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The 2nd International Salsaweb Convention in Toronto, Canada: April 13-16/2000 by Rose Lau, Toronto Updated: May 8, 2000 |
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Well, it was a pretty exhausting weekend -- especially since the partying started earlier on from some earlybirds who were arriving on Tuesday and knew that Berlin's was the place to be for salsa dancing. It was even more exhausting for me since I just finished "training" on and off for almost 2 months for the Berlin dance competition, plus the launch of our new website during the same timeframe. You can imagine how much sleep I was getting - not!
It would be impossible to list all the highlights of this event, and it was impossible to meet everyone who came from out-of-town, most of the Toronto Salsaholics spent their time watching the fabulous dancers from all parts of the world, but the majority seemed to come from New York/New Jersey - and they were all amazing in terms of their style and energy, but they dance mostly "on 2".
You'll find this very lengthy, but for anyone who didn't attend the event, hopefully you'll feel like you were partly there. There's another website called, www.justsalsa.com which has snapshots of Friday and Saturday's events. At this time, we didn't obtain permission to reprint the pictures in our website, so I'll include some pic nos. so you can correlate the events that happened. Hopefully later, we'll be able to include some pictures of the events into our "dance-diary".
Tuesday, April 11th at Berlin
Prior to the Convention, Frank (one of the original Toronto Salsaweb Correspondents and one of the co-founders of this website) received an email from Paco, the Israel Salsaweb Correspondent, saying he would love to meet him at Berlin's on Tuesday. Frank, of course, passed the email along to myself and Ziv - and we all emailed him back that we would be more than happy to meet him at Berlin's. Unfortunately, Ziv and Frank were away on business so it was up to me welcome him to Toronto. Paco, being the efficient person he was, called me as soon as he arrived in Toronto and we agreed on a set time to meet. I met him in the lobby of Berlin's and proceeded to introduce him to all the "regulars" on the scene that would be attending the Convention.
It was a fairly quiet evening compared to other nights, and many of the salsaholic regulars did not show up, but enough to make it an interesting evening. As we were checking out the dance floor, Jennifer (one of the teachers at Berlin) came up to me and pointed out a neat couple on the floor. "Hey Rose, that couple doesn't look like any of the regulars from our Toronto clubs, why don't you go up and ask them if they're from out of town?" My first reaction was, I couldn't believe she was asking me to do it, and then there are moments when I'm not shy, so I boldly went up to ask. It turned out to be "Super Mario" (nickname given by Ricardo) and Susana from London, England - apparently, they have been dancing salsa for about 3 years and teaching for about 1 year. They mentioned to me that they made up a lot of their own moves since they got tired of the "same old thing everyone else was teaching/learning".
Of course, Jennifer and I proceeded to introduce them to all the "regulars", and then we all had to have a chance at dancing salsa with them. That night, we all danced "on 1" since that's the style from Israel and London, England. Apparently, Super Mario and Susana prefer to dance on 1, and on 2 is only starting to develop in London England. They also mentioned that Eddie Torres from New York had just completed a workshop there. Towards the end of the night, I had the chance to dance with Ricardo Loaiza, the organizer of the Convention from Washington DC who also dances on 1. He threw in a really "cool move" that I didn't expect where he flipped me 360 degrees - which was a shock when you don't expect it. He showed me slowly what he did again… very cool and very safe…
Wednesday, April 12th Pre-Convention Parties at Plush Lounge (downtown) and Park Avenue (uptown)
Due to some last minute changes, the festivities was to start at Plush Lounge and move onto Park Avenue. If you were a diehard like me, you were crazy enough to go to both (which I did along with a few others). The out-of-towners arrived at about 9:30 pm at Plush Lounge from the hotel; outside of Paco, Super Mario and Susana, I only really got to meet 5 new people from Holland, who dance "on 1" and also knew Casino Rueda.
The setting at Plush Lounge was a little more intimate and they really enjoyed dancing to the band "Vibrason". All the dancers at one point or another was dancing with anyone they didn't know or watching each other's dance styles. At one point there was a dance circle (where one couple is highlighted in the centre) - the funniest highlight of the evening was Super Mario dancing with Rene and Teddy from United Salseros.
At 12 midnight, the Salsaweb bus moved on to Park Avenue - which had it's usual crowd of dancers and non-dancers. It was so crowded that it was easy to lose sight of all the out-of-town guests. In one section of Park Avenue (away from the main dance floor), I was dancing intermediate/advanced Casino Rueda with Mark, Nicole and some of their students from Soles Dance Studio. Unfortunately, I missed a "showstopper dance" from Super Mario and Susana on the main floor towards the end of the night.
Thursday, April 13th -- Grand Opening at Plaza Flamingo
So Thursday was the official kick-off party and of course the schedule changed slightly again with Jennifer and Giovanni giving a one hour class from 8-9 pm at Plaza Flamingo. When I showed up at 9:30 pm, Plaza Flamingo was half-empty, but it was difficult to tell who was from out-of-town, although a lot of the "regulars" had already showed up.
I quickly looked for Paco since he did mention that Edie the Salsa Freak had arrived that afternoon; and I was anxious to meet her. He has known her for about two years, and for those of you who know me and think I have tons of energy - you haven't seen anything until you meet Edie! She gave me a warm hug when I had introduced myself, but then had to take off since another dancer was vying for her attention, but not before she had a chance to introduce me to some dancers from LA. You couldn't hold her still for a moment, either someone was asking her for a dance, or she was busy running around making sure the Salsaweb Convention was a success!
A lot of the "on 2" dancers had arrived - the only dancers I personally got to meet/see that night were some of the Seaon Stylist dancers "on 2" from LA, Albert Torres, the LA West Coast Salsa Congress Organizer, Jay Melasa (who was one of Stephanie's dance partners in LA) and one of the infamous Salsa Mamas from New York.
Finally, at about 11:30 pm, we started with the Opening Remarks. I was the lucky individual to start it off for Toronto, then Edie the Salsa Freak. Afterwards, Ricardo started to introduce a lot of the instructors who had come into town that night and asked each one of them to "show their stuff", starting with Jennifer and Giovanni from Toronto. The biggest stars of the evening was Seaon Bristol from LA dancing the girl's part with Jay Melasa (yes a guy dancing with a guy) - Seaon's multiple spins are super-smooth and fast and then Jay took him into an amazing upside-down dip from shoulder-height. After that, Ricardo organized a large circle for the girls to dance with Ben Rapaport, the original Salsaweb designer, and then one for Edie with all the guys.
After that, to kick off the rest of the evening, we had a "Salsa Tunnel", where the guys stood on one side and the girls on the other, to salsa their way to the end of the tunnel. It was a great way to meet and dance with someone new.
Although a guy dancing with a guy happens occasionally in the Toronto clubs, it was very "popular" at the Convention - a lot of it due to the fact that a lot of them were Instructors, and they know the women's part well, especially "Seaon", so suddenly it seemed cool to do so. Even a couple of my friends did so, and it was hilarious to watch! I won't begin to tell you how many times poor Teddy got dragged into being a girl against his will during the Convention either by another male Instructor, or sometimes by Susana from London England who has her own funky lead! I even had a few dances with her myself!
Friday, April 14th -- Regal Constellation Hotel
DAYTIME Friday from 1:30 to about 5 pm were the 3 Dance Instructor Workshops, segmented into Beginner/Intermediate and Intermediate/Advanced. I cannot comment on all of them since I usually attended the Intermediate/Advanced workshops on each occasion.
The 1st Workshop: Pedro Gomez from Italy He's a fabulous instructor, breaks everything down well - started with a shine combination, then gave us two turn combinations.
The 2nd Workshop: Mario "Mr. Suave" Diaz from New York, who taught New York turn patterns on "2" - he also explained things very clearly.'
The 3rd Workshop: Nelson Flores from New York. He taught New York shines on "2". His class was amazing! That's all I can remember feeling. In fact, Friday afternoon seemed a blur since it was the start of 3 days of workshops. If you didn't videotape what you learned, chances are, you've forgotten almost everything by now.
NIGHTTIME When I arrived at about 9:30 pm, they were just finishing up the Awards Dinner Ceremony honouring the following individuals…
Salsaweb Award Winners Salsaweb All Star Global Lifetime Achievement Awards Salsaweb Lifetime Achievement Award for Music to Master, Israel Lopez "CACHAO" Salsaweb Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance and Instruction Mr. Angel Rodriguez Salsaweb Lifetime Achievement Award for Live Entertainment Promotion to Mr. Richie Bonilla.
Salsaweb All Star Toronto, Canada Achievement Awards Salsaweb Pioneer(s) of Salsa Instruction Award to Mr. Alberto Gomez Salsaweb Pioneer(s) of Salsa Instruction Award to Mr. Martin Samuels Salsaweb Pioneer of Promoting Local Salsa Nightclub Scene Award to Mr. Ramon Calero Salsaweb DJ Entertainment Award In memory of Ray Trujillo Sr. Salsaweb Award to Mr. Radames Nieves for Highest Achievement in the Latin Record Industry Salsaweb Entertainment Award for Print Publication, Picante News to Mr. Kleyber Uribe
Then there was social dancing until about 11 pm when the dance shows were to commence. I noticed a huge change that night since a lot of the New York dancers had arrived and dancing "on 2" - it was almost unbelievable to watch the energy and style behind their dancing!
Then we had the dance shows with the following dance groups:
David Molendez "Heartbreak Boys" - NY (pic 7764 from justsalsa.com) Alma Frey Dance Company (pic 7775) Young Ambition - NY Group made of kids aged 6 to 19! (pic 7787, 7838) Sabor Latino Dance Company - Oregon (pic 7797) Salsa Lovers Dance Company - Miami (pic 7813) Carribean Soul Dancers - New Jersey (pic 7831, 7845)
The two best shows in my opinion were Young Ambition and the Carribean Soul Dancers. The Fuerza Latina Dancers from New Jersey were also supposed to perform, but unfortunately, they didn't arrive until 1 am - too late for the dance performances. But if you had been at La Classique Competition Finals on Friday and Saturday, you would have had a chance to see these amazing dancers who were my first real experience of playing on "2" with lots of energy to burn.
Once the dance shows were over, we salsa'd the night away to Los Hermanos Moreno and Jimmy Bosch. That's when the show dancing really began… there were so many great dancers on one floor, you didn't know what to expect from one song to the next… you would be in one corner watching Seaon Bristol being lead by either one of his dancers, Danny, or by New York Instructor Ismael Otero; then suddenly walk to another part of the room to see a couple of the kids from Young Ambition Dance Co. What blew me away about these kids was not just their energy, but catching some of their own neat tricks, such as the boy doing the splits in both directions!
Then there were other New York dancers which captured every wannabe salsero's attention, including Nick with his partner (he was previously here in Toronto a few times), and then Ismael Otero dancing with his sister. What's interesting about the New York dancers is that they just don't do moves and styling - they "play" with the music - something Toronto could learn from… once you became mesmerized by the fire and energy in their dancing, you were more interested in watching and learning from them… and if you were smart, you videotaped every great couple you could find!
So most of my night was spent circulating the floor to try and see every great couple I could find. But then I noticed that Ismael was suddenly free and I took the courage to go up to Ismael Otero and ask him very "nicely" for one dance. I mentioned I would try to dance on "2" with him and did my best to "play" with the music as much as was humanly possible for an on 2 beginner. At times I succeeded and he would voice his approval, but when I ran out of moves at one point, I went into my famous splits which of course surprised him! He was definitely a challenge and a real pleasure to dance with. And what was fun -- you just didn't know what to expect next from him, he just improvises from whatever song is playing at the time.
A very inspirational, and satisfying day and night…
Saturday, April 15th -- Regal Constellation Hotel
During the day from about 11:30 pm until 7 pm were 6 Dance Instructor Workshops, segmented into Beginner/Intermediate and Intermediate/Advanced. Again, I can only comment on the ones I attended.
The 1st workshop was with Angel Rodriguez from New York, Sexy Salsa Partnering on 2. His workshop was a lot of fun and energy with some great new moves - with Betty Boop styling on the cross body lead for the women with a "Peter Pan" ending.
The 2nd workshop was with Addie Rodriguez, the "Salsa Diva" - New York Ladies Styling. This class was for women only. It was very good with high energy and a she had a great sense of humor. We worked on a lot of isolations and different isolated styling for different parts of the body.
Then it was time for lunch and most of us hung around and tried to retain the moves we learned from the morning. By this time, a lot of people were smart and brought video camcorders to retain all the new information we had to absorb.
The 3rd workshop I attended was with Pedro Gomez from Italy, since I enjoyed his workshop so much the other day, but unfortunately, he spent a lot of time showing the same combinations from the other day, so then I moved over to Marlin and Annette Castillos' workshop. They are a couple from Holland; and they had a neat combination of moves including some cross body leads with some unusual stylized dips.
The 4th workshop was with Seaon Bristol from LA on Partner, Spinning and Body Control. This class was really popular since everyone got to witness and get some tips on how to do his amazing spins. Well, he wasn't a disappointment either in his teaching style. At one point, many of us were getting really tired by this time, we already had about 3-4 hours of dancing, not including our lack of sleep.
While everyone was practising their shines, I took a sneak peak over at Rene Gueits from Miami who was teaching Casino Rueda in the next room. His class was also very full - they had a beginner rueda for those who've never had a class and an intermediate level rueda.
The 5th workshop was with Ismael Otero, the Million Moves Man from New Jersey, teaching Partnering, Turns and Tricks. His class was difficult unless you had a partner who understood turn combinations really well. Unfortunately, I had a partner who just couldn't get it, and was tiring me out, so I took another quick peek over at Rene Gueits who was doing another workshop on Miami Casino Rueda with two levels.
The 6th and final workshop was with Addie Diaz from New York on "Addie-tude" Woman's Styling. This was a difficult choice as I also wanted to take Super Mario and Susana's (from London England) workshop on Partnering, but I decided styling was more important for me. She had some excellent ladies styling mixed with New York shines.
By this time, everyone couldn't wait to get home and get ready for the evening festivities - enough time for a nap, have something to eat, get ready and then zoom back to the Regal Constellation Hotel.
Doors were open at 9 pm for the dancing to begin. Everyone was looking forward to Sonora Carruseles performing that evening, but unfortunately they couldn't make it, so we were entertained again by Los Hermanos Moreno.
Dance Shows commenced at about 10:30 pm again… all the Saturday night shows were well performed, and I'll only make comments on the groups which made the most impact on everyone...
Carribean Soul Dancers from New York who performed the same routine as Friday -- a lot of people commented that they had the best caliber of consistent dancers in their dance troupe (pic 8081) The Mambo Mamas - New York (pic 8108, 8293) Salsa Lovers Dance Company - Miami (pic 8119, 8120) The Addie-tude Dance Company - NY (pic 8129)
Young Ambition - NY -- these young dancers stole everyone's heart! Not only were they the only dance team to have a dramatically different routine from Friday -- but their routine was even more technically difficult with non-stop action! They inspired everyone who saw them (pic 8168, 8176, 8182, 8297)
Josie Neglia and Joel de Guzman from LA -- in case you didn't know, Josie Neglia is originally from Toronto and now works out of LA. They put on a slick performance. Funny Tidbit: Our own Toronto "JR" who looks like Joel de Guzman was stopped 3 times by different dancers and complimented on his dancing with Josie. Apparently JR and Joel are from the same town in the Phillipines -- imagine that! (pic 8192)
DC Salseros Latin Vibez Dance Co. - Washington, DC (pic 8223) SeaonStylist Dancers - LA -- If you look carefully, see if you can pick out "Stephanie" from Toronto as one of the dancers (pic 8235 is the "dip", 8292) Razz Ma Tazz from NY -- great finale (pic 8287)
Highlights of the evening… another show-stopping night of dance-watching -- videocameras were everywhere! Some of the fun couples to watch were: - Ismael and another male dancer trying to outdo each other in terms of street-style shine combinations - Ismael jamming it up with his own dance group - Seaon Bristol of course! - Edie's energy as she moved from one dance partner to the next - Josie Neglia with her sexy LA styling
Sunday, April 16th -- Regal Constellation Hotel for Final Daytime Workshops
Well, this was the last morning of workshops… and I was almost tempted to sleep in, but knew that this was the last set, and I would probably regret it if I didn't go... I didn't get there until almost 11:30 am, just in time for the first workshop (which always started late).
The 1st workshop I took was with Josie Neglia, partnered with Joel de Guzman, teaching LA Sexy Moves while partnering. It was a fun workshop. I have seen Josie on videotape, but it's definitely not the same as taking it with her in person. She has a great sense of humor and breaks the moves down really well.
The 2nd workshop was a tough choice, as Seaon Bristol was teaching Beginner/ Intermediate LA Partner and Turn Patterns on "2"; and Josie Neglia was teach LA Partnering on "1": Hollywood Tricks and Turns. I decided to once again take Josie's class as I wanted to see what advanced tricks she would teach; and it wasn't a disappointment. She taught one of my favourite moves, and dip with your two legs straight up in the air… Very few of my friends know or understand how to do this move, so that was a bonus for me. She also taught another turn combination into which you can end with a "lunge" or the "splits".
The 3rd and final workshop was for Instructor Training or anyone who was interested in participating in the discussion. This workshop extended into a two hour discussion on various topics to do with being an Instructor, including how to get and keep students, advertising, what makes a good Instructor, etc.
Then got home just in time to shower, change, eat and zoom down to Ontario Place. The dance competition was being held in the Atlantis Pavillions, which has a stage and seating for about 350 persons. It was a great venue to watch all the competitors and for videotaping without having to jockey for a great position. All the Toronto "regulars" who love to watch competitions were the first to arrive, so it also became a little social gathering place until the competition started.
Outside, the DJ's were playing music for all the dancers who weren't interested in sitting down to watch the competition. There were three levels of competition, Amateurs, Advanced Amateur or Pro.
The amateurs consisted of only three couples from Toronto - one of them being Pawel and Dora, Winners of the the Berlin and La Classique Salsa Competitions held earlier in the year. (To be continued...) Dance Competition and Closing Party at Atlantis Nightclub, Ontario Place
Monday, April 17th -- Last Minute Party and Final Good-bye at Embassy Cafe
Rene Delgado's Own Experiences from the Convention Click here for Comments from other Convention Attendees...
If you would like to add your good/bad experiences about the Convention to our website, please email us at info@TOsalsa.com. We look forward to hearing from you...
Food for Thought: What was a pleasant surprise for me was meeting some wonderful new friends from around the world. When it came to saying our final goodbyes -- many of them warmly thanked me for making them so welcome in Toronto. All I did was ask if they were from out-of-town, welcomed them to Toronto, and proceeded to introduce them to other out-of-town dancers or the "regulars" from our Toronto scene that they might enjoy meeting. After all, they were coming alone to a strange city and probably would like to meet a friendly face -- I know I would appreciate the same courtesy if I was travelling to a strange city to a similar convention -- and aren't we all going for the same reason -- to get our salsa fix! and hopefully meet/dance with salseros from around the world?
Hopefully, as we all travel to different cities, all salseros takes the time to do this for out-of-town guests - it can only promote more unity among salseros everywhere!
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