Highlights of Toronto's Spring Fever 2002

by Rose Knows, Toronto

info@TOsalsa.com

June 20, 2002

The WWW Heat is On!

Gone are the days when I could take a "day off" from TOsalsa! There's so much happening via the World Wide Web that even if I don't go dancing and stay home to catch up, it's hard to ignore all the excitement around the world!

Check out...
Hot Internet Finds...
What's New in June!

and all the great bands playing this weekend!

June 19, 2002

What can you fit in a 24/7 day...

Work, salsa, workout, more salsa, listen to salsa music, watch salsa videos, write about salsa, take salsa classes, go out with salsa friends, find time to go out with non-salsa friends, spend non-salsa time with family, join a salsa dance group, go shopping for salsa clothes, look for salsa dance shoes, plan to go to a salsa convention, go salsa dancing in another city, oh and find time for some beauty sleep... it's a vicious circle and it just never ends once you've caught the addiction... it's like a drug and once you're hooked, can you kick the habit? Believe me, I used to try, but when I'm not dancing in the clubs or deciding last minute to travel to another salsa event in another city, I'm at home at the computer working on the site, talking over the internet to my salsa friends, surfing to learn about salsa music, calling friends about salsa when I'm supposed to be spending quality time on myself or with my non-salsa friends and family... and when I haven't danced for a few days, I just have to go out and get my fix! Some withdrawal! And now that it's summer, there's just so much more happen-ing... and as I meet up with more salsa addicts, we come up with more ways to go salsa crazy, which I can't talk about now, but you'll hopefully see some of the action in the coming months!

And what's new? Have you noticed how many more live bands are now playing in the City? Before, our "What's Happening" section used to be only full of new club openings and dance events, but now we seem to have more live bands to listen to in the clubs and not just at the outdoor latin festivals than ever before!

Also, have you been think-ing about going to Puerto Rico? Well you already know that at least 50 dancers from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal will be attending -- wouldn't you like to join us? Well, you have the chance to win a Congress Pass (worth $350 US) for a measly $5! If you're the winner and decide NOT to go, then you can sell or transfer your pass to another dancer! Click here for more info!

June 16, 2002

TOsalsa Fever?

What is it? well how about the growing readership of salsa dancers, artists, DJ's and promoters, who find out about TOsalsa and write into us for information about anything and everything to do with salsa in Toronto and/or around the World... I just got an email from a DJ in Bulgaria who just sent me two Top 10 lists of salsa music. Go figure... so if there's any other International Salsa DJ's out there who have a Top 10 List they would like to contribute, please feel free to email us at any time along with a little blurb about yourself and we'll be more than happy to post it.

Then there's the various dancers I meet via the LA Congress or via the Internet that are avid readers, but I've never met them before, such as Dena. Here's an interview written by Dena from LA who's a regular contributor to various sites, including Salsafix.com. She did an interview of Victor and Gaby, a Mexican Dance Couple at the West Coast Salsa Congress. What makes it coincidental is that it was one of the couples I thought would be interesting to talk to.

You can also check out my latest internet finds in Surfs' Up! and my forgotten music-inspired article...
If Music be the food of love -- play on!

On a musical note, I also made a new find on the weekend when I was surfing to learn more about Timba music -- Vocal Sampling from Cuba -- check them out!

And then I've also posted another great feature by Dena on her "Dancing Style Crisis", which may be appropriate for our upcom-ing weekend where we have two very intensive workshops on Sunday --
On Beat presents "Mambo Initiative", a full day intensive workshop which will teach you how to dance "on 2" and

United Salseros presents "the Art of Moving" , a 3-hour workshop to learn proper technique which will improve your dancing considerably.

Already have your moves down pat? Then test your balance on the lake with the El Rancho Boat Cruise on the same day! I guess the weather will determine what will be more popular!

And finally, the schedule is up for the Salsa Team Canada's Ottawa Party and don't forget to enter to win tickets to Ottawa and Toronto's parties!

June 13, 2002

What's Hot and What's Not!

Well, it's a little about salsa and it's a little beef I have about the internet as that is the main tool that keeps the salsa world together under one roof and where there are no long distance charges outside of your connection. Every once in awhile I talk about viruses cause I can't believe how many people get them, and then again, it's a pain and it's really scary when you get it for yourself for the first time; and hopefully you learn to be street or internet-savvy after that. So even though my e-hubby, Ziv, doesn't like it when I include non-salsa related material on this site, I think it's important to help you newbies to the internet from making some of the mistakes I or other people have made. After all, the internet should ALWAYS be an enjoyable experience and not let the "not so nice people" who have nothing better to do in their spare time but to "hurt" people by creating viruses, so I'm going to create a page on some of the stuff that people get caught on, and I'm going to entitle it "Losers on the Internet" as some are so dumb, that you must be a loser to believe it, such as a bank manager email that states he needs your help to move $20 Million Dollars.

OK, now that's straight out of a movie and/or someone has to be REALLY desper-ate for $$$ to believe that one; and then there's the JDBGMGR.EXE hoax email that asks you to delete this file. It's not a virus, but everyone is sending it to their friends and thinking it's true. Please remember to check anti-virus websites, such as symantec.com to find out if it's true or not before sending it to all your friends.

And on a salsa note, I've found out through various sources about things that are great to either buy or surf or find...

1. My new Bloch Dance Sneakers -- I love them! I'm usually too busy to run around and try on dance sneakers from the dance stores, but while in LA, Josie and Alvaro were selling them and wear them all the time. Previously, I tried on Capezio Dance Sneakers, but didn't like how they felt on my foot and the fact they felt a little too heavy for me esp. since I usually like wearing ballroom shoes which happen to be really light. Not everyone likes Bloch, but I think dance sneakers need some time for you to try them on and see how they feel on your foot and if you like how you move in them. Bloch has a nice bouncy feeling to them and gives me enough support for my feet for all-day workshops and to practice in when I'm tired of wearing ballroom shoes. How do you find out about all the great dance shoes to buy, well check out the "feet" of some instructors and regular dancers in the workshops or clubs and ask them what their favourite type of dance shoe is for practice and/or for dancing in the clubs. Most dancers and instructors will be more than happy to help you.

2. There's a great new salsa music website, that streams all the best "on 2", latin jazz and/or old salsa music that I just found out about called salsastream.

3. And I'll share with you my new ultimate favourite dance song that's been playing at all the Salsa Congresses for the past few months, Salsa Con Candela by Karamba -- this song just makes my feet move from the get-go. A simple catchy beat and you can't miss the clave... it just goes right thru you and gets you moving. Now if only we could get the DJ's in the City of Toronto to play this song! Hmmm... maybe everyone should start asking for it...

And I think I now know part of the reason WHY I love going to congresses, it's 100% salsa, and you get some of the new and old great songs to dance to that we'll NEVER hear in Toronto! unless we all start speaking up to the DJ's -- too many clubs love to play the same old salsa I heard for the past 5 years! Their rationale -- that's all the dancers want to hear -- that's BS cause how can dancers who NEVER knew salsa know what they want to dance to!

And then there's the DJ's who do play something different, but somehow it's not really danceable, but because they're playing something different they think the dancers will love it. I think there's a fine line, between what's different and what's danceable. It's funny, I had a discussion with a dancer who used to be a DJ and we realized that some of the best salsa DJ's out there were dancers or started out as dancers and they seem to pick the "best" songs to dance to in one night. There is so much great music out there that we're missing out on. As DJ Jazzy George said to me at Lula Lounge, if you played all the greatest salsa dance songs in one night, you'd never get the same song twice and I bet you couldn't hear or dance to them all in one night. I've been surfing, listening, learning about the music in the clubs, from DJ's, from the Internet for the past 1-1/2 to 2 years, and I still can't believe how I still don't know all the names to all the great songs out there.. and/or I'll find out about another artist I never heard of before...

Anyways, enough ranting, it's time to "shut up and dance"!

June 11, 2002

Take Time for your Life...

and/or Take Time for more Salsa and Workouts... Well, I'm trying... while I was in LA I actually found some time to read 1-1/2 books -- finished one on Procrastin-ation... now is it really procrastination, or is my problem too many projects and not enough time. Another great book was "Take Time for your Life", but all that's done for me is make me rethink my priorities (which is back to trying to do everything AND get more sleep).

So much has happened in the past few months, salsa wise, that it's hard to keep yourself grounded and/or organized, although I'm really getting good at packing without a checklist!

There's so many stories to tell about where I've gone and whom I've talked to, including some interviews (i.e. Joby & Luis, Emmy Lam, etc.) that I'll have to start reporting on them one at a time and let you know as they get published... but in the meantime, you can check out all the pics from the Detroit Salsa Congress, Blast (which is now playing at the Hummingbird Centre) and a videoclip sent to me from Orville of his Mission Impossible choreography which he used at the Mayan contest. Now if only I can find time to put up some of my own clips... Orville? Are you there? hint hint...

June 9, 2002

Salsa Congress Hangover?

Is there such a thing? Well possibly... what would be the symptoms... how about that hungover feeling you have from the night before of too much salsa, but even though you should stop, you still go back for more until you feel really sick or groggy or had too much... sigh... Detroit was nice and cozy, but it's good to be home... Stay tuned for the scoop as I got to dance and chat with some of the who's who in the salsa scene...

And finally, here's your chance to win tickets to the Salsa Team Canada parties in Ottawa and Toronto...

June 7, 2002

Salsa Fever hits again...

Hmmm... I wonder where some of the Toronto die-hard dancers will be hanging out this weekend... It seems Detroit is having a bit of NY, LA, Toronto, Puerto Rico and Chicago all mixed in together and guess who's gonna be there? Well, moi of course!

And if I'd known, would I have gone salsa-crazy earlier this week? Hmmm... Wednesday morning, Salsa Team Canada had a demo at a high school which had the hiccups of dancers not being able to attend so thankfully Paul Chivers came to the rescue! Then after work, I had the chance to go and see Blast! The new Marching Band Show and Dance Extravaganza at the Hummingbird Centre! It was definitely a "blast" to see all the musicians playing various instruments and also move around in unison to intricate marching band choreography with great sound and stage lighting (pics will go up next week!) -- the audience just loved it and Blast did a great job of pulling in the crowd by also coming out in the audience and playing in the second set and then closed the show by taking it out into the front of the theatre. It is definitely a must-see if you love the music of the marching bands and want to try and figure out HOW they can remember all their moves in each number AND play an instrument at the same time. And how would I rate it? Well, I definitely enjoyed this show much more than Lord of the Dance and the musical talent pool in this show was fabulous and very entertaining to watch with great energy.

After the show, which finished at 10 pm, I headed over to Babaluu's for DJ Alvaro's Latin Roots night as I haven't been there in ages, and the music he played was phenomenal that night -- there were at least 4-5 songs I never heard or danced to before that became some of my new dance favourites. So of course, it was another late night and everyone was in total dance-mode as it was comfortably packed with enough room to play...

And just when you thought you knew everything about me, Rob of Salsafix.com, just posted an interview of me asking me things I had not thought about in years! It felt like I was giving a full confession! but I still have some privacy left, thank goodness!

June 7, 2002

Going to Detroit? Apparently Homestead Suites is fully booked, but I just found out about two more places to stay close by....
Red Roof Inn, (248) 353-7200
Hampton Inn, (248) 356-5500

June 7, 2002

Salsa Fever hits again...

Hmmm... I wonder where some of the Toronto die-hard dancers will be hanging out this weekend... It seems Detroit is having a bit of NY, LA, Toronto, Puerto Rico and Chicago all mixed in together and guess who's gonna be there? Well, moi of course!

And if I'd known, would I have gone salsa-crazy earlier this week? Hmmm... Wednesday morning, Salsa Team Canada had a demo at a high school which had the hiccups of dancers not being able to attend so thankfully Paul Chivers came to the rescue! Then after work, I had the chance to go and see Blast! The new Marching Band Show and Dance Extravaganza at the Hummingbird Centre! It was definitely a "blast" to see all the musicians playing various instruments and also move around in unison to intricate marching band choreography with great sound and stage lighting (pics will go up next week!) -- the audience just loved it and Blast did a great job of pulling in the crowd by also coming out in the audience and playing in the second set and then closed the show by taking it out into the front of the theatre. It is definitely a must-see if you love the music of the marching bands and want to try and figure out HOW they can remember all their moves in each number AND play an instrument at the same time. And how would I rate it? Well, I definitely enjoyed this show much more than Lord of the Dance and the musical talent pool in this show was fabulous and very entertaining to watch with great energy.

After the show, which finished at 10 pm, I headed over to Babaluu's for DJ Alvaro's Latin Roots night as I haven't been there in ages, and the music he played was phenomenal that night -- there were at least 4-5 songs I never heard or danced to before that became some of my new dance favourites. So of course, it was another late night and everyone was in total dance-mode as it was comfortably packed with enough room to play...

And finally, here's your chance to win tickets to the Salsa Team Canada parties in Ottawa and Toronto...

June 6, 2002

Newsflash!

Thinking about the Detroit Salsa Congress which is only a 5 hour drive away? Well, guess what, it's only going to cost the Toronto dancers $150 Cdn. for the whole weekend including all workshops, Brunches (11am to 1pm), Dinners, Evening shows (2 sets each night), Saturday workshops start at 1pm and shows at 9pm, and then again at 11pm. Dancing inbetween and after. Sunday workshops start at 1pm and shows start at 6pm and 8pm. See schedule. Josie Neglia won't be there, but Seaon Bristol will attend. If you do not want to take this package then there are a la carte prices on the website. When do you pay? -- when you meet up with Elaine Marrero and her registra-tion desk in Detroit.

Accommodations:
Each hotel room can fit about 6 people (2 double beds and a pull out couch) or 8 people ghetto style. It's $50 US for each room. If you're making your own arrangements then you can reserve a room by calling the hotel directly. Phone number and address are on the website. Just make sure that you tell them that you're going to the Detroit Bacardi Congress.

June 2, 2002

June already?

How time does fly... it's hard to believe how much activity there has been in Toronto since I've been away, and instead of running errands, I spent the whole day updating the site to make up for all those hours I spent dancing last week! I've finally finished uploading all the pictures from the West Coast Salsa Congress and updates to the discussion forum topics.

On Friday, I had the best of three different worlds -- I attended a very informa-tive and entertaining percussion workshop by Ralph Irizarry from NYC who is a timbales drummer (same instrument that Tito Puente was famous for playing). He had some great stories to tell about his history as a musician and he also had was part of Ray Barretto's orchestra for 5 years.

Then I zoomed down to Courthouse for some dancing. It was difficult to tear myself away from Courthouse as many of the best dancers in Toronto were there and it was another awesome night for a salsa fix, but then I got another awakening to the other side of latin music, at a new latin club called "Lula Lounge" which is started up by the creators of Open City. For those of you who haven't heard of them, it's definitely a must-hear for the latin music lovers -- it will open a new world and give you insight into the latin rhythms.

It was the first time I had seen so many musicians switching places with the instruments and jamming together. At some point, each musician whether they were on the piano, congas, brass or timbales -- each had a solo performance. Not all of it would be danceable to salsa as there were great latin jazz sessions where they just let loose, but they also had a new DJ find -- DJ Jazzy George. I remember a Reader writing about him and he had some great salsa tunes that I don't think any other DJ in Toronto has played before. After the concert was over, I had a chance to sit and talk with DJ Jazzy George and found out he's only been playing and collecting salsa music for the past 2 years. Before that, he was a DJ for R&B and Disco, but had retired from the DJ circuit -- his discovery of salsa music started him up again.

Going to Lula Lounge and the Percussion Workshop by Ralph Irizarry made me realize again how wonderful our talent here is in Toronto who've emigrated here from other parts of the World and also made me realize how similar the dance and music culture can be in how we interpret our art as dancers or musicians. I don't recall some of Ralph's comments, but the musical concepts he discussed were quite similar to the discussions we as dancers have on a regular basis (although you can look forward to interview and pics at a later date).

It was interesting to see how many latin musicians from other salsa bands were also in attendance, including Marcus of Vibrason, nowSon Ache, and Alberto Alberto of Quimica Perfecta.

What I think is wonderful about Lula Lounge and Open City is that it provides a special "community" for musicians to get together and jam, and at the same time, allows the public to come in and experience it.

May 31, 2002

Home Sweet Home...

Just take 12 days in a hotel juggling the schedule of 7 dancers who want to try and do it all... along with the Mayan Competition and the West Coast Salsa Congress, plus fighting with dancers to get the perfect spot for pictures and videos; plus the choice of eating at Denny's or blow-ing all your cash for room service on a meal that costs you almost 3 times what you'd pay in Toronto, and you just can't wait to get home just to get some real R&R. Although I did have a few hours here and there to kind of relax, we had a non-stop schedule with so much to do and so little time to try and do it all. Having 12 days away from it all really gave me time to reflect and put things back into perspective with some time to recharge the batteries; so you'll probably see me hitting the clubs and the gym now that summer is here and now that I've decided to balance my dancing time with my computer time. It's time to get the groove back and that's what's great about congresses. It inspires you to get better, learn to appreciate the various styles, and/or rethink how you want to dance salsa. It's also nice to meet some new dancers that can give you your fix and are just as crazy about dancing as you are.

So where did I go this week, well where I could get in my salsa fix with many of my favourite dancers... Tequila and Berlin on Tuesday, Bar One on Wednesday, then too tired to trek down to Babaluu's which I heard was packed, and then Bab's on Thursday, where I danced almost non-stop in every salsa set that night to make up for all those hours sitting at the shows at the Congress. And I have to admit I'm enjoying every dance as I haven't been this carefree in ages! It's so easy to forget what keeps me going and going... and keeps everything in perspective... could it be salsa?

And for those of you who love looking at dance pics, I've posted the Mayan Competition on Friday and Saturday, and the Friday night shows from the West Coast Salsa Congress. This weekend I'll finish uploading the Saturday and Sunday shows as I need to free up some space on the site to accommodate the remain-ing 600 pics! There were so many dance shows, and you can probaby tell which groups I enjoyed or got inspired from just by the no. of pics I took of them. Can you guess which groups blew me away?

Also, there's also an article in the Vancouver Sun regarding an Instructor who won a court case against a student who was teaching rueda moves for free because he signed a confidentiality agreement. A few Vancouver salseros are asking for reader's feedback and opinions.

Other things to look forward to? Well, we'll be posting up the following promotions to win tickets to our Salsa Team Canada Fundraisers for Ottawa and Toronto. I also have confirmation that we'll also be giving away free tickets to the East Coast Salsa Congress, the UK Salsa Congress and the Latin Madness Broadway production in NYC! I also brought back videos of the East Coast Salsa Congress shows from last year to sell in Toronto. And finally, for those of you who would like to see some great dancers, I think a bunch of TO dancers will be heading to Detroit next weekend for their Salsa Congress. There was a buzz in LA from dancers who were planning to either teach or attend next week!

May 28, 2002

I'm back...

but jet-lagged... although it's only a 3 hour time difference, technically speaking I was in bed every day at 6-7 am Toronto time and my first meal averaged around 2-3 pm TO time, so you can imagine how my body's reacting to regular work hours! Downloaded all my pics and I have about 180 pics to load up tonight on the Mayan contest, and have about 900 pics of the West Coast Salsa Congress! The 64 mb chip for my digi-camera states it can hold about 660 pics, but somehow when I down-loaded my shots, I had 900... but in the meantime, enjoy all the great discussions (or are they really controversies) from various readers and in the emails from the Dear TOsalsa section!

May 25, 2002 (from LA)

Congress Fever!

It’s been busy, and almost everyone who’s anyone (or at least a good cross section) is here. There’s probably over 2,000 dancers at this Congress and the caliber of the shows are starting to get better as less-established salsa teams start to mature and grow. Last night, I also got to hear Sonora Carruseles and their concert was awesome and so was Johnny Polanco the night before. It was great hearing and dancing to their music live.

The workshop selection is quite extensive with 5 workshops being offered each session, but the classes are still fairly packed. There’s been some really fun moments, but as always you run around and don’t get enough rest, so it will just have to wait until I get back on Tuesday.

One of the surprises of the night was Josie Neglia announcing on stage that she’s expecting a baby! Congratulations Josie and Alvaro, and an extra-special thank you to them as they helped us out quite a bit in getting around LA.

It seems we have a mini baby boom surrounding the Toronto crew, with Ivy of On Beat and Karen of Salsa Team Canada who are also pregnant, and then there’s Rene and Michelle of Grupo Sabroso who FINALLY got engaged. Congratulations to them all.

Anyways, back to workin’ the Congress!

May 23, 2002 (from LA)

Pre-Congress Fun!

It’s now Thursday afternoon and we’re waiting for another dancer to arrive from Montreal. I spent the morning doing last minute supply shopping for the Congress as the balance of the weekend will be spent running from workshops to parties and shows. Two nights ago, I went to Mambito’s, one of Albert Torres’-sponsored parties in a little pub in the back. It wasn’t what I expected of LA at all, a little room for hardcore salsa dancing – nothing to write home about, just a place with good salsa music for dancers who want to get their fix close to their home.

Yesterday, we hung out at Venice Beach for awhile, then came back to the hotel. I met up with Paul Young of Salsa-UK.com, and some of the UK dancers and chatted at the bar for a few hours. Then we got ready to go to another popular hotspot called Rudolpho’s. By this time, other dancers who I hadn’t seen earlier in the day arrived, including Super Mario (UK), Susana Montero (UK), Jay Ruiz from Puerto Rico, along with some LA icons, including Edie the Salsa Freak and Rogelio, one of Josie’s ex-partners. This was a happening spot, but I don't get the slanted hardwood floors and the dark lights with strobes. What happened to what was good for dancers -- the only plus was the great music and the smoke-free environment; and of course all the great dancers showing up for the Congress to dance with! I'm finding it a little friendlier this year for dancers to dance with each other, but time will tell.

Due to the amount of dancers in the club, I danced from the moment I got there until I was forced to leave as some of our dancers were starving. I had all kinds of dances from beginner to advanced to a latino who danced on every beat – that was the biggest dance workout I’ve had for awhile.

Today, many other dancers, performers and instructors are starting to drop into the lobby – mostly from New York – including Nelson Flores and his troupe, Ismael Otero, Yesenia, Fernando of justsalsa.com and many others.

Now we’re heading over to the Beach Party at Santa Monica Pier and a Pre-Congress Party tonight where everyone will be in the mood to party with Johnny Polanco -- a great LA salsa band. If I don’t get too busy, maybe I might get some time to write some more…

May 20, 2002 (from LA)

LA Marathon

Today’s the first day I could actually unwind while the dancers from Toronto and Montreal headed off to Magic Mountain Amusement Park one hour outside of LA with Josie Neglia and Alvaro.

I wanted to take some time on my own to finally relax and not always feel as if I was on the run as that was what has been happening since the beginning of 2002.

The weather has swung from a gorgeous sunny day to gloomy days with some rain and the evenings are chilly – no surprise to me as that is what it was like two years ago, and it hasn’t changed. Everything from the LAX airport is 20-30 minutes highway drive no matter where you want to go.

And how were the finals of the Mayan Competition? Well it was pretty crazy-busy that night. We got there early and had a bite to eat in a dumpy-looking El Salvardorean Restaurant right across from the Mayan Club. It was probably family-owned and we enjoyed the home-style cooking away from last-minute rush of eating around the hotel with not enough time to relax.

The Mayan was packed by about 10 pm, but we got in some dancing before the competition. It’s not your typical salsa club, but more like a normal dance bar with strobe lights and very little lighting for dancing and a variety of music, including salsa, merengue, R&B and house. The floor isn’t hardwood either which makes it hard to spin at times. There were about 8-9 couples competing, and the energy was high. It was great to see the couples first-hand (not over the internet), even though I was behind the camera lens the whole time. I have to say it’s a little hard to totally enjoy yourself too much when I had to watch over the digital camera and then have to deal with the security as they roped off the area for the dancers on the main stage. Those guys were tough – as every dancer knows basically to stand in the area you want to be to watch the show, you had to have split-second timing to be in the right place at the right time; and then to get behind the ropes that nearly choke your mid-section to death as you fight with the other dancers to get just the right spot. Friday night was by fluke as I didn’t know that they roped it in, and the guard pulled me into the center while he was roping it off. I can still remember him yelling, “OK, one last chance for you to move back before I use the rope to push you back! Come on everyone, just move your butts! Get back! I warned you… here I go!” And those were the moments when I wondered whether it was worth trying to get center-stage as you’re being strangled by the rope and partially pushed forward by the crowd behind you.

And who won? Well, this may be first-hand news as you won’t see it on the Mayan website until about 3-4 weeks later. Are you ready? 1st – Alex and Liz, 2nd – Rudy and Jennifer, 3rd – Rony and Dinora from Los Rumberos. It seemed to be a very political competition as many booed as Rudy and Jennifer got 2nd – many thought he should have won! Not to say that Alex and Liz didn’t do a great job, it seemed everyone felt that Rudy’s energy and routine was more dynamic and slick. I can’t really comment as it’s difficult to see everything behind a camera.

What’s also interesting to note, is that many people felt that the International Competition on Friday night was also politically incorrect in their judging. Some dancers began to wonder if certain dance couples didn’t advance as they might pose a threat to the LA dancers. Also, they use a mix of professionals and audience as judges. I don’t know if I agree with that as many dancers may not understand timing; and if someone’s off-time, they wouldn’t even notice as they would be dazzled by the pizzazz of the dancers. And that’s what probably makes or breaks the professionals, being able to do fabulous tricks, dips and choreography ON TIME and being able to entertain the crowd at the same time.

What’s also disappointing is to find that this highly-anticipated dance contest that is probably being viewed by every salsa dancer around the World also has the same problems of every dance contest – is it being fairly judged as the spectators have a different viewpoint than many of the dancers. Although with 9 different judges – maybe it is being fairly judged as it’s all perception and how much you know about salsa dancing and whether you like their performance and they mark you accordingly, the totals are tallied and then they post the scores at the front. It’s really well organized as they do start the competition at about 11 pm and the dancers are told to be there ON TIME or they risk being disqualified from competing that night. For the salsa dancers, it’s advantageous to get there early as there is more salsa earlier in the evening and later, they throw in more house and R&B (our favourite type of music?! ).

Would I go again next year … that remains to be seen, as I finally got over my Mayan fix – I guess it depends on who’s competing next year and whether I can afford the time again – after all, we’re staying 12 days and the food is definitely not cheap as the exchange rate is almost $1.60 Canadian. Regular meals are anywhere from $12 to $25 Canadian everyday!.

And how is the dancing here? Well, luckily since there was an International competition, there were other dancers from all over the US and some from Canada, so I was able to get some dancing on 1 with different dancers – I even had a dance with a Mexican who danced the old Toronto-style from 5 years ago!

It’s kind of neat coming a bit earlier as we will be doing some of the touristy stuff that you don’t have time for if you’re just coming to the Congress for 4 days. This is the first time driving in LA, and it’s not as bad as I thought, just takes better planning as everything is a highway drive away. It’s also nice to be able to do some bonding with dancers from Montreal and Toronto as you usually only say a quick “Hi” in the clubs and never get a chance to chat and/or hang out. Josie and Alvaro have been really supportive and helpful to the Toronto and Montreal dancers by allowing them to share their rehearsal space and give us directions to various hotspots in LA. The next few days will be spent sightseeing and shopping; and then the Congress starts on Thursday. When I get back, you can be sure I’ll have tons of pics to post! I already took about 150 pics of the Mayan Competition on Friday and Saturday. The club was so dark, I didn’t bother trying to take pics of the some of the LA dancers as they showed their stuff as there wasn’t room or it was too dark. So stay tuned for more in the upcoming days…

May 18, 2002 (from LA)

It's Saturday, and I'm finally able to chill abit as it's not a non-stop day of running around with Ana and Orville on Thursday getting ready and training for the Mayan, and then having Sonia & Moris come in and do the same runaround again. Thursday evening we headed over to a new latin night where Josie Neglia and Alvaro were teaching. There were more guys than girls, so we helped out in the class, and then got in a little dancing.

On Friday, we met up with Josie and Alvaro so that Ana and Orville could practice before the Friday night competition. Josie and Alvaro were practicing their new routine for the Mayan competition with another couple.

We were over by Long Beach which was an absolutely gorgeous area to live and work near Ocean Blvd.

That evening we met up with Sonia & Moris from Montreal and headed early to the Mayan Club. While they were prepping for the competition, I got in some dances with various dancers to kill the time.

The competition was fun to watch as there were many different dancers from various cities, including Seattle, Calgary and Mexico.

The judging was a bit odd as we couldn't tell what they were really looking for. Sonia and Moris made 3rd place for the finals, but Ana and Orville came 5th. Many thought that this wasn't fair, but they were the first ones performing and usually in the competition world, that's a no no and you are always marked the hardest.

Gotta run, so stay tuned for more...

May 15, 2002

The Universal Language -- Salsa in Montreal!

Espanol? Francais? ou Inglese? That's how some of the conversations were between some dancers... what a surprise to find out they didn't know any English and of course, I knew hardly any Spanish and a little French! So, what the heck, let's just dance!

And how did our first rehearsal turn out? I was pleased as punch! It's a routine to be proud of; although there's three different cities, with three different choreographers, it added its own set of spice as each City had its own set of combinations, tricks or transitions which made it absolutely interesting and amazing to see 50 dancers on one stage! The only other country that has that many dancers on one stage was Venezuela with their dance schools... but this is three different cities in one country! Alot of credit must go to Sonia who had to not only entertain the Toronto dancers including myself who stayed with her all weekend, but had a dance show at Salsatheque on Friday night, her dance school on the weekend with a Salsa Team Canada dance practice on Saturday and Sunday's full schedule of the rehearsal and fundraiser. That's either called total dedication or total salsa addiction...

And did we bond... heck ya! By Sunday, everyone who already didn't know one another were slowly getting into the groove and it was nice to be together as one big group, and I had a blast dancing with many of the Montreal dancers which I never had a chance to dance with ever before. I think I even surprised most of them as I caught the glitter in their eye when I got a move they didn't expect, so the moves got progressively more complicated during the dance and one dancer even gave me a quadruple spin... how's that for getting my salsa fix before we hit the road back to Toronto in record time... 4-1/2 hours with Bong at the wheel, but Freddy set a new standard for driving to Montreal -- 4 hours with just a touch of stress from the passengers in the car!

And finally, there's some new emails from Nicaragua and New Zealand readers, and two more discussions have started... one for Cuban Timba Music (due to my own opinion talking about Quimica Perfecta), and a reader who wants to know what other dancers think about the LA dancers' style of dancing at the Mayan Club...

And then there's only one day left before I head off to LA to watch the Mayan Club Competition in person and to cheer on Orville & Ana, along with Sonia & Moris as they represent Canada in the International Competition on Friday, then do some sightseeing and attend the West Coast Salsa Congress... Hopefully, you'll get the scoop during the week while I'm down there! And you can be sure that if either of them place, you'll get the whole scoop and some hot pics!

Congratulations to

Denise Roy - Hull, Quebec
Daksha Bhasker, Ottawa
D. Suna, Toronto

for winning an all day pass to the Montreal Salsa Team Canada Fundraiser on May 12th!

May 6, 2002

Oh Canada!

Salsa Team Canada will be performing on Parliament Hill on July 1st! I think it's the first time that Salsa will be shown on national TV across Canada!

On Friday, May 10th, Salsa Team Canada Montreal will be performing in Montreal at Salsatheque at about 1:30 am. They sent me pics of their first perform-ance last Friday! And for those of you who are coming out to support us in Montreal from out-of-town on May 12th, you can get the advance ticket rate if you email us your name. Click here for all the info!

April 30, 2002

The Ultimate Salsaholic Season has started...

Well actually, it started about 10 days ago for the sign Taurus, with the late great Tito Puente, Manny Siverio of SalsaNewYork, Edie the Salsa Freak, Nancy of Strickly Salsa and Elizabeth Sadowska; and then it continues on May 1st with Rene Delgado and many others including myself on Mother's Day this year. And why do I call Taurus the ultimate salsaholic, well, if you look at my survey, you'll notice that we outnumber every other sign in the zodiac so far almost 2 to 1. And everytime I seem to turn around, I run into another. The other signs which have strong salsa tendences would be Leo, Virgo and Scorpio.

On another note, the May salsa season also kicks off with two of the biggest events in LA, one of the salsa hotspots in the World with the Mayan Club Competition and the West Coast Salsa Congress -- and I'll be at both this year!

Also, if you want to see some hot videoclips, then check out the Amateur Semi-Finals at the Mayan Club in LA -- they really took it up another notch for the semi-finals! What makes this really exciting to watch is knowing I'll be there to watch the Out-of-State/International Semi-finals on May 17th in which Orville and Ana, 1st Place Winners of the Berlin Salsa Competition, and Sonia & Moris of Montreal, 3rd Place Winners will be entering and I'll be there to see the action in person for the very first time! You can be sure Orville and Ana are training hard and will even get more pumped by the amount of support you show them at their Mayan Fundraiser on May 11th. If you also want to send these couples an email to cheer them on as they represent Canada for the very first time at the Mayan, then email me and I'll post them up. Unfortunately, I won't be here to see their final routines as I will be in Montreal at our Salsa Team Canada practice and fundraiser that weekend.

I've also updated my photo gallery from the weekend activities at La Classique with LASAR on Friday and on Sunday in Burlington with Dancescape and more dance demonstrations.

And don't forget, this is the last week to enter the draw to win tickets to Riverdance and to the Salsa Team Canada Fundraiser in Montreal!

And I finally couldn't resist, I finally broke down and joined in one of the discussion forums on ballroom versus salsa. There are times when I read these passionate emails and am very tempted to join in, but don't always have the time -- this time I couldn't hold back any longer as one of his statements was just plain ignorant! He is definitely not practicing what he was preaching as he has no understanding of what ballroom dancing is all about or what it entails... and then complains that everyone else needs to study other more historical forms of salsa dancing! Need I say more, or shall we say this argument will never end...

April 26, 2002

Spring Showers bring May Flowers?

or is it more Salsa?! Well as I'm trying to "dance as fast as I can" on too many projects, I surfed over to one of my new favourite websites, "Salsafix" by Rob Capilli from Hawaii, who is as surf-crazy as I am (if not more) and updates his site almost every day... and what do I see but his mini-thoughts on this year's new pet project of mine, "Salsa Team Canada". Yes, we've been working hard, and yes, it's d_slkdjfldskjf hard work to keep it all together, and sometimes the only thing that keeps some of us going is the dream of how it's all going to come together in Puerto Rico with our first perform-ance, the gorgeous summer beach weather with a Pina Colada in our hands as we bask in the sun; only to find out when we get back that we will probably get masochistic, forget what's already happened, think we can do better and start the insanity up all over again for next year, but probably at a different Congress. So if you missed out your chance for this year -- get your dancing shoes ready to audition or send in a tape to join what I truly now understand to be one of the most ambitious projects, outside of a Congress. Slowly as some of the dancers around the World are starting to find out about our project, they even comment that if we pull this off, we may be making salsa history as being the first country to ever get a few salsa cities together to perform.

And that's one of the reasons I think I immediately jumped at the idea, I loved the challenge of having "cities" working together whom never worked or danced with each other before, the future potential growth of such a project -- how it would expand the exposure of salsa dancing to a new and different level which is already starting to catch attention of various media in Toronto (CFTO and City-TV) and other dance websites, such as Dancescape.com; and we've even started talking to a School in Toronto who is fully supportive of our goals and is interested in having our team perform at their school and teach a workshop to their students.

What makes this so amazing is that it's happening a little faster than we ever dreamed... but it takes alot of dedication, perseverance and tons of hard work and stamina to keep it going, especially when there's so much salsa politics surrounding the project and the dealing with the opinions of over 50 dancers of how we should be operating, forgetting that they need to work more as a unified Canadian team and not as individuals or a specific City -- that this project should be treated more like a "job with responsibilities"! Once you've made a commitment to become a performer of a dance team, you've committed yourself to the role of a professional dancer, no different than the disciplines of ballet or jazz where you have to conform to their rules, not your own, and be a team player!

And on another note, where's the party this weekend? Well, there's lots to choose from -- I'll be hanging out at La Classique on Friday checking out the Inter-University Salsa Competition which should be alot of fun, and then I'll be out in Burlington again this weekend as members of Salsa Team Canada will be performing there (Bong & Ana, and Pawel & Dora) at Dancescape's Salsa Weekend!

And finally, things that make me go hmmm... I went to Babaluu's tonight to relieve some stress with a little coaxing from a fellow salsaholic and it was the best cure I've had in awhile. Nothing beats a really bad day of work but going to the club and just dancing as much as you can with some of the best dancers and/or dancers you connect with emotionally on the dance floor. You forget everything but how to react/follow your partner's lead, especially if you haven't had the chance to dance with them in a long time. In some of the dances, you are so into reacting and playing with the music or into interpreting your movements to match his, that I even forgot what song was playing and just flowed and experimented with the interpretations of the body movements. It felt like I was in one of my stretch classes or weight training where you get so in tune with your body movements, you almost don't hear the music surrounding you. Also, there were times it got so crowded after 11 pm, that the turn patterns became a game where you moved to where there was no one to bump into. Needless to say, I got my fix... and finally broke my writer's block!

April 25, 2002

Your chance to WIN!

Here's a new promotion for Salsa Team Canada's May 12th Fundraiser in Montreal where we'll pick THREE winners anywhere in Quebec and/or Ontario for the ALL DAY PASS to the workshops and party on May 12th; so if you're looking for an excuse to go out of town and party with fellow Canadians -- this is a party you won't want to miss. If you can't make it out, you still have two more chances as we'll be in Ottawa on June 29th and in Toronto on July 6th at La Classique. So get ready and click here for more info and regular updates!

Also, next week will be the last chance to enter for Riverdance tickets also!

And finally, check out www.dancescape.com and see whose pic made the front page representing Salsa Team Canada this coming Sunday in Burlington!

April 22, 2002

Things to make me go hmmm...

As things have finally slowed down slightly and I'm able to catch my breath, it was unbelievable to see how many updates I have to do on TOsalsa to bring it back up to speed... so I've been juggling a computer clean-up, updates to Salsa Team Canada, CD releases, spanish lyrics, the photos from the weekend, and clean-up to the club pages.

April 21, 2002

Salsa Meltdown!

Well, this past week I took it easy as I needed to catch up from the previous two weeks of salsamania; and apparently it seemed it was a slower week overall as I heard many dancers were missing from the clubs.

Finally this past weekend, I did get a major salsa fix from Courthouse as they play 90% salsa. In fact, I got so much dancing in that by the end of the night, I was sitting more than I was dancing, and so were other die-hards who stayed until the end.

This past Sunday, I went out to Burlington to check out the dance demonstrations. It was great to see the variety of dance shows from kids different dance forms including jazz and ballet, a woman who performed an Afro-Cuban dance, to the new young hip-hop dance groups and of course, salsa. Oscar and Vanesa opened up the showcase representing Salsa Team Canada, and even surprised Robert and Beverley Tang, 3-time Canadian professional ballroom champions, who have never seen salsa performed at that level. As always, I took lots of pics which will be posted in the next few days. This coming weekend, we'll be perform-ing at the Salsa Showcase on April 21st at 12:30 pm.

What has been really soothing over the past few months is surfing the internet for all the new salsa music that I haven't had a chance to update in my music section. Many readers have been sending lyrics on and off over the past few months (which is totally awesome), but it's been difficult to find the time to put it together. That's on my list of my many things to do. And I have less than 3 weeks before salsa travelmania hits me again when I take off for Montreal and LA!

And for those of you who don't look too closely at all my updates, I've finally posted something I've been wanting to "play with" for awhile, and that's a videoclip of Orville and Ana in the Berlin Semi-finals. It's my first attempt, and let me know if you'd like to see more! A special thank you to Orville who donated his clip for me to play with.

April 16, 2002

Never say never!

As the last two weeks of salsa insanity comes to a close for me, I never thought I'd see the day when I would be happy to just stay at home, lie in bed, sleep and/or be happy to just veg! I'm sure you can relate, you think you'd like to go out again to dance, but your mind and body says, "No, I want to rest!" It was so crazy-busy every night that I didn't really get a chance to write up my thoughts and feelings about the Berlin contest and other clubs I visited over the past two weeks and on top of that having a writer's block! Thank goodness the next few weeks will quieten down just a little until May kicks in and then some more salsa parties before I leave for Montreal for the first Salsa Team Canada fundraiser on May 12th (my bday), and then I leave for LA on Thursday, May 16th just in time for the International Mayan Competition and the West Coast Salsa Congress (which I'll consider as a present to myself). I've posted or updated tidbits around the site for everyone's reading or viewing pleasure... and you can look forward to more as the nights roll by...

Also, a great big THANK YOU to all the Performers, DJ Rey Trujillo, Revival Bar, Team Members and everyone else who helped us or who came out to support us, including dancers from London ON, Hamilton, and Detroit, Michigan! We even made the news on City TV and CFTO! Congratulations to Michelle Goldman, Lesley Lorimar and Terry Z who won prizes in our draw!

April 12, 2002

"Salsa Fever" hits this weekend!

Congratulations also goes out to Raquel Javier who won the first set of tickets to Riverdance on May 22nd!

And here's your chance for the big test... can you survive 3 major parties this weekend -- all in a row, if you dare, the newly renovated IT nightclub on Friday, La Classique on Saturday and of course, our very own party at the beautiful Revival Bar to celebrate our 2 Year Anniversary and to kick off the fundraising for Salsa Team Canada!

As you know, we'll be hold-ing workshops with members of Salsa Team Canada -- Bong & Ana, Pawel Zajac, and Giovanni Torres, starting at 3 pm until 6 pm to help raise funds to cover our dance expenses as we get ready to perform in Puerto Rico at the end of July. We will also have many of the Team Canada dancers on hand to help with the classes.

Then we'll have a little break to get ready to party the night away as we will be filming for videostream-ing on the web. At about 7 pm., there's a compliment-ary class with Paul Chivers & Trionne Moore, members of TOsalsa and finalists in the Berlin Competition, Professional Division.

Then you're in for a treat as we have one of the first DJ's to play salsa in Toronto, Rey Trujillo, who also happens to be the father of Karen Trujillo, co-choreographer for Salsa Team Canada. I was told by many of the hardcore dancers that they can't wait to hear him play again as he has an amazing collection of salsa music.

And then of course, the dance performances, I'm so excited and honoured that many of the dancers by coincidence were finalists in the Berlin competition and/or placed in the Top 3. You're in for a real treat as we have the 1st and 2nd Place winners in the Pro Division, Ana & Orville, and Pawel & Dora. Unfortun-ately, Sonia & Moris, who placed 3rd, and is the Founder for Salsa Team Canada cannot attend this weekend due to prior commitments in Montreal. We also have Paul & Trionne, who were also finalists in the Pro division at Berlin, Steve & Kim, the winners in the Amateur division, and other surprises, including some giveaways.

On a funny side note, it's too bad Sonia & Moris couldn't come back for an encore since I had taken such an amazing photo of the 3 professional couples after they won. Instead of the normal pic where they just stand with their trophies, Ana insisted they had to do one of their poses from their routines. Needless to say we were in stitches laughing as Ana choreographed how they were to pose. First, she started with Sonia & Moris on the floor in a move that Sonia complained "really hurt her legs and could we hurry up". Meanwhile, Ana was still trying to figure out what she wanted Pawel & Dora to do and decided that Dora would do the splits above Pawel's head. In the meantime, I told Sonia to take a break until they were ready before she started to curse or scream some more; and once Dora was air-bound, Ana still wasn't quite sure what she and Orville would do as a pose; so you can imagine the hoopla and commotion as we tried to get these 3 couples in their perfect dance pose at the same time to take the perfect pic, only to have it erased! And you can imagine what they were saying "behind my back" or "under their breath" when they heard what had happened after I told them, and on top of that, how I dreaded the moment I had to tell them myself over the phone as I made my way to the hair show on Sunday!

And finally, guess who's going to LA?! Not only will I be attending one of the largest salsa conventions in the World, but I'm finally seeing another salsa dream-come-true, the Mayan Competition! In case you don't know, Canada will be represented by two couples from Canada -- Ana & Orville and Sonia & Moris, and guess who will be there to cheer them on and take pics (which I don't plan to erase!)...

What's hilarious is that it's pretty hush-hush as to who will be competing, and they only allowed 8 international couples. Orville admitted to me at the finals that he was entering, and I had a giggle cause I had talked to Sonia & Moris already about entering since they were already going to the West Coast Salsa Congress; and I was already looking into going that same weekend. At the time, I thought Pawel & Dora might enter since Pawel had mentioned he was going to LA a week earlier, but he was going alone. So you can imagine the commotion in the back as we all started talking about LA. We had taken so much time, that we were almost kicked out by Security cause all the dancers had already left the club.

Ah the joys of being a salsaholic...

April 9, 2002

A Big THANK YOU to all our Readers...

You have until Wednesday, April 10th (our anniversary) to enter and win an all-day pass to the workshops and the party on April 14th.

And a great big WOW to all the Berlin competitors from Saturday-- amateur and professional. The shows, costumes and ingenious-ness of many of the moves were totally awesome and have brought Toronto's competition level to a new high -- the audience went wild and so did I!

So the pics are up, the bad news is that it's NOT from my digi-camera as they got wiped off the face of the earth, BUT the good news is thank goodness I had a digi-camcorder and was able to take photos from it. Unfortunately, they're a bit dark, but it's better than nothing and will give you a fairly good idea of all their fabulous dance moves.

The only reprieve for me, after total devastation that day and days to come (because I had some wonderful after-moments on camera that hopefully I'll be able to capture again this weekend with some of the winning couples at our party at Revival on Sunday, April 14th on camera and film for streaming, was the fun pics I took at the hair show I was modelling at. Learned alot about hair tips and tricks and I'm definitely going to do this again! It was an absolute blast, along with all the fun picture-taking I did there...

By the way, to the dancers who also took pics when I did, please let me know as I'd still like to post them at some point when I do all my write-ups.

And in the next little while, you can be sure I'll be writing up the highlights of the event and some of the memories we made behind the scenes. And don't forget, you only have until Wednesday, April 10th, our anniversary date, to win a full day pass to the workshops and party on Sunday, April 14th! This is a special thank you for all our loyal readers in Toronto for supporting us in what we all love to do -- salsa!

April 5, 2002

Reminiscing...

Well, it's been another crazy week as I've been juggling work, TOsalsa and SalsaTeamCanada in 3 shifts... then tonight I decided to stay put and started to reflect on many things that we've done and my wish list... and it's still growing...

This weekend is guaranteed to be fun-filled as we will probably see Milton Cobo at the Courthouse tomorrow night, and on Saturday, the not-to-be-missed Berlin Competition. I know the pros have been training hard all week and I can't wait to see their routines.

Next Wednesday, Bar One is having a TLN party, and coincidentally, that was our official launch date for TOsalsa.com, so we'll probably be hanging out there next week.

As most of you know, we are having our 2 Year Anniversary Party, "Salsa Fever" at Revival on Sunday, April 14th with all proceeds going to Salsa Team Canada. As part of that celebration, we'll be posting a draw (no later than Monday) for tickets to the workshops and/or party. What's really exciting is that many of the couples who are competing on Saturday, are also teaching or performing at our party the following week. Something else I'm looking forward to is to hear DJ Rey Trujillo play. For those of you who don't know, he's Karen Trujillo's father and one of the first DJ's here in Toronto. Some of the hardcore dancers have heard him play and says that he has the most amazing collection of salsa to dance to and I can't wait. Don't forget that Salsa Team Canada members will be selling advance tickets in designated clubs next week, starting with Tequila Lounge on Tuesday, where they will also be giving away a free pair of tickets. And don't forget to "dress to impress" as we will be taping throughout the night to showcase segments of our salsa dancing to the world on Dancescape.TV. I'm still in the process of obtaining a copy of "My Escape" to videostream also, so stay tuned... and have a great weekend of salsa!

April 2, 2002

Puttin' Salsa on the Map!

Not only did TOsalsa make the pages of Marketing Magazine as the favourite website of the Brand Manager of Yahoo Canada two weeks ago, but now we made the front page of one of my favourite ballroom websites -- Dancescape! You can see my picture of Paul and Trionne from the Berlin Salsa Dance Contest and a group picture of Salsa Team Canada! On April 28th, you can catch members of Salsa Team Canada performing at Upper Canada Place in Burlington to help Dancescape's continuing effort to promote Dance to the media and general public and their proposal for a "Performing Arts Centre" in Burlington, Ontario.

On another note, there was a little controvery in the Toronto Star with a salsa editorial by a lawyer who talked about two left feet and how he couldn't learn salsa in Toronto after about four sets of dance classes. I tried to link to the article on the site, but maybe since I also wrote a complaint as I found some of his observations a little offensive and negative about salsa dancing in general, they may have decided to take it out before I could post a link, so here's some of his comments:

"It is to test commitment that women ask men to dance. We aren't expected to dance well but only to endure, to make women look good and keep them from running into the DJ or a wall - like buoys in a shipping channel." or how about

"Latinos tell me dancing salsa and moving your hips comes from the soul. This leads me to question the intellectual approach I have taken to my dance classes."

The Star used a picture from Peter Djakovic's dance class with his students. Rightly so, they were offended by his article and the implication that they had two left feet and another article explaining and apologizing why their picture was used without their authorization. Would love to hear Reader's comments on this, esp. the men, but unfortunately, I can't post the story on my site due to copyrights.

March 31, 2002

Salsa Party Marathon!

Well, what a bonus, having our Easter long weekend 2 weeks earlier than usual.

It's given me one more day to rest and think about salsa life in general. And while some of you got to dance, I got to surf, chat and plan over the internet what's going to happen in April -- and we're in for some great weeks of partying.

You start with Saturday, April 6th with the Berlin Salsa Contest at Atlantis Nightclub where you'll get to see some amazing routines by some of the best professional dancers we have in Toronto and a chance to see what the Amateurs have to offer! Again, I've put together a poll for you, the Readers, to vote who you think will make the top 3 spots in Professional and Amateur! Also, once the contest is over, I'm hoping to have a neat surprise for all our Readers with a little help from my friends.

The following weekend, you have 3 days of non-stop salsa parties -- on April 12th at the newly renov-ated IT Nightclub celebrat-ing over 20 years of Toronto Salsa; on April 13th, Rumba pa' Puerto Rico at La Classique, organized by Ivy and Paula, with a class and dance shows; and then a party not to be missed on Sunday, April 14th, "Salsa Fever" -- TOsalsa.com's 2nd Anniversary Party and SalsaTeamCanada's Kick-Off Party with all proceeds going to SalsaTeamCanada!

By concidence when we decided to put together a SalsaTeamCanada kick-off party, I also realized it was our 2 year anniversary, so why not throw that into the mix as we have alot to celebrate in Toronto! I'm really proud of the way Toronto salsa scene has grown over the past two years, along with our site, and also to help put together the first-ever SalsaTeamCanada with Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. It's an exciting project as I don't think any other country has ever tried to unite the cities together. We're not across-Canada just yet, but it's only our first year, and it can only get better. Some have even said this may pave the way for other countries to unite their own dancers once we show them the possibilities. Also by coincidence, Ottawa is also having a two-day SalsaTeamCanada party at La-Isla Nightclub!

I'm also proud to say and have it verified by many out-of-town dancers, that they are surprised by the level of our dancers here in Toronto who can dance any style of salsa, on 1 and on 2 -- possibly it has a lot to do with our muti-cultur-alism and the fact we don't want it to become like other cities where they say one style is better than another.

Not only will you get to take some workshops, meet and party with the dancers of SalsaTeamCanada in the early afternoon, but with a small break, we hope to have a party that everyone will remember. We've kept the cost fairly reasonable so everyone can have a chance to learn and enjoy themselves at our first event! TOsalsa.com is also going to have some CD's and T-shirts to give away also. When you look at our confirmed workshop and performance line-up, it may look like something from the Berlin Salsa Competition, but many of these pros are part of SalsaTeamCanada or are affiliated with TOsalsa.

And how was the Berlin Salsa Semi-finals for Pro last Tuesday?

Last Tuesday was a doozie as we were hit with a mini Winter storm which affected the attendance of the Berlin crowd, but didn't lessen the hype! It was a tough match to choose who would advance to the finals as they were all strong dancers and it would depend on technical skills, dynamics, style, showmanship and their timing. I got there early as I couldn't sit still and I even got a parking spot right in front of Berlin's! One of the earliest couples there was Caryl and Angus warming up! Slowly during the night, the couples showed up one by one, with special mention going to Sonia and Moris from Montreal who made it at about 10:30 pm after driving 7 hours through a blizzard to get to Toronto! How's that for dedication!

Jennifer was kind enough to give them half an hour to get changed and warmed up before the competition started -- at the same time, it gave a last chance to the audience to arrive in time since traffic was moving slowly all evening. My comments are all from memory, and mostly from "behind the camera lens" -- at times, I almost had a hard-time holding it steady for some photos as I got excited by their performances.

The first couple to perform was Caryl and Angus, who did a really neat show using Caryl's cheerleading experience; and by coincidence the music seemed to match the style. Their show seemed to set the pace for the night as everyone cheered, roared, oohed and ahh'd over the innovative tricks or their ingenuity of their shines.

Couple No. 2 was Dave Paris from New York City with Stephanie Gurnon, last year's winner in Professionals. They danced with style and grace, and included one lift as that is one of Dave Paris' strengths as a dancer.

Couple No. 3 was Ana and Orville -- and did they ever rock the house with some really ingenious moves and total "Attitude"! They were also definitely one of the favourites from this night; and it shows from the latest Reader's Poll, as they are the favourites to win.

Couple No. 4 was Ana and Bong -- they were the favourites to place from the last Reader's Poll and they didn't disappoint the crowd with their energy. They included some tricks and nice shine work and played up to the crowd.

Couple No. 5 was Sonia and Moris from Montreal. I have to hand it to these two because they drove for 7 hours in a blinding snowstorm to make it to the semi-finals and then perform as if nothing has happened. They have a different style, but it's those "eyes" of his that gets all the women going...

Couple No. 6 was Trionne and Paul -- they also put out all the stops with an interesting introduction with Trionne lying on top of Paul, some interesting twists to styling, tricks and turn patterns.

Couple No. 7 was Dora and Pawel -- they were the reigning Amateur Champions of Berlin from two years ago, and have turned pro since then. Many of you may recall she was pregnant with her first child last year when she competed with Ivy Cuervo and got 3rd place in the Pro Division. This year, she is competing again with her husband, and as "underdogs" in our survey, they put on a fabulous show with some really interesting new tricks. I have to hand it to them for being able to come up with something different and "safe" for Dora because she had put her hip out when she started dancing again soon after having her baby. The tricks they did were totally different and also had the audience roaring; and she's also known for her amazing triple/quadriple turns and styling.

And the final couple to compete was Albert and Kathy. Again, they had one of their signature high-energy songs to dance to and they handled it with ease and threw in their signature LA-style tricks.

All in all, it was definitely a night of dancing to remember. The crowd was in high energy before and after, and it also showed in everyone's dancing that night. I had a blast taking pictures with all the pros and the funniest moments was trying to get all the pros in one group shot; as we started taking pictures, we kept adding more and more dancers as they appeared. All the professionals did an amazing show that night, and it's too bad they couldn't all advance. You can be sure the Finals are going to be amazing as all the pros will put out all the stops to a great routine! I know they're all working hard to get ready as I'm sure the Amateurs are too!

And if you haven't seen my photos, click here! The reason I was able to get so many great shots was that I was able to use flash! Originally we were told that we weren't allowed, but the other Media started to use it, so why couldn't I? Afterwards, I asked the dancers if they even noticed it (since they were on stage) and many didn't even realize we were using flash. Also, I would like to personally congratulate each and every one of the performers that night for a great show as I know how much time, stress and effort goes into a competition.

Oh, and you have until Friday, April 5th to enter your name for the first set of tickets to Riverdance -- you only have to enter your name once!

March 26, 2002

It's here!

No not Spring, the Berlin Professional Semi-Finals! Oops, I totally forgot to say "Good Luck" to each and everyone of them since I know them all personally, they are all fabulous dancers and they're going to kick _ss tonight! There was a "buzz" and kidding about my survey, but they all took it in stride and in fact, I think it's even made them more competitive (esp. the underdogs) and out to show their best... wasn't that what competition is supposed to do especially among co-performers and friends? and doesn't that just increase the excitement for tonight to see who makes it? The weather is back to Winter, but I'll be there with bells on! or is it boots?

March 23, 2002

Spring Fever?

or is it Winter Blues... you may have noticed that it's major flu season since the weather flip-flops between being warm and freezing cold; and you just never know when it's going to hit you... so how can you chase those blues away? Well, how about surfing the net and listening to some great music. This is one of my favourite ways to release stress or to take a break. Recently, I checked out a new internet radio station, batanga, and it has a fabulous non-stop salsa station. Not only can you listen to salsa all day long, but you can also listen to other styles of music, such as Cubanismo, Tango, Merengue, Tropical and many others. Another great feature is that it tells you what song is playing, what album and links to CDnow so you can possibly listen to all the clips from that album. This is a great way to brush up on your salsa music knowledge.

I also like to go to the music websites, such as amazon, cdnow and barnesandnoble, as you can check out song clips from each album which is better than driving out to the latin music stores and asking to listen to all the latest releases and less pressure to decide what to buy. It can also give you a salsa fix when you finally found the name of the song you heard in the clubs and forgot to ask the DJ. This is one of the things I do on a regular basis to learn the music and I must be getting knowledgeable because when I talk to the DJ's, some are curious as to how I know so much.

And what's new on the dancing front, well, it's less than two days away to the Berlin Professional Semi-finals and the excitement is growing. I think this year is probably going to be one of the most exciting semi-finals we've had in a long time as each couple has their own unique strengths and personal style of dancing on a more social level as you can't really choreograph a routine since you don't know what song the DJ is playing and you have to be ready for any-thing. And don't forget to get there early cause it's guaranteed to be packed.

And if you love watching contests as much as I do, I just clicked onto the Mayan Club Competition and they already have started post-ing their preliminary video coverage for amateur and professional, so if you want to get inspired or pick up a new move or two, check it out! What's really coincid-ental is that they've got their own Reader's Poll going for their preliminaries so you can rate them after you've seen them dance from 1-10.

And for those of you, like Mike in the Berlin Controversy, who didn't understand what I meant about the calibre of the Amateurs, just take a look at the LA amateurs and YOU tell me who would win if you put LA against TO.
This shouldn't discourage amateurs, this should encourage you or challenge you to take your dancing to another level unless you're content doing the same level of dancing over and over. For many, it gets boring after awhile, and either you fall out of the salsa scene or you work to improve your dancing by setting goals, such as being able to dance with anyone on 1 or 2; being able to dance your best with any kind of dancer or if you're a follower, being able to follow any move with split-second timing, or as a leader, being able to lead any girl through any move without having a tug of war.

And while talking about clubs, there's another latin night opening up this Wednesday -- that makes 4 or 5 latin nights on a weekday with Babaluu, Shine, Bar One, Aura Martini and now Inside! Then on March 30, there's a new latin nightclub opening up called Ritmos. And each weekend starting with the long Easter week-end, I think you're going to see a party or special event every weekend until September -- so get ready for Salsa Spring Fever...

And for those days you decide to stay in, readers have been writing in on some new and old topics, plus I've finally posted my interview with one of my favourite latin champions, Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin. It was a dream-come-true to meet and interview a couple I only used to see on TV and admire for their great style; and it gave me another dancer's perspective on various dance issues.

And don't forget, your chance to win tickets to Riverdance!

March 20, 2002

Dancing into Spring...

Well, hopefully you did, I was tempted but you can guess what I was doing, dancing thru cyberspace! What saved me was a trip to the gym for some cardio and stretching...

So with much anticipation, may I present the Berlin Amateur Semi-Finals and I'm glad to say they did a very nice job! Way to go, amateurs, you obviously worked hard to polish up on your moves and technique, looked great and everyone improved! As always, you can catch some of my almost picture-perfect moments. My new camera has so many advanced features, that I was only able to get the settings right for the first couple, but I'm slowly getting there. And since we've had our controversy re the judging -- I made up a Readers Poll so you can pick the top three amateur couples -- unfortunately, I don't know all their names, so I "voted" not to include them at this time!

And just for fun, let's see how close you get to picking the Pros who will advance to the finals! I can tell you right now, even I can't decide -- I think it will be that close! So let's see how close your votes match up to the judges!

To all the competitors, I wish you the best of luck and remember to try and relax and have fun! Some of my friends are feeling the stress, but remember that all you can do is be the best you can be on the day of competition, know-ing that you've trained and practiced to the best of your time and abilities -- that's all you can ask for and the rest is in the judge's hands. Don't let the stress ruin a great partner-ship and remember why you started dancing in the first place! For a refresher, read Edie the Salsa Freak's great competitor's tips!


March 19, 2002

We made the pages of Marketing Magazine!

Just before I hit Berlin, I received a call from a friend who happened to be reading Marketing Magazine which had a section on page 10, called "Digital Snapshot", and Isabelle Hemond of Yahoo Canada named TOsalsa.com her favourite site! "Latin dancing is a passion of mine and stress reliever. This site allows me to stay in touch with the latin community and discover new places to dance in Toronto!" Thank you, Isabelle, it was a nice surprise after a long stressful day at work... Stay tuned for my Berlin Update and a chance to vote for your favourite dance couple...

And finally, here we go again, your chance to win tickets to Riverdance!

Remember, you can email or let us know in person, any updates, feedback or suggestions on what you would like to read.