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September
18, 2001
Unity Against Terrorism!
Since
last Tuesday's attack, I like many others were glued to the TV and the
internet, wondering whether family and friends were okay, and trying
to understand why someone could be so cruel and heartless to take away
so many innocent lives and hate so much that they don't even care if
they die in the process. As I read bits and pieces of people's experiences
that day, it saddened me even more. It shook me up so much that I couldn't
bear to go to the clubs or talk to anyone by phone this past week --
I felt as if I was in mourning. How could I go out knowing so many people
suffered and/or died so needlessly. During this time, I needed to know
that all my family and friends were safe.
It was only when DJ Billy Bryans suggested doing last Saturday's fundraiser
for NYC that I could force myself to go to a club; and even then, I
had to drag myself out as I really wasn't in the mood to socialize.
I was pleased to see that about 300 people came out to support this
event with only 2 days notice, and Billy was able to gather some of
Toronto's best musicians from Vibrason and Samba Squad, Diego Fuentes
from Muchmore-music, dancers from Grupo Sabroso and On Beat, with added
promotional support from Rene Delgado of United Salseros, Latin Roots,
danceyourpantsoff, Oursalsathing.com, Iliam, 4ontheFloor, CBC Radio
One, and others to spread the word. To show our appreciation to Billy
who has been supportive to the latin community over the years, we surprised
him with a birthday cake as it was his birthday that night.
By Sunday night, like many others that have emailed our site from the
U.S., I realized that you have to let it go and move on. What I love
about our American neighbours is their guts, resiliency and determination
to get on their feet and take a stand. What I love about our World and
the Internet is that it crosses all bridges and continents and can unify
everyone instantly in minutes, especially when the phone lines were
down.
On September 11th, while everyone was trying to find out what was happening
via the phone, websites or on TV, I also checked emails and chatboards
trying to help worried co-workers, family and friends about what was
happening and hoping to hear good news about family and friends.
And to celebrate that spirit of Unity against Terrorism, we've decided
to put together a special
message board for salseros and salseras to express their feelings about
911. So if you have anything you'd like to express to our friends
in the South to show your support, please email
us and we'll post it.
September
16, 2001
How you can help... and more news about NYC!
I
just got off the phone with DJ Billy Bryans who mentioned that he has
the Bamboo Club this Saturday and why not help raise funds for the victims
of NYC? He already talked to Vibrason to play that night and possibly
Samba Squad. We are also going to contact the dance groups (On Beat
and Consuelo Herrara has confirmed) to see who is available to perform
that night. The cover at the Bamboo will be $7 and all proceeds will
be donated to either the United Way to help the victims of the attacks
and their families. We will also have a box by the DJ booth if you would
like to donate more. If you would like to donate blood or provide a
larger donation directly to the charity, I've included some info links:
CNN
Contact Info
Yahoo
Contact Info
Toronto
Star Contacts
Stay tuned as we get more details, don't forget to tell all your
friends, and hope to see you on Saturday...
And regarding news from our friends in NYC? Well Abbey of Mambo Mamas
sent an email to me stating, "Thank you, my dear Rose. Everyone
here is still in shock and horrible disbelief. As far as I know to this
point, I don't know anyone who was in that
area at the time. I can only pray that it remains so. Thanks for thinking
of us"; and another email about other dancers, "I haven't
heard from them. But Maria, Nelson's right-hand, said everyone she know
is ok. Please be careful in Toronto too. You don't know what these maniacs
might do. Love, Abbey".
And while I was surfing, here's a NY dancer who was on the 85th floor
of the Tower...
"I
thank god I am alive today. Yesterday at 8:45 am I was reading these
very pages (chat board) while at my desk on the 85th floor of tower
one of the WTC. I felt the building shake-REAL HARD. I grabbed my stuff
and ran down the stairs; all 85 floors. 45 mins later I was outside.
I looked up and saw both towers on fire.
Being outside for less than a min, tower 2 came down. I ran for my life.
Gracias a Dios, estoy bien. Not a scratch on me.
You know, life will not be the same for me or my family. Walking through
the front door of my house and getting that unforgettable hug from my
mother was like having died and brought back to life to hug my mom for
one last time. Thankfully I am alive.
I have a new life..."
September 11, 2001
Our prayers go out to NYC and Washington...
To all our fellow salseros and salseras in NYC and Washington and
anyone else affected by this tragedy, we hope you, your family and friends
are all safe and well.
When I heard the news this morning via email from a co-worker while
I was busy getting ready for my meetings, I looked at it quickly thinking,
yeah right! It didn't sink in until I was at my first meeting and they
was setting up a small TV to find out what was going on. It was then
that I realized what I read was true and could not believe my eyes when
I saw that the south tower was already gone -- I thought I was seeing
things! I quickly thought about all my family and friends in NYC and
hoped they were all safe and prayed for those who didn't make it. What
made it more unbelievable was staying right across the street from the
World Trade Centre back in April and had thought about going this past
weekend for the Fania concert.
For those of you who know Mike Sugar (a Toronto dancer who moved to
NY), he remembered to call in the early afternoon to let me know that
he was safe and to pass the message on to his friends in TO. He was
on Staten Island, across from the World Trade Centre when it happened,
and will be stuck there tonight.
I personally had a relative who works in one of the Towers and when
my parents finally got through via phone, they found out that she was
on the 60th floor when the first explosion hit and quickly got out of
there.
I also emailed and/or called other friends in NYC, but still haven't
heard from any of them, which isn't surprising under the circumstances.
For those of you who want to keep up with the high-lights while at work,
here are some of the best site updates and photos.
CNN News
BBC London
BBC
Pics
Globe &
Mail
One last thought I'll leave you with, I heard on TV that in the
second tower while people were evacuating the building peacefully, they
announced at the 50th floor that the building was safe and some of his
co-workers got off and took the elevator back up to work. As he got
to the 30th floor, that's when the plane hit the building and he got
safely out, but he never heard about his co-workers again.
Motto? Life's too short, work isn't everything and don't forget about
being good to yourself, family and friends.
September
6, 2001
Searching for the Performer in You... and Latin Madness Update!
Whew!
It's the first week of "getting back to reality" and when
I've had a chance to salsa, it's been fun! Everyone's back from all
their holidays or salsa vacations and in dance mode. We also have Sheila
Sampath, a Salsaweb Correspondent who's here on holiday from Atlanta,
Georgia, and is having a blast in TO! Not just from the dancing, but
the city itself, shopping and sightseeing; and of course the US $ exchange.
In the meantime, as always in a new season, we're being flooded with
all the new and great classes and workshops being offered by the various
salsa schools in the City.
A fire has been lit in TO as all the instructors who've gone travelling
to the various Conventions in the last 6 months have a fire lit under
them to ignite our dancers to find the performer in you! It seems everyone
is on the performance workshop bandwagon. Always wanted to perform,
but didn't think you could? Well here's your chance! Soles Dance Studio
is having a workshop to pick 20 dancers to continue in a choreography
program to perform at their annual Christmas Party. On Beat has various
workshops on "Searching for the Performer in You" or "How
to Choreograph"; and even Stephanie Gurnon will be offering a special
performance workshop. They're all listed in our Salsa
Workshop Schedule; and if you want to contact them personally, just
check out our Instructor
section.
Not sure if you want to perform, why not read a great article written
by Angel Ortiz called "Searching
for the Performer in You -- A Dancer's Journey".
Starting next Monday, Latin
Madness once again will hit us as anyone who is planning to
go to NYC on the weekend of Oct. 6th (Cdn. Thanksgiving long weekend)
can enter to win a free pair of FRONT ROW SEATS to Latin Madness!
They are also planning to put on 4 workshops with Descarga Latina, Abakua,
Santo Rico, Addi-tude and/ or Jai & Candy that same day at the request
of many out-of-town salseros. More details will follow shortly.
Latin Madness Group Rate!
Also, we've blocked off 20
first and second row (AA & BB 1-19) balcony group rate seats
to the Sat. Oct. 6th performance on a first-come, first-serve basis
at US$32 per person (US$5 savings). Please email
us if you are interested by Sept. 15th or we'll have to give them
up. Note: What's great about this small 600-seat theatre is that there
are no unobstructed views.
September
3, 2001
Back
to the reality of Salsa in Toronto?!
Wow! this past weekend was absolutely amazing in terms of dancing...
but I also spent alot of time on the site trying to catch up to the
point where I had to drag myself out to dance!
Last
Wednesday, I unfortunately couldn't salsa-hop between Babaluu's
and Park as I stayed late at work, but zoomed down quickly to Babaluu's
to meet up with Josie Neglia and Alvaro before they left Toronto, and
also to check out DJ Alvaro C's new Latin Roots Orchestra with Amadeo
(keys), Ernesto Ventura (congas), and Alvaro C (bass) and his brother,
Boris (percussion), based on strictly straight ahead, fast-paced descarga-style
salsa and Latin jazz a la 1970's, featuring the music of Tito Puente,
Mongo Santamaria and Sonora Poncena. The last set I heard was absolutely
fabulous and they had about 7 musicians playing. It was comfortably
busy but there weren't many regulars there. I assumed they were all
up at Park Ave., but there was only a few there also. Maybe the die-hards
were tired from trekking around the different congressos each weekend
for the past month.
On Friday, I dragged my tired self down to Courthouse and of
course, once you hear the salsa, you can't help yourself, you just want
to dance; and dance I did... all night long until closing. DJ Fab had
his great moments, but a bachata to close out the night?! especially
when it's only salsa freaks who stay to the end... anyways, I have to
say I got my fix as everyone was there in full force and there was no
shortage of dance partners for the ladies...
On Saturday and Sunday, I was so immersed into getting my TOsalsa summer
backlog caught up that I was not in the mood to go out (esp. after my
Friday salsa fix). I heard that Bamboo on Saturday with Vibrason and
DJ Billy Bryans was a great night and that Left Bank was busy also.
I'm happy to say that I've finally finished posting my New
York trip back in April along with some great pics from Hush
Nightclub of Abakua before my camera messed up!
You will also note that there's some new feedback in our discussion
forum and Dear TOsalsa sections as always.
In case you forgot, since summer is almost over, it's time to sign up
for school -- whether it's salsa
or how about spanish lessons? I did a little hunting and found the Spanish
Centre and the high
schools to be reasonably priced.
August
28, 2001
Yikes!
Where did the summer go?!
Yes, we have until Sept. 22 before summer is officially over, but
it's time again for the school season and the non-stop summer of salsa
just flew by! It's been so crazy-busy, I didn't go dancing from Wed.
until Sunday when I dropped by Rosewater Supper Club which was a nice
change of atmosphere, but way too hot! Then on Tuesday, I zoomed by
Tequila for a quick salsa fix (thank goodness), then over to Berlin
so I could say "Hello" to Josie Neglia (ex-Toronto instructor
to world-famous LA Salsa Princess) and her partner, Alvaro, who were
visiting family and friends after the Montreal Salsa Congress this past
weekend. When I got there, all I heard was merengue, some of my friends
were leaving and warned me it was a crappy night of music; and then
we had about an hour's worth of house music! What happened to the latin
Tuesday theme? We didn't get any salsa until about 1:30 am when most
of the salseros had given up and left in frustration. This whole summer,
Berlin seems to have lost alot of its die-hard regulars. Hopefully,
it's just the end of summer and hopefully in the Fall we'll see it go
back to it's regular hoppin' self, unless everyone's getting tired of
hearing the same music between the band sets which could affect the
type of dancers which are drawn to the clubs. The salsa set I danced
to was the same music I danced to five years ago. Would love to hear
other dancers' view-points on our music in Toronto. Is it evolving,
or does it feel like the same music year after year.
If you want to see Josie Neglia before she leaves, she'll be at Park
Ave. tomorrow night for the contest semi-finals. It will be a tough
choice as it is also the Latin Roots 8 Year Celebration Party at Babaluu's;
unless you love salsa hopping!
And for those salsa freaks who decided to check out the Montreal
Salsa Congress, how was it? Well I got a mixed bag of info as some
enjoyed it cause it was busier than last year and they got to dance
alot or pick up new dance tips from watching all the great dancers mostly
from NYC. Apparently it was just as disorganized as last year as there
was no advance schedule for the workshops or the perfomances at night.
Some dancers were disappointed cause most of the workshops were on 2,
but that's to be expected when NYC is only a short drive away and they
get 55% discount on our $. Some of the NYC groups who performed there
were Young Ambition, Santo Rico, Caribbean Soul, Mambo's Finest, and
other instructors who attended was Josie Neglia and Seaon Bristol from
LA and Super Mario from London, Eng. But how does it compare to Puerto
Rico, the Catskills or LA, well, it's definitely more economical for
us, but if you want the "total" experience, it's definitely
not the same high you'll get from a larger event. During the Fall, look
for all the great highlights, photos and interviews I haven't had a
chance to post yet from my sizzlin' non-stop summer of salsa, including
my trip to NYC, the Detroit Bacardi Congress, the Puerto Rico Bacardi
Congress, the East Coast Salsa Congress and more!
August 25, 2001
How
to hit NYC, Miami, Orlando, Washington and Houston in 2 months!
OR
the Weekend Salsa Marathon continues into the Fall! After
visiting the Big Apple in April, then hanging out with the dancers again
in various Congresos and in the East Coast Salsa Congress which was
mainly all on 2 dancers from NYC and from around the world, including
Miami, Paris, etc., it's hard not to be drawn to visit there on a regular
basis. It's probably the closest dance mecca for Toronto where you can
draw on their great talent to learn new moves, get inspired by their
great performers and social dancers, listen to great latin artists every
day of the week and attend some of their great socials on the weekend.
In September, there's two great reasons to go down -- on Sept. 8th,
there's the Fania
All-Star Concert and on Sept. 23rd, there's an outdoor International
Latin Dance Competition with a Grand Prize of $10,000 US open to
anyone who can dance!
Then there's another great Salsa
Dance Competition in Orlando on September 13-15 and Lili told me
Young Ambition will be entering it and I also noticed that Josie Neglia
was planning to be there too. Hmm... very tempting event as I'm sure
there's others going that haven't told anyone. That's one way to keep
yourself occupied for the weekends in September. Then in October, the
"madness" doesn't end as it will be time to go to NYC for
Latin Madness
which runs over the first two weekends in October. Ideally the first
weekend is ideal as it is our Thanksgiving long weekend and ideally
it's the same weekend as the Jimmy Anton Social plus Nelson Flores is
putting together some special workshops for out-of-town attendees; but
if you prefer congresos, then the 2nd
Washington DC Reunion will also be running that weekend. Then back
in Toronto from October 9-13, "Burn
the Floor" will be in town and 3 lucky winners from our promotion
will get to attend the Opening Performance on Tuesday, and about 90
dancers will be going to the show on Sat., Oct. 13th. Then on October
21st, you can decide whether to go to Paris for a mini Congress or Miami
for the World's Largest Casino Rueda for the weekend! And to finish
off the month, why not go down to Houston Bacardi Salsa Congress where
Bong Gonzales (Grupo Sabroso) has been invited to teach and perform!
Confused yet? catching the fever? I know I'm trying to keep my dancing
feet on the ground and not flying all over the place! But if you do
decide you want to take some road/air trips, then keep checking our
world side salsa event schedule so you don't conflict with your regular
work/salsa routine -- I do!
And how can you afford it? Well, there's various travel tips and tricks
I've picked up over the last while to lower the cost of traveling. One
is I have a Visa travel card where I collect points to get free airfare
on any airline. I charge everything on my card (incl. groceries and
gas), and it gives me one free flight a year for about $600. Another
tip to get cheaper hotels, is to book through priceline.com and bid
for a low hotel price.
August
21, 2001
How
do you know when you're a salsa freak?!
When
you go to a salsa convention, come back and go to a club BEFORE you
go home with your luggage! OR when you know who's a "regular"
at a salsa convention and they know you! OR when an out-of-town
instructor has only met you a few times over the past year, but feels
like he's known your for two! OR you've hung out with out-of-town
dancers more than your parents in Toronto in the last few months!
Well, I still haven't recover-ed or unpacked from my long weekend at
the East Coast Salsa Congress, but it doesn't help when I decided to
drop by Left Bank on Sunday to stretch out my butt from a 7-hour drive
back from the Catskills in rainy weather, and then dropped by Smokey
Joe's on Monday on my way home from dinner with non-salsa friends. Then
tonight, hmm... workout? unpack? work on the website? and/ or hit Berlin
or Tequila's?... "the horror!" (as Ziv would say). And then
start planning where I'll go for the balance of the week... ahh! I guess
I kinda missed the days of going out every night without a worry in
the world about emails, web design, planning and coordinating events,
and/or new ideas that totally inspire me to create more havoc in my
24/7 lifestyle. Gee, I used to never even think about whether I would
want to dance on "1" or "2" -- which just shows
me how much salsa has grown and evolved in Toronto and around the world
in the past year.
So
how was the East Coast Salsa Congress? Well, it was definitely
another eventful, inspiring, tiring and relaxing weekend. Because it
was set in the Catskills, you subcon-sciously knew that you had the
"option" to go and relax in its countryside settings; but
because it had a major New York on 2 dance influence, I was drawn to
take advantage of every opportunity to absorb dancing "on 2".
What was great about this event, is that you had alot of great "on
2" leaders and followers to dance with or watch; everyone was willing
to dance with anyone who asked and most performers/ instructors were
quite friendly and supportive, even if you messed up.
What
were some of the memorable moments for me?
1. After being to so many of these events and visiting New York for
a week, it was great to hang out with the many dancers, performers and
instructors I've gotten to know over the past year. It's like an extended
salsa family of friends or regulars you see everywhere but on a North
American scale. Also, instead of being totally fascinated and blown
away by the New York dancers for the first time, I got to just chill
and appreciate their dancing or go and have fun dancing with anyone
who caught my fancy.
2. Although the shows were long, there were some awesome performances
and I was one of the lucky ones to be able to sit upfront and center-stage
to see the dancers up close. One of the organizers, David Melendez,
was a true host and let me sit upfront so I could take pictures and
I am presently developing 9 rolls of film! Some of the performances
which totally blew me away that I can still remember only from Saturday
were: Young Ambition (once again) -- although I had already seen
their latest Afro-Cuban no. in Puerto Rico; this time they only had
five dancers and they were totally psyched and danced the best I've
seen yet, especially Joel(?) who's only 14. At one point in their no.,
he reminded vividly of how Frankie Martinez moves in his Libertad routine;
and many other dancers I talked to have also agreed. The LA Salsa
Kids -- they danced twice on Saturday night, but the most memorable
no. for me was the Arabian Nights theme in full costume and props --
they had about 20-30 dancers in the routine and they did a fabulous
job of dancing and acting, thanks to the choreography of Olivia Dasso
(who was Johnny Vasquez' ex-partner and just had a baby recently). The
Heartbreak Boys (from David Melendez Starlite Dance Studio) -- not
only have they matured as performers, but they totally blew me away
by being in about 5 different dance nos. in one night! Some even learned
a routine on Friday to help out a Japanese dance troupe! Caribbean
Soul Dancers had a great new no. which had some complicated new
variations and some humour in their dancing. Mambo Mamas and a Papa
also had a great new routine which included some hip-hop. Descarga
Latina (with Nelson Flores) closed the Saturday night show with
the Latin Madness no., "Cuban Fantasy". Oh my goodness, how
could I forget Jai and Candy's kids performance which was another
fabulous crowd-pleaser using the "Grease" theme with great
energy, dancing and humour. There were also great perform-ances on Friday
too, but after seeing 6 hours of performances in two days, I can now
only recall Saturday's groups.
3.
The great music I heard all weekend in the shows and during the social
dancing.
Todate,
Puerto Rico and New York were my favourite congresos due to the following
reasons:
1. There were far less not-so-great dance shows and I really enjoyed
watching the junior teams. It was so inspiring to see children as young
as 8 years old who love salsa as much as the adults, many with great
talent than the average adult dancer, and who weren't shy to give it
their all in front of a large crowd. It's funny how it's inspired some
of us in Toronto to realize that that's the next wave of talent we need
to cultivate -- our next generation of great salsa dancers -- either
by
holding children's classes or starting a junior dance group.
2. It was fascinating to see the changes in choreography over the past
year -- as routines are starting to get more complex, have started to
incorporate other styles of dance, such as hip-hop, breakdancing or
modern dance, and having more lavish costumes.
3. They were in fabulous locations where you could do the workshops
or take the opportunity to relax and bake in the sun.
4. The shows had lots of seating in a separate ballroom from the social
dancing.
5. I ate proper meals in both those locations and got to mingle with
dancers from all over the World. Puerto Rico had cheap but good delis
near the hotel; and for the East Coast, the meals were included in the
package. Therefore, you had enough fuel to keep you going all the time.
6. In my opinion, the salsa music they play is far superior to what
you hear in Toronto and possibly other parts of the world. Why is that?
As I'm still learning more about the music and its history, I can't
really give you the right answer except that possibly it's part of their
own grass roots culture
as it has been part of their scene much longer than Toronto and has
matured. I wish Toronto DJ's would take the time to go to New York or
Puerto Rico and listen/absorb/bring back this fabulous music (many of
which are songs from the 70's). One of my original salsa friends who
also teaches and dances Argentine Tango, Andy Kamienski, finally understood
what I was talking about this weekend. He said it was so blatantly obvious
that the music was different that he felt like he was hit by a sledge
hammer this weekend. He totally agreed that the music was more "vibrant
with a strong underlying beat that was perfectly suited for dancing
on 2", but you could also dance on 1 if you preferred. In Toronto,
there are some nights, I could swear that it's the same music I've been
listening to for the last five years; and for some of the DJ's who are
trying to play "different" salsa, they're playing songs which
just aren't danceable enough. Every song I heard in New York and Puerto
Rico, are 100% certified amazing to dance to and have underlying rhythms
that make you want to "play" to the music.
August
15, 2001
August Convention Marathon!
Well, as I'm trying to catch up from the Puerto Rico Bacardi Salsa
Congress and get ready for the East
Coast Salsa Congress in the Catskills this weekend, Tricia Meikle
(definitely another salsa soulmate) was inspired to write a Salsa
Congress Survival Guide after her first experience in LA last May
and which will definitely not be her last. We've just received the line-up
of instructors and dancers for the East
Coast Salsa Congress, but if you find you still don't want to travel
that far or it's a little too expensive for your budget, word has it
that the Montreal
Salsa Congress (on the weekend after the East Coast) will have our
very own On Beat Dance
Co. from Toronto, some of the New York groups (incl. Santo Rico,
Mambo Mamas, Carribean Soul), Josie Neglia from LA and some dance groups
from other countries -- all for $150 Cdn!
August
12, 2001
Holiday Fever continues!
Well, it seems my holiday has not stopped for a minute as I've been
out every night for salsa. The only nights I didn't go to a club was
Thursday and Sunday, but still had salsa-related events. What's even
crazier is that on the nights I don't go out dancing, I always have
something to do related to salsa whether it's on my computer at home
or out meeting with various salsa contacts.
On Friday, I finally made my way back to El Rancho's where many
of the old-time regulars hung out and had wondered where I had disappeared
to. Fortunately or unfortunately, there's so many options now for salsa
and you can easily burn out as there are very few nights where you know
it would be a lousy night of salsa. Although very few of the new school
of regulars were at El Rancho's, I danced with people I hadn't seen
in a long time. I finally got to officially meet Martin Samuels, who
was one of the original old Toronto-style salsa instructors. He surprised
me by saying he knew who I was as he sees me everywhere including the
filming at Babaluu's, and that he couldn't dance with me cause I dance
on 2. That was a surprise to me as I mostly dance on 1 still, but will
also dance with those that prefer dancing on 2. I was looking for the
perfect opportunity to have a dance with Martin, but both floors were
busy and it was difficult to find him. When I met up with Josie Neglia
in Puerto Rico, Martin was one of the dancers she mentioned as having
alot of style.
On Sunday, I slowly made my way to Ontario Place for the TLN
Carnaval at about 6 pm -- just in time to catch D'Talle, the all girl
Cuban group that plays salsa, cumbia, merengue and son. It was a great
group to open up with as they got the crowd going and I could see why
the male salsa dancers couldn't stop talking about them -- they were
definitely hot! When I got to interview them backstage, I found out
only 3 were not single and the average age of most of the girls was
25, and they love being in Canada! I also had a chance to talk to La
Makina backstage before they performed. They are a merengue band from
Puerto Rico and while I was taking a picture of them for the website,
I find out they spoke really good English and then I just took the opportunity
to chat with them. Although salsa is more popular in Puerto Rico, their
Manager is from the Dominican Republic and that's why they sing mostly
merengue. All of them auditioned to be in the group. We got talking
about the roots of the music and it seems most Puerto Ricans agree that
the roots of salsa comes from Cuba; and one of the members was kind
enough to dance for me their roots of music which is bomba (and also
plena). It was nice to see that they were totally down-to-earth and
easy-going. Azul Azul was on stage while I was in the back so I didn't
get a chance to meet up with them. While La Makina was playing, I went
back out to the front of the stage which was open for those that wanted
to dance. What was a nice surprise, was that many latinos were willing
to dance with anyone who wanted to dance. I got to dance true Cuban-style
with some cubans and they were pleasantly surprised at how well I could
dance their style. At about 10 pm, Oscar d'Leon finally came on stage
and at 58, he totally impressed me with his energy and he definitely
knew how to keep the crowd going throughout his show -- not including
the fact his voice is still amazing to hear live! He opened up with
Lloraras, and proceeded to play many of my favourites, including Melao
de Cana, Me Voy pa Cali, Que Bueno Baila Usted, Sigue Tu Camino and
Mi Mujer es un Bomba. After this concert, I went backstage for a chance
to interview him. Because there were so many media reporters there,
they held it in one room with everyone and all in Spanish! Another great
reason why I should learn to speak immediately. After the conference,
he took pictures with everyone and then as he was leaving he shook everyone's
hand, and I said "Gracias" to him as he shook my hand, which
caught his attention, and I was the only person there to get a kiss
on both cheeks as he left!
Then I made my way over to the Island Club where the partying continued
and the place was packed! What was a pleasant surprise was meeting up
with some friends I haven't seen in months!
August
9, 2001
The Heat of Salsa?!
Wow! Is it the "heat" of salsa or the heatwave that's
getting to me! After my disappointment of not meeting up with my friends
at Smokey Joe's on Monday after a 12 hour plane ride, I made up for
it by going to Berlin on Tuesday as I haven't been there in months.
Work of course was nuts and by the time I got home, I took a much-needed
catnap before I zoomed over to Berlin's. I was definitely in vacation
dance-mode as I danced almost non-stop until the wee hours of the morning
until my feet said "stop"! On Wednesday after work, I zoomed
over to Grace & Mario of Beauty Image Makeover to get my hair ready
for a TV shoot for a new Fall show called, "My Escape" where
they are showcasing men and women who escape the stress of their jobs
by doing something completely different... hmm I wonder what that is...
I also needed a few changes of clothing so I had to scoot home to pick
my favourite salsa outfits, and as any prepared, addicted dancer, took
more than I needed (just in case!). Then I zoomed down to Babaluu's
to meet Amanda (Story Producer), Charmain (Host) and the Cameraman.
It was interesting to see all the details involved in getting the perfect
shot as Charmain and I got to know one another and what was expected
of me. Finally, we did the interview and it was nerve-wracking to try
and talk spontaneously about something I live and breathe everyday without
thinking about it. After the interview, we taped a segment where Charmain
and I go into the ladies rooms to change into one of my skimpy mini
dresses. The cameras were still rolling as we were in the stalls changing
and we were instructed to throw our clothes over and come out at the
same time. Then we went back out into the main dance floor (which was
now full of dancers sitting around at the tables) and I had to show
her the basic salsa steps before Frank Bishun's class started in less
than 10 minutes. After that shot, they were going to take a break and
come back at 10:30 pm to start shooting the social dancing.
That
was a welcome relief and I got to chill out with my friends in the club.
At 10:30 pm, the cameraman and Amanda had returned and it was show-time!
I grabbed a "newbie", Mike Sugar, who has only been dancing
for about 9 months; and he totally surprised me by leading me perfectly
through 3 songs under the glaring light of the camera and I even got
to do my signature "split". Then over the next 2 hours I changed
outfits about 4 more times (much to the delight of the cameraman) and
danced with many of the regulars, including Rene Delgado, Paul Chivers,
Freddy, Oscar Naranji and Angus Dirnbeck. We also demonstrated some
Casino and Oscar dancing with two girls. The cameraman was having a
field day videotaping me in different parts of the club. They enjoyed
it so much that Amanda emailed me back that they had a riot and were
amazed by the quality of our dancing! Way to go everyone! A special
thanks to Michelle Tanchoco who took a detour home to pick up some eye
glitter for me!
They
promised to let me know when it will be aired in the Fall.
August
6, 2001
The salsa "time of my life"!
Although I spent 12 hours today between two flights with a 1-1/2
hour delay in Houston, it can't take away the feeling of elation from
this fabulous trip to sunny Puerto Rico! For me, it was the best one
to date since April 2000, just because it had the great mix of a dream
vacation in a beautiful resort with the added bonus of salsa whenever
I felt in the mood!
The quote itself was from Greg Pintile, a fellow TO salsero (whom I
never danced with before we met in PR) who is a Congresso newbie and
in the usual tradition, attended every workshop, show and party; and
probably didn't get enough sleep, but just enough to survive the pace!
Many others from Toronto were also in high spirits each day including
Strickly Salsa (who performed in one of the afternoon shows), Kleyber
Uribe of Picante Express, Guillaermo Baez of Sangre Caliente, Stephanie
Gurnon of United Salseros, Bong and Trionne, Detroit and Washington
Salsa Champs who won a free trip to the Congress; and many others.
There
was so much to see that the lithium battery in my camera ran out before
my film did (almost 10 rolls later with the help of Albert Gomez of
Strickly Salsa, Lillian Diaz of Young Ambition and a journalist from
Houston), 3 tapes full of interviews (and I didn't get to do as many
as I would have liked as everyone wanted some vacation time away from
"business") and 3 video tapes of shows. By Friday, I was ready
to take a much-needed break, but some opportunities each day were too
good to miss and I had quality time with a lot of different dancers
at the restaurants, the beach and while walking around the workshops
and booths.
It's
hard to believe that it's only been just over a year since I've met
many of the dance instructors who teach or attend various congressos.
Of the ones whom I've met previously over the past year...
San Tropez, Montreal
Descarga Latina, New York
Abakua, New York
Angel Ortiz, New York
Razz-M-Tazz, New York
Josie Neglia, LA
Francisco Vasquez, LA
Others
who left a lasting impression or I finally got to meet for the first
time...
Tropical Gem, Italy
Dance Teams, Venezuela
Dancers from around the World, including Paris, Portugal, Holland, Geneva
Eileen Torres, Salsamundo
And of course the live bands, including El Gran Combo, Victor Manuelle,
Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Jose Alberto "El Canario" and
Tito Nieves.
This is just the tip of the iceberg -- and I was so in relaxation mode,
I was too lazy to venture far from the hotel until the last night, where
I also danced up a storm at an after-hours salsa club called "Habana"
after the salsa congress social dancing was over and after we left the
Caribe Hilton Salsa Lounge at about 3:30 am. I started by dancing with
Edwin, the organizer of the Salsalen-nium Convention in Conn., and got
passed around to various Puerto Ricans in the club plus another dancer
from Paris for about an hour, then headed back to the hotel to get some
shut-eye before my flight. What I should have done was taken the 7:30
am flight home as I could have left straight for the airport at 5:30
am as I was still up... oh well, maybe next year.
Another scoop! Salsaweb was bought out during the week of the Congress,
Edie is back as one of the principals and supposedly there's big plans
to grow the site (to be cont'd...)
August
2, 2001
(from Puerto Rico)
I’m hooked…
It’s my third afternoon in Puerto Rico, we’ve had sun and some
tropical rain, but nothing compares to the energy that’s building towards
the weekend! I just came out of the 2nd set of afternoon shows and have
been blown away by the energy of the Puerto Rican dancers and the Venezuelans.
Regarding their dancing I just don’t know where to start (or how to
exactly describe it), the Puerto Ricans definitely have sabor (flavour)
- very similar to the energy and style of New York, but obviously now
I understand where much of their influence came from. As you watch the
Puerto Ricans, they are very strong in their free-style (shines) - their
styling is very funky, but they are not as strong in partner work; whereas
the Newyoricans have taken it further by adding more refined and complicated
turn patterns and sharpened their free-style patterns. The Venezuelans
have a different take on salsa as they mix in a lot of hip hop and jazz
into their choreography; but the amount of energy they put into their
dancing is phenomenal to watch and the amount of dancers who have come
to the congresso and the size of the teams are huge! The groups average
around 8-20 dancers each with fabulous and colourful costumes.
I ran into Josie Neglia on the way into the press room to write up my
story before I forget what happens as there is so much going on. I asked
her about the Venezuelans and they have been part of the congresso since
the first one five years ago - she has literally “watched them grow
up”.
Also, I was going to find out when I could interview and have a picture
with Victor Manuelle and I got lucky, he was just coming into the press
room and had a very cozy shot with him and got his autograph. Unfortunately
for me, I needed a translator to help do the interview as he doesn’t
speak hardly any English; but he was very charming.
I also got to spend a little time with El Gran Combo last night, but
there was a lot of press, so I was only able to get about 10-15 minutes
with them, but I was one of the first.
Also one of the dance show highlights was seeing Young Ambition again
one year later and one year older. They were absolutely fabulous again
with a totally new grass roots no. I had a chance to talk to Lilly Diaz,
their Manager, who remembered me from last year. I hung out with her
and the kids for a bit and had a chance to chat. You'll definitely hear
more after I come back.
There’s lots more to see and do here, and as usual, you can be totally
exhausted running around trying to do everything There are many Toronto
dancers here including Guillaermo Baez - a Venezuelan instructor who
used to teach at Berlin’s before Jennifer and Giovanni. It’s his first
congresso and it was hilarious to see how he got hooked. Bong, Trionne
and I had breakfast with him the other morning and when we were getting
ready to leave - he couldn’t decide whether to go to the workshops with
Bong or to go walking with Trionne and myself - guess what won out!
The workshops! But of course, he would try to catch up with us - NOT!
Everyone that I’ve talked to that are experience Puerto Rico for the
first time are loving every minute of it and are very tempted to come
back again next year…
There’s lots more I could write, but now I need to zoom and get ready
for the next set of shows.
August
1, 2001
(from Puerto Rico)
Palm Trees, Beach, Sun, Fun and Salsa!
That's what makes up Puerto Rico... I've been here a day and a half,
and I can't believe I didn't choose to come to this convention first.
Not only can you meet, dance and hang out with all the congresso regulars,
but you get to enjoy the beauty and the "heat" of Puerto Rico. The Caribe
Hilton is absolutely breathtaking with its own beachfront where you
can swim in its warm salty water and get a gorgeous tropical tan. Already,
I've met up with Josie Neglia and Francisco Vasquez from LA, Frankie
Martinez (Abakua), Young Ambition, Angel Rodriguez (Razz-M-Tazz) and
Angel Ortiz from New York, and even the Cobo Brothers from North Carolina.
Every night you get to dance to some great bands/soneros (singers),
such as Tito Nieves, Victor Manuelle, El Canario, Richie Ray and Bobby
Cruz, and one of my all-time favourite bands tonight -- El Gran Combo!
Hopefully after their show, I will have a chance to interview them up
close!
July
30, 2001
More great news or not?!
As I called to check my flight, I found out that Continental had
to cancel their flights today to PR due to volcanic eruptions in the
Caribbean... On a brighter note, just got word from my sources that
the City of Toronto loved our salsa showcase and would like to have
a one-hour segment at City Hall next year as it can handle a much larger
crowd -- but I say, let's do both! And if you ever heard the salsa song
"Jeancy" by Papa Wemba & Viva La Musica (usually played
by DJ Billy Bryans, mundialmusic.com) -- they're coming to Toronto on
August 11th -- check the "What's Happening"
section for more info!
July
29, 2001
And it just gets crazier and crazier...
It's less than 2 days before I get on a plane to Puerto Rico, but
it seems there's something new to add to my long-list of to-dos, and
not enough time to do everything in a 24-hour day. Not only do I suddenly
have girlfriends flying in from out-of-town, but in one of my relaxed
moments I was surfing the salsa sites to check out what's new... and
the latest is Edie the Salsa Freak is now the "Dance Freak"
on a new website, dancefreak.com; then she recently wrote that she is
no longer part of Salsaweb, and that she's planning to start a new dance
website on all types of dances, not just salsa. What's sad is that one
of the pioneers of the salsa movement around the world has chosen not
to call herself the "salsa freak", or maybe she also had to
let go of the name. Anyways, it will be interesting to see where this
will all lead to next... and hopefully I'll get to meet her in August
and find out the scoop!
On another note, I got a quick email from Bong Gonzales (one
of the founders of Grupo Sabroso and two-time Salsa Dance Champion of
Detroit and Washington) from Puerto Rico! He is having such a great
time dancing up a storm with all the great dancers in Puerto Rico that
he says he may get burnt out by the time I get there! Apparently some
Toronto dancers are already there with lots more to follow on Tuesday.
And finally, if you've been paying attention as you go to restaurants
and stores, have you noticed there's a lot more salsa being played lately?
I have! Plus I'm really excited about the ever-growing exposure salsa
will be given publicly since the July 7th Street Festival where hundreds
of people got to witness our home-grown talent. Around the end of August,
the Toronto Star will be doing a 2-page spread on salsa in Toronto,
plus I'm being interviewed and filmed in August for a new show called
"My Escape" which talks about my escape from work -- can you
guess what that is?!?
I also recently found a "juicy" article in the LA Times about
salsa
dancing and the Vasquez Brothers! Even Soles Dance Studio (TO) and
Nelson Flores (NY) has a small mention! Is salsa here to stay -- I think
so! Just look at our events page, click on the Year
2000 and then click on the Year
2001 past events and you'll see how Toronto has grown even in the
last year (not including all the weekly parties and events)! So much
has happened since we started this site and it's been a year since I've
seen some dancers from other cities, but it feels more like 5!
July
28, 2001
TOsalsa keeps growing... growing... and growing...
After talking to some of my fellow salsa freaks and "newbies"
to the scene... they mentioned that our site has so much content now
that some find it very overwhelming and don't know where to start...
so to help our Readers, we've added an index of quick links at the top.
Even I have to admit, I enjoyed being able to "dance" quickly
to my favourite sections! This week was so busy that I was only able
to dance 2 nights!
Last
Wednesday, a few regulars decided to hit Park Avenue which has
a fabulous outdoor patio. What was a pleasant surprise was having a
4-piece salsa band playing outside called "Perfect Chemistry"
-- the singer was fabulous! DJ Carlitos still plays at Park, but the
place isn't as jammed as it used to be -- so for those who love more
room, an outdoor patio and would like to go somewhere further north,
this is a nice alternative to Babaluu's on Wednesday, but don't forget
to bring some dance partners! And starting next week, they'll be having
a latin dance show contest.
On Friday, I went once again to Harbourfront to listen and dance
to the free latin bands being offered that night. What was surprising
was how crowded it was compared to the last time when we went to see
Salsa Celtica. The cuban band, Orquesta Sensacion, was great, but not
for salsa dancing. They played some Cuban son, but kept mixing the styles
of music and changing the tempo. The die-hards got to finally dance
non-stop when Luis Mario Ochoa and Cimarron came on at 11 pm in the
Brigantine Room. He played two non-stop sets of salsa with a little
cha cha and rumba. By that time, everyone was able to get their fix!
And on Tuesday, July 31st, I'll be in sunny Puerto Rico and hope to
send at least one update from there!
July
25, 2001
6 days left and counting!
It's hard to believe that in less than a week I'll be flying to
Puerto Rico; but before I take off, there's lots of last-minute planning
including a visit from a UK Salsero for a weekend of salsa in Toronto!
Also, I'm happy to announce that we have two new writers and fellow
salsaholics who have volunteered their time to help us make TOsalsa
your source to salsa dancing and music here and around the World! Please
welcome Josh Kahn (a student of Queen's University and an active
member of SALSA
--Spanish and Latin American Students' Association) who's helping us
with the expansion of our upcoming music section; and Tricia Meikle,
whom you may know as a United Salsero volunteer and a "regular"
in the club scene, who has discovered that she also has a "passion"
for writing. After writing her own "diary" of the West Coast
Salsa Congress recently, she has sent me a rather amusing story, "A
Salsa Safari" -- which talks about the various "wildlife"
you meet in a salsa megacity. What types of wildlife do you meet while
you were out dancing? And the latest update on our Partner Search...
many readers have emailed us and we finally have a prototype designed
by Paul Chivers, but there's still some work to be done to make
it fully operational.
July
22, 2001
As the Summer keeps getting hotter... the salsa just keeps going...
and going... and going...
Well, as I started to feel better, I also started to get the urge to
dance, dance, dance and party, party, party! And what a non-stop weekend
it was... Last minute I decided to go down to Courthouse on Friday
to meet up with some of my salsaholic friends; and ended up dancing
most of the night away (at least I was good and didn't close the place!)
It turned out to be a great night of dancing since most of the male
regulars were out in full force! What I always find interesting after
not dancing with some regulars for a few weeks was how they have again
evolved their turn patterns and/or styling! After talking to salsa-starved
females from other cities, we are very lucky to have such a great no.
of fabulous male dancers who are totally dedicated to salsa and have
helped to shape our ever-growing salsa scene and take the time to actually
dance in the clubs and show the public how far you can take this dance
beyond the social level.
Then on Saturday, DJ Billy Bryans and myself decided on a whim to zoom
down to Montreal and see Grupo Niche live. They reside in Colombia and
have a history of over 20 years of great music -- a mix of cumbia and
salsa. How often do you get the opportunity to see one of the more popular
16-piece bands? and the tickets ranged from $20-$35 Cdn., plus thanks
to Annie, the Salsafreak
from Montreal, a place to stay overnight and a chance to catch up
with her since last year. With some determination, we arrived in Montreal
exactly 5 hours later, just in time to meet up with Annie, chat and
find out where the venue was. The website info on the concert was sketchy
at best.
Then we headed over to Olympic Stadium and lined up for about an hour
to get in. The crowd was filled with alot of Colombians and I got many
stares as there didn't seem to be any Asians in the crowd. Security
was really tight at the door, checking for any weapons of any sort.
And the show didn't start until 10:30 pm at night. There was an opening
act, a local band which played a variety of cumbia, salsa, and their
merengue version of "Suavamente", originally sung by Elvis
Crespo. Then Tropicalissimo Productions put on a fabulous perfor-mance
with 3 couples, but in the same outfits they wore last August at their
Montreal Salsa Congress and with the chair intro. I don't recall off-hand
if the routine was exactly the same, but they had lots of high energy
and got the crowd going. After their show, the DJ for the night, (DJ
Tony), started his set with "Suavemente" which was ludicrous
as it was already sung by the band. The crowd started to boo and there
was only one brave couple dancing on the floor in the centre of the
arena. During the song, the booing just got louder and louder -- but
the DJ refused to switch the music and the couple just kept dancing!
After that fiasco, he played a mix of cumbia, salsa and merengue. Then
they had a Colombian Folkloric dance segment, which just killed the
energy for anyone who wanted a great night of dancing!
Then finally at 12 midnight, Grupo Niche came on and played a
medley which drove the Colombians mad with a medley of many of their
best hits and then proceeded to play about 50 minutes of great music,
including La Negra No Quiere, Estoy Pensando, Gotas de Lluiva, Hagamos
lo que Diga el Corazon, Han Cogido La Cosa, and Una Aventura, and with
the same choreographed dance energy as merengue bands. If you know and
have played these great songs numerous times, it pales in comparison
with hearing and watching them in person! Unfortunately, the arena had
a bad sound system and the organizers did such a poor job of putting
it together that Grupo Niche were the only real highlights of the evening,
along with the fabulous energy of 2,000 fans waving Colombian flags
-- cheering, dancing and singing along. Grupo Niche was also supposed
to play again in about an hour, but I was too tired and hungry to wait
(and didn't want to spend any more time listening to the bad mixing
of DJ Tony), so we left to find a late-night eatery.
The next morning, I spent some time with Annie, helping her to get
ready for her salsa performance at a festival and headed over to my
favourite brunch eatery in downtown Montreal called, Eggspectation.
After a fabulous, leisurely lunch, we then headed down to the waterfront
and strolled around and then headed back to Toronto. What was a real
coincidence was running into OurSalsaThing and Kleyber from Picante
Xpress at the same gas station and exchanging viewpoints about the concert.
After I got back into Toronto, I decided to head down to Left Bank
as I hadn't been there in ages and to get some exercise after sitting
in the car for 6 hours straight coming back into Toronto! When I finally
got there, it was in full swing for a warm, humid night and had a chance
to catch up with some friends and some dancing. Dave Paris was in town
from New York and I danced with him on 2. Dancing with him reminded
me of how different the lead is when you dance on 2 with New Yorkers.
Now that I've started to dance more on 2 in Toronto, I noticed that
many of the guys who originally learned to lead on 1, are learning to
dance on 2; but lead the girl as if they are still on 1, but dance to
the beat on 2. I find this very frustrat-ing as I don't try count on
2 (as it messes me up except at the 5-6-7), but rely on the guy's lead
or you could end up in a very awkward dance. New York dancers lead differently
-- possibly more of a delayed reaction or longer pause in the arms before
they lead the girl into a cross body lead, for example. The only reason
I started to notice this was because I couldn't dance on 2 with some
dancers in TO, but had less problems in NY and tried to figure out what
the difference was. Another interesting comment made by Dave Paris was
that we had great instructors in Toronto who knew lots of great turn
patterns, but what most dancers need to work on is their styling and
their connection with their partners. It doesn't matter how many patterns
or shines you know, but how well you dance it.
July
19, 2001
New York again?! or is it just Summer Fever?!
Well, thanks to Sabrina Macias who moved to NYC to work for Prestige
Productions, she was kind enough to forward some great new events that
you may not want to miss... along with all the other salsa-related events
happening in August, September and October. So just before I fly to
the Bacardi Congress, there's a sure bet that many salsa freaks will
head down to the Friday, July 27th outdoor latin event at Harbourfront
which features latin bands from Montreal, Havana and Toronto! Then I
kick off August by baking and dancing in beautiful Puerto
Rico! What is a nice surprise, I'm starting to find out that many
other out-of-town salsa friends are also planning to be there which
will make it even more memorable! After I get back, TLN
Carnaval will be at Ontario Place on Aug. 12th with Oscar De Leon
and other stars not yet announced. Then August 17-19, there's the East
Coast Salsa Congress in the Catskills. The week after that is the
Montreal
Salsa Congress which I wasn't planning to attend but if enough New
Yorkers and Toronto salsaholics go, then I may get tempted. What's really
bad is there is no information about the dance performers or workshops
and I really had to surf around to find the cost. Before July 30th,
it's $120 Cdn. ($150 after) for the whole weekend incl. workshops; or
the 1st On
2 Mambo Conference in CA! Then on Sept. 8th in NYC, you can go to
the annual New
York Salsa Festival Concert, where you can see El Gran Combo, Johnny
Pacheco, Ray Barretto, Puerto Rican Power, Roberto Roena and many other
great stars! Hmm... will I have the energy for another road-trip?! Then
the following week, you can zoom down to Orlando, Florida to the World
Salsa Championships. Then take a breather until our Oct. Thanksgiving
weekend when you can either go to the Washington DC Dancers Reunion
or head over to NYC for Latin
Madness and then come back to Toronto to "Burn
the Floor". And somewhere inbetween all that craziness, you
might spot me in a club being filmed for a segment on a new TV show
coming up in the Fall, called "My Escape" -- do you think
you can figure out what that is?
And finally, I took it easy again this week so I can get my voice back,
but did manage to go down to Babaluu's to catch the Soles performance.
It was definitely more fun to watch them up-close than seeing them cramped
up on the Toronto Street Festival stage. They were real troupers when
Alvaro thought their song was over during the Argentine Tango portion
of the choreography and he started playing a cha cha which almost went
nicely with their choreography (at the beginning) until they realized
he had ended their song. Alvaro had to quickly fast-forward their no.
to where they left off and they quickly finished their song -- all in
a day's work of a typical salsa perform-er's life! It was another fun
night of dancing and the energy in the club was amazing; plus DJ Alvaro
C was playing some really "wicked" salsa to dance to.
And if you've been wondering WHO
IS Richie Rumbera, well he was nice enough to write me back
with loads of interesting information -- if only I had one-tenth of
his knowledge (sigh), but he's been researching and interviewing and
writing since 1993!
July
18, 2001
Where in the World will TOsalsa be in August? and October?
Well, I guess I spoke too soon... yes, the events have finally slowed
down a little in Toronto, but that's because some of us are probably
working on last-minute details to get some sun and fun at the upcoming
salsa congresses in Puerto Rico and the Catskills. Which will you choose?
Well, in my case, I vowed I was only going to one congreso this year,
but I'm almost hitting a home run as I am planning to go to both! even
Ziv has caught the bug and will be heading over to the Catskills also!
And just when I thought that was it(!), we have another double whammy
in October! Thanks to Denise Hernandez of Travel Edge, I just realized
that Latin Madness and Burn the Floor almost collided together (sandwiched
between a Thanksgiving weekend!) Could it not be better planned? A
3-4 day Latin Madness weekend in NYC (Oct.5-8), 3 lucky winners
going to the Opening Performance of Burn the Floor, and then
another 90 dancers on Saturday, Oct. 13th. So cross your fingers and
hope we can put something great together so that 20 or more dancers
can bus or fly to the Big Apple, throw in some shopping and a couple
of workshops, and you have a instant City Congreso of our own! If
you're interested in joining this entourage, please email
us with details of your phone no., email, no. of people and
and whether you would need transportation or will drive on your own.
Also, cross your toes and hope that I can also pull off another promo
with 2 Front Row Seats to Latin Madness and maybe the airfare! Stay
tuned...
If you have some time and love the Cuban vs. North American debate,
then click onto this highly detailed, but entertaining
email from Richie Rumbero to Jo Kim!
And finally, don't forget to enter
the next draw for a free pair of tickets to "Burn the Floor"
- August 15th deadline!
July
16, 2001
Let's hear it for...
Becky Bowman, who won our first pair of tickets for "Burn the
Floor". If
you haven't entered, you still have 2 chances to win!
Here's something else you may have fun with on the internet, the
2001 NOW Magazine Readers Poll has started. They even have
a contest where you can win weekly prizes and the grand prize of a trip
to Spain if you fill in at least 25 categories. You have until midnight
on July 27th. How influential is our crowd? Why not find out
by voting on your favourite
84. Best Dance Instructor
114. Best Local Band
117. Best Choreographer
119. Best Local Dance Co.
137. Best DJ
146. Best Web Site
185. Best Latin Restaurant
209. Best Dance Club
212. Best Free Event
220. Best Live Music Club
July
15, 2001
Salsa Fever, Latin Madness, and Salsa with kilts?
What do they all have in common... well for starters, instead of
salsa fever in the clubs, I hit fever at home with the flu in case you
wondered why I wasn't at any of the events last week, and now I've lost
my voice! So please don't call, use email!
Word's out! Latin
Madness has it's own home page and is planning to have two weeks
of shows in October back in NYC! I'm working on seeing what kind of
"package" we can get for Toronto as the ticket prices are
now $40 and $37 per show; and we may even be able to include some workshops
while you're there! It won't be exactly the same show as they plan to
add the Palladium Era to its 25 years of Mambo history in NYC. I've
finally found some time to add my
highlights of the show. In the next few days, I'll be posting
the highlights of my trip in NYC! and what they didn't tell you about
New York!
If you didn't drop by the Harbourfront on Saturday night, then
you missed an amazing night of dancing by the waterfront under the stars
and to some great bands... Alot of the regulars who love to salsa (and
some that I haven't seen in the clubs in awhile) did show up and had
a great time partying. Some went early and checked out the classes,
but found it disappointing as they were made for beginners. Then at
8 pm, Vibrason was playing, and the dance floor was packed so
other dancers danced on the cement nearby. They finished at 9 pm, and
we had a half-hour break in which there was absolutely no salsa! But
promptly at 9:30, Salsa
Celtica from Scotland came on and played for 1.5 hours. You
would wonder how can a band from Scotland play salsa? But apparently
they visited Cuba in 1997 to study with the masters and absorb the musical
culture and influences of the country by mixing some Scottish influence
of fiddle and bagpipes to great salsa and cha cha tunes. This band was
definitely the hit of the evening as the area was complete jam-packed.
You just couldn't stand still and listen without wanting to dance as
they really knew how to entertain and get the audience moving. Not only
could they play the high-energy fast salsa, but they had some amazing
cha cha, cumbia and even threw in a little R&B and some scottish
descarga to one of their salsa songs. They were so popular, they had
an encore. For me, it was a band I would definitely want to see again.
And at 11 pm, we went to another stage to listen and dance to Energia
Latina. They had 3 singers and an 8-piece band and everyone danced
the rest of the night away.
This coming week, thank goodness, is "back to normal" except
for my voice!
And to keep it interesting all summer long, besides organizing discounted
group rate tickets to "Burn the Floor" of which we
have about 70dancers already confirmed to date for Saturday, October
13; we will have a summer-long giveaway promo for 3 pairs of "Burn
the Floor" tickets for the Opening Night on Tuesday, October 9th.
We're hoping that the Hummingbird Centre can confirm that these tickets
will be "Meet and Greet" the dancers backstage after the show.
If you're still interested in these discounted tickets, please email
me (preferably) or call at 416-988-1389.
July
8, 2001
TOsalsa or Not TOsalsa!
That is always my dilemma! How to find more hours to squeeze into
the days and nights to try and do everything; but where did I actually
find time to salsa?
On Wednesday, July 4th, I went to Babaluu's to let off some steam
and catch the Grupo Sabroso Filipino no. which featured 3 couples, Rene
and Michelle, Bong and Caryl along with Jay and Josephine dancing to
Bin Bin by Bio Ritmo. Originally this routine was choreographed for
many of the Filipino events in the City as Bong is an active member
and hopefully help them catch the 'fever'!
On Thursday, July 5th, instead of the usual salsa night of dancing,
I enjoyed an evening of latin jazz. I attended the pre-screening of
Calle 54,
the film dedicated to latin jazz in Spanish with English subtitles.
There are no specific tracks that are geared to salsa music, but latin
artists who have greatly contributed to jazz, including Tito Puente
and Israel Lopez Cachao. This film is definitely a must-see if you love
music and the cinematography beautifully shows off the artists up-close
and in their choice of backgrounds. The opening line was fabulous, as
the narrator states "The first time I heard this music, it complicated
my life..." and that could be translated to what salsa has done
to me. The film starts off a little slowly for me and picks up speed
about mid-way after they showcase the late Tito Puente (who died about
two months after the film was finished). It starts out in his restaurant
where Tito has a huge mural with all the latin jazz greats and he gives
you a brief intro on his past and their musical influence. Then they
show him playing the timbales
(small latin drums) and the vibraphone
that had some of the great rhythms you hear in salsa music. After watching
him, I am so sad that I never got to see him live -- he gets so into
his music and takes you in with his own passion for playing; so you
can imagine how you'd feel if you were dancing to his music live! If
you check out the Calle
54 website, you can download a piece of this footage by going into
the musicians' section and clicking on Tito Puente. Some other amazing
pieces were Chucho Valdes on the piano (his fingers just fly!), the
Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite by Chico O'Farrill with an 18-piece band and the
duet with Bebo Valdes (Chucho's father) on the piano and Cachao on bass.
Afterwards, I went to the after-party being thrown by EMI at Revival
which featured Jane
Bunnett for debuting her new album, Alma
de Santiago, mixing cuban rhythms with latin jazz. If you love afro-cuban
rhythms and jazz, you will definitely enjoy this album. She was also
the winner of the Juno Award for Best Global Album for Ritmo+Soul
released in October 1999).
On Friday, July 6th, I had to drag myself down to Courthouse
to check out James and Milton Cobo. I had previously met and danced
with Milton in Toronto and again in New York, but it was the first time
I met his brother, James. His style is a much more playful and flirtatious
with this partners; but the highlight of the night was watching the
two brothers dance together. You can see how in sync they were with
one another, but I guess that's the advantage of having each other to
practice with and being able to take turns leading and following. It
was also interesting to see how they make an impact, not just because
of their dancing, but they make sure they dress identically for the
evening; and they are total salsa freaks as they dance non-stop through
the salsa sets.
On Saturday, July 7th, the day was finally here for the Salsa
Showcase at the Toronto Street Festival being hosted by myself and Ziv
which featured some of the up and coming new dance groups which have
been inspired by the dance shows at the various congresses around the
World. When I finally woke up to see the rain, I kept hoping and praying
that by the time the show started it would stop as I knew that only
the die-hard salsa addicts might show up; and my luck held out. It was
pretty hectic trying to get everything organized as some of the dancers
didn't arrive until 5 min. before the show was to start (including the
music)! You can imagine how stressed out I was as it meant that the
group line-up had changed about 3 times within half-an-hour! I had to
go to the DJ booth which was about 40 feet away from the stage just
5 minutes before we were to go on and the crowds made it difficult to
get there and back! Ziv was freaking from the front as the Stage Manager
wanted us to start, but I was stuck "in traffic". What totally
blew me away was getting there an hour before and seeing non-salsa people
sitting in the seats in front of the stage. Ziv mentioned that maybe
we should ask if anyone knows how to salsa? and that that point, I felt
we needed to. At about 7:10 pm, I had given them the latest Wayne Gorbea
& Salsa Picante, a great New York band, which features El Yo-Yo
and Estamos Chao to get the crowd and the dancers going. At about 7:20
pm, one of the Stage Managers went up to announce that TOsalsa would
be up next, which got the crowd cheering; then when we finally went
up to start, it was fabulous to see such a great turnout. When I asked
"if anyone knew how to salsa?", we got such a big "Yes"
that I didn't have to add much more. During the performances, it was
amazing to see the crowd build all the way down the street almost to
the other stage. The first act up was "Strickly Salsa" who
started with a jazzy intro by Kathy Chaves and then featured Albert,
Nancy, Ronald and Irma dancing salsa. The second no. was Los Salsomanos,
featuring 3 couples dancing to Tito Puente's Ran Kan Kan. The third
no. was by Mambo Theatrix with Stephanie Gurnon and Ivy Cuervo doing
a cow-girl routine on 2. The fourth no. was Grupo Sabroso, featuring
the all-guy team of Rene, Bong, Jay, Steve, Angus and Pawel dancing
to Swinging Mambo by Tito Puente. The fifth no. was by Soles Dance Co.
called "You Know You Want Me" which featured 16 dancers which
had an interesting choreography of salsa featuring some Argentine Tango
inbetween the change in songs. This no. was a treat for most of us as
we have never seen Soles perform in public. And finally, the all-girl
dance group, On Beat, with their new dance "Hip Hop vs. Mambo"
featuring Michelle, Caryl and Karen as the hip hoppers and Ivy, Karem,
Paula and Dora as the mambo girls. It was such a successful show that
the Stage Manager said that she would personally recommend that we get
an hour next year; which would be great as we can then showcase all
the dance studios and some of the great couples we have in Toronto!
Afterwards, I stuck around to listen to the bands, Cha Locos and Dominicanada,
under the stars. It was alot of fun as Dominicanada played some great
merengue tunes, my favourite bachata, Mi Todo, and some salsa! It was
fun being able to dance the night away outside! Then afterwards I hit
Bamboo where Vibrason was playing and many of the dancers had decided
to go down there and party! It was in full swing when I got there, and
I had a dance with Milton which had so many original and fun moves.
Definitely inspiring for all of us to see the amount of energy the Cobo
brothers have and their total passion for dancing.
And finally on Sunday, July 8th, just when I thought I could
rest, I had totally forgotten about the TLN Latinfest at Canada's Wonderland.
I just found out that I had been given permission to go backstage to
meet the "stars" so I made the effort and got there at 8 pm.
thinking they would have all the best acts during the night. Well, I
had it partly right except George Lamond and Charlie Cruz had already
sang earlier in the after-noon. I got there just in time for Pochi y
Coco Band who play two great salsa tunes, called "El Gran Fieston"
and "Salsa con Coco". Then they had a little dance contest
on stage with about 5 couples and it felt like a latin 5-dance contest
as they played a mixture of latin house, salsa, bachata and cumbia to
see how well they could dance to each of the tunes. Afterwards, Huey
Dunbar, formerly singer with DLG, came out and the crowd went wild.
They were so crazy about him that they even threw up flags and yellow
cloths which he wiped his sweat on which had the fans going wild! He
played songs off his new album, "Yo Si Me Enamore", then played
3 songs from DLG, Volvere, La Quiero A Morir and for the finale, Juliana.
Then I went backstage where Tricia and myself got his autograph and
had our pictures taken with him. It was a pleasure to see how accommodating
he was to all his fans and hopefully, I'll have a chance to interview
him via internet. It is an event you shouldn't miss as you get to see
many artists and dance to your favourite salsa or merengue tunes.
July
2, 2001
What a "cool" way to begin July! OR
How you don't need to plan your social life outside of Salsa!
Well,
as last week sizzled with heat until the long weekend, my computer was
on the blink once again, so the only night I could afford to be out
was on Wednesday at Babaluu's and it definitely was another busy, yet
fun night of dancing as there were plenty of partners to dance with.
Los Salsomanos dance group performed that night with 3 out of the regular
6 couples (Jennifer and Giovanni, Jason and Karen, along with Sasha
and Marika). If they had all 6 couples performing, there just wouldn't
be enough room. Believe it or not, it's the first time I've had a chance
to see them in action; and Ziv still hasn't had an opportunity yet!
I enjoyed the performance but would have loved to see the whole team...
oh well, maybe next time.
Hopefully, you got some rest this weekend, as July starts with a non-stop
set of parties and events which could totally give you your fix or total
exhaustion until mid-July!
June
25, 2001
Summer is finally here!
Well, it's been an interesting week -- juggling work, reorganizing my
computer system at home and forcing myself to go out at night so I don't
miss out on some of the action!
On Wednesday, June 20, I zoomed down to Babaluu's for the
on-going anniversary celebration last week featuring Guest Instructor,
Ivy Cuervo, and her dance company, On Beat, an all-ladies dance group.
Again this week, there were many new faces and beginners in the club,
which is great to see but brings up the same old problem of dancers
bumping into each other or stepping on each other's feet. What totally
blows me away is when they don't apologize or acknowledge it. It's something
every dancer must get frustrated about -- do they not feel it (are their
shoe soles too thick?) are they maybe a bit tipsy and haven't a clue
or care who they bump into? Whatever the reason, dancers please apologize
or if you're lucky, you'll have a partner who's looking out for you
and won't finish a move if you're going to collide into another dancer.
There's also an on-going discussion
forum on dance etiquette and attitude which addresses this also.
And for those of you who missed it, On Beat had put together a hot new
dance no., "Hip Hop vs. Mambo" which featured Karen Trujillo,
Michelle Tanchoco and Caryl Cuizon as the hip hoppers (dressed in a
sexy pink ripped top with blue jeans) versus Ivy Cuervo, Paula Videla,
Dora Paszek and Karem Rodriguez as the Mambo dancers (dressed in a pretty,
white fur-trimmed top with capri pants). It was choreographed by Ivy
and Karen and has some fun choreography which has a bit of the West
Side Story theme with "gangs". The entrance started with Michelle
taking a swig out of a beer bottle (how often do you see her acting
macho tough), then along comes Karen with a cd player and Caryl, and
they start a funky hip-hop salsa sequence. Then on the other side of
the stage, you have the mambo girls who check them out and know they
can out-dance the hip-hoppers. So you have some us versus them dancing,
then they merge and do some great couple patterns with hip-hop vs. mambo
which had everyone at Babaluu's mesmerized as this no. was totally oppos-ite
in its mood to their first choreography.
On another note, I had a chance to sit down on Babaluu's outdoor patio
area and had a fun chat with Mark Del Duca of Soles Dance Studio about
New York and LA instructors and their own adventures while travelling
and training with various instructors. He gave some interesting "food
for thought" about the dancer's mentality here versus NY or LA.
One of the differences he noticed was how students in TO would be dressed
up, expect their class to start exactly on time and/or complain if the
studio was too hot (and I've seen that many times when I've taken a
class myself). In New York, he recalls going to Nelson Flores' group
class in NYC at Boys Harbor (which is where they held "Latin Madness"
near Central Park where they had an intermediate and advanced class
being held in the same room with no A/C. They only had one boom box
to share between the two classes and you could literally hear every
word the other instructor was saying. In Los Angeles, he recalls going
to the Dance Factory in Long Beach, where the students waited almost
45 minutes for the class to start, again with no A/C. He also noticed
how seriously the students work hard at their dancing in class (absolutely
no nonsense) and they were never dressed up. My take on that was in
Toronto, many students were coming straight from work with their work
clothes; and possibly the NY and LA dancers know that they are going
to work up a sweat so they dress accordingly. But I also feel after
visiting NY and LA, that they are much larger cities, so you develop
a toughness that you don't have in Toronto as we are still small in
comparison. They definitely tell it like it is, whereas we in Toronto,
will be more polite or less confrontational. Also, Toronto is still
growing as a salsa capital, whereas New York and LA have matured and
have a larger dance base with many dance groups whereas Toronto has
only had dance groups in the last year and a half.
On Thursday, June 21, I zoomed down to Revival, a beautiful restaurant
with high ceilings and a fabulous wooden floor. Possibly due to the
rain and the fact it's a little off the usual dance hangouts, it was
only comfortably crowded. Rene was just finishing up a class and DJ
Billy Bryans with DJ Alvaro took turns spinning 90% salsa. We also got
to witness the first Cdn. performance of Rene and Bong's all guy dance
troupe, now called Grupo Sabroso with Jay San Andres and Steve Russell
also performing with them.
Then on Sunday, June 24, I zoomed over to Violetta's to the Oursalsathing
Social just in time to watch the first set of performances with Jennifer
Aucoin's Little Salseras Dance Group who did a cha cha and then a salsa
shines routine and Allan and Cathy doing a hustle routine. In the 2nd
set of performances, Karem Rodriguez and Davis Paris from NY did a NY
Latin Hustle routine which had some fabulous lifts, then Grupo Sabroso
(all guys' dance group) performed with Rene, Bong, Steve, Jay and Angus;
and finally, On Beat once again performed the "Hip Hop vs. Mambo"
routine. Unfortun-ately, the music kept skipping and they started their
performance again using a CD player so you could barely hear the music,
but they did a fabulous job.
What's New?
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.
Remember,
you can email or let us know
in person, any updates, feedback or suggestions on what you would
like to read.
|
Highlights
of Toronto's Summer Fever 2001