ADRIAN & ANITA SALSA — The names Anita Santos Rubin and Adrián Rodríguez might be completely foreign and unknown to, even, 'hardcore' salsa dancers in Los Angeles. But to thousands around the world, mainly in Europe, Australia, and Asia, the names Adrián and Anita are as well-known as Jennifer López and Marc Anthony are to us here in LA (notice I didn't dare compare them to any local salsero couple). 

In LA we fail to realize how much talent is out there and how much more advanced they are in skill, creativity, speed, cleanliness, showmanship, and execution.

LA is said to have been once at the top of the world when it came to Salsa dancing. We had the best of the best right inside our clubs and people would come from all over the world t

For anyone who has ever performed on-stage and who knows how difficult it is to get all lines precisely as desired or planned, to always deliver tricks with cleanliness, to choreograph oustandingly to all the accents in the songs we dance to, and to execute flawlessly time and time again, leaving everyone who is watching in awe of your skill, of your beauty, of your talent, and how superior you are to them (admit it, it gives you a high to be up there showing people all the stuff they can't do!), ...you will undoubtfully find, just by watching Adrian and Anita once, that they are simply out of this world. 

In LA, dancers who perform and compete know that all eyes will forever be on the girl when in a performance, but if the girls fail to shine, eyes shift to the guys, whom, if bad looking, will make the routine look "unattractive." So, the trick is to MAKE the ladies shine above their partners. But this is no easy trick if you must "teach" it... It's either you have it or you don't. Period. 

When I watch Adrián and Anita perform or compete, I can never take my eyes off of Anita, because I just don't want to miss all the spectacular stuff she is sure to deliver any second now, or now, or now, or now! You just never know what's coming! She can be standing still and all of a sudden, in a fraction of a second, she will be doing an arial split that is perfectly straight and precise to an accent or a move in their routine! No delay, no dragging, no forcing the movement or catching up with the routine after; she goes into the move, executes it perfectly, then gets out and bang, she is dancing again as if nothing ever happened. 

Now, I must ask...is she truly a human being or some type of humanoid or someone already so far ahead of us that timing and rhythm for her goes so much more slower than for the rest of us? Meaning, the song can be going so fast in our ears, but for her, she could almost be falling asleep during the routine. I mean, some of the lines she pulls out of nowhere are phenomenal! She reminds of me of Alyra Lennox when she was dancing with Tropical Gem; such a unique dancer with such unique looks and personal charisma. 

And then there is Adrián (eh, err...I'm not trying to seem weird), who is slim and fit, I guess he is good looking (ok, that's too weird already...j/k!), has great fluidity himself, is able to pull body rolls better than women do sometimes, and compliments his partner so well in all she does, and together look so great and phenomenal in everyone's eyes. You can tell that Adrián's speed is a clear match to Anita's. They feed off each other and execute perfectly together with musicality that is almost unmatched in the world of Salsa (Tropical Gem is near or at the same level as they are with musicality). 

So, the point is simply that if you can be completely honest with yourself as a dancer and salsa lover, as a performer, or competitor, no matter where you are reading from, you know that Adrián and Anita are in a league all of their own as a couple in the world of dance. A great looking couple with great routines, great choreographies, great music choices, great presence on-stage, great skill, and simply unique in all that they do. 

So, if you have NEVER seen them dance before (shame on you, btw), here is a video that you can enjoy of one of their most recent performances at the Amsterdan Salsa & Zouk Festival 2011:

Now, you cannot look at that video of their performance, see so much talent and skill displayed, and not be in complete shock at what you have just witnessed. In LA, the only dancers that come close to her level are Stephanie Stevenson and Liz Lira, but I've personally never seen such straight lines in legs on women in Salsa before, especially when dancing at such high speeds. 

You can claim that a particular style is different and better than another. You can claim that you don't care if they are great because they are on1 dancers and you like on2 or mambo. Or that you prefer Bachata or even Zouk. But the fact is that as dancers of any style, Adrián and Anita, are in another world compared to what we are used to watching and witnessing in many of the U.S. cities that once, long ago, used to be the mecca and the origin of Salsa. 

My attempt is simply to bring light to the caliber of dancing that I find so exciting to watch! I won't lie - I wish I could dance and/or perform half as cool as they do. For those of us who absolutely love and appreciate salsa dancing, this is something we truly enjoy - anyone who does not have a same level of appreciation for the dance would simply not understand. 

All in all, I do believe that Adrián y Anita are, perhaps, The Best Salsa Performers in the World!