How to Dance Salsa

Man's Basic Steps

1. Step forward with your left foot. Your weight should now be on your left, and you should be able to take your right foot off the ground (but don't). It may be easier in the beginning to use larger steps, but your movements will be much faster and neater with a smaller step.
2. Shift your weight back from your left foot to your right, leaving your feet where they are. Your right foot should now be holding all your weight.
3. Step or slide your left foot back to bring it next to or slightly behind your right foot. Your weight should be evenly spread over both feet.
4. Do not take any steps on the next beat. It can be used to gradually move your weight to your left foot in time for the next beat.
5. Repeat step one, but backwards. Bring your right foot backwards with so your left foot is taking none of your weight.
6. Step in place with your left foot without moving either of your feet. Your left foot will now be carrying all your weight.
7. Step or slide your right foot up to meet or slightly pass your left, balancing on both your feet equally.
8. As with beat 4, do nothing on the next beat, except you may take the weight off your left foot in preparation of your next step.
9. Repeat these steps to the music

Lady's Steps

1. Step backwards with your right foot.
2. Step in place with your left.
3. Bring your right foot up to meet or slightly pass your left.
4. Do not take steps on this beat. You may want to use it to shift your weight across.
5. Step forwards with your left foot.
6. Step in place with your right.
7. Bring back your left foot next to or partly behind your right
8. Prepare to repeat.

Video

Salsa

Salsa is a syncretic dance form with origins from the Cuban Son (circa 1920s) and Afro-Cuban dance (specifically Afro-Cuban rumba). It is generally associated with the salsa music style, although it may be danced under other types of tropical music.

Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are forms such as a line dance form "Salsa suelta", where the dancers dance individually and a round dance form "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised or performed with a set routine.

Salsa is a popular social dance throughout South America as well as in North America, Europe, Australia, and some countries in Asia and the Middle East.

Salsa Dancing Locations

Salsa dances are commonly held in night clubs, ballrooms, restaurants, and outside, especially if part of an outdoor festival. Salsa dancing is an international dance that can be found in most metropolitan cities in the world. Festivals are held annually, often called a Salsa Congress, in various host cities aimed to attract variety of salsa dancers from other cities and countries. The events bring dancers together to share their passion for the dance, build community, and to share moves and tips with each other. These events usually include salsa dance performers, live salsa music, workshops, open dancing, and contests.

Les capitales des pays de l'Union Européenne

1. Berlin                         EST LA CAPITALE DE L' ALLEMAGNE
2. Vienne                       EST LA CAPITALE DE L'AUTRICHE
3. Bruxelles                  EST LA CAPITALE DE LA BELGIQUE
4. Sofia                           EST LA CAPITALE DE LA BULGARIE
5. Nicosie                      EST LA CAPITALE DE CHYPRE
6. Copenhague            EST LA CAPITALE DE LE DANEMARK.
7. Madrid                      EST LA CAPITALE DE L'ESPAGNE.
8. Tallinn                     EST LA CAPITALE DE L'ESTONIE.
9. Helsinki                   EST LA CAPITALE DE LA FINLANDE.
10. Paris                          EST LA CAPITALE DE LA FRANCE.
11. Athènes                    EST LA CAPITALE DE LA GRÈCE.
12. Budapes                  EST LA CAPITALE DE LA HONGRIE.
13. Dublin                      EST LA CAPITALE DE L'IRLANDE.
14. Rome                        EST LA CAPITALE DE L'ITALIE.
15. Riga                          EST LA CAPITALE DE LA LETTONIE.
16. Vilnius                    EST LA CAPITALE DE LA LITUANIE.
17. Luxembourg         EST LA CAPITALE DE LE LUXEMBOURG.
18. La Valette              EST LA CAPITALE DE MALTE.
19. Amsterdam           EST LA CAPITALE DE LES PAYS BAS.
20. Varsovie                 EST LA CAPITALE DE LA POLOGNE.
21. Lisbonne                EST LA CAPITALE DE LE PORTUGAL.
22. Prague               EST LA CAPITALE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE TCHÈQUE.
23. Bucarest                EST LA CAPITALE DE LE ROUMANIE.
24. Londres                 EST LA CAPITALE DE LE ROYAUME UNIS.
25. Bratislava             EST LA CAPITALE DE LA SLOVAQUIE.
26. Ljubljana              EST LA CAPITALE DE LA SLOVÉNIE.
27. Stockholm            EST LA CAPITALE DE LA SUÈDE.

Insomnia doubles risk of heart attack, stroke, research shows

Sleep difficulties, a problem for as many as 70 million Americans, can double one's risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a study. 

The study by researchers in Taiwan found that people with insomnia were twice as likely to have heart attacks or strokes than those without the sleep disorder during the trial's four-year period. The research was presented Monday at the American Heart Association meeting in Los Angeles.


The findings add to previous research showing not enough sleep can contribute to high blood pressure, and waking too early may raise heart risks. Sleep should be part of the patient-doctor discussion during checkups, said Kristen Knutson, a sleep researcher who wasn't part of the study.


"A lot of people and many physicians don't ask about sleep," said Knutson, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. "The first thing is to talk to their patients and also for the patients to talk to their doctors about their sleep and discussing sleep as one of the many important health behaviors like diet and exercise."


No one is certain how lack of sleep contributes to heart attacks and strokes, she said. It may be that the body's "fight or flight" system is more active with not enough sleep, which can increase heart rate and over time increase blood pressure and raise the risk for cardiovascular disease, she said.


Chronic insomnia affects about 1 in 5 adults and is also a risk factor for depression, substance abuse and impaired waking function, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Liste des Etats membres de l'UE

Les 27 pays membres de l'Union européenne sont de tailles différentes et présentent des modes d'organisation institutionnelle variés. Ensemble, ils forment l'Union européenne, un espace de plus de 500 millions d'habitants et d'environ 4 280 000 km².

Le centre géographique de l'UE à 27, calculé par l'IGN, se trouve en Allemagne, au sommet d'une colline du canton de Gelnhausen en Hesse.

Quels sont les Etats membres de l'Union européenne ?

	Allemagne		Lettonie
	Autriche		Lituanie
	Belgique		Luxembourg
	Bulgarie		Malte
	Chypre		Pays-Bas
	Danemark		Pologne
	Espagne		Portugal
	Estonie		République tchèque
	Finlande		Roumanie
	France		Royaume-Uni
	Grèce		Slovaquie
	Hongrie		Slovénie
	Irlande		Suède
	Italie

Hit Every Muscle in 5 Minutes

1. Clean and Press
Minute: 0:00-1:00
Targets shoulders, back, butt, legs
a. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and place a 5-pound dumbbell on the floor near each foot. Squat, bringing the dumbbells to the outside of your knees, palms down.
b. Stand, bringing the dumbbells to your hips, then raise the weights through your shoulders and overhead. Lower and repeat for 60 seconds.

Side Lunge and Row

2. Side Lunge and Row
Minute: 1:00-2:00
Targets back, butt, legs
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a pair of 5-pound dumbbells at your sides. Take a big step out to the right with your right foot, bending right knee 90 degrees while keeping left leg straight. Draw your left elbow straight up, keeping arm close to side and butt tight. Return to start and repeat for 30 seconds; switch sides.

Plie Squat and Biceps Curl

3. Plié Squat and Biceps Curl
Minute: 2:00-3:00
Targets biceps, butt, inner thighs
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed out, holding a 5-pound dumbbell in each hand with arms extended, palms up. Bend knees 90 degrees, squatting as you curl weights toward your shoulders. Return to start and repeat for 60 seconds.

Push-Up Plus

4. Push-Up Plus
Minute: 3:00-4:00
Targets shoulders, chest, triceps, abs, back
Begin in full push-up position, palms on floor under shoulders and legs extended. Do one push-up, then carefully lift your left hand off the floor, extending your arm out to side. Holding here, lift your right foot off the floor. Lower hand and foot to floor. Do another push-up and repeat with opposite hand and foot. Continue, alternating sides.

Single-Leg Deadlift with Kick-Back

5. Single-Leg Deadlift with Kick-Back
Minute: 4:00-5:00
Targets triceps, back, legs
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding 5-pound dumbbells with elbows bent 90 degrees, hands close to your rib cage. Lift your left foot behind you and bend forward slowly from the hips as you straighten your arms, bringing them next to your hips. Return to starting position. Repeat for 30 seconds; switch sides and repeat.

High-protein diet may help some people shed pounds

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Dieters who eat meals and snacks high in protein might lose a bit more weight than those who get less protein and more carbohydrates - all other things being equal, a new analysis of past studies suggests.
Researchers found that over an average of 12 weeks, people assigned at random to a high-protein diet lost about 1.8 extra pounds, and more body fat, than those assigned to a standard-protein diet.
There was no difference, however, in how much participants' blood pressure, cholesterol levels or markers for diabetes risk changed based on the protein content of their diets.
Thomas Wycherley from the University of South Australia in Adelaide, the lead author on the study, said in an email to Reuters Health that the extra weight loss in the high-protein group was "only modest," but that "it may still represent clinical relevance on a population level."
For the study, he and his colleagues analyzed 24 past trials that included a total of 1,063 people.
Participants were all put on a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet designed to help them lose weight. About half were prescribed a high-protein version of that diet - containing about 85 grams of protein per day for a 150-pound person - and the other half a standard-protein diet, with 49 grams per day, on average, for a 150-pound person.
Across all trials, high-protein and standard-protein diets were designed to provide the same calorie reduction.
Depending on the study, participants lost an average of anywhere from 2.4 to 25.1 pounds, according to findings published last week in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
It's not obvious why a higher protein-to-carbohydrate ratio might help people shed more pounds - and one obesity researcher not involved in the new analysis questioned whether the trials were even robust enough to make that conclusion.
"The studies are generally far too short to tell impact," Dr. James Levine from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, told Reuters Health in an email. What's more, he added, "many are inadequately conducted to be relevant."
Wycherley said it's possible the body may spend more energy, and burn more calories, processing protein compared to carbohydrates. Another potential explanation for the link his team observed is that eating protein helps preserve muscle mass - and muscle mass burns more calories, even when the body is resting, than other types of mass.
He said people in the studies tended to get protein from a variety of animal and vegetable sources. Vegetable sources of protein include beans and other legumes.
Substituting protein for carbohydrates as part of an energy-restricted diet, Wycherley said, is one option for people hoping to lose weight.