Senior Nick Ortiz tells the members of his group to stop dancing, realizing that he needs to demonstrate a complex move to them one last time.
"The guys are guiding the girls. Watch. I pull her in, I pull her out, I pull her in, I pull her out. See?" Ortiz said as he spun his partner, senior Jeannette Ocampo, in close to him, then pushed her away in the opposite direction.
"All right cool, break it off. We're gonna start from the top. There's no talking, just watch and do," Ortiz said as he grabbed Ocampo's hands and twirled her around effortlessly.
Last Sunday Ortiz and Ocampo, co-directors of Sabrosura, taught the salsa group members a new move from Miami-style salsa called La Mayi. As the group learned the last portion of the move, junior Peter Volsky interrupted, "We have a tragic situation here. When [the guys] have to turn around the girl, we're finding a very serious problem. It's like a ring around the rosie." Volsky demonstrated his difficulties by dancing slowly around his partner.
"It's a tough move. Remember it's a master move," Ortiz said.
"A master level two move," Ocampo added.
Yet the two seemed to have no trouble executing the master move as Ortiz demonstrated La Mayi again, gliding around Ocampo. Many members of the group have never been exposed to the Miami style, which differs from other popular styles such as those from Los Angeles and New York.
Their prior inexperience, however, has not hindered their level of excellence, as the group is currently performing master level moves.
"I've never even salsa [danced] before," said junior Roger Yamada, who danced like a pro. "They teach you really well. They dissect the moves for you--like a cadaver."
The couples dance in a huge circle called a rueda, or wheel--the style in which the group usually performs. After Ocampo and Ortiz teach a new move to the group members, they often observe the group from the middle of the circle where they can catch usually unnoticed mistakes. As the couples danced around, Ocampo noticed a gap in their circular formation.
"And what happens if we're performing and you leave a gap, Peter?" she asked from the middle of the circle.
"You will be in a world of s----," he answered after thinking for a few moments.
No sooner did the couples perfect the new move than Ocampo yelled "Dame," which means switch partners. Not only can members never predict when Ocampo will call dame, they also can never be sure of what move she will call out next.
Sabrosura's performances are never choreographed--instead, one of the two directors calls out moves one after the other, making no two of Sabrosura's approximately 20 peformances each year exactly alike.
"We have some moves that are complex and we have to change formation," Ocampo said. "We always call these moves, but the rest of the moves depend on the song."
When Sabrosura members decide on which songs they will dance to in a particular performance, whoever will be calling out the moves to the group memorizes the songs--in particular, the length of the introduction, when the climax begins and ends and the exact timing of the ending.
"That way whoever is calling the ending has memorized exactly when the end is coming and can call the last moves accordingly," she explained.
Although most of the elements of the dance are up for interpretation, one thing the dancers are not allowed to vary are their shoes. Members of Sabrosura are free to dress for practice however they want--jeans, shorts, sweatpants and even bandanas. Shoes that are not appropriate for salsa, however, are unacceptable, such as the sneakers that Yamada decided to wear to practice that night. He learned the hard way that spinning in sneakers is just too difficult.
"Now that were getting into double turns you need to come to practice with shoes--salsa shoes," Ortiz reminded.
The group does vary, however, in the diverse backgrounds of the dancers, and not just concerning their previous dance experience.
"We're a very diverse group. All years, all backgrounds. Fraternity members, sorority members, engineers, dorks, whatever. We all come together with a common goal of dancing," Ortiz said. "We tell the members of the group, we'll teach you the movement, but you don't have to dance like us. It's not a disciplined dance at all," said Ortiz.
The members understand this, and enjoy making their dance moves their own. Part of the attraction of Sabrosura is not the technical aspect, but the common love for having a good time.
"The purpose of salsa is not the actual dancing, it's getting together and having fun. [Sabrosura] provides an impetus for that," Yamada said.
And of course, when all goes wrong, they heed Ocampo's favorite guideline. "Remember the number one rule of salsa: It is always the guy's fault."
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