Highlights of Toronto's Spring Fever 2001

by Rose Knows, Toronto

info@TOsalsa.com

June 17, 2001

I Will Survive!

At least I hope so... Not only did I quickly have to adjust to the 180 degree switch to summer weather, I got another surprise that I wasn't expecting... a system crash probably due to a virus which meant I was forced to have a "vacation" from the site until I could figure out how to salvage my files and try to keep on top of all the happenings in TO! So for all you computer addicts who don't believe in backing up your files, doing a little housekeeping on your system and/or investing in anti-virus software, don't say I didn't warn you! You can easily lose a week's worth of time trying to get everything back to order, not including the $$$ spent getting someone to help you if you don't have computer-savvy friends! Luckily, thanks to the salsa network, I have lots of those that I can turn to for advice! Another great reason to find out what all your salsa partners do besides dancing! You just never know when their other skills could come in handy!

And where did I salsa in all this massive frenzy?

On Tuesday, I zoomed down to Tequila once again, which was busy with the usual crowd, while many of the regulars were at Berlin where Vibrason and On Beat were performing. Apparently, there was a visitor from NYC at Berlin who was nice enough to send us his views on our dancing. It was interesting to read as he said the beginners had more rhythm than advanced dancers and Toronto dancers have ballroom styling. Click here to read the full email. PS - I would love to find out which "advanced" dancer had a dance with him on 2. Also, I've posted an email from Richard in the Dear TOsalsa section who's looking for feedback from someone interested in the history, ** warning, relates to "on 2", but from the rhythm side, not the style side** - and where to find mambo rhythm in TO today.

On Wednesday, I dashed down to Babaluu's as it was the first event leading up to the 1st Anniversary of Latin Roots Wednesdays with DJ Alvaro. Frank Bishun taught the usual beginners class at 8:30 pm and then Stephanie Gurnon taught styling tips at 9:30 pm for men and women. The club was busier than usual, partially due to the warmer weather, but also probably due to the added bonus class by Stephanie, along with a performance by Mambo Theatrix. In this performance, it featured Stephanie and Ivy Cuervo of On Beat doing a cowgirl routine 'on 2' at midnight. The party will continue each Wednesday for the next four weeks and it will definitely be a night you shouldn't miss!

On Friday, the Taste of Little Italy Street Festival had bands playing outside from 7 to 11 pm, including Vibrason and the Samba Squad. It was the perfect night for it, but due to my system crash, I only had time to make it to a "salsa house party" organized by Tricia with her sister, Arisa, who is a lofter! The details were vague, but that many dancers were invited and it was going to be televised on the internet from a "loft". Little did I know, but it's a website which has 8 people living inside this "made-for-web apt." that are viewed 24/7 from their web site and even have a spot on the Life Channel, which happened to be on Friday's from 9:30 pm, called "House Party" and we were the stars! So if you want to get a birds' eye view of some of the Toronto regulars and the great music of DJ Alvaro C, tune your browser to www.u8tv.com, and then click on "Missed a Show?" and go to house party. It will then ask you for low or high speed internet connection and then you can view all the action!

What's New?

Also, thanks to an email from a Beginner in response to the "nasty email" who didn't want to get posted and from an intermediate student, has spurred me to start a new section we were going to include later this year; but with all the new dancers coming into the scene, it just couldn't be put off any longer. So for all you students and beginners (newbies) of the salsa scene, please feel free to email us with all the questions or topics you've been secretly wanting to ask about salsa dancing in our new section, now entitled, "1-2-3, 5-6-7 -- Students'' Corner" (unless someone comes up with a better name). It's your "corner" which will have a spot on our home page and in our growing "Dance Forum" section. Some "Newbie" suggestions have been to include the history of salsa, how Toronto fits in, a forum where readers can write in about their own experience with various instructors, or to talk about frustrations with learning or motivation. So if you have a question you've always wanted to ask, then email us and we'll post it and possibly have various instructors respond.

And due to the massive expansion of our site and its popularity over the past year, it's becoming difficult for me to keep up with the amount of writing involved; so for all you aspiring writers, I would love to have some dedicated volunteer-writers to work on various sections of our site. I have tons of ideas, but not enough time unless I cut out on sleep altogether! So if you love to write about dancing or have a "burning" desire to increase your knowledge of this addictive dance, please email me and send a sample of your writing. PS It can be a great opportun-ity towards a new career or possibly getting to know your favourite dancers.

Which brings me to another discussion which may prove interesting -- should DJ's mix salsa music in the clubs. Paul Chivers sent me a link to an article by Edie The Salsa Freak. Edie discusses why Salsa DJs should not mix or "blend" the music when switching from one song to another, and how this practice disrupts and disorients the dancers. It's funny, but I also read this article about a week ago and had a brief discussion with DJ Rene of Tequila Lounge as I also don't always agree with how they mix the music. How many times in the clubs are you dancing with the same partner and you have to pause during the mix cause the rhythm has changed and now you're off beat. DJ Rene did mention that one of the reasons for mixing the music is for the long intros in the songs which are just not dance-able. I agree that there are songs which need to have the intro cut out, but most DJ's would probably not feel comfortable with non-mixing as it has been the norm for so long. And just for fun, why not cast your vote in our Reader's Poll.

June 12, 2001

What a way to kick off June!

Not only did the weather finally turn sunny and warm -- that "nasty email" about our website and about salsa in Toronto -- kicked off the week as the hot new dance topic that has everyone talking in the clubs or emailing me and which I had to devote a whole page as there are now 21 responses posted! Also, it turns out Alex is Alexia -- a girl (not a guy), NOT latina, but European! Click here for the full story, including a new response from Alex and a rather colourful, but passionate response from a Toronto musician named Paul. Thanks Paul for your support, but I almost didn't post your letter as it was a little too harsh; and that's one of the reasons why we don't put up an automated message board as it can get rather nasty between readers. I've seen it posted on the Web and I find it rather distasteful and unnecessary as the insults fly back and forth.

Dancers are still welcome to express your own viewpoint about our site and our style of dancing in Toronto. But remember, this site was started to help support and promote Toronto to become a major salsa destination; and that can only be accomplished by working together, not pointing fingers at who is better or who is wrong or right. As many readers stated, we are all entitled to our own opinion. My addiction to Salsa and hopefully yours, is from the love of the music and/or the sheer enjoyment of being able to dance with a great partner who loves the music as much as you do and is able to interpret that through movement. When you have that amazing connection from dancing to your favourite song, it's a moment or dance you won't forget.

Also, thanks to an email from a Beginner in response to the "nasty email" who didn't want to get posted, has spurred me to start a new section we were going to include later this year; but with all the new dancers coming into the scene, it just couldn't be put off any longer. So for all you beginners (newbies) to the salsa scene, please feel free to email us with all the questions or topics you've been secretly wanting to ask about salsa dancing in our new section, entitled, "1-2-3, 5-6-7 -- Salsa-Newbies' Corner" (unless someone comes up with a better name). It's your "corner" which will have a spot on our home page and in our growing "Dance Forum" section. Some "Newbie" suggestions have been to include the history of salsa, how Toronto fits in, a forum where readers can write in about their own experience with various instructors, or to talk about frustrations with learning or motivation. So if you have a question you've always wanted to ask, then email us and we'll post it and possibly have various instructors respond.

And due to the massive expansion of our site and its popularity over the past year, it's becoming difficult for me to keep up with the amount of writing involved; so for all you aspiring writers, I would love to have some dedicated volunteer-writers to work on various sections of our site. I have tons of ideas, but not enough time unless I cut out on sleep altogether! So if you love to write about dancing or have a "burning" desire to increase your knowledge of this addictive dance, please email me and send a sample of your writing. PS It can be a great opportun-ity towards a new career or possibly getting to know your favourite dancers.

And what happened this last week? Well, many of the "regulars" were missing in the clubs as they were all busy either getting ready for shows or their weekend in Montreal. With my insane schedule at work, my backlog of events to plan, people to meet and trying to find time to write all the amazing stories and experiences I had in New York and Detroit over the past month -- I made time to make my usual rounds. Tuesday at Tequila, Wednesday at Babaluu's and Friday at Courthouse, then dropped by Bamboo to check out Diego Marulanda with Picande; and Sunday at Left Bank. There was really nothing new to report at the clubs except now that summer is approach-ing, all the clubs are getting more busy with regulars and with many new faces which are slowly becoming regulars. One of the best changes I noticed was that the DJ at the Courthouse has now switched over to DJ Fab and the mix of music is much better.

Which brings me to another discussion which may prove interesting -- should DJ's mix salsa music in the clubs. Paul Chivers sent me a link to an article by Edie The Salsa Freak. Edie discusses why Salsa DJs should not mix or "blend" the music when switching from one song to another, and how this practice disrupts and disorients the dancers. It's funny, but I also read this article about a week ago and had a brief discussion with DJ Rene of Tequila Lounge as I also don't always agree with how they mix the music. How many times in the clubs are you dancing with the same partner and you have to pause during the mix cause the rhythm has changed and now you're off beat. DJ Rene did mention that one of the reasons for mixing the music is for the long intros in the songs which are just not dance-able. I agree that there are songs which need to have the intro cut out, but most DJ's would probably not feel comfortable with non-mixing as it has been the norm for so long. And just for fun, why not cast your vote in our Reader's Poll.

And don't forget that if you want to buy tickets for "Burn the Floor", your last chance will be at Tequila on Tuesday and possibly Berlin's. Click here for more details.

June 3, 2001

Summer Dancing... happened so fast...

Where did the last month go... and how quickly all these other events are creeping up... Last June, if you can recall, we had about 6 club openings in one month in Toronto! And for this summer, it seems the latest craze is to travel to other cities with over 12 different salsa weekends or conventions to choose from! The upcoming two congresses which most Torontonians will be attending is the Puerto Rico Bacardi Salsa Congress in July and the East Coast Salsa Congress in the Catskills in August.

This past week, I took it easy after just getting back from Detroit. Although I did manage to go to both Tequila and Berlin on Tuesday, which were busy as always; and on Thursday to Tequila's new Latin night which was comfortably busy, but the DJ was playing all the salsas I used to listen to about 4-5 years ago! I'm not sure exactly what is happening to the DJ music in Toronto -- either my ear for music is getting more refined or the DJ's are not keeping up with the times. After experiencing the music of DJ Alvaro who plays vintage salsa on Wednesdays at Babaluu, DJ Billy Bryans who brings in the latest salsa from around the World; and after visiting New York for a week who play amazing music to dance to (of which I only knew about 10% of the songs), it seems that many of the Toronto DJ's are stuck playing the same old classic stuff we've been hearing for years. It would be great if some of these DJ's would take the time to visit New York and check out their amazing latin music scene.

On Friday, I went to the Afro-Cuban All Stars Concert at Massey Hall. It was an impressive line-up of 13 musicians with Juan de Marcos Gonzalez direct-ing and playing the tres with three cantantes (singers) including Felix Baloy from their newest album, "Afro Cuban All-Stars present Felix Baloy". This link will play you clips from their latest CD; and you can see this amazing clip of their music from a beautiful garden in Cuba from this site, then I also found an additional site which will give more video footage and a mini bio of all the musicians. As I was surfing the web, there seems to be very little information about these artists; and it took some digging to find any detailed information about the band.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a list of what songs they were going to play from Massey Hall as they only decide that same day. The album itself has the following types of music: "Afro-Cuban All Stars Present Félix Baloy" includes cha-cha-chás, son montuno, boleros and a variety of Cuban son classics, such as "Mami Me Gusto" by Luis "Lili" Martinez. The album also mixes other Cuban genres such as changüí [the ancestor of son montuno] and guaguancó.

They opened up with a slow jazzy tune (which was a band warm-up) and by the end of the night, they had everyone up and dancing. It's probably the first concert I've gone to that basically played straight through for 2 hours with no breaks. They played a medley of various cuban styles of music including some cha cha and son, and the singers would come off the stage and pick women from the audience to dance with. The music they picked that night wasn't as high energy as some of the pieces that they are famous for, possi-bly because the lead singer just came back from a family funeral; but it was great to see how they would showcase the various band members during their nos. as they are all very talented; and they definitely knew how to keep the crowd on its feet for the last half of the show.

May 31, 2001

In Memory of Tito Puente

It's hard to believe that one year has past since the "King of Latin Music", Tito Puente, died... I was looking forward to dancing to his music at last year's West Coast Salsa Congress in LA, but that's when he first became hospitalized... and just a few months before in February, he had a concert at Massey Hall and I was told he seemed in perfect health and couldn't wait to come back again to Toronto! I'm sure many of the clubs will be playing his great music over the next few days. On the right, you'll note that I've put together some of my favourite songs and albums that I've discovered over the past year. In total, he had produced over 100 albums and you'll find that many dance teams pick his music to choreograph to and his fabulous salsas and cha chas are always played in the clubs. I've included links to CDNow which has clips for each of the songs on the albums.

While I was talking with Eddie Torres at the Detroit Congress, he told us some of his experiences with Tito Puente. Because of Tito, Eddie choreographed his first dance performance for a "Machito" tribute with 60 dancers from the New York clubs, including David Melendez and Delisle Thomas; and that's when Eddie first came up with the idea of forming his first dance group. Apparently Tito Puente was one of those tireless musicians who couldn't slow down until his health gave way. Even when he was ill, he had asked Eddie to send him a collection of all the dancers' performances so he could watch them "now that he had some time on his hands". Eddie had spent hours putting videos together only to find out that they never reach Tito before he died when they came back in the mail -- which was a devastating moment for Eddie. Thank you Tito for leaving us with your beautiful legacy to dance to... you will live forever in everyone's hearts through your music.

May 28, 2001

Home Sweet Home!

Well, I just got back from a quick salsa fix after our 5 hour car ride home from the 1st Detroit Bacardi Salsa Congress. It was great seeing all our fellow Detroit salsa dancers once again and to dance and hang out with dancers from Chicago, New York and LA! As we suspected, it wasn't a huge congress, but there was enough dancers to make it fun and you had a chance to develop existing or new friendships. You'll get a full update later with pics, but the most memorable highlights for me was the swing, cha cha and rumba performances by Melanie LePatin and Tony Meredith, Latin Dance Champions from New York, taking their fabulous rumba and cha cha classes, and finally, (a dream-come-true for me) to have the chance to sit down and "get up close and personal" for 2 hours after their Saturday performance with Tony and Melanie about everything to do with dancing! And then, after they went back to New York early Sunday morning, apparently Melanie had surfed my web site and emailed me a note! (Go to the Dear TOsalsa section on the right.) Well, that just put the icing on the cake for me and I still haven't gotten off the high of finally seeing them live, being able to take classes with them and having the chance to talk to them! Other nice surprises was having Francisco Vasquez replace Johnny Vasquez from LA, having Eddie Torres, his niece, Duplessy, Frankie Martinez and Aisha Koswara come in last minute from New York!

On Saturday, Ziv and I had a chance to sit down and chat with Eddie Torres for about an hour about the first formation of his dance group, how he got started and about some of his experiences with the late Tito Puente. It was also nice to meet Frankie and Aisha again for the second time and having them hang out for one evening with the Toronto dancers. Another pleasant surprise were the couples from Puerto Rico, Tito Orta and Vanessa, and Angel and Gisela. It was the first time to see Puerto Ricans dance and their styling just blew me away! Apparently, Tito, Vanessa and Gisela were dancers of the PR dance group, Papa Tambour, who performed last year at the West Coast Salsa Congress in LA.

It was also a very interest-ing experience to travel with the Toronto regulars whom you only know from the clubs dancing or chat-ting. You really get to know your dance-friends' true personalities when you travel with them and it's amazing how we can act like a bunch of siblings all trying to get along and/or agree with what plans we should have. What was really challenging for us was not knowing our way around Detroit and having to figure out how to get where we're going. You had to know what major cross-streets you were heading to before you asked someone in Detroit, or they had no clue. What made it more hilarious and doubled our travelling time is that we didn't get the most accurate directions and ended up in different parts of the city. It was definite-ly a challenge even for the organizer, Elaine Marrero, who lives in Detroit who got lost travelling from the hotel to the Masonic Temple -- we got there before she did and we left about half an hour later than she did. Although we stayed in the Hotel, all of the events were held in various parts of the City, so we always took a full change of clothes in case we didn't have time to go back to the Hotel (which was most of the time) and we wouldn't be stressed out having to rush from place to place in case there was a change in plans (which there always was). Plus imagine trying to get everyone to leave on time from anywhere or to get up early enough when you only had time for about 4-5 hours sleep each night! By the 3rd night, we all had trouble trying to get up with our wake-up call! We also had 3 carloads from Toronto, and it was hilari-ous watching everyone look for someone from their group to leave or find out what they were doing and we never seemed to plan or find out where we were going in advance which also added to our chaos, and it became fend for yourselves dependent on whose car you were in -- if we all met up at the same place, we were lucky! It was also unbelievable that all we could find open most of the time were fast food restaurants so our diets went down the tubes, except for the first night where Elaine had provided a great buffet and on Friday when we had an all-you-can-eat buffet at the Volcano Grill -- that was probably our last healthy meal for the balance of the trip; which is why I'm so glad to finally be back so we can lead our normal dancing lives. Although I'll miss all the friends I made at the Congress and wish to relive some of the highlights, I'm sure most of us agree that we're glad to be home again!

May 23, 2001

When the going gets tough, the tough get going...

or is it Murphy's Law... but no matter what I call it -- the last two days have been nuts at work and at TOsalsa...

On Tuesday, May 22nd, I worked late trying to get everything completed before my trip to Detroit and then zoomed by Tequila to help promote our ticket sales for "Burn the Floor". It was a really quiet evening as it was pouring rain all day, and I guess nobody really wanted to go out, plus maybe they had too much partying over the long weekend. Also, I got to witness the "premier" surprise dance performance by a new male dance group named "Fiesta Dancers", which included Rene, Jason, Bong, Steve, Jay and Angus (from the Los Salsamanos Dance Troupe and/or are volunteers or instructors with United Salseros. Although they've only been practicing for a short while, they looked great and I'm sure you'll see them perform again in the near future.

On Wednesday, May 23rd, I had another day which was non-stop all day at the office until I went to Babaluu's. Many of the regulars ended up showing up that night to get their latin roots fix, plus it was another chance to catch the "On Beat" dance troupe performing. Due to the slow moving line-up, I missed the first performance, but then stayed around to see Paula and Jose perform their winning routine from the Berlin Competition. It was great to see it again in its entirety and then to see On Beat perform their "on 2" routine which looks better everytime. It's a very sensual, sexy routine which always has the guys "panting". I was planning to also go to Park Avenue, but it got so late that I knew I had missed the contest, and decided to dance the rest of the night away as I wasn't going to work the next day.

Real Virus Alert!
It had been one of those days where if anything could go wrong, it did; including a virus which was sent inadvertently thru our TOsalsa email account. I was lucky as my internet was down and nothing could go thru my sent email but some addressees emailed me back thinking I had sent out a virus. This virus is very smart. It takes what emails are coming into your system, copies a portion of the original email being sent to you, sends it back to the person who just emailed you and makes it look like you're replying back to them with a short version of the email they sent you, then tells you to "Take a look to the attach-ment" and includes a randomly named attach-ment of about 13 kbs, such as YOU_are_FAT!.TXT.pif, card.pif, hamster.ZIP or .scr, etc. So if you see an email coming from someone you know with this type of info -- DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT! and delete it right away.
5/28 Update - I did a little research and some testing and it seems it may only affect certain types of email accounts, such as Outlook Express, and it only works on the main "default" email account, so if you have more than one, then default it to the email acct. that you don't use so the virus only affects that email and leaves the other email accts. alone as you download your mail and therefore the virus will not go out on your incoming emails.

May 21, 2001

LA, Detroit, or Stay in TO!

Well, we're in for a very short week of salsa here in Toronto if you've already booked your tickets to go to LA or Detroit for the salsa conventions; so many of the die-hards will be out-of-town this weekend probably starting Thursday night. So as the week picks up speed and since my hi-speed internet connection is down, you may find that you won't get the usually quick responses or updates from me until it's fixed!

Probably the largest salsa congreso to rival the longest running Puerto Rico Bacardi Salsa Congress in July is the 3rd West Coast Salsa Congress in LA organized by Albert Torres Productions, which is projected to have over 3,000 dancers from over 40 countries, with 65 dance teams performing and 30 Beg/Int/Adv workshops. Many Toronto dancers will be going and apparently Soles Dance Company and On Beat will be performing in LA! For those of you who decided they couldn't afford to go this year, you can still see some great dancers who will be at the 2001 Detroit Bacardi Salsa Congress this weekend. It's sponsored by Troy Dance Studio and Bacardi. You'll have a chance to see Johnny and Francisco Vasquez from LA, Sonia and Sergio from Italy, and Latin Ballroom Champions from NY, Melanie LePatin and Tony Meredith; plus others from Toronto, including Stephanie Gurnon and Rene Delgado. Dance Teams performing from Toronto will be Strickly Salsa, On Beat, a yet-to-be-named new male dance group; and there might be a few other last-minute performances. You can click on my new sections on the upper-right which lists the schedules of workshops and other congress detail updates!

This past weekend was a little more relaxing as BBQ party season started; and who can resist the outdoor salsa with great music on someone's patio? Not me!

On Friday, May 18th, I brought some salsa music to a BBQ house-warming party and had a chance to also play a new CD from the upcoming film, Calle 54 (which was featured at the Toronto Film Festival last year). This film provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the music and lives of some of the greatest Latin jazz musicians of our time, such as Tito Puente before he died, Israel "Cachao" Lopez who is being honoured at the West Coast Salsa Congress, plus many others. This is a beautiful latin jazz CD for listening and to play at dinner parties. Afterwards, I headed over to Courthouse (which was packed with many new faces) to check out the dance performance of Bong and Trionne who performed their winning routine from the Detroit and Berlin dance contests and a condensed choreo-graphy from the Los Salsamanos Dance Troupe.

On Saturday, May 19th, it was such a beautiful day, that I couldn't stay in. It seemed all the regulars had decided to take a day and night off in preparation for the hectic week ahead; and some had decided to spend the weekend in Montreal!

On Sunday, May 20th, I went to another BBQ party with some friends which also played salsa music and there we danced on the patio in the fresh air! Nothing beats dancing salsa outside! We had so much fun, we ended up missing the Social which also had a BBQ with a dance performance by 2nd place Berlin Pro Winners -- Paula and Jose. I left the party around midnight, and drove by Babaluu's to find the usual long line-up. Another salsero told me that he went to El Rancho's that night which was also jam-packed and left early as there was no room to dance.

And on Monday, May 21st (our Victoria Day holiday), you have 3 guesses to figure out what I was working on all day and night... hi-speed versus low-speed internet connectivity and salsa or not TOsalsa...

What Coming Up?
(See What's Happening on the right-side of the home page.)

Don't forget about our promotion for two pairs of tickets for Afro-Cuban All Stars concert on June 1st at Massey Hall on our home page!

On Thursday, you can spend an evening with the Puentes Brothers at El Convento Rico, or join 3 DJ's at the new nightclub, Revival.

On Friday, Latin Fever is having their 3rd Anniversary with La Sonora Dinamita, El Rancho's will have its usual crowd, and Teddy of United Salseros wants to invite anyone who's not going to a Congress this weekend to the Courthouse for the "Left Behind Party"; and

On Saturday, you can hit the Bamboo Club where Vibrason is playing along with CD giveaways of the Calle 54 soundtrack.

But if you're hoping to see any regulars, most will be dancing out-of-town!

And finally, congratulations go out to Dora and Pawel who are proud parents of a potential Taurean salsera baby girl named Victoria!

Click here and see other fellow Taureans on our Salsaholic Birthday Survey! So far, Taurus rules, with Virgo next. Any more Gemini salsaholics?

May 17, 2001

How to start a "New Year" with a Bang!

Well, according to the "Starscroll" for Taurus,
"If it is to be, it is up to me." -- William H. Johnsen.
Taurus will be at a crossroads, ready to break free of an old fear and take a leap of faith. You'll likely be confronted with some tough choices about your life direction. Your birthday period each year is special cause it marks the end of a cycle and the start of a new life chapter. By reassessing your past decisions and turning to your inner strength, you'll derive the greatest confidence to pursue a path that is better suited to your talents." .... hmm, could it be more hours of dancing salsa or less? Well, here was how my "new year" started once again...

On Friday, May 11th, I quickly zoomed home to catch some beauty sleep before the weekend festivities started, but it was just not meant to be -- Ziv had got wind of a Tower Record store closing where all CD's were 50% off; and that included latin music! and you hardly ever see deep discounts on salsa music, so it was too good to resist (and I won't begin to tell you how many I bought!). Thank goodness for my music research. I got a few "gems", such as the Limited Edition of "Mambo Mania - The Kings and Queens of Mambo" with songs from the 50's and 60's! A booklet is included which has some pics, the history of mambo, some background about each of the songs, a music glossary and a mini lesson on how to dance the mambo! Another gem was an RMM Filmworks digitally remastered 2-CD set of the film "Yo Soy Del Son a la Salsa"... the roots, the fusion and the rhythm of salsa -- 36 songs by the Legends of Latin Music, such as Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, El Gran Combo and others (over 30 artists). It definitely helped to learn who all the great artists were so I could pick out the CD's by name. Of course we closed the store then got ready to go to 4 on the Floor's Salsa Party at Capitol Event Theatre. I got there about 11 pm and it was nice mix of die-hard dancers and onlookers. The band was rockin', it was great to see Stephanie and Angus' Mission Impossible performance again, plus a flamenco show; and the hits being spun by DJ Billy Bryans. It was also nice to dance with some new blood on the dance floor that have potential to be in the next wave of potential salsaholics. But probably the highlight of the night for me was dancing with Angus on 2. Previously, I mentioned how I was inspired by the New York dancers' playfulness; well, I had a blast "playing" with Angus that night. It didn't matter that we didn't always get the move right, but we were playing and experimenting with the music's accents, our timing and the types of combinations you can do. It was challenging and fun and it's the level everyone should aim for. Once you know the moves and can execute them, it's taking it to the next level and interpreting what you know into the music and having a "conversation" with your partner -- that's what dancing should really be about.

On Saturday, May 12th (my official bday), I had a fun "impromptu" brunch with some of my salsa friends; and then went to a non-salsa dinner party. But of course, how can you avoid talking about salsa -- so I met people who had taken salsa or who wanted to learn salsa.

On Sunday, May 13th, I was tired from the week of non-stop 24/7 things to do, including Mother's Day, but really wanted to go to Left Bank as I hadn't been there in ages and what a way to finish my birthday week! It turned out to be a fun night of dancing! The surprise dance fix of the evening was Sasha Tahiliani as he had changed his style of dancing once again! He surprised me that night by also "playing" with the music which he said was inspired by watching Angus.

On Tuesday, May 15th, I headed over to Tequila to promote "Burn the Floor" which I had on videotape (which will run every week until June 12th). "Burn the Floor" at the Hummingbird Centre, with 44 World Champion Ballroom Dancers from 16 countries, through the cool of the Viennese Waltz to the heat of Latin Salsa, from the Lindy Hop to the Cha Cha Cha. We'll post up the details on how to reserve your tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis with a choice of four shows based on preference and availability. You don't want to miss this show if you love dancing. There's probably a lot of exciting choreography and showmanship tips you can pick up from seeing this type of dance show live! Warning: You may even decide to take up ballroom after a watching a show of this calibre!

We also have promotions for:

Two pairs of tickets for Afro-Cuban All Stars at Massey Hall!

Full Event Passes to the Detroit Bacardi Salsa Congress!

If you don't have the time or the money to go to the West Coast Congress in LA, then don't miss out on your golden opportunity to see Los Rumberos (Vasquez Bros.) from LA, Sonia and Sergio from Italy, or my favourite ballroom couple from New York, Melanie LePatin and Tony Meredith in Detroit -- 4 nights of dancing, shows, choose from 33 salsa and 24 ballroom workshops (beg/int and int/adv) for the price of $150 US in advance. The workshop schedule will be posted this weekend.

On Thursday, May 17th, I checked out the Luis Mario Concert at the Bamboo. Unfortunately, due to the no. of different events that night, plus the fact that many of the dancer group performers were practicing that night -- it was not the perfect night to get your salsa fix. Luckily for me, Pawel and Dora (last year's Amateur Berlin Contest Winners turned Pro) showed up; so I had the chance to catch up on their lives and a chance to dance with Pawel on 2. What was hilarious was that he had to take his shoes off to dance and then after the dance, I had to help him find his missing shoes! And then later when we were talking about dancing, I asked him if he keeps a "dance memory" of what it was like dancing with that same person the last time. That's something I have, "dance memories" of what it was like dancing with dancers the last time, and seeing/gauging how much they have usually improved or what new moves they are now using. Pawel mentioned that yes, he did the same thing, and commented on how much more smooth my on 2 dancing was compared to the last time we danced, and of course that made my evening! Thank you, New York! Those days of forced/constant on 2 dancing really helped!

And then there's the long weekend to look forward to... but some die-hards are heading out to Montreal this weekend to check out the salsa scene. For the rest of us, the clubs will be packed as usual, along with the Social at Violetta's this weekend; and I'll be busy-crazy getting things done and ready for the following weekend where some dancers will be going to LA and others will be heading to Detroit.

Have a great weekend!

May 10, 2001

Taurus Rules! or
A "Promotion" (or Cake) a Day keeps the Doctor away!

On Tuesday, I zoomed over to Tequila for my 4th day of birthday cake with my fellow Taureans! It was a fun-filled evening of danc-ing and the classes by United Salseros was jam-packed. The 99% salsa were being spun by DJ Billy Bryans in honour of all our birthdays. The music was absolutely fabulous -- I even got a few more names to some songs to add to my new, upcoming Top 100 salsa song list -- one by the late-great Tito Puente and the other by Grupo Gale! Two fellow Taureans, Andy Kamienski and Elizabeth Sadowska did an impromptu Argentine Tango dance; and this week there were lots of CD giveaways, club passes and a pair of tickets to 4 on the Floor's Capitol Event Salsa Party! Thanks to all the dancers who came out to celebrate with us! By the end of this week, I may have to ban cake or avoid salsa bday parties! Also, if anyone's taken a look at my salsa birthday survey lately, you'll see that we out-number all the other signs!

Almost every night this week, Ziv has been busy trying to keep up with all our home page promotions, which includes:
Tickets to 4 on the Floor Salsa Party!
Two pairs of tickets for Afro-Cuban All Stars at Massey Hall!
Full Event Passes to the Detroit Bacardi Salsa Congress!
Then next week, we'll post up the raffle for the May 17th Luis Mario Salsa Event Tickets and the Burn the Floor group ticket sales! Already die-hard dance freaks have told me to hold some tickets for them! This coming Tuesday at Tequila, you can take a sneak-peak at the Burn the Floor video which will run every week until June 5th.

Home Sweet Home!

Well, I got back home last Tuesday night, just in time to quickly change into a new outfit I bought in NYC and then zoom down to Tequila Lounge to meet up with many of my dancer-friends who hang out there. As much as I enjoyed dancing in NYC, I was glad to be home in my own territory -- I could finally relax and not have to rush around! New York didn't feel like a holiday as it is so large and it takes you twice as long as you think to get where you're going and you always had to factor in a walk or a cab ride after you got off the subway. So in Toronto, I was out partying Tuesday at Tequila and Wednesday at Latin Roots Babaluu and dancing on 2 with most of my friends. It was interest-ing to note that they didn't ask, but just got into it. That was probably the best thing about New York -- I was forced to dance on 2 all the time and the lead was amazingly clear from most of the dancers and there's some fabulous moves and combinations that each dancer had -- I never had the same style of dance -- they were all uniquely fun and different. Monday at Hush Nightclub turned out to be the best night to dance and to watch many of the good dancers who showed up that night, such as Seaon Bristol from LA, Ismael Otero of Caribbean Soul Dancers from New Jersey, Nick Robinson, Abbey of Mambo Mamas, and one of my idols of International Latin Ballroom, Tony and Melanie. Galavision was taping and Frankie Martinez with his Abakua dance troupe performed "the Matrix" -- a hot new salsa number for the Millenium and one of the featured nos. of Latin Madness. That night reminded me of the Congresos and showed me what "on 2" dancing really was all about -- which is the joy of dancing and being able to flirt/play with your partner. It was so inspiring for me that Ziv kept commenting on how my dancing had changed and I would love to go back to New York and stay there just for the dancing. Stay tuned as I will be posting my diary of my stay in New York, the dancers I got to know and the highlights of the Latin Madness musical.

On Saturday, I checked out the Los Amigos Salsa Dance at the beautiful Argonaut Rowing Club. It has a beautiful dance floor and they did a great job of organizing this monthly event which includes door prizes, dance class, a light meal, and they let birthday celebrants in for free. Unfortunately this time for the salsa addicts, they tried to mix the dancers of salsa and ballroom, so many of the salsa fanatics quite disappointed in terms of getting a good salsa fix.

Then I finally found some time to put the finishing touches to the Interviews I had with the Winners of the Berlin Dance Contest via Email along with the pics sent to me thanks to Rene and Michelle of United Salseros. If you're aspiring to compete next year, then check out what they had to say...

And of course, my weekly update of Dear TOsalsa which even has latinos emailing me now in Spanish!

April 28, 2001

New York Madness!

Well, this is my second day in New York City and it's been fun and exhausting at the same time. I thought salsa conventions were bad, but this is worse, it's a cross between back-packing and dancing all in one big city! What made it more funny, was Ziv telling me to take it easy, have fun, but get lots of rest cause it's a vacation! Well, the truth is, when it's a dancers' trip - there is no vacation - don't expect to get lots of sleep when there's too many things to do and not enough time! It's been so crazy-busy that I didn't have time to look for a library to go onto the internet until now! The Brooklyn Public Library is unbelievably huge -- looks more like a museum than a library and has large flat-screen computers with fast internet connection!

And the dancing! Well, I did take one workshop with D. Thomas on Friday night after walking around all day, and thoroughly enjoy-ed it. He concentrated on dance technique and styling with some partner work in the last half-hour. Apparently, he's one of the few instructors who breaks down proper technique and styling which helps me to understand the New York styling a lot better. And the dancers, well, it's New York and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks to Yunee, a New York dancer who had visited Toronto; she was kind enough to show up at Latin Quarter on Thursday and Copacabana on Friday. Through her, I met many of the good dancers who showed up at the clubs and had a chance to dance with them. Many of the regulars who normally go to the clubs to dance were missing, possibly because of the Latin Madness shows this weekend. I will definitely want to come back to New York as I had a blast dancing with the men! They have a totally different attitude to dancing with women! They aren't in their own world with their dancing or take it too seriously, they actually dance with you, and share their passion for the music. Because of this, you're inspired to put your best into your dancing and don't worry about whether you're going to screw up with some moves on 2. They just pretend it never happened and continue dancing with you.

Anyways, I gotta run, I had to rewrite this as the computer messed up and I'm late! Tonight, I can't wait to watch "Latin Madness" and then the Bernard Martinez Social where probably everybody will be heading to afterwards. On Sunday, there's no "regular" club that the dancers go to so everything's up in the air, but we will be going to Frankie Martinez workshop to check him out; and then on Monday to Hush Nightclub to see Frankie Martinez and Abakua perform. Then on Tuesday, I'll be zooming back to Toronto, and down to Berlin and Tequila.

PS. The weather in NYC has been amazing!

April 26, 2001

New York... New York...

Well, as I'm surfing thru SalsaNewYork's calendar updates... my excitement intensifies... work is done, but all the last-minute details of going away are not! What's neat is what's already planned for us in NYC! Tomorrow night, we hit Latin Quarter and possi-bly another surprise party! Friday, I think we'll go to Copa as "El Canario" will be playing there. On Saturday, we'll be at Latin Madness and then possibly Bernard Martinez Social; then Sunday there will probably be an after-party which is all last-minute! (Nelson said that Luis Zegarra may be organizing it.) On Monday, we'll hit Hush Nightclub at 6 pm with a complimentary buffet, live band - "Nelson Gonzalez Y Son Mundano", a lesson with Frankie Martinez and a performance with his dance troupe, Abacua with DJ Henry Knowles for $5 US! Then when I get back to TO, I'm heading directly to Tequila and Berlin! How's that for excitement! or total exhaustion... Gotta go...

April 25, 2001

Newsflash!
$150 Canadian for Detroit Salsa Congress!

From now until Tuesday, May 1st, Elaine Marrero, the hostess of the Detroit Salsa Congress is giving Toronto and the surround-ing Cdn. cities a special early-bird price of $150 Cdn. instead of US$ (about $84 Cdn in savings). You can purchase the tickets from us at Tequila Lounge on Tuesday, May 1st or email us if you want to use your Visa or Mastercard.

Didn't have the time or the money to go to the West Coast Congress in LA? Well, don't miss out on your golden opportunity to see Los Rumberos (Vasquez Bros.) from LA, Sonia and Sergio from Italy, or my favourite ballroom couple from New York, Melanie LePatin and Tony Meredith in Detroit -- 4 nights of dancing, shows, choose from 33 salsa and 24 ballroom workshops (beg/int and int/adv).
May 24-28, 2001. More details will be posted soon.

In the second set, the first performance was by Stephanie Gurnon with Angus Dirnbeck. Their dance was based on the Mission Impossible theme and they totally blew me away with their routine. It was beautifully executed and thought out with the use of a stick for about 3/4 of their song for cross-body-leads and during the double/triple spins. They definitely complemented each other in their styling and choreography. The next performance was Jenny and Adam from Detroit -- they were 2nd in the Detroit Star Ball salsa competition. Many of their moves were adapted from ballroom, along with one of my all-time favourite moves from Tony Meredith and Melanie LePatin (Latin Ballroom Champions) where the girl is facing the same direction as her partner and splits her legs to the side and her arms wide and slowly brings them togeth-er. Then we had a perform-ance from On Beat Dance Company headed by Ivy Cuervo, along with Caryl, Karem, Michelle, Paula and Karen. It was a very sexy, sensual shines routine which had a couple of guys behind me wanting more! Then a couple from the Strickly Salsa Dance Group showed up as they had just finished a class and put on a great show!

Inbetween the shows, Stephanie was the DJ and played New York style Salsa all night long which is usually more mellow but gives you more time to play with the music. After the 2nd set of performances, I had a few dances with Angus. Without thinking about it, I realized after a few combinations that we were dancing on 2. For me, I don't like to think about which beat I'm dancing on when I'm on 2 as I seem to lose my partner's connec-tion as I try to count to the music. I prefer to follow my partner instinctively and rely on him to lead me on 2. Tonight was a revelation for me to begin to under-stand why dancers might prefer to dance on 2. Since Angus is very comfortable with dancing on 2, his lead inspired me to flirt and play with the music. To watch the New York dancers, you appreciate the playfulness in their dancing, but to actually experience it while you are dancing can take your breath away! You can look forward to some pics real soon, and finally, click here for pics and highlights from the "Fiesta Fever" Social on March 25!

Over the last week, I went to Tequila on Tuesday to watch the Berlin Dance Contest Winners in Amateur (Josephine and Paul) and Semi-Pro (Mona and Marc Anthony) perform their winning routines. It was nice to see them up close and not through a camera lens. The balance of the week was spent working on upcoming TOsalsa and Fiesta ideas and updates. On Saturday, I met up with our Detroit guests for dinner and then we took them to El Rancho's. It was comfortably crowded and as always, we closed it.

Last week, I also had a chance to talk to Edie the Salsa Freak, and I'm happy to announce that I'll be selling her Ladies Styling Video here in Toronto, and hopefully Cool Moves 2. The Ladies Styling Video is definitely a must-have as it has many practical styling tips you can use while you dance and there's some partner tips for the men too! Very soon, we'll put up a simple form for you to fill out to reserve a copy with all the details while I wait for my first shipment. In the meantime, email me if you would like to reserve a copy with name, phone no. and email address.

Also, in the next few days, we're excited to announce that we have reserved group tickets to the October dance show of "Burn the Floor" at the Hummingbird Centre, with 44 World Champion Ballroom Dancers from 16 countries, through the cool of the Viennese Waltz to the heat of Latin Salsa, from the Lindy Hop to the Cha Cha Cha. Before the end of this week (thanks to Ziv), we'll post up the details on how to reserve your tickets and you can get a sneak-peak of the Show on Video on Tuesdays at Tequila. Tickets will be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis with a choice of four shows based on preference and availability.

And finally, TOsalsa will be organizing a 20 min. "Salsa Showcase" of the top dance groups or couples for the Toronto Street Festival at Yonge & Bloor on Sat, July 7th, which will have the "Hot Latin Vibe" of Dominicanada, Diego Marulanda and more...

April 19, 2001

Yikes, less than a week before Rose Goes... to New York!

I can't begin to tell you how much I'm starting to look forward to visiting the Big Apple and seeing some old/new friends whom I've met in person over the last year or thru the Internet! Two weeks ago, Dave Paris, an on 2 dancer with Razz-M-Tazz was visiting Toronto once again; and we'll have a chance to hang out with him, Robert Vidal, an on 2 dancer I met last summer, Nelson Flores of Descarga Latina, Abbey of Mambo Mamas, Steve Shaw and Manny Siverio of SalsaNewYork.com -- the list could go on and on! Already, we have 3 dance nights already booked up! with mega-shopping during the day.

Starting Friday, we'll have some dancers from Detroit to check out our salsa scene and Oursalsathing's Social on Sunday! And due to the fact that I get email from visiting New Yorkers, I've even revised my Club Hangout section to show where 'on 2' Dancers usual-ly hang out each week (in red). On Friday, many of the regulars who dance on 2 will be at Palazzo's to watch "On Beat" perform! While others will be hanging out at El Rancho's or Plaza Flamingo as the Courthouse is closed for filming.

Other news... well, thanks to all the Readers who keep asking us for the partner search, I'm happy to report that Paul has been working hard to try and finish the program asap. I'm sure we can all forgive him as he was busy the last few months with the Berlin Competition and his hard work paid off in Amateurs!

Also, it's just been confirm-ed that TOsalsa will be organizing a 20 min. "Salsa Showcase" of the top dance groups or couples for the Toronto Street Festival at Yonge & Bloor on Sat, July 7th, which will have the "Hot Latin Vibe" of Dominicanada, Diego Marulanda and more...

Check back on Monday as we have many more announcements which will keep you busy over the next few months trying to plan your weekends and vacations!

April 15, 2001

And the Easter Bunny laid some golden eggs ("moments") this past week!

Ziv and I launched TOsalsa with the help of our friends, Frank and Dennis, on April 10th -- one week before the Toronto Salsaweb Convention. Oops, Ziv and I should have celebrated our one year anniversary together! I spend so much time with Ziv via phone, email, in meetings, dancing (that's how we first met) and on ICQ that I tell everyone that he's my
e-hubby and we have a demanding child called "TOsalsa.com" which keeps us busy 24/7! And most of our friends agree as we squabble about our "child" as if we're husband and wife! (and sorry Ziv for letting the world know, but you know it would come out sooner or later!)

We have been so busy working at our real jobs and with our "child" that we totally forgot until today! and what a year it has been! I remember the days when we only had to work a few hours a day on the site and could even take a week or weekend off! Now with all the great ideas and the growing momentum of salsa in Toronto and around the world, even a regular night of dancing is consid-ered a holiday! I've become such a salsaholic that I even have to turn on the TV to fall asleep or I'm constantly thinking about what I want to do next!

What was kind of neat was having an impromptu dinner party with some salsaholics this past weekend which I guess subconsciously was a small anniversary dinner party with close friends. I've been trying to find time for about 6 months since I moved and this weekend seemed the perfect oppor-tunty. Of course we did what all salsaholics do -- talk, debate, watch videos from various conventions and the Berlin competition, cheer and make fun of each other dancing on the videos! And I learned something new about my dancing friends -- most of them don't know or don't have time to cook, but would rather dance! And you know who you are! And surprisingly even though most don't drink in the clubs, no one refused a glass or two of wine! Imagine how funny the conversation gets when a few dancers get tipsy!

To show you how fast we've grown in a year... we expanded our site to include latin music, latin jokes, dance photos, travel diaries, non-smoking events (socials), Dear TOsalsa, some great promotions for our Readers with more to follow and finally a real pic of Rose Knows! I kind of liked being anonymous until someone who was going to meet me, complimented me on the photo stating, "that if I was as pretty as my picture, then..." Well, we realized we had to change that photo real soon! Regarding our readership, it started with about 4,500 page views a month, and has now exceeded 20,000 page views a month, or over 150,000 hits/month - that's 500% growth in one year and it's still climbing! And this summer is going to sizzle with the amount of new events happening in Toronto and around the World!

Special thanks goes out to Ziv for putting up with me and my non-stop ideas, Frank Herschell, Dennis Augustine, Francois Baillargeon who has helped me with our latin music section, Paul Chivers for his help on our upcoming partner search page, Steve Russell who is helping us update our upcoming DJ's and Band listings, all the DJ's (esp. Billy and Alvaro), Dance Instructors who've kept us in the loop, esp. Rene, the dancers/ performers who inspire me (and you know who you are!) and to all our Readers who keep letting us know what they want to see and read!
P.S. If you missed last week's column, click here.

Photos by Rose Knows
2001 Berlin Salsa Dance Competition Photos

2001 Detroit Star Ball Salsa Champions, Bong & Trionne

Articles/Features
Steve Shaw's Article: "Overcoming Your Fear of Social Dancing..."

Strickly Salsa auditions for Madonna Tour in NYC!

Diego Marulanda Concert Highlights and CD Review

Milton Cobo's Visit to Toronto from North Carolina!

Also, I encourage everyone to continually check the "Dear TOsalsa" section on the right as many readers are starting to write daily for information (in which I could use some help as I don't always know the answer) or to provide great feedback which inspires me to come up with more great ideas for our website!

What a kick-start to Year 2 of TOsalsa.com or shall I say more days of 24/7!

Rose Knows...

April 8, 2001

Spring is in the Air... Everytime I Turn Around!

And today (Sunday) was fabulous except I was mostly stuck indoors between the bed for some much-needed rest and the computer after a crazy weekend of salsa and music! This had to be the longest winter we've had in a long time; but that didn't stop the dancing and the music! If anything, 2001 is going to be a record-breaking year in terms of events and when I think back to a few years ago, the dancers of today have so much to choose from! My problem now is that dancing is not enough -- I am driven to learn the latin music and culture and help in any way I can to fuel the growing Toronto salsa scene. If you don't see me out, it doesn't mean I'm not thinking or dreaming about salsa, instead, my energies are spent working on new ideas and developing contacts to bring more talent/exposure to Toronto. If we don't have time to go to the World, then let's try to bring the world of salsa dancers here to Toronto! It's also become my own "crusade" to absorb the music and the culture behind it. Without the music, how could we dance. And without the dancers, who would help ignite the exposure to the latin talent we have in this world. And if it looks as if I'm preaching well I hope many of you out there are as passionate about salsa as much as I am and will continue to get your friends addicted to this social phenomenom which I hope never disappears! On another note, click here to read my passionate responses to an under-ground controversy about our site and its content.

On Wednesday, I went back to Babaluu's to get my latin roots education with DJ Alvaro. What I love about him is that he's never too busy to let you know what song he's playing if you ask. He only plays vinyls which he buys/ imports from Cuba and is an avid collector. He also tries to get all the latin artists who come to Toronto to autograph his album covers. It's a nice surprise for the artists to see some of their old vinyls and the memories it brings back. Tip: For all you music lovers out there, the best way to remember the music is to find at least one song a night that you like, go up to the DJ and ask for the artist and the name of the song -- 9 times of out 10, the DJ's will be patient enough to tell you. Mind you, if we all start doing that, they may change their tune quickly. As most of you know, I have a Top 100 Salsa Song List I put together, plus my diary of DJ Top 10 Lists in my new Latin Music section. I've also included a list of faves from the Readers. If you would like to share your favourite songs, please email me and I'll include them on this list. Stay tuned as I put together my new favourite list of songs that I've discovered thanks to the DJ's and my new friends thru the Internet.

On Friday, April 6th, I found out that Milton Cobo from North Carolina would be at the Courthouse, so I made the effort to drag myself down there after a 1 hour nap. It was definitely worth it, as it's always nice to see a different style of salsa! He's a very dynamic dancer with a strong influence of NY and could easily transition between dancing on 1 and 2 with various followers! We had a fabulous conversation for probably an hour about how he got started in salsa. Click here to find out more...

As always, we ended up closing Courthouse and I didn't get to sleep until about 4:30 am.

On Saturday, April 7th, I had to get up by 10 am so I could get ready to meet Ziv and Francois (writer) for our interview with Eliades Ochoa at the Metropolitan Hotel down-town. We were meeting him in the lobby and couldn't miss him as he was wearing his signature hat. We then took some pictures while we were waiting; and went to the Coffee Shop where we met up with Andres Mendoza of Virgin Records. While Francois did his interview in Spanish, Ziv and I had a fabulous conversation with Andres about how he got started and about the latin music scene in Canada. When the interview was over, Ziv and I had a chance to talk to Eliades with Andres as our interpreter. We had lots of fun asking him questions about his hat, how many he owned (he just bought 4 in LA!) and about his travels. Apparently, Japan is a big fan of his and they danced and seemed to know all the words to his songs. We even experienc-ed the typical latino charm when he asked me "When I was planning to visit Cuba?" I mentioned that I would love to try and plan a trip for next year. Eliades then said I would definitely have to visit him in his hometown and hopefully I would be able to speak to him in Spanish!

Later that evening, it was time to go to Atlantis for the 2001 Berlin Dance Contest Finals! I knew the competitors had to be there for about 9 pm and I arrived at 9:30 pm to beat the rush! Already there was a long line-up to purchase tickets. The smart ones who bought their tickets in advance from Berlin had a very short wait.

(To be continued...)

April 6, 2001 Update!

Rose Goes... to New York!

Tickets for the Latin Madness Mambo Musical in New York City are complete sold out for Saturday, April 28th! Seats are still available for Friday, April 27th.

Check out our home page this coming Monday for your chance to win a pair of tickets to see the concert on Saturday which is open to New York and Toronto. The winner must be able to New York on their own. We plan to go from Thursday, April 26th until Tuesday, May 1st for a fun filled weekend in NYC!

April 1, 2001

Spring is here! And did it ever start with a bang!

Not only did I finally get my voice back, but had some great nights of dancing and have had a chance to meet and talk with many dancers who are not as hardcore, but love salsa as much as we do!

On Tuesday, March 20th, Berlin had it's semi-finals for amateur and pro. I got there early so I could avoid the line-up and have a chance to dance with my friends before the crowds. As expected, I got my fix in early. As I might have mentioned before, the adrenaline rush dancers get from a contest brings out their best, and that night was no exception. I was having so much fun that I even stayed until the wee hours of the morning. The semi-finals started at about 10:30pm with the amateurs and there were about 12 couples competing. It was probably a little easier to judge as it as obvious that some couples had worked on a routine along with some nice costumes. Some of the more memorable couples were Josephine and Paul who had a very nice, clean and smooth style and in my opinion should make it in the Top 3; and a semi-finalist in amateur last year, Alex Wong and his new partner, Gorete, who always has a great sense of humour in his dancing. He wowed the crowd by pulling off a pair a black pants into a gold pair at the beginning of the song and (forgive me if I offend anyone as it's difficult to describe some of these moves) at one point Alex was crawling towards his partner's butt which had the crowd roaring their approval.

Then there were the pros. All of them made it into the finals including Inessa, whose partner was a no-show as all the competitors showed their support in allowing her to dance with her previous partner, Ricardo so she could qualify for the finals. There was no really outstanding routines as I think all the pros were saving all their tricks and moves for the finals. The only couples who had some interesting moves that night which I hadn't seen before was Paula and Jose with a "crazy arm" cuban move and a reverse back flip from a dip. Bong never ceases to amaze me as he took a move he saw in Detroit by a lindy hop dancer and incorporated into his salsa routine where he goes backwards to the ground towards his partner.

That "rush" sustained me right thru until Wednesday night at Babaluu's. It was another night of fun as the Puentes Brothers made a guest appearance; and the dancers still were on a high from Tuesday night. After-wards I zoomed up to Park Ave. to check out the DJ competition, but it was already over. I recognized the regulars which hung out there, but it has more of the younger, pick-up crowd which only dance socially and it was slim pickings for dancing so I left.

On Friday, Mar. 23rd, I went early to El Rancho's to catch a few dances, then zoomed off to the Bamboo Club at about 10:30 pm to check out the action with Vibrason. There were some dancers from Soles, Frank Bishun and Natalie were dancing up a storm, but I knew most of the regulars were going to be at Courthouse.

On Sunday, March 25th, Fiesta Productions, a new collaboration between myself and Rene Delgado held our first "Fiesta Fever" Social. What made it most exciting for me was getting about 90% of the salsa dance instructors to attend this first of its kind non- smoking event in less than a week and a half! And on top of that to pull together some of our best dance couples to perform! Click here in the next few days to read my highlights!

On Tuesday, March 27th, was the Berlin Semi-finals for the semi-pro division. There were only 4 couples competing and all 4 got in which kind of makes you wonder why you would bother to have a semi-finals, except to give them a chance to compete and get ready for the finals. What was nice about this semi-finals was that the couples actually paid more attention to their outfits and seemed to have a little more choreography put together in comparison to the previous week. As always, if you get there early, you get in some great dancing time. After the contest, they play less salsa and more of every-thing else including house; so most of the regulars usually leave early.

Some of the more hilarious moments at Berlin which I have forgotten to mention over the past month is with DJ Efren. He's a great guy, but he can never remember names properly unless you write it down for him. One of the funniest nights was when he kept mentioning Jennifer and Giovanni's Dance Co. as "Los Salseros" instead of "Los Salsamanos". He did it so repeatedly that I thought Giovanni was going to politely blow a fuse; which cracked the regulars up even more, esp. since they teach there every week and DJ Efren has been there for years. Finally, Gio had to yell up from the dance floor to correct him; and to this day, he hasn't repeated the same mistake. Then there's our website name, which he can never remember; I even had to have him repeat to me slowly, my name, Rose Knows, of TOsalsa.com -- maybe one day he'll get it!

And that's all the dancing I've been able to do. I just couldn't find the energy to make the rounds on Friday, Mar. 30th as there were 4 events happening -- an El Salvador charity dance at Plaza Flamingo, Grupo Mora at Palazzo, the grand opening of a Salsa Night at Statik Night Club and the premier performance of On Beat! I heard they were great which didn't surprise me since I know how many hours they spend training each week and they are a driven bunch of salsa divas. It was unfortunate that the music skipped about 3 times; and it was a letdown for the dancers, especially since they spent at least 2 hours in make-up, hair and costume getting ready for their 3 minute gig!

What's Coming Up...

Stay tuned as there will be upcoming news about other dance travel plans to the Bacardi Congress in Detroit (May), Puerto Rico (July) and the East Coast Salsa Congress in August!

We also have some other exciting promotions coming up, such as the Diego Marulando Concert, Afro-Cuban Allstars and an upcoming dance show which will be coming to Toronto this year!

And this is just the start of Spring!

Rose Knows...