Guidelines for Contributing a SalsaFrenzy Salsa Minute

This guide is for those who want to shoot and contribute their own Salsa Minutes. You can send us the raw footage, and we'll edit it into the Salsa Minutes format, convert it for iPod viewing and add it to the SalsaFrenzy Salsa Minutes podcasts on iTunes. If you have any further questions about this, don't hesitate to contact us at

Equipment

The final video for the iPod will be 320 x 240 pixels, so you don't need to shoot it super high quality. We use a point and shoot digital camera that also captures video. It produces a 640 x 480 pixel mpeg movie at 30 frames per second and is perfectly adequate for video podcasts. The preferred submission format is QuickTime (.mov). We can also work with MPEG4 (.MP4) format.

Material

Your Salsa Minute segment should consist of no more than 5 bars of either footwork or turn pattern combination. This so it fits in an overall length of 1 to 2 minutes. You'll be showing your pattern twice to music and twice broken down (each from two different points of view).

Shooting Format

The content of the SalsaFrenzy Salsa Minutes is three parts 1) Introducing the dancer(s), 2) Demonstrating the pattern or shines to music, and 3) Breaking down the pattern or shines. Shoot them as separate segments (don't have to be in that order) and we'll edit and put them together along with title screens.

Shooting a "partner combination" Salsa Minute

Episode #4 of the SalsaFrenzy Salsa Minutes is a good example of a partner combination Salsa Minute. Study it for guidance on shooting your own episode. Here's the format of the three parts of a partner combination episode:

Introducing the dancers:
Have someone introduce the dancers or they can introduce themselves. We would like the intro to include the following text:

Hello. This is [name of presenter] with SalsaFrenzy's Salsa minute, a minute of salsa dance footwork, partner combinations, and snap interviews with salsa personalities.

Today we are video podcasting from [name of venue] in [city, state].

[name of leader] and [name of follower] are going to show us ... [fill in as appropriate].
Demonstrating the pattern to music:
Have the dancers dance the pattern to a medium speed song. Have them run it in one direction then turn 180 degrees and run it again. Have them repeat this two or three times as you record it. When we put the raw material together, we'll use the section that comes out best with the music.
Breaking down the pattern:
Have the dancers walk through the pattern with the counts and any description/tips they want to share, then do it again from the opposite point of view. Have them start in the same orientation as when they did it to music. Shoot a couple of repetitions and we'll pick the one that comes out best.

Shooting a "footwork combination" Salsa Minute

Episode #5 of the SalsaFrenzy Salsa Minutes is a good example of a footwork combination Salsa Minute. Study it for guidance on shooting your own episode. Here's the format of the three parts of a footwork combination episode:

Introducing the dancer:
Have someone introduce the dancer or she/he can introduce themselves. We would like the intro to include the following text:

Hello. This is [name of presenter] with SalsaFrenzy's Salsa minute, a minute of salsa dance footwork, partner combinations, and snap interviews with salsa personalities.

Today we are video podcasting from [name of venue] in [city, state].

[name of dancer] is going to show us ... [fill in as appropriate].
Demonstrating the footwork combination to music:
Have the dancer do their footwork segment to a medium speed song. They should start facing the camera, do the shine then turn and do it again with the back to the camera. Shoot 2 or 3 repetitions of this, and we'll use the one that comes out best with the music.
Breaking down the pattern or shines:
Have the dancer turn around and start with their back to the camera (opposite the case with music) walk through the shine(s) using counts and if possible names of shines they are about to do (episode 2 is a good example of this). After doing the breakdown with their back to the camera they should do it again facing the camera.

Submitting your Salsa Minute

Email us at and we'll send you instructions for uploading your video file(s) to our FTP server. Include in your email, the names of the presenter and dancer(s) and the date and location the segment was shot. Feel free to email us at any point in time with your questions.

Last but not Least

Have Fun!!