By Benny Benassi »:
August 9, 2009
August 6, 2009
Et Dieu… créa la femme (1956) – 83/100 – This film is all about Brigitte Bardot, the salsera everyone wants, no subtitles unfortunately.
Some of my favourite actors in this movie:
Brigitte Bardot – she could turn any man into a salsa gigolo.
Brigitte dances, and then experiences some extreme salsa violence »:
Cinematography – 8/10
Story – 8/10
Pacing – 8/10
Action and Dialogue – 8/10
Impact – 8/10
Characters – 9/10
Originality – 9/10
Music – 8/10
Salsa/ Dance – 9/10
Makes you want to be a salsa gigolo – 8/10
Total – 83/100
July 30, 2009
Salsera Appreciation
Why does a salsera dance?
to just dance
to get better
to compete
to perform
to find love
If appreciation » is the highest, purest form of love, why does a salsera dance?
to appreciate herself, she just dances
to be appreciated more, she gets better
to be appreciated the most, she competes
to be appreciated by many, she performs
to be appreciated by one, she finds love
July 19, 2009
By Soraya Lamilla »:
Live version:
July 14, 2009
Gigolo Wannabe, aka Waters (Uôtâzu).
Posted by salsagigolo under YouTube, gigolo, movieLeave a Comment
Gigolo Wannabe, aka Waters (Uôtâzu) – 67/100 – Passable flick about 7 ordinary guys who find themselves by becoming gigolos in a host club, subtitles.
Some of my favourite actors in this movie:
Erika Oda – supporting role as ice queen customer.
Sayaka Yamaguchi – supporting role as petulent, cute customer.
Click through to watch on YouTube:
Cinematography – 8/10
Story – 8/10
Pacing – 8/10
Action and Dialogue – 7/10
Impact – 7/10
Characters – 7/10
Originality – 9/10
Music – 7/10
Salsa/ Dance – 1/10
Makes you want to be a salsa gigolo – 5/10
Total – 67/100
July 12, 2009
The following references are from:
by Dan Baker » and Cameron Stauth ».
I was surprised by how quickly this book engaged me, and how little New Age/ wheat-germ-shake content there is to find in this book. It’s also the first time that I’ve read about positive psychology ».
Chapter One: The Dance of Love and Fear, Page 24:
… “Contemporary fear, I’ve found, almost always fits into one of two categories: fear of not having enough and fear of not being enough. Having enough and being enough are the two factors that best ensure survival, so fears about them are rooted to the core of the neurological fear system. They’re as deep as the fear of death, and they are closely related to it.” …
… “Contemporary fear, I’ve found, almost always fits into one of two categories: fear of not having enough and fear of not being enough. Having enough and being enough are the two factors that best ensure survival, so fears about them are rooted to the core of the neurological fear system. They’re as deep as the fear of death, and they are closely related to it.” …
Chapter One: The Dance of Love and Fear, Page 24
- not having enough moves
- not having enough turn-patterns
- not being musical enough
- not being authentic enough
- not being spicy enough
These fears enter when a salsa gigolo senses that the salsera he’s dancing with is at a higher trophic level » than he is. “She’s better than me, so she must not be enjoying this dance.” More precisely, these fears enter when a salsa gigolo thinks that a salsera thinks that she’s at a higher trophic level than he is, and that he is therefore not worthy. She might not actually be thinking this, but so long as he thinks she is, he will fear. Salsera attributions ». Woe be to the salsa gigolo who is made to realize his fears by a salsera who abandons him mid-song.
The classic response to fear is to fight, take flight, or to freeze. To ‘fight’, is to grin and bear it, this feeling of inferiority. Beginner’s hell will soon be over, and then it’s all happy, right? To ‘take flight’, is to avoid salsa dancing altogether, or to avoid higher-trophic-level salseras. I have to admit that I enjoy being a bottomfeeder ». Trophic level 2.0 salseras are my favourite, because they are so easy and fun to please. To ‘freeze’, is to be on the dancefloor and forget all one’s moves and turn patterns, but in a bad way. Stuck in the basic, again.
Salsa is often compared to sex or making love, so it’s not surprising for a salsa gigolo to experience performance anxiety. The Wiki on performance anxiety » lists five main causes:
“1) I perceive or imagine the presence of significant others who are able to judge me.
2) I consider the possibility of my visible failure at a task.
3) I feel a need to do well to avoid failure.
4) I feel uncertain as to whether I will do well.
5) I focus on my own behavior and appearance.”
This book, however, offers up an antidote to fear:
Chapter Four: The Antidote to Fear, Page 81:
… “Appreciation is the highest, purest form of love. It is the type of love that can blossom even when it is not returned. It is the outward-bound, self-renewing form of love that has no dependence upon romantic attachment or family ties. People who truly appreciate feel the same about the object of their appreciation whether it is present or absent. They appreciate it even if it is, by objective standards, not worthy of their appreciation. Appreciation asks for nothing, and gives everything.” …
… “Appreciation is the highest, purest form of love. It is the type of love that can blossom even when it is not returned. It is the outward-bound, self-renewing form of love that has no dependence upon romantic attachment or family ties. People who truly appreciate feel the same about the object of their appreciation whether it is present or absent. They appreciate it even if it is, by objective standards, not worthy of their appreciation. Appreciation asks for nothing, and gives everything.” …
…”It is a fact of neurology that the brain cannot be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. The two states may alternate, but are mutually exclusive.” …
Chapter Four: The Antidote to Fear, Page 81
So to avoid feeling fear, I should try to feel appreciation. Instead of fearing the trophic level 4.0 salsera, I should appreciate her beauty, her movement, her sensuality, the essence of her salseraness. If the fear is still too overwhelming, I should try to feel appreciation for something else, anything else, to avoid feeling fear. Appreciate the weather, how nice a day it is, appreciate the dancefloor, how spacious it is, appreciate the music, how good it is. If I fear the cleavage, I should appreciate the claveage ». One thing I’ve noted is that feeling appreciation may not block feeling sadness. However, another thing I’ve noted is that dancing salsa with a trophic level 2.0 salsera makes the sadness go away.
I remember my first time going to a salsa club and being awestruck by a salsa gigolo spinning a salsera a million times. It looked so awesome that I spontaneously applauded them at the end of the song. At the time, I didn’t fear their skill — I was too busy appreciating their performance. These days, when I watch people dance, I appreciate the differences of each dancer. Some have neat moves. Some are real smooth. Some have great rhythm. Some have playful abandon. Some are courageous beginners, just like I used to be. I often wonder what these dancers will look like 2 years, 5 years from now.
Chapter Six: Power Over Feelings, Power Over Fate, Page 154:
… “People don’t often discuss values these days. In our homogeneous, media-dominated culture, there’s a blithe general assumption that almost all of us share the same basic values — or should. But that’s absurd. We’re vastly different from each other, and when we fail to act on these differences in our own lives, or fail to honor them in the lives of others, we assault the source of all personal power.” …
… “People don’t often discuss values these days. In our homogeneous, media-dominated culture, there’s a blithe general assumption that almost all of us share the same basic values — or should. But that’s absurd. We’re vastly different from each other, and when we fail to act on these differences in our own lives, or fail to honor them in the lives of others, we assault the source of all personal power.” …
Chapter Six: Power Over Feelings, Power Over Fate, Page 154
July 2, 2009
By Cécile Chabert »:
June 30, 2009
It is the season of Forbidden Salsera », and no matter how hard I try to be good, I seem constantly drawn to the forbidden fruit of their temptation. And the more forbidden, the better. Is it the having of what one should not have? The tasting of what one should not taste? Why is their fruit available to me in the first place? Why are they so fun to chase?
I must not be trying too hard to be good, but who wants good? Afterall, spicy salsa is supposed to be a little bad. I prefer the R-rated kind of connection vs. the PG-13 kind of connection. And I prefer the R-rated kind of salsera vs. the PG-13 kind of salsera. My problem, I think, is that I can never say ‘no’ when a salsera says ‘yes’, even if she is forbidden salsera.
I was re-reading some stories on Edie’s Salsa Stories » website, and came across this entertaining 10-part series describing a salsa gigolo’s progress from beginner to player to post-player:
1 » 2 » 3 » 4 » 5 » 6 » 7 » 8 » 9 » 10 »
This is followed by a Commentary », and the 2nd post in this Commentary is a very well-written response essay by Alberto. It’s a long read, but I like what he has to say.
June 24, 2009
The Wedding Date (2005) – 63/100 – Passable flick about a gigolo for hire.
Some of my favourite actors in this movie:
Dermot Mulroney – suave gigolo, who can also dance.
Debra Messing – cute client.
Amy Adams – cute and fresh sister of cute client.
Trailer:
Cinematography – 8/10
Story – 7/10
Pacing – 7/10
Action and Dialogue – 6/10
Impact – 6/10
Characters – 6/10
Originality – 8/10
Music – 8/10
Salsa/ Dance – 2/10
Makes you want to be a salsa gigolo – 5/10
Total – 63/100
June 14, 2009
Sometimes a salsera will say no when I ask her to dance, and I’ll feel like I need a hug or something to make me feel better. But sometimes a salsera will say yes, and afterwards she’ll give me a great big hug, and I’ll feel like I won the lottery.
