SalsaEurope.com

Jose Barroso: Dances of the Orisha

Plenty of material in this DVD, no time wasted in chit-chat or purposeless decorations, just 70 full minutes of dancing and music. The instructor takes you along a journey from the Nigerian roots of Afro-Caribbean dance to the better known rumba styles of Yambu, Guaguanco and Columbia, always accompanied by live percussions and chanting. For each dance the steps are first shown at a slow pace with vocal counting over the clave and then demonstrated with a richer percussion ensemble. You should be aware that no actual instruction is included, you can understand the counting and the steps, but the working out of the details is something you have to do yourself. But, really, this is no excuse for not trying, for just when you may think that your genes could be too ‘white’ to execute such movements, a few students, including a western woman and an Asian guy, show you that is not the case.. a very timely and useful addition to the demonstrations. The gem comes towards the end, with three outstanding demonstrations of solo and couples rumba. The dancers are very good (the instructor and his rumba partner are outstanding) and so are the musicians and the students. A worthwhile addition to your collection, at least to learn about the origins of salsa.

Review by Fabio (SalsaIsGood)
DVD available through www.salsa-videos.com