Discover Mike Bello's history of salsa dancing & mambo dancing, description of mambo salsa difference & schedule of dance classes in Los Angeles. Learn how to dance salsa with his learn to salsa dance video and music instructional CD's. Learn New York sal

The following year after arriving in Los Angeles from New York, Mike Bello recruited several of L.A.'s best dancers and formed the first ever Salsa/Mambo On2 dance group in L.A. that included the Mambo Men and the Mambo Squad. He spent hundreds of hours training them in the highly syncopated shine routine that he choreographed and which they performed in the Hollywood Palladium for the Galavision sponsored International Salsa Festival as well as in the Hollywood Park Casino for the 1st Annual West Coast Salsa Congress.

A dedicated teacher who espouses connection to the rhythm of Salsa music with his signature AOTC, or "Always On The Clave," Mike really cares about giving his students a sense of respect for dancing to the music!

Click on the Photos Below of the Mambo Squad for a Slightly Larger View!

Through years of research and proven teaching methods, Mike has put together the most comprehensive salsa/mambo instructional material in the world. This has been accomplished by breaking down salsa music through the discreet rhythmic components that make up one of the most infectious as well as complex genres of music on the planet: Salsa.

And it doesn't stop there!

In his highly acclaimed booklet, a complete description of how to dance mambo (commonly and mistakenly referred to as salsa) gives you the best opportunity to make a real and definitive way to connect your dancing to the rhythms that are presented.

For many years, Mike has been holding workshops and seminars using material that is now on his CD's and DVD's. These very successful and well received classes have been periodically taught in Los Angeles (including the Albert Torres Productions Annual West Coast Salsa Congresses, Mike's very own Southern California Mambo Conferences) and at many of the salsa congresses (as well as part of his weekend workshop series) presented around the country.

Salsa music is made up of traditional rhythms like the clave, the tumbao (conga), martillo (bongos), cascara (timbales), montuno (piano) and many more! Once you understand the rhythms then you understand the music and you will finally align your rhythm of dance with the rhythms of salsa music.

This material, much of which is presented independently as well as with the clave rhythm, is like a road map to the dance (mambo) and the music (salsa).

Let's face it; for those individuals who want and need to improve, salsa/mambo dance classes are a necessity! Yet most classes never plainly cover how the music is broken down. In fact, most people learn to count their dance steps but have no direct relationship with the music. It's important to know the count beginning at beat one. But, where is beat one?

The information on Mike Bello's AOTC Salsa/Mambo Practice & Counting CD, the Salsa Music Rhythm Phrasing & Timing CD and his four-hour Salsa Rhythm 4 Dancers Seminar DVD's will give you a jump-start into clearly making complete sense of salsa music and mambo dancing. (Click on the above links to get complete and detailed information on the revolutionary instructional material!)

The Salsa - Mambo Shines Video, Volume One adds visual content to the audio CD's with a 20-plus minute preface into the fundamentals of salsa and mambo by illustrating the clave, tumbao, the basic time-step pattern in both modern and classic mambo, foot positions and more.

Approximately 60 minutes of shines (footwork) is then meticulously broken down in both timings. There are multiple shots and angles throughout this section so there is no way that you can be confused. You will be able to do the footwork in short order, provided, of course, you practice!

Here's what some people had to say about Mike's instructional media:

We highly recommend the Salsa Music, Rhythm, Phrasing and Timing CD by Mike Bello. We sell it everywhere we teach around the world. Students who have a hard time with listening to the music just rave about it. Even our 6 year old daughter, Pacion picked up the clave beat! We are authorized resellers/distributors of the CD and have it available in our Salsa Brava Store on our website.
http://www.salsabrava.org

Joby & Luis Vazquez
Salsa Brava Productions

Mike Bello's Timing/Counting CD delivers. It provides the listener with a clear method of hearing and counting the rhythm of the music that is so crucial to all mambo dancers (especially beginners). This is the very foundation to all Salsa/Mambo Dancing which the more advanced dancers take for granted (because they do it automatically), yet beginners struggle to hear. The CD begins with a simple introduction on what to listen for in a song (counting beats, hearing the clave and hearing the tumbao of the congas) and then smoothly dissolves into the practice song itself. I love the fact that the practice song is over 28 minutes long. It means that an instructor using it in class won't have to stop what he is doing in order to reset the song or wait for the song to repeat on his CD player. The tempo of the song is also ideal for beginners who are working on combining steps while trying to synchronize them to music. The synchronized counting segment gently pushes the listener along. First by "verbally" holding their hands by counting for them in the first variation of the song, then by letting them swim on their own in the second version of the same song. I myself have found it to be (a) valuable tool to use and have incorporated it whenever I help teach beginners in one of Addie Diaz's mambo classes.

Product Review by Manny Siverio of SalsaNewYork.com

Finally, a teacher that understands that people are having trouble with dancing on the clave and it is not hopeless. I was going to this school in New York City. I fell in love with mambo. I could feel that I was not dancing on beat to salsa. Well, I came to my instructor, the owner of the school, and chided him about how we were all dancing, but we were not sure if we were on beat. What could he do to correct the problem? Well, he simply gave me back my check and told me to take drum lessons and come back in a year. I was shocked. I was hurt. I wanted to dance. Well, I left him and went to another well known (salsa/mambo) dance school. I learned all the steps, but still, I could sense that I was not understanding the music. I went to yet another highly acclaimed NY salsa/mambo dance school, still. Finally, I ordered their timing tape, and it was good, but something was missing. Your CD's are wonderful. You've unveiled a mystery to me. They were created for me. I will dance on clave. Best of all, I didn't have to go to the Julliard School of Music for it.

Ana Perez, NYC

I'm thoroughly impressed by the clarity with which Latin polyrhythmic theory is explained in AOTC Practice and Counting. Mike Bello affords the listener an opportunity to understand the core rhythms of salsa music by removing all the other 'confusing' instruments, and allowing our dance to marry the percussion for a full half hour of practice! I have even played it while teaching my salsa/mambo workshops, and the students love it. It helps them to better understand our music, and thus, our dance. Thanks for helping to make my job as a New York style salsa/mambo instructor a little bit easier, and the material I teach more meaningful.

-Ernest Barthelemy
Owner, Head Instructor,
Salsa Fievre Dance Company,
Staten Island, New York

Being a timing freak myself, I find this booklet and accompanying [Salsa Music, Rhythm, Phrasing & Timing] CD to be a very comprehensive tool for dance students. It not only breaks down the basic timing by counting out the 8 beats of the musical phrase, it also helps one to understand the various rhythms that are put under the umbrella term "salsa." Being able to count the tumbao of the conga is also a very integral part of being a dancer who dances on time and Mike does a good job of explaining what a tumbao is and how to count it. I'm going to recommend this CD and booklet to all of my dance students.

-Marla Friedler
marla@salsaweb.com

Great job, Mike! I must say that I'm finding your "Practice & Counting" and "Rhythm, Phrasing, & Timing" CDs extremely worthwhile. They're helping me understand and integrate what Cuban Pete once said: you must dance inside the music. Feeling the rhythm of my body to the rhythm of the clave is just awesome! Thank you for your insights and wisdom!!!

-Marcelo Villacres
Musician and Salsa/Mambo Student

Review of Salsa - Mambo Shines Video, Volume One
From Neal (SalsaVideo.net) - "Mike Bello is one of the most respected experts on Salsa in the World."

I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable & easy to understand this video was. It is a massively long video at 85 min. Packed full of shines, it also contains a wealth of information about Salsa music & how to dance on the Clave, Classic & Modern Mambo. This video has set a new standard on how shines should be shown in a video with a three window screen. One half a full body shot with a quarter close up & a quarter side on shot at the same time. Front & back views of all steps are also shown. Each shine is first shown & broken down without music meaning anyone can learn the step then the counts are added for Classic & Modern Mambo. Then you practice each step to the rhythm.

This is a practical video of dance steps with the aim to explain the Clave & how to dance on it.

Mike also has 2 rhythm CD's covering all the rhythms you will ever find in Salsa music. These CD's are a must for those of you who want to learn how to dance on the Clave or any beat. One of the CD jackets contains a wealth of written information. It is a small book worth.

All advanced dancers or teachers should be able to dance on the Clave as well as any beat. Learn how to synchronize your dance steps with the videos & CD's.

If you have trouble getting started in the music, feel like you'll forever be "rhythmically challenged," or just need that little extra edge to being completely confident dancing to salsa music then these are must-have, one-of-a-kind reference items to keep in your salsa/mambo collection. Order your copy today!

P.S. They also make great gifts for the up and coming salsa/mambo aficionado!

P.P.S. Click here to enter the Affiliate Program (coming soon)!

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