Welcome to 7th Annual Seattle Salsa

HE'S GOT STYLE

When Latin dance first came to NY, it was an open position dance. That means that two dancers would dance in front of each other and there was not much contact, what we know today as partner work. But the second generation after the Palladium got into doing a lot of partner work. There seems to be a fascination for inventing turns and being in touch with the partner.

The Palladium dancers lay down the blue prints of the New York hip style of Latin dancing. "In NY, people like to dress slick, talk slick, to be very bebop jazzy. Especially Latinos. Being born and raised in Harlem carries a certain attitude about how you walk through the streets, attitude about the way you say things and how you use your body language. It carries such a signature that if I saw someone from New York dancing in Japan, I'd know it."

Broadway musicals, Ailey's work, African dancing, and flamenco all were sources of inspiration for Eddie. Watching, imitating, and admiring the people that were the tops, Eddie slowly evolved as a pro. His style results from a true amalgamation of all those that came before him. With an uncanny ability to imitate, he incorporated a little jazz, a little ballet, a little tap, a little modern, and came out with his own style. Observing the different dancers of his time with their own signatures, he picked up from every one of their styles: JoJo Smith's jazz movements and expression of style; Freddy Rios's very Cuban typical style; a little of Louie Máquina. In dancing, that is known as eclectic styling.on.

THE TORRES REPERTOIRE

The late June Laberta, a ballroom dance teacher, was Eddie's greatest influence. She taught every ballroom dance in the book, but her greatest love was mambo. On many occasions, June accompanied Eddie to the Corso where the odd couple danced up a storm. He was in his twenties, she was in her late fifties. Creating kooky intricate little moves that came from jazz and everything that she knew, the lean Laberta would spin like a top.

June's mentoring was decisive in Eddie's teaching career. She said, "Eddie, I can help you learn the language of teaching." She took him to ballrooms on Friday nights warning, "These people are scholars and aficionados of the dance. If you don't break on the two, if you're not consistent with your timing, or if they ask questions about the theory and you don't know, they'll use it against you." Sure enough, after doing his fancy footwork, he'd hear the dreaded question, "Do you break on the two?" At that time, these theoretical points about clave and dancing didn't jive with Eddie. Fortunately for Eddie, he'd been on two all his life--he just didn't know it. And June continued harping, "It's going to enhance you as a dancer, as a teacher and as a choreographer. You'll go a lot further with this knowledge." But Eddie fought it. Fifteen years went by before he really learned.

Thanks to June Laberta, Eddie's steps all have names. This repertoire of steps and turns, with their corresponding names, provides a way of relating to students academically. Eddie's class syllabus documenting three hundred steps strangely parallels the habits of the old scholars of dance at the ballrooms. His laboratory is self-contained--sometimes steps spring up spontaneously in the class. Sometimes, just fooling around with a little break or phrase, a step is born. Nowadays, part of the fun is to invent a step and then find a name for it.

Today, dancing students are surpassing people who have been dancing socially for many years. Mr. T. gets calls all the time, "I'm a great dancer, people stop to watch me." One visit to a class and they get humbled. Natural talent is a plus, but Torres warns, "Amongst Latinos, we believe that we can walk on the dance floor and we just do it because we're Latinos, we're born with this. This is just not true."

"I've danced out of joy, I've danced out of pain. This is the kind of dance where if you want to jump up and say 'Azucar!' like Celia, and you want to move your shoulders and bob your head, this is where you can do it and it's O.K. It's cool. And it's hip. You can be you."

We must thank Tito Puente for showcasing salsa dancing in most of his concerts and for making his little speech about the importance of the dance when he presents our beloved Latin dancers.

Eddie's accomplishments include his many collaborations with the Tito Puente Orchestra, choreographing music videos for artists like Ruben Blades, Orquesta de la Luz, Tito Nieves, José Alberto El Canario, David Byrne, founding a dance company, dancing for the President George Bush, performing.at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, Madison Square Garden.

We are promoting Mary's book in exchange for the rights to use the bio.

Salsa Talks, the book by Mary Kent, is a celebration of salsa music. In their own words, singers, musicians and experts guide us around the spicy world of salsa. Salsa Talks chronicles the lives of over 40 salsa musical giants. Educational, historic, entertaining, touching... a legacy from the musicians to their fans. Learn about the most important unifying element of the Hispanic culture: its music. "A departure from the more straight-laced, historical or musicological fare." 300 photographs.