Salsa in Medellin & an etiquette question

morphus says on Jan 25, 2006, 10:58:

Forget Colombia for salsa dancing. You're better off going to Cuba or Dominican Republic.

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bjorn says on Jan 25, 2006, 11:37:

lots of girls know salsa in Colombia........... so I disagree with morphus. Although Cuba or Dominican could be better, I would not know. However, I would be careful to invite a girl sitting with her novio to dance. I believe you may be hurting the latin machismo if you don't take care og may, if really unlucky, end up with a blue eye ( I have experienced this, not i Col, but in Spain)

The good thing,however usually there's so many single women in Col you don't have to tempt youir fait by asking to dance with someones girlfriend. Just find youself a lot of women sitting toghether without men, very common in Co

Bjorn

Bjorn

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utopiacowboy says on Jan 25, 2006, 11:44:

The old saying is "dance with the one that brung ya" and that seems to be the rule in Colombia. My wife was scandalized to think that a man here would ask her to dance knowing that she had a husband or boy friend. She said that in Colombia only unaccompanied women would be asked to dance. I know at my wedding reception any man who wanted to dance with my wife approached me and asked for my permission first.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Brians says on Jan 25, 2006, 17:59:

Nicejean I know what you mean. My wife is from Medellin and we are both Advanced Salsa dancers. We go to a lot of Puerto Rican Salsa Parties here in Philadelphia (No real Colombian Salsa Places here). Anyway the rule has always been "If asked to dance always accept even if it is the worst dance of your life". Just considered rude to turn someone down and I agree. If people dance Salsa for real they realize it is not a come on. Anyway what happens at the first party my wife goes to with me. She turns someone down right in front of me. Jaws around us dropped. I then covered up and told the guy we were actually just getting ready to dance and she is available the next song. He said OK. I explained to her to always accept. She is still not comfortable with it but I know this custom is not followed in Colombia. I would suggest in Colombia just dance with the single girls and don't test fate:)

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morphus says on Jan 25, 2006, 20:35:

Try this! It looks fun
Cow Try this! It looks fun
Cow Conga

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utopiacowboy says on Jan 25, 2006, 21:20:

We usually go out dancing once a month just the two of us to clubs in San Antonio. We are quite content to dance only with each other.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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morphus says on Jan 25, 2006, 21:25:

I only like dirty dancing with lots of ass grabbing and crotch rubbing. It would'nt make sense for meto dance with another guy's woman.

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cgs242 says on Jan 26, 2006, 05:09:

Salsa Sorry, I can't answer your question on the Medellin salsa club scene, but..

I am an intermediate level salsero having taken many classes in Miami.
Let me tell you that in Colombia, the style of salsa they dance is a little different than NY style or Casino style.

Cali, not Medellin, is the capital of salsa in Colombia. I was in Cali a couple months ago and can attest to the fact that the Calenas and calenos really love listening and dancing to salsa music.

In Cali, there are many radio stations and nightclubs that cater to the salsero. There are also many salsa schools in Cali as compared to other parts of Colombia. There are many famous salsa bands that have come from Cali.

check out this salsa web page which has info on the scene in Cali:
http://www.salsapower.com/cities/colombia_cali.htm

according to this other webpage, barranquilla has many clubs to dance salsa in:

http://cityguides.salsaweb.com/colombia/colombia.htm

Brians does make a good point in the fact that serious salsa dancers know that a guy dancing with a woman has nothing to do with "hooking up". They dance merely for the fun and dancing.

On the other hand, an innocent non-salsero in the clubs might perceive a guy asking women to dance as the guy trying to "put the moves on a woman". That is where you might run into problems and the guys might get offended.

Be careful who you approach and stick to approaching the single ladies becuase most of the demographics of people in a nightclub are the casual non salsero type where you might get into an altercation.

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ColombiaBoard says on Jan 26, 2006, 07:48:

SALSA CLUBS IN MEDELLIN Most of the salsa clubs in Medellin are located along Avenida La 70 close to the Estadio Metro station. They're all small bars/clubs, on any friday and saturday you'll hear the music blaring from inside.

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BigO says on Jan 26, 2006, 08:45:

There are a couple of Salsa spots I Recommend a place located at the "rompoi" de la Aguacatala. The name escapes me but it is located on the mid level of the round-point. There are actually like 3 different little spots here. 1 is the salsa spot I'm talking about, the other 2 are tropical music spots.

The other spot is located on la avenida 33 like 2 blocks west of la 80 on a corner of la 33. I'm sorry but the name escapes me as well. At this spot it's ladies night on Thursdays and we all know what that means. Yeah, plenty of women on their own looking to dance Salsita.

I'm going to try to get the names and post them.

And besides the ones I mentioned there are plenty more.

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CuriosJoe says on Jan 26, 2006, 11:03:

It doesn't seem in Colombia there is a social salsa movement with workshopss/classes, socials, international congress like the ones that exist in the civilized world. I've been pretty much all over latin america (except Cuba) and seen very little salsa other than a lot of hugging and basic "homegrown" body moves. Different story in US, Europe, Asia where there are tens of thousands of dancers who actually practice several times a week. The closest to that I've seen was in Argentina. I can't wait to go to Cali though: I heard they have a distinct style that differs from the LA (on-1),NY(on-2), and Miami(Cuban) styles of dance. Is it called a 3 step or something?-please correct me if I am wrong.

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morphus says on Jan 27, 2006, 10:38:

In Colombia, there are'nt too many single women going out alone to dance. Maybe they don't have the money to spend. In Cuba and DR the girls will stand in front of the disco and wait for someone to bring them in.

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