Edie,
The Salsa FREAK is one of the most sought after instructor/performers
in the world. She has traveled to over 60 countries teaching
the world to dance, and has been the first American to teach
in 18 of those countries. She is currently on world tour,
taking the world by storm with her powerful dance style, precision,
and amazing speed.
Edie was recently awarded the International
Lifetime Achievement Award at the International UK Salsa Congress
in England and voted by her peers and students, Best International
Instructor at the Los Angeles Congress, British International
Salsa Festival (two years running), and Switzerland Congress
in Zurich. She was the Guest of Honor at the Curacao Salsa
Festival and the First Annual Swiss Congress. She has taken
first place in numerous dance competitions, notably the famous
Mayan competition out of Los Angeles, California, and the
International Salsa and Hustle Pro Salsa Championships in
Miami, Florida.
Edie’s passion is to share
her talents with both students and audiences throughout the
world with her teaching talents, stunning performances, instructional
DVDs, and down-to-earth Internet advice columns and stories.
Her World Famous Salsa Bootcamps
are held on weekends all over the world for those who want
to learn and Stylize their Salsa in just ONE DAY.
Twice a year, Edie hosts a four-day
dance camp called the Salsa Mambo Festival with Dance Sport
California in Palm Springs, California. It is held every New
Years Eve and last weekend in July. It is aimed primarily
at teaching people how to dance Salsa at ANY age level.
Her entire instructional DVD series
is a documented catalog of her progression as a professional
dancer with a list of stylized moves, combinations, and turn
patterns that will keep students challenged and entertained
for years to come.
Edie continues to travel to different
countries virtually every weekend, teaching and performing
throughout the world.
Well first of
all Edie, thank you so much for this interview. Reading
over your bio (above) it's amazing what you've achieved
in salsa, and these are just some of your many accomplishments.
For people here in Vancouver who may not know who Edie
the Salsa FREAK is, please tell us a little about yourself...
Well, I consider myself
a simple girl who loves to dance. I love dance and I
love life. I love what Salsa has done for me, and the
thousands of people I've taught over the years. It has
brought health, happiness, and a world of good to many
many people.
Everyone has a story
of how they started salsa, you have an entertaining
tale involving Luis Vasquez, Joby Brava and Janette
Valenzuela. The full story is on your website,
but briefly can you tell us how you got into salsa?
I was sick of home life
one evening, and decided to go to a local nightclub
for some fun. I walked in, and it turned out to be a
Salsa club! I had just turned thirty years old, and
I had never even HEARD of Salsa! Can you believe that?
Well, since that night, I started taking privates, then
group classes, then assisting the instructor, then competing,
then joining their dance team, then teaching, then writing
about it online, then being invited to teach all over
the world. I've taught in 63 countries now, and have
absolutely NO regrets. I have had an incredible life
that others only dream about. I live every day in the
magic of life, and now I teach people how to do the
same. Every day for me is a gift, and every day is a
miracle. Once in everyone's life, God gives you a fairytale,
and this is it for me.
On a more personal
level, it seems that many people are somehow driven
to salsa when they're in an unhappy relationship or
coming out of a relationship. We know this from personal
experience because it's how we both started in salsa
- and we've heard similar stories from many other people.
Sometimes salsa is the impetus that gives people the
confidence to take steps to make positive changes in
their life. And for many people it allows them to overcome
inhibitions, express themselves and release repression.
It almost seems hard to believe that salsa can be responsible
for so much - what's your take on all this?
Absolutely. Salsa
filled a void in my heart for years. I could never find "love"
- the way "I" needed it. I "thought" I
found it in various relationships - but even finding a life
partner in this dance, that danced Salsa and was SUPER into
it, didn't fill that void. Salsa is like a drug - where it
can never disappoint you, and is always there when you're
lonely - or when you're not. The combination of physical movement
and the sweet sounds of the music are hypmotizing - electrifying
- mesmorizing - and can be very addicting if you're not careful.
I've learned how to harness and handle this addiction now
- it was tough the first few years - NOTHING would stop me
from going dancing - I didn't care if the house was burning
down, I was GOING OUT dancing Salsa.
Now things are a bit different, but
I can truly say, that Salsa dancing is something that
gets in your blood, in your veins, and into your soul.
How you handle it, is in direct proportion to the problems
in your life. The more problems you have, the more addicted
you become. It's pretty amazing. It makes your problems
smaller - more manageable. It puts things in perspective.
It gets you in a positive attitude, when everything
else around you is crumbling and miserable. Once you
get that "Salsa high", you start attracting
into your life other "positive happy" things,
and the misery subsides. I've known many people who
have improved the quality of their lives when they started
dancing. They don't sweat the small stuff anymore. They
don't snap at their kids or spouse anymore. They don't
get so outrageously upset anymore. Some have even stopped
smoking, drugs, and alcohol because of Salsa dancing.
It's pretty amazing. It's a phenomenon that is difficult
to describe.
I have a famous saying I always quote: "Salsa
is like a ball of fire. If you put a box around it,
it will burn through the box. If you try to put a harness
around it, it will burn right through the harness. You
can't hold it, you can't control it... you can only
"let it be..." - Edie, The Salsa FREAK!
The salsa
scene is full of talented young twenty-something year old
dancers, but one of the best things about salsa is that it
appeals to people of all ages. The dancers who attend our
events range in age from teens to seniors (one of whom used
to dance at the Palladium back in the day!). We've seen a
video interview with you where you give kudos to people who
start dancing salsa when they're in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.
In your opinion what is it about salsa that appeals to so
many different people all over the world?
"So many different people"
have problems. Salsa makes their problems manageable, by putting
"joy" back in their lives. They stop focusing on
their problems and start focusing on Salsa steps. LOL!! It
re-focuses their attention on "possibilities" rather
than their current state of miserable affairs.
In salsa people
often say it’s not what you do but how you do
it that makes all the difference. Many advanced dancers
have mesmerizing styling but it can seem like they're
overdoing it while social dancing. What do you think
social dancing is about? Is it about interpreting the
music, about connecting with your partner, or about
looking good and showing it to the world?
Depends on where you're
at. LOL! It can be ALL THAT and more! If you're on a
commercial shoot, at a hot shot "show me what you
got" club in LA or NY, well, it's about how you
look. If you're in Cuba or at a backyard party, or a
relaxed Sunday afternoon social in Germany, it's about
connecting with your partner. If you're at a Congress
in Europe, it's about interpretting the Music and hitting
the breaks (congresses are where the elite of the elite
hang out - and only the elite of the elite know what
I'm talking about here...
Do you still enjoy
social dancing? Do you still have that initial passion
you had for social dancing when you first started?
Of course!!! Even
after fifteen years in this business, Social dancing is my
passion and love but only after God, my family, and the man
in my life of course.
For people new to salsa
dancing who want to improve their social dancing, what tips
or words of advice would you have for them?
Watch instructional DVDs before
you go to sleep at night - even if you don't practice physically
with your partner. What happens is that your brain processes
the moves systematically in a step-by-step fashion.
This not only helps
you improve your technique but will also help you REMEMBER
moves!!
I have over fifty Instructional
DVDs on the world market now. I worked with some of
the top Leads in the world so people can see what they
are doing in their lead that makes them so unique, and
feel so good. I reveal all their secrets now on my "World's
Best Leads" series. You can find them at www.DanceFreak.com
What does it take
to be a good social dancer? What makes a good leader
or a good follower?
PRACTICE!!! You need to
go out dancing as often as possible, and dance with
as many DIFFERENT people as possible - don't just stay
glued to one partner. That is a HUGE mistake when you
are trying to improve your social dancing.
That is why a lot
of ballroom dancers are horrible social dancers because they
practice so much with only one dance partner and only a set
amount of routines. The girl knows exactly what is coming
- and the guy knows exactly what the girl is going to do -
which is not good practice for true, hard core, streetwise
social dancers.
I teach lead and follow - street
style. I am also considered to be one of the best "followers"
in the world - because I have trained myself to expect...
NOTHING! I never know what to expect and simply must "react"
and SMILE the entire time.
My objective
is for my partner after the dance to say, "Holy
smokes! She followed everything I threw at her and didn't
flinch! Wow!" I want to be the best follower in
the world - so being a strong woman, I had to train
myself to submit, obey, and relax into his lead. Trust
me, this was NOT EASY at first, but I learned that when
I do this, the relationship becomes so much more relaxed
and at ease. My man becomes more confident in his lead
and the "possibilities", and I feel more like
a "woman" believe it or not.
And what words of
advice would you have for dancers interested in making
the transition to performing?
PRACTICE!!! Get ready for
some brutality! Get ready for a LOT of giving for NOTHING
in return! LOL!!
No, really, performing is awesome.
I've had some pretty incredible dance partners over the years,
and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's incredible "character-building"
experience, and you'll know when you're a true hard core performer
once you've cried a few times - both tears of pain and of
joy. It's an experience everyone should try. There is nothing
that will give you more joy, and nothing that will give you
more pain - I guarantee it.
At the Seattle Salsa Congress
you're teaching one of your famous Salsa Bootcamps for beginners.
That sounds like a great opportunity for anyone new to salsa
to learn from one of the world's best instructors in a very
special environment. What can bootcamp participants expect?
OMG....EVERYTHING!!! We had a
BLAST last year!!! SSSSSSssssoooooo many people came up to
me and said the energy in the room was electrifying all three
days!
Everyone learned how
to dance Salsa and NOT look like an idiot! It was so
much fun. I taught everything from the basic steps,
to the music, to finding the first beat of the music,
to intermediate moves to a VERY COOL dip that ANYONE
could do, to even asking the other person to dance!!
... and I have a super technique that I teach that 100%
of the time the other person will say "yes",
and NOT EVEN REALIZE IT!!!! OMG!!! It's just so cool.
I can't wait!!
And lastly, what's
coming up for you? We know you're planning a special
New Year's Eve party in Palm Springs...
Yes, every year we have a Summer dance
camp and a New Year's dance camp. It is called the Salsa
Mambo Festival.
It is held at the
Doral Resort in beautiful Palm Springs, California every year.
We have dancers from all over the world fly in to showcase
their performances and dance teams.
We hold over fifty workshops all
weekend (including beginning Salsa and Tango bootcamps! We
then shut down EVERYTHING from 3 till 6pm, and BEE LINE to
the pool for volleyball, slip and slide, parties, dancing
and awesome pool games!!! Then we have a fantastic Jack and
Jill Competition that is absolutely hysterical, and then SOCIAL
DANCING TILL 4AM every night!!! The information is at www.SalsaMamboFestival.com.
It is a BLAST every year!!! You should REALLY go and hang
out with nothing but DANCERS of all ages beginning thru advanced
ALL WEEKEND LONG! It's a GREAT way to meet new and lasting
friends.
