In all
the congresses I have gone too and all the cities I have danced salsa
in, I had never met anyone from Quebec city. This past weekend I was
visiting the city (I use to live there but back then I didn't know anything
about salsa!) and I thought, there has to be salsa going on in this
big city somewhere, I just have to find it. So after finding something
mentionning "latino band" in a visiting guide book, I took
the adress down and went to inquire about it during the day. The barman
downstairs told me, "ya, there is a band upstairs on wednesdays,fridays
and sundays, I don't know a lot about salsa but I've seen them dance
in circles a lot!"
So at that point I am happy that I found at least one place but I am
thinking......they dance in a circle?????? oh yeah now it comes back......rueda!!!
So on sunday night I come back to this really nice building which use
to be where Duplessis had his offices. The place looks like an old house,
it has three or four levels and each offers different kinds of restaurants
or bars or lounges, the main place is called "Chez Maurice",
the salsa lounge is called "Le Charlotte". It is a small place
upstairs, but very nice and cozy. Wodden floors, lots of place to sit,
a bit dark but it makes for the ambiance, there is also different spots
in the bar where you can sit in groups and just chat over drinks while
listening to the music. The dance floor is not very big, there is a
small stage in the middle of it for when the band is playing.
On sunday nights, a dj is playing a good mix of salsa, merengue and
bachata( I was suprise to see how the dancers enjoy bachata there, it
is very different from To and New York where you see peoples' faces
twist when a bachata comes on!!!!!)
I spotted a girl in the begining that I thought was the teacher, and
I went to introduce myself, I also told her that I was impressed with
the level of quality of there dancing, she said that that night there
was not a lot of the guys there but still there was 6 or 7 advance dancers.
I told her that we never hear about Quebec city dancers and that they
should come to the next congresses, they would meet lots of dancers
from other cities and they would have fun. Two of them I hope to see
at the Montreal congress!! So I had a very nice night, no they don't
do only rueda, salsa is very alive and well in Quebec City and what
a nice way to end my weekend after walking in that beautifull city than
to dance the night away with friendly french salsa dancers!! Merci les
gens de Quebec, on se revoit au prochain congres!! Renee