The "Esa Morena" Line Dance

"Esa morena" Line Dance (devised by: Charles Joseph Smith)
I adored Latin dancing because of its syncopated rhythms. Especially from the Latin hip-hop hit, "Esa morena" (DJ Laz). It has the best of both words--syncopated rhythms from Latin hip-hop as well as the merengue. This is why I choreographed a little line dance based on the famous Latin club hit that was requested a lot in the late 1990s. This line dance is especially for the chorus of the song, but it can be done during the verses and bridges too.
The whole line dance takes up 8 measures. The first 12 steps are actually syncopated side chassés--syncopated to react to the music of the song. Then a 1/4 L turn changes the steps to forward-backward motion, and then, it wouldn't be Latin dancing without hip rolls, so I added them in at the last part of the dancing. Like most line dances, this is a 4-wall dance. You start at the original wall, and you change walls on steps 25-36 every time.
1. Side LF 1 and
2. Close RF to LF first half of 2
3. Side LF and 3
4. Close RF to LF and
5. Side LF 4 and
6. Close RF to LF, no weight on RF (tap) first half on 1
7. Side RF and
8. Close LF to RF 2
9. Side RF and
10.Close LF to RF 3
11.Side RF and
12.Close LF to RF, with LF tap (weight still on RF) 4
13.Side LF 1 and
14.Close RF to LF first half of 2
15.Side LF and 3
16.Close RF to RF and
17.Side LF 4 and
18.Close RF to RF, no weight on LF (tap) first half on 1
19.Side RF and
20.Close LF to RF 2
21.Side RF and
22.Close LF to RF 3
23.Side RF and
24.Close LF to RF, with LF tap (weight still on RF) 4

Note: Turn 1/4 to the L on the next 12 steps. From step 37 onward, dance the rest of the dance facing the new wall.
25.Forward LF 1 and
26.Close forward RF to LF first half of 2
27.Forward LF and 3
28.Close forward RF to LF and
29.Forward LF 4 (and)
30.Close forward RF to LF, part weight on RF (tap) first half of 1
31.Rock forward LF in place and
32.Rock back RF in place 2
33.Rock forward LF in place and
34.Rock back RF in place 3
35.Rock back LF in place and
36.Rock back RF in place 4


Notice the syncopated counts on this last part of this line dance. And also note that the parenthesis on the counts mean you hold that count. On steps 40-43, you can accent the swivels with knees going down and up 3 times (2 and 3 and 4 and), but this is optional.

37.Roll hips from L to R (counterclockwise circle) 1 (and 2)
38.Roll hips from L to R (counterclockwise circle) and (3 and)
39.Roll hips from L to R (counterclockwise circle) 4 (and 1)
40.Swivel feet together 1/8 turn to L and
41.Swivel feet together 1/8 turn to R 2
42.Swivel feet together 1/8 turn to L 3
43.Swivel feet together 1/8 turn to R 4

Repeat dance starting from step 1.

I hope you really this new dance.....

Charles Smith choreographer

My Favorite Salsa and Merengue Songs--Short List

Charles Smith's Favorite Merengue Songs

1. Mentiroso
2. Abusadora
3. A Mover La Colita (the regular and dance-mix versions)
4. Esta Pegao
5. El Tiburon
6. La Cuca
7. Las Mujeres Que Quieran Bailar
8. Y Que Lo Que Tu Mama Se Cree?
9. Amor Fingido
10.Tu Volveras
11.Maria Se Fue
12.(La) Morena
13.Maria (dance mix version)
14.Dale Pa'lla, Dale Pa'aca
15.El Venao
16.Le Guste Mueve
17.Fiesta(Latin Spice Band version and others)
18.Que Te La Pongo
19.A Palo Con Ella
20.Una Noche Mas
21. Elena(a plena/merengue)
22.Fuiste Tu
23.La Duena del Swing
24.El Africano
25.Luna
26.Wilfrido, Dame Un Consejo
27.El Hombre Divertido
28.La Costa de la Vida

Charles Smith's Favorite Salsa Songs

1. Ahora Que Estoy Solo
2. Como Lo Hace
3. Lluvia
4. Como Podre Disimular
5. Vivir Lo Nuestro
6. Mi Tierra
7. Pa' Bravo Yo
8. Solo
9. Acabo de Llegar
10.Escuche Una Voz Latina
11.Que Humanidad
12.Bailala Pronto
13.Bailando
14.Jamas Nadie Sabra
15.Estoy Muerto de Amor
16.Ran Can Can(mambo)
17.Volver a verte(cha-cha)
18.Descarga Criolla
19.Linda Chicana(cha-cha)
20.Oye Como Va(cha-cha)
21.Bomba Carambomba(cha-cha)
22.Ven Enamorame Otra Vez
23.I Like It Like That
24.Adelante

Salsa Amaglamations in 8 Groups (Groups A to H)

Group A
1.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.Cross Body Lead(QQS, QQS)
3.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
4.Half a Basic to Lady's Vertical Outside Underarm Turn(QQS, QQS)
5.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS)
6.Half a Basic to Lady's Vertical Inside Underarm Turn(QQS, QQS)
7.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS)
Group B
1.Stationary Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.Opening out to 2-handed Open Hold, Still in Basic(QQS, QQS)
3.Lady's Sweetheart Wrap to Man's R and Walkout(QQS, QQS)
4.Lady's Sweetheart Wrap to Man's L and Walkout(QQS, QQS)
5.New York Side Breaks(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
Group C
1.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.Reverse Wheel(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
3.Fifth Side Breaks(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
4.Man's Behind-The-Back CCW Turn from Basic(QQS, QQS)
5.Lady's Vertical Outside Underarm Turn From Basic(QQS, QQS)
6.Side Cucarachas(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
7.Alternating Underarm Turns L and R, 2X (QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
Group D
1.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.Forward-Backward Basic with Rondes(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
3. The Wheel-Turn Variation no. 1--Forward Cruzado, Back Cruzado (QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
Group E
1.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.The CCW Corkscrew(QQS, QQS)
3.The CW Corkscrew(QQS, QQS)
4.Sweetheart Wrap To Reverse Hammerlock Check to Sweetheart Wrap Again(QQS, QQS, QQS)
Group F
1.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.Variation 1 or 2 of the Toe-Heel Swivels(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
3.The Wheel Turn Variation no. 2--Ronde To a Cruzado(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
Group G
1.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.Mirror Turns L and R, Lady Turning Only(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
3.Mirror Turns L and R, Both Turning(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
4.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
5.Cross-Body Lead in Closed Position, With a Turn(QQS, QQS)
6.Forward-Backward Basic(QQS, QQS or QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
7.Plies from the Basic(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
Group H
1.The Natural Wheel(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
2.The Forward-Reverse Basic(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
3.The Natural Wheel(QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS, QQS)
4.2-Handed Open Hold Cross-Body Lead(QQS, QQS)

THE LITTLE LILY OF SALSA (EL LITTLE LILY DE SALSA)

Now suppose I am living in Puerto Rico and I am asked to write a salsa music lyric completely in Spanish.

What would happen then?

The title is "The Little Lily It Will Be" (translated in English). Other Spanish words....

Líricos - lyrics

Música - music

Sonero - lead singer

Coro - chorus

I give the translations of the Spanish wherever necessary.

Líricos: Charles Joseph Smith Música: Charles Joseph Smith

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré. El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: Este nombre significa mucho más que antes;

Me hace el día mucho más feliz y mucho más famoso que Cervantes. [This name means much more than before; it makes the day much more happy and famous than Cervantes.]

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: El Little Lily tiene amore de ahí en adelante;

Esto es salsa y merengue que yo amo, y será costante.

[This name has more love from now on...this is the salsa and merengue that I love, and it will be constant.]

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: A lo largo del sonido de música latina, voy a bailar,

Y la pasión en la música me cubre en la via de mi gozar. [Along the sound of Latin music, I will dance. And the passion in the music covers me in the way of my enjoying.]

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: Mis pies me abrazan y me invocan; y mis maneras me envocan;

El Little Lily de Salsa es mi casa y mis damas ya me tocan. [My feet embrace me and invoke me; and my ways evoke me; The Little Lily of Salsa is my house and the ladies now touch me.]

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré. El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: Este nombre significa mucho más que antes;

Me hace el día mucho más feliz y mucho más famoso que Cervantes.

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: El Little Lily tiene amore de ahí en adelante;

Esto es salsa y merengue que yo amo, y será costante.

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: A lo largo del sonido de música latina, voy a bailar,

Y la pasión en la música me cubre en la via de mi gozar.

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: Mis pies me abrazan y me invocan; y mis maneras me envocan;

El Little Lily de Salsa es mi casa y mis damas ya me tocan.

Coro: El Lily seré, el Lily, el Lily, el Lily seré.

Sonero: Mis pies me abrazan y me invocan...

[Note: This part where the tension tightens up in the lead singer and chorus is known as the "pregon" (outcry) section, focusing more on the lead singer and less on the chorus....You can learn that from Marc Anthony's salsa song called "Mi cantante", or "My Song".]

Coro: El Lily seré....

Sonero: Y mis maneras me envocan.

Coro: El Lily seré....

Sonero: El Little Lily de salsa es mi casa....

Coro: El Lily seré...

Sonero: Y mis damas y me tocan.

Coro: El Lily seré.

Sonero: Mis pies me abrazan y me invocan...

Coro: El Lily seré....

Sonero: Y mis maneras me envocan.

Coro: El Lily seré....

Sonero: El Little Lily de salsa es mi casa....

Coro: El Lily seré...

Sonero: Y mis damas y me tocan.

Coro: El Lily seré.

The Necessity of the Backlead in Social Ballroom Dancing

One day, while I was at the Regent Ballroom, I was dancing the foxtrot with partner Mary Blair, and going down towards the first short side of the ballroom--at a corner. Then I saw another dance couple come near me, and she raised her shoulders and stopped my forward motion down the line of dance (LOD) for only a second. At that point, I recognized that there was a type of leading that would be important for floorcraft on the social dance floor.

What was it? The backlead.

The backlead is a type of lead, usually done by the follower(that is, at most of the time, the lady dancing with the man)to give the signal to the man that the dance floor traffic is getting worse enough for a possible collision. That is, she makes the man steer in another direction(or stop him)to try to avoid going into acolliding path with an oncoming dance couple.

Perhaps the backlead is more important for the lady to do when she and his leader do International Standard dancing more often then American Smooth dancing. This is because in the former style, the lady has her head to the left side most of the time except when the man leads her into the turns or leads her into the various promenade positions (fallaway, counter promenade, etc.). Most of the time, she is backing the LOD, so her peripheral vision will be more on her right side to see the other couples on the floor. That is why in some cases a follower backing the LOD might have the tendency to turn her head back to the left or the right little bit to look for a possibly colliding dance couple before she started the backlead on the man (or leader). This would happen to dancing ladies who are very nervous that their backs could be colliding with other people during any time of the dance. This might not happen too often to more seasoned followers in social dance who are used to the risk that they might be bumped, for they know exactly when to use that collision-saving backlead.(And if the follower dances with a leader whom she knows very, very well, she may have trust enough in the leader to not turn her head the wrong way and let the man lead through the sea of other dancers.) The man should also need to backlead as well on the social dance floor when a collision is coming because the man is still the leader and he is in charge of the whole dance.(If you have to keep your head to the left in International Standard, use your peripheral vision just like the follower would do. The reason is that the lady may not have the time to use the backlead in time, and if that happens, it is the leader(usually the man)that has to do the backlead on the follower.

There are several types of backleads:

1. The backlead towards the partner, where one dancer pushes one's partner towards the other's body.

2. The side backlead, where the leader or follower pushes the partner to the left side or the right side to avert oncoming traffic.

3. The evasive backlead, where the leader or follower pushes the partner away a considerable distance to avoid an incoming couple.

4. The 'crouch' backlead, the least strong of the other backleads, usually done by the follower, stopping the leader's forward motion and holds the leader, and at the same time, the follower crouches by raising the shoulders up to absorb a possible collision or a close-call collision.

The last thing I need to say about the backlead is if you want to use them, you better. It is safer in the middle of a dance figure to stop a possible accident by a backlead then to finish the figure without using the backlead. Both the follower and the leader will leave the dance floor happy and will love to dance with each other again when they use backleads. Over time, they will calm their fears about collisions and traffic on the dance floor, and they will enjoy social dancing a lot more.

Salsa means "sauce", and I strongly believe that this is because salsa music comes from a lot of Latin American countries--as well as Africa. It first started with the Latin big-band sound known as "mambo" thanks to groups like Perez Prado, Tito Puente and the Latin All-Stars, and even Machito in the 1950s. The added "twist" to that big-band sound that was mambo came from the big band sounds from the United States of the 1930s. The Cuban "son" started to permeate the rhythms of the early mambo as well as later salsas. This is where the "Son Montuno" was formed-- it simply means a vamping of the 3-2 or 2-3 son clave. Ironically, the Escovedo orchestra made a very cool Latin jazz hit called "Son Montuno", in a style of a cha-cha with a little Cuban flair added in. The orchestra also made a brand new twist in Latin jazz in a form called "Latin fusion." Africa's affinity to the mambo was clear. The call-and-response chants from tribes like the Yoruba, and such African drums like the "tumba", permeated the mambo's rhythm, as well as the djembe and bata rhythms (from West Africa) used in the percussion of salsa/mambo bands. This led to Club Tropicana and most of the Cuban mambo bands played there. However, their mambo music there were "rumba-mambos"--usually too fast to dance the mambo because it sounded like a soca or a funky merengue ("Mambo Caliente" from the Mambo Kings soundtrack is an example.). Therefore, slower Cuban dances were brought out; the guaracha or guajira (or cha-cha-cha), followed by the slower rumba and the bolero. But it was the cha-cha that created excitement in the evolving of salsa--and Celia Cruz (now deceased) formed La Sonora Matancera--just before she would be called "La Reina de Salsa". Then, as the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, caused a demise of that Latin music in Cuba, the mambo went to New York. Then, the 1960s was the decade of protest. From Puerto Rico, my guess is that the Boriquens heard the Cuban music and then devised a twist to it. This was how salsa became evident in Puerto Rico. The Dominican Merengue was also evident even in Puerto Rico; Puerto Rico made a twist to the merengue style in the folk forms known as plena and bomba. Plenas were used in Latin protest marches by Puerto Ricans. Later on, Puerto Rican artists like Marc Anthony caused "salsa romantica" to make a resurgence in the 1990s. And then, groups from the late 1960s and 1970s brought guaracha and several types of salsa to the United States. One of them is the "boogaloo" salsa (from ensembles like Pete Rodriguez and even Sonora Carruseles), which is like a descarga--a fast salsa. Ray Barretto came in with his "descargas" that attempted to re-enact the mambo; his "Indestructible" is a great example. The other was the "salsa romantica"--such salsa are usually laid-back versions of the mambo, with focus on the singer and romantic themes in the lyrics. Artists like Rey Ruiz and Group Niche reinforced salsa romantica in the 1980s. Fania Records, the equivalent to Dansan Records (the company that brought out ballroom music in the 1970s/1980s), had finally realized that the various Latin and African rhythms have to have one name--"salsa." Almost at the same time, the Colombians and the Mexicans in the late 1980s started to step on the salsa bandwagon. Examples included "Maria Mercedes" (Thalia) and "Oye, mire, vea" (Orquesta Guayacan). The Colombians at that point had their focus on the dance called "cumbia" (which Thalia really loved, although in Mexico they have their own cumbia). As a result, focus came on the Colombian city of Cali, where the Barranquilleros would do their shine salsa tricks, and as a result, salsa songs with the title "Cali" (e.g., "Me Voy Pa' Cali" of Oscar de Leon) was common. Colombian salsa usually have strong accents on beats "1" and "3". Cumbia groups like Sonora Dinamita were making and/or remixing songs that would be done in cumbia-salsa style (e.g., "A mover la colita", originally a merengue sung by Wilfrido Vargas). Colombia at that point was gripped in a bitter civil war, and that was partially how Celia Cruz made "La vida es un carnaval" a smashing success in later salsa music...although Cuban radio stations would not allow her to sing it. Salsa made a strong resurgence in the 1990s, and Celia Cruz added even more salsa hits to her repertoire in that decade. There is also the rise of the romantic salsa duet; "Vivir lo nuestro" of Marc Anthony and India was very popular then. By the millennium, modern romantic salsa hits (featuring some techno beats) were common, like "A Puro Dolor" of Son By 4, or "Juliana" of DLG. The Afro-Cuban All Stars came out to re-enact their songs mainly in 1950s danzon style.