By Shirley Fastner
http://www.salsachicago.com/EdieSalsaFreakReview.htm

CHICAGO:
Edie "The Salsa Freak" Salsa Workshop October 22, 2006 Logan Square Auditorium

Leave it to a fairly new arrival, Studio Viva, to finally bring Edie "The Salsa Freak", our premiere Ambassadress of Salsa, to Chicago! If you have not heard of Edie and you dance salsa, it is time to come out from under your rock and go to one of her 6 websites, "SalsaFreak.com" and find out what this woman has been doing single handedly for the world of salsa and learn quite a bit at the same time. (There are entire dance syllabuses to download there, not to mention the hilarious "Salsa-Holics Anonymous" chart she has had on her site forever indicating the "Phases of Salsa Addiction" - a must-see!) Edie has become an international phenomenon and has been voted best international instructor at each of the L.A., British and Swiss Congresses. She actually teaches an entire culture not just steps and is holding a weekend workshop somewhere in the world on almost any given weekend from Orlando to Munich to Romania!

We were privileged to have Edie with us October 21-23 bringing some of the best workshops I have yet to see because she addresses every single issue in the big picture. Having been integrally involved in this for some 13 years, she can pick things apart and spot problems a mile away and has a solution/quick fix for every challenge. After all, who could have a better perspective on all of this, than someone who is in a different city or country one weekend after another - and not just teaching workshops but actually out in the clubs dancing and seeing what is going on from place to place (including our own fair city). As Edie puts it, "Europe is way out there, and is surpassing us", so all of our dancers could benefit from more workshops - maybe even alleviate some of those awful dance injuries that occur night after night with more proper form. Edie also has insights on the entire salsa scene. She thinks "salsa is on the edge" and that it could go either way at this point, basically hinting that she is trying to clean it up! Her goal is not to take the sexiness out of the dance, but to eliminate some of the sleaze that is creeping into salsa that perhaps explains the look one gets at times when one admits to dancing it!

Sunday's workshop began shortly after 1 p.m. with 2 hours of "Ladies Styling". Edie is the first instructor that I have seen teach Ladies Styling with partners which is exactly what is called for as salsa is a partner dance after all - one of its main attractions. When styling first started getting so popular, suddenly everyone was off doing their own thing and the partner aspect of the dance seemed to be slipping away. How many times have you been off doing your own thing and then not known when to call it a day for your partner to come back to you? One point Edie makes is that women should do the more feminine styling and leave the Suzy Qs, etc. to the guys. Another was made regarding the movement in salsa not being in the hips but in the upper body. (She even had the women practice walking - slowly, perfect posture and looking right into the eyes of the men who were lined up). Next we had "Edie's World Famous Spins Class", also for 2 hours, which was chock full of much needed pointers.

The "Ten Deadly Sins of Lead and Follow" (1 hour) was really an important class as God knows there is always a lot of cleaning up we can do in our dancing and Edie has seen every scenario. One recurring theme from Edie was "Remember, it's not how you feel but how you LOOK" sound familiar? Another concept addressed was to make it look easy. Nobody wants to see you frantically struggling out there to get it right. The final class was "Hollywood Style Turn Patterns and Figures". No workshop would be complete without mention of the "on 1 or on 2" dilemma and once again, Edie said that certain songs, particularly old mambo, called for "2", as well as even some particular moves, while she felt that most of the newer songs called for "1". Edie does mainly teach on the "1", however, and all of the other styles can be extrapolated from this.

The Logan Square Auditorium turned out to be a fabulous venue for the event even though we were quickly hustled out and the last class cut in half when the workshops ran over, which they tend to do. There was also an all day beginner boot camp the previous day on Saturday, as well as an instructors workshop on Monday evening elsewhere. As Edie put it, she has 72 hours of material that she has put together to teach and, of course, we would not get to all of it but she is one of the most professional in the business.

Previously based in L.A. while she was married, Edie is traveling so much these days, that when I asked her where she calls home of late, the best response I could get was "I do my laundry in Florida" and she's not getting tired of being on the road all the time either. It is easy to see that she loves what she does! Even though most know her as just Edie, when asked what last name she goes by these days, she responded "The Salsa Freak" And of course, she doesn't smoke or drink Per her website, she also appears to be a life coach and given her background, she seems to be well-qualified. In her previous life, she was in hi-tech, which has served her well as the internet is what catapulted her to world renown initially with the best international site, "SalsaWeb". She has come a long way for someone who started salsa at the age of 30 (is that late?)

I saw Edie perform here once about 10 years ago at Taste of Chicago but that was the only time she was here. Studio Viva was just started in January by Dora Baroti and we are grateful that they sponsored Edie. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long before she graces our shores again - maybe even at our own Chicago Salsa Congress? (hint, hint).

Post your comments here.