5. The signal out of the mixer back via the hybrid's "line in" to the client's phone for them to hear.

To achieve this you need to create a "mix" of signals for your headphones and a "mix minus one" signal that goes out to the telephone as follows:

Mix of inputs to you headphones:

1. Your Microphone
2. The Playback
3. The Client's voice on the phone

Mix of inputs to the telephone via the hybrid.

1. Your Microphone
2. The Playback

Exactly how you do this is specific to your hardware and software but this gives you the outline of what you're trying to achieve. The important point to note is you DON'T want the clients voice going back out to the telephone (hence the "minus one".) This will create the dreaded feedback loop.

I've been doing mixing for years and this still makes me scratch my head. It's best to write it down and diagram it on a piece of paper. And save the paper so you don't have to decipher it again at a later date!

If you don't have an audio interface or mixer--other phone patch alternatives

Suppose you have a really simple recording system. Just your trusty USB mic and your laptop. Without the mixer or interface you cant use the telephone hybrid but there are other alternatives that can work almost as well. Remember the goal is for the client to hear you when you talk and for you to hear the client give direction. Here are some other ways to do this.

A wireless portable phone and a headset. I used this for years. The portable phone is connected to your landline (or VoIP phone such as a cable phone, Vonage, or even the remarkable MagicJack.) You then plug a headset into the receiver and clip it to your belt. Put the headset on and put your headphones over it. Voila! The client can hear you talk and you can hear them direct.

The same set-up with a cell phone. Simpler cell phones have a headset jack. Newer phones may need an adapter to use a headset but the principle is the same. A similar result can be achieved with a bluetooth hands-free device but I think the audio quality really degrades between the bluetooth and the cell phone.

You can use Skype. Skype is like an internet phone. It's free for Skype-to-Skype calls but there may be a charge for phone-to-Skype. With a little time spent in the "preferences" you can have Skype recognize your microphone as the input device and your headphones as the output.

These alternatives all provide the two-way communication you need for a successful voice over session. The only drawback is you can't directly PLAY BACK the track if the client would like to hear it. I used to worry about this but, believe it or not, I've never had a client ask for a playback!

You should have phone patch capability in your voice over studio

Phone patch capability enhances your voice over service. Being directed in a session can speed up the session, provide a more acceptable read, demonstrate you ability to take direction and reduce the need for picks and retakes at a later date. It will also be required for the more sophisticated--and lucrative--jobs. So use one of these methods to add this to your studio and kick your voice over service up to a higher level.

If you live in the Los Angeles area you should look into my live Voice Over Classes. For those who live in other ares I also offer Online Voice Over Classes which offer the same quality of instruction in a modular, online format

William Williams is a voice over talent, instructor and coach located in Burbank near Los Angeles California. With experience as a marketing director, commercial and animation producer and voice over talent he knows what's required for excellence on "both sides of the glass." For 25 years he has been the owner and operator of Aliso Creek Productions, a full service audio production company specializing in radio, TV, and industrial audio, and voice over instruction and coaching. William has produced or performed in hundreds of commercials, videos and animation projects.

View the original article here

Using ISDN in Your Voice Over Home Recording Studio

Will ISDN enhance your voice over job opportunities?

The latest trend in voice overs is to have your own home studio. This allows you to work from home and to accept work from anyone in the world. Often the scripts are sent to you via email and you interpret the script, record it, and return the finished files to the client. However this process requires that you fully understand the requirements of your client so that you can direct your own performance. But what if the clients wants to listen in and direct you as you record? This adds another layer of complexity to your studio setup so you can supply this capability with your studio gear. This need can be met with an ISDN connection.

The grandaddy of remote monitoring (listening in, commenting and recording from a distant location) is the ISDN connection. ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network and it provides a constant direct digital connection over telephone lines to a remote studio.

ISDN has two major advantages.

ISDN allows you to send high fidelity (20-20kHz) audio signals from your studio to the remote studio. This allows you to speak into your microphone while the remote studio receives your signal at high quality in their studio. The producer, director and engineer can hear your performance clearly on their monitor speakers as though you were in the other room, so they can hear the subtlety of your performance and catch any stumbles in your performance. More importantly, since the signal is high fidelity, it can be recorded on the remote studio's recording equipment and used immediately. Back in the day, this eliminated the need to send tapes recorded at your studio via overnight express in order to deliver your performance to the distant studio.

The director can also speak to you over a phone quality line to give you performance notes and you hear this direction in your headphones as if s/he were in the control room next door. You can speak back to the director through your mic.

So ISDN has two benefits: High fidelity sound quality for remote monitoring and recording. And real-time delivery through the ability to record this high fidelity sound in the remote location.

So why shouldn't all voice over talents run right out and get ISDN?

One issue is cost. ISDN can cost several hundred dollars to install and set up and there is also a monthly charge for the line of about $60.00. You also need an ISDN CODEC. This is a box that receives the analog signal from your mixing board and converts it to the digital signals that are sent over the ISDN line. This codec can cost around $5000.00. So unless you're doing enough high-end jobs that require ISDN you may never recoup your investment.

And remember, the receiving studio needs an ISDN line and codec as well. It is useless to supply ISDN service to your client if they don't have access to an ISDN studio on their end. Renting an ISDN studio can cost up to $250.00 an hour.

Also, as broadband internet becomes universal, the recording process is changing. You now record your jobs as digital files, not a 1/4 inch tape. So the second and more important benefit of ISDN--real-time remote delivery--has disappeared. You can now record your work in high fidelity on your computer and upload those files to a client's server in a matter of minutes.

ISDN allows two way communication with a remote voice director.

ISDN still does allow two way communication with a voice director in a remote studio. But this communication can also be achieved with the use of a PHONE PATCH, which is a much simpler and more universal means of communication with the client for simply receiving direction. However a phone patch transmits and receives telephone quality audio which is not high fidelity. You should pay close attention to your own recordings and performance to assure they are high quality and to catch mistakes that the client might not hear over the phone.

I have found that ISDN is requested mostly by "media" companies. Companies that produce movie trailers or TV promos, or companies that produce material for broadcast--live interviews, syndicated programs and so forth. Perhaps in the future, casting companies and voice over agents may require it but many of them haven't caught up with the new world of talent with home studios.

The moral of the ISDN story

So what's the moral of the story? Hold off on installing ISDN capability until a pressing need--and the corresponding ability to pay for it-- arises. For now, stick to a phone patch.

If you live in the Los Angeles area you should look into my live Voice Over Classes. For those who live in other ares I also offer Online Voice Over Classes which offer the same quality of instruction in a modular, online format

William Williams is a voice over talent, instructor and coach located in Burbank near Los Angeles California. With experience as a marketing director, commercial and animation producer and voice over talent he knows what's required for excellence on "both sides of the glass." For 25 years he has been the owner and operator of Aliso Creek Productions, a full service audio production company specializing in radio, TV, and industrial audio, and voice over instruction and coaching. William has produced or performed in hundreds of commercials, videos and animation projects.

View the original article here

Using "Delete" and "Silence" Audacity Edit Commands for Voice Over Recording

Today's voice over talent is required to have their own home studio. And along with the equipment required, you need recording software to actually record sounds to your computer as digital files. One software program I recommend that works just fine for voice over recording is Audacity. In a job where you're rarely doing more than recording one track of audio it is more than adequate for auditions and jobs. Along with the basic skills of recording, playing back and exporting your audio, you find very quickly that you need some basic editing skills to clean up your performances and finalize your tracks before export. Here are two editing commands that can speed up your production and improve your final product.

The "Delete" and "Silence" editing commands

There are two editing commands in Audacity that you'll find very useful. They are "Delete" and "Silence". You'll find them under the "Edit" heading in the top toolbar. Here's how you use them and some useful applications.

You use these commands by first highlighting the section of your recording that you want to edit. You highlight a section by placing the cursor at the beginning of the required section and "clicking and dragging" to the end of the desired selection. (Click and hold down the click button while you drag the cursor along the soundwave to the end.) If you've done word processing you should be familiar with selecting text this way. By the way you can unselect by clicking anywhere on the waveform. To make sure that you've selected only the sound you want, you can press the play button or the spacebar. Audacity will play only the highlighted sound.

Selecting the editing commands

Now you're ready to select an edit. Let's look at what each command does. "Delete" does what it says--it eliminates the section of audio you have just highlighted and pulls the recording together at that point. Just as in word processing if you Delete a highlighted sentence it disappears and the text below is pulled up.

"Silence" works differently. When you select Silence, the audio that is highlighted is replaced by digital silence but the space where the audio had been remains the same.

In the old world of tape, Delete would be similar to cutting out the section of tape you don't want and pulling the two ends together and splicing them. Silence would be equivalent to erasing that section of tape but leaving the blank erased tape in place.

So to perform and edit you highlight the sound you want to edit, hit the space bar to hear that your selection is, in fact, what you intended, and then select Delete or Silence from the Edit menu. Very quickly you'll realize that this goes much faster if you learn the keyboard shortcuts for these commands. They are Ctrl-K (Command-K on Macs) for Delete and Ctrl-L (Command-L on Macs). (I use Kill and siLence as mnemonics.)

So what are the real-world applications for these commands?

First we'll look at Delete. Imagine you're recording a short script and you stumble on a sentence. You wait a couple seconds and repeat ("pick up") the sentence perfectly and continue to the end of the read. You play it back and hear the bad sentence followed by the good sentence. Here's how to fix it. Highlight the bad sentence from its exact beginning to the exact beginning of the good sentence. Hit the space bar to hear that your selection is accurate. Now select Edit >> Delete from the toolbar or push Ctrl-K (Command-K on Macs) and the bad sentence will vanish as the good sentence is pulled up to replace it.

OK, let's look at Silence. This is useful for eliminating breaths. If you look carefully at the waveform of your performance you see small ovals of sound after phrases or sentences. If you highlight one of these ovals and play it you'll hear that it's most likely a breath. There's always a tiny space around the breath oval because you breath out to talk and you breath in to take a breath. Then you breath out to continue talking. So locate a breath on the waveform--look for the oval at the end of a sentence--and highlight the breath. Once again always hit the spacebar to assure you've selected what you intended to select. Now select Edit >> Silence from the toolbar or push Ctrl-L (Command-L on Macs) and the breath will be replaced with silence but the spacing will remain. (Note that if you used Delete the two sentence would be pulled together which would sound very unnatural.)

Practice and perfect your editing to speed up your auditions and your jobs

These techniques are useful for cleaning up auditions and for supplying "finished tracks" if your client requires that in a job. Learning to do these edits takes some practice but it's like knitting: if you practice, it will become so natural you can do it without thinking. Give it a try and soon you'll be Deleting and Silencing like Joe Pesci in Good Fellas!

If you live in the Los Angeles area you should look into my live Voice Over Classes. For those who live in other ares I also have Online Voice Over Classes which offer the same quality of instruction in a modular, online format

William Williams is a voice over talent, instructor and coach located in Burbank near Los Angeles California. With experience as a marketing director, commercial and animation producer and voice over talent he knows what's required for excellence on "both sides of the glass." For 25 years he has been the owner and operator of Aliso Creek Productions, a full service audio production company specializing in radio, TV, and industrial audio, and voice over instruction and coaching. William has produced or performed in hundreds of commercials, videos and animation projects.

View the original article here

Salsa Dance Instruction DVD - How To Never Fall Off Rhythm

Were you born with two left feet? Or are you a person that just can't seem to understand rhythm and dance on the right beat? Well have no fear because I am here to help you. And all you have to do is follow my simple instructions exactly how I say and you will never miss a beat again!

First of all lets start with why you may be falling off rhythm. Do you have any understanding of music? If so then great, If not this might be why you cant seem to stay on beat. So if your not familiar with music, then here's a quick summary about salsa music you always count in 8's. For example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, that is what we call an 8 count.

But the tricky thing about salsa which you may not know is that you usually never ever dance on 4 or 8. So for example you would dance on count 1, 2, 3 and pause on count 4, and dance on count 5, 6, 7 and pause on count 8. This is a major principle of salsa dancing and if you don't understand it then this could really effect you dancing on the rhythm.

So lets say you have mastered the basic counting principle. Great. Now I have another trick for you to see if you really understand rhythm. First I want you to play a salsa song, any song. While you play this song close your eyes and listen to the music with your ears. What I want you to do is count out loud to the rhythm of the song. So as the song is playing you will count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and again 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, until the song has finished.

Next I want to repeat the same thing, so play a song, close your eyes, and now I want you to do the basic 3 step move with your eyes closed while you listen to the music. Now please make sure that there are no sharp object around that can hurt you, the basic 3 step move should take you anywhere, you should be dancing in one place.

When you dance you must feel the music and for some people their environment can distract them and thats' what makes people fall off rhythm. So again understand the song and the counts of the song. Then play the song and count the beats out loud. After wards repeat the same counting out loud and dance at the same time.

You can do it I know you can just follow my simple steps and you will be on your way to never missing a beat. If you want even more info go to learning2dancesalsa.com to see what is the best salsa dance instruction DVD for you!

View the original article here

Salsa Lesson DVD - Mind Tricks To Perfect Your Confidence

Do you want to know all the hidden secrets that the professionals keep to themselves? Do you want to know how to perform and be as confident as the stars are? Well here it is I am going to tell you all of our deepest darkest secrets to make you a star. I will unleash tools you can use to help you perform just like the pro's do and all you have to do is just keep on reading.

First let me start off by saying that professionals are talented dancers, but their are many tricks that get them to look and dance the way they do. Have you ever wondered why professional dancers are so confident? Well I have and I found out a little secret. First of all, They don't practice their routines with their body every time. What? Yes the professionals are taught to not only practice their routines with their body's but also with their minds.

You see dance is not only physical, it is a mental art as well. When you dance you must make sure that you really know the dance your going to perform. So one way a pro memorizes their routine is by doing the dance over and over in their head. So lets say you want to try this. First you should play the music you are dancing to. Then you should sit down and go over every step in your head as if you were dancing. After write down where you got stuck,write down where you forgot a move, write down everything! By doing this you will know where you messed up in your dance and then you can fix it, which will get you to dance perfect every time.

It's so simple but it really works because the mind is such a powerful tool and if you use it right you can be on your way to dancing just like the pro's do.

Now on to the next hidden secret. This one should be used after you have mastered my first trick I wrote about. I hope your ready for this. Well here it goes you should always record yourself dancing before a performance. This is so important because you can really see what you look like and where you can improve on. No one is perfect so I can guarantee that you will find something that you can make better. Even if it is pointing a foot, or smiling more. Their is always something you can do to make your performance the best it can be.

These are just so of the many hidden secrets that I have that can really get you to dance just like the pro's do. If you want to find out more tricks that I know that will blow your mind just go to learning2dancesalsa.com and I'll even tell you about the best Salsa Lesson DVD that's out right now!

View the original article here