Salsa Dancing with Matthew David Parker

You have been longing to learn salsa dancing.  Matthew David Parker, a salsa dance instructor, tells more about this sexy and seductive dance.

Salsa Styles
There are two major categories of salsa styles. Those that mainly use forward and backward movements done in a straight line (linear style), and those where the dancers circle each other during movements, also called circular style. Both styles use the mambo step as a foundation for the moves.

Linear Styles

Los Angeles Style
Los Angeles Style is very flashy using very linear moves with many flips and dips. The dance is more sensual and the dancers more synchronized. It is mainly done in display dancing. The dancers break on the ‘1’

New York Style
This style is also called the mambo style. This style allows for more individual display. It has more footwork, rib cage movement, body waves, shines, and shimmying. Dancers break on the ‘2’ it was popularized by Eddie Torres.

Puerto Rican Style
This style has very technical footwork. The style is more popular in the East Coast where more Puerto Rican Migrants settled. 

Circular Styles

Miami Style
This style is also known as the Classico Cubano or Casino style. There are numerous arm hooks known as ganchos.  The dancers make taps in between steps, such that the dance is characteristic of the tap and step. 

Cuban Style
Dancers in Cuban style display more individual moves. It is more of a non-partner dance. The female partner is more restricted but is able to vary her movements with the percussive beat.  It is tougher for new leaners but is becoming more popular.

Rueda
This is a group dance. The dancers follow a leader who dictates pace and movement.

Matthew David Parker says dancers are only limited by their creativity in salsa dancing. There is so much experimentation to be done in moves and pace.

Matthew David Parker - How Salsa Keeps You Fit

Are you looking for a way to combine fun and fitness? Salsa dancing to keep fit is a good way to combine these two needs. It is well known that the best dancers also have some of the most attractive figures. Matthew David Parker, who owns a salsa dance studio in Lafayette, Louisiana, explains some benefits of learning this beautiful dance.

Better movement- A Salsa dance uses different movements that involve weight shifting, small kicks, and tapping.  The muscles in the lower limbs do most of the execution of these movements. The upper body must remain level during movement which commands better core movement and conditioning. The dancer also develops better motor skills by mastering forward-backward movements, and turns.

Weight loss –It takes 3500 calories to burn 1 pound of fat. An average of 1 pound of weight per week can be lost if you put in around 2 hours of dancing daily. Dancing firms up your muscles by development of more muscle.

Cardio endurance – more hours dancing means more exercise for the heart and lungs.

Natural high – you will induce a natural high with the release of the hormone dopamine, which is a “feel good” hormone.

Higher sex appeal – improved confidence, better-toned muscles and the ability to execute dance moves will generally make you more attractive.

Matthew David Parker says learning salsa can see you reaping health and body image benefits in a relatively short time. It is the perfect hobby; letting you learn something useful and have fun.

Matthew David Parker’s Insight On What Is Required To Perform Salsa Dance Moves

Salsa is basically a rhythmic Latin dance that originated from New York City with mixture of Cuban and Latin culture. Usually, salsa dancers move their hips, feet and even hands to the beat of the music. According to Matthew David Parker, who is an experienced salsa instructor in Louisiana, there are certain things you must do to perfectly dance salsa:

Learn how to count the music
The first and most important thing to do when it comes to salsa music is learning how to listen to the beat and count the beats. All music genres have beats or some sort of rhythm. Music has a specific number of beats per measure. Usually music beats can be counted in 1,2,3,4 up to 6. However, in salsa there are four beats per measure. In order to know how to count the salsa beats, try clapping to the rhythm while at the same time counting for 1 to 8.

Be flexible
Flexibility is something every salsa dancer or someone who wants to learn how to dance salsa should have. You need to be flexible enough to perform the simple basic steps and moves involved in salsa dance.

Coordination
Salsa is all about coordination. Your arms, hips, feet and upper body need to perfectly coordinate with each other for you to make salsa dance moves. When doing the feet movements, each foot has to coordinate with each other

Pay attention 
When beginning to learn salsa dance, you must be very attentive to what you are being told by your instructor. It is important to point out that without an experienced salsa instructor like Matthew David Parker, mastering salsa dance moves will not be easy and you might take days and even months to learn a single dance move.

Matthew David Parker Looks Into Causes of Weight Gain And How To Maintain a Healthy Weight

Matthew David Parker is a family man, a successful business person and a popular salsa dance instructor. He owns Lafayette Dance Studio in Louisiana where he teaches people how to dance salsa and even become professionals in the dance. He understand how important being fit is to most salsa dancers and knows the reasons why some people tend to gain too much weight. The following are some of the many causes for putting on weight:

Lack of sleep
Studies show that the body functions best when it is well rested. Therefore when you provide your body with sufficient sleep it rejuvenates itself and functions properly. But when you deny your body adequate sleep, it experiences physiological stress. This in turn alters the chemical composition of the body and this forces the body to store excess fat. When exhausted, you tend to consume a lot of food so as to cope with the situation but this instead leads to weight gain. 

Stress and depression
To some people stress makes them gain weight while to others it enables them to shed off some weight. Sadly, the medications usually used to manage stress and depression in most cases lead to weight gain. This means that when you are taking antidepressants you might actually gain some weight in the long run.

Inactive lifestyle
People today have resolved to certain lifestyles that can lead to weight gain for example watching TV and eating a lot of snacks as you watch and blogging. Most people enjoy spending hours watching TV and movies and during these moments a lot of junk food and energy drinks are served. These foods contain high calorie content. Instead of putting these calories into use and convert them into energy, the body converts them into fat when you are inactive. It is here that you are encouraged to even join the salsa dance class. 

Taking certain medications
There are certain drugs that are known to cause weight gain. Some of these drugs include steroids, antipsychotics, drugs for diabetes, antidepressants, heartburn drugs, anti-seizure medications and medications used to treat high blood pressure. All these drugs cause some calming effect to the body which in turn slows down your metabolism rate leading to storage of fats in the body hence weight gain.

 

Hormonal changes and pregnancy in women
Hormonal changes especially in women can cause weight gain in their middle years. During menopause most women experience weight gain simply because during her reproductive years the secretion of estrogens, which is the hormone responsible for ovulation process and menstruation, helped in increasing metabolism. 

Matthew David Parker insists that salsa dance is effective in stabilizing hormonal imbalance in women and is good for people of all ages.

Matthew David Parker’s Tips On How To Be Happier In Life

Being a person who strives to be happy in all spheres of life, Mathew David Parker, a talented salsa dance instructor and owner of Lafayette dance studio in Louisiana, does everything possible to keep himself, his family and the people around him happy. He understands the different challenges that face people in their daily lives and came up with ways on how to be happier in life as can be viewed below:

Be courageous, kind and compassionate
Life is full of challenges and setbacks but the difference is how you tackle these challenges. Courage is very important when addressing certain issues in life. Don't ever be an escapist; always tackle things as they come for you to overcome them. Be kind to others and show compassion to other people. This will give you inner peace and comfort as you continue searching for happiness in life. Help those in need if you have a chance to help, smile to a stranger and always show extra love to people around you.

Believe in yourself, be consistent and dream big
When you believe in yourself there is nothing you cannot do or achieve. Coupled with the courage and ability to take action, you will surely achieve almost everything you wish to have. Always dream big and never think of any impossibility. Staying focused and always working hard to see your dreams come true will help you in becoming happy. Be realistic, set achievable goals, be consistent and see your dreams come true.

Give and help others
Whenever you feel down, depressed or discouraged, go out and give. You can do this by being a volunteer or simply give something to someone. This should not necessarily be material item; you can give advice or give a helping hand in doing something. This will help you understand what real life is all about. It is not all about you but also about others. This will be very helpful especially in issues that concern relationships. People in relationships focus their attention on what they can gain from the other person and not what they can give to the other person. Giving will nature you into becoming someone who does not only expect good things from others but also gives things to others.

Be nicer to yourself
One thing a lot of people forget in life is that whenever you reward yourself for something you have achieved you actually motivate yourself and improve your self-esteem. According to Matthew David Parker, self-esteem is something very important it is the recipe for motivation and working hard in life. Never yield to criticism but instead view the criticism as a challenge. When you fail in achieving something, don't feel discouraged; instead learn from that failure and work hard to avoid such failures in future.

Matthew David Parker - How To Master The Salsa Dance

Salsa dancing, which is loved and thought by many to have originated in Brazil, actually originated fin New York City in the 1970s. It has a strong Latin American influence, it is sensual, lively and very exciting with simple steps that make it easy for people of all ages to perform. Mathew David Parker has for years now been teaching people how to do basic salsa dance moves and enjoy the dance. The following are steps on how to dance salsa:

Master the basics
If you want to learn how to do something, you must be ready to master the basics. These are the first important things that will help you learn and develop new skills. In salsa dancing the basics include having good body posture for the dance, knowing how to move your legs in sync with the leader, knowing how to move your hips and knowing how to count the beat in a salsa song and keeping up with the beats. These are the basics that any person who wants to learn how to salsa dance should know. 

Dance as the follower
To learn how to properly dance salsa you will need an experienced dancer to lead you through the basics. It is not easy for someone to learn this dance on his or her own; you need an experienced partner. As a follower or student, you have to do exactly what your leader tells you or shows you. It is important for you to observe and take note of all the leads your leader shows you and then move instinctively in the direction he or she pushes you. One thing you should do is try and be flexible. Avoid pulling your partner around or be rigid at one place. Follow your partner’s moves and be in line with the salsa dance. 

  

Learn basic turns and new tricks
Salsa is generally playful and it involves basic turns and choreographed moves. Due to its liveliness, this dance can be danced almost anywhere including in the club. Turning in fast paced moves is one trick that makes this dance so enjoyable. With the help of an experienced dancing partner you can learn how to do the underarm turns or the overhead turns. Once you have learned the basic turns and rotations without losing your step, it is time you learned new tricks that will make the dance more exciting. 

For better understanding on how to master the art of dancing salsa, you can check out the Lafayette salsa dance studio, which is owned by Matthew David Parker a renowned salsa dance instructor from Louisiana. With patience and regular practice you will be able to learn how to dance to the salsa beats with ease.    

What you Need to Know About Salsa Styles with Matthew David Parker

You have seen the beautiful sexy dance on TV and would like to try it right away. Yes, salsa is beautiful, sexy and seductive. Matthew David Parker takes you through what you need to know about this passionate dance.
What are the origins of salsa?
Salsa originated from moves in Caribbean dances particularly in Cuba over 100 years ago.

What are the main salsa styles?
There are two main styles of dancing with each style having variations.

• Los Angeles (LA) style – Also known as the in-line style. Couples do their movements while aligned in a straight line. This style is very good for dancing shows.
• Cuban style - Also known as the Casino style. There is no straight line. Rather, dancing couples do movements around each other with hand knots emphasized.

Which style is better?
It is best you learn both styles as you will get dance invites by partners doing the two dances on various occasions.  The Cuban style is more relaxed and casual than the LA style which is more structured to show moves.
Which style is more difficult to learn?
The LA style is more demanding for ladies as they have to learn the “lady style”, and also master fast spins. The Cuban style may look relaxed but mastering making the moves while going round your partner could take more time to master than the straight line LA style.
Are there other salsa styles?
Yes.  Other salsa styles apart from Cuban and LA styles are;

• Rueda - Rueda is wheel in Spanish. Several dancing couples form a circle around a leading dancing couple that sets the pace of the dance
• New York style – Looks like the LA style to the inexperienced eye. The difference is that the first step goes with the second bit of the rhythm instead of the first bit. 
• Colombian salsa – has very fast foot movements in the cha-cha-cha set. It is highly popular in the Colombian city of Cali also known as the Salsa capital

Some dance styles are also associated with Salsa. These include Bachata, Merengue, Kizomba, and cha-cha-cha.

How long does it take to learn?
You can learn the basics within a month or two depending on how regularly you attend dance lessons. Learning the different styles depends on how interested you are in improving your basics. With regular dancing you can be a master dancer within a year.

You can start this exciting journey at Matthew David Parker’s Lafayette dancing studio where he will have you dancing like a pro in no time.