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by Rose Knows, Toronto
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March
19, 2003 March 16, 2003 5 Days left until Spring! And how will I be celebrating? With a little jaunt down to NYC to Caribbean Soul's "Break Away from the Norm" Social which is going to showcase Pawel & Dora and Ana & Orville from Canada. I haven't been to NYC for almost exactly two years and I miss it... although I've been lucky enough to meet up with New York dancers while they visit Toronto and/or at various congresses in the past few years. Why do I miss it? Well, I consider it our closest salsa neighbours south of the border and we seem to bond instantly with their sense of humour and love of the dance and music, whether it's over the net or in person. What I love about New York men (in general) is that they connect with you as they dance -- there's always constant eye contact and a kind of flirtation that you normally don't get with most Toronto dancers -- maybe it's a little to do with how conservative Toronto is -- with Newyorkers, you feel as if you're the center of attention while you're dancing. They aren't looking away or at other dancers. When they dance with you, it's almost as if no one else exists on the dance floor; but then again, for some of their crazy turn patterns, maybe you both don't have a choice or you'd lose the connection. Also this past week, the only nights I found time to dance was at Berlin on Tuesday and Courthouse on Friday. Unfortunately for me, my cell phone got stolen out of my glovebox in my car on Friday right on Adelaide St. somewhere between 9 pm and 1:30 am in the morning. This isn't the first time my car has been broken into in that area and I've had friends whose car was broken into while at El Rancho's dancing -- and coincidentally, it's always happened on a Friday night -- go figure. So dancers, always keep your valuables out of the cars and never leave your valuables unattended in a club -- you just never know. And finally, after two years, the Toronto Star finally finished their article on salsa dancing in Toronto. Originally it was set to go out two years ago, but it took another reporter, Melissa Leong, who loves to salsa, to finally write it... It gives a very concisely written overview of Salsa in general, with positives and negatives and maybe they tried to cover a little too much. The quote they have of me in there isn't exactly what I said, but I'm sure it's the same for others... "It's boring," says 43-year-old Alberto Gomez of the new style. He's been dancing for 23 years. "There's no feeling. People dance too mechanical and they look like robots. It's not real Latin-style. It's something totally different." Maybe that's what he feels, but for me, dancing the old Toronto style got boring as it was the same old footwork, turn patterns and tricks, year after year, and the girl had very little room to express herself. Now with the integration of New York and LA, we have more room to express ourselves and be playful to the music. What do you think? March 12, 2003 Who's going to the Finals? It just seemed like yesterday that the preliminaries had started at Berlin, but next week, the heat is on as we begin the semi-final rounds for Amateur and Pro. For fun, as I did last year, let's see if our readers can pick who will be the 6 finalists in Amateur and Professional. March 9, 2003 Shall we Burn the Floor OR Gorillas vs Peacocks P3  It
was a very non-stop weekend of dance events... starting with Friday
at Courthouse. After helping to teach the Intermediate class with Jessie,
I had a few quick dances with a dancer from Japan who is now living in
Montreal to learn French. Apparently, he's part of the SalsaEtc troupe
in Montreal and has his own personality on the dance floor that gives
the lady enough time to play before the next turn pattern. Apparently Teddy of United Salseros ran into him in Montreal and invited him to Toronto and he had a blast dancing with the "superstars and other lesser beings"; and plans to come back again! Then I had to rush off and meet up with the dancers from "Burn the Floor" for an interview. I got to meet them all but spent most of the interview talking to Dermot Klemenger about his life as a dancer and working with Burn the Floor. He was very chatty and 20 minutes just wasn't enough before they had to go and change. In fact, my interview with Tony Meredith and Melanie LePatin sometime ago lasted for more than an hour... It will take me sometime to transpose it, but as you talk to many of the professional dancers, you will find that they are really no different than the rest of us -- they share the same love and passion for the dance. Because they are ballroom-trained, they knew many of the other dancers that were part of the troupe as they have competed together in various competitions. He mentioned how it was awkward at first as many of the dancers had to learn to let go of their egos as they never really got to know each other as friends, but as competitors. He said it took awhile, but from travelling and dancing together, they learned to become a family and their name tags say, "Burn the Floor Family". Then we got to have a taste of "Burn the Floor" live as their routine started with a cha cha and moved through a dance-off between the two couples. I wasn't allowed to film the live footage as I would only be allowed to air it within 48 hours due to copyright, BUT thanks to Hummingbird Centre, I have some "b-roll" clips of some of the dancing from the show. In the "Wanna Dance" open-ing no., you'll see these two couples in exactly the same costumes they use on stage; and the other clip I've posted is the lindy hop, a livelier version of swing or jive dancing. In terms of salsa, they use some of the dance and the rhythm in the finale, but are not very familiar with it as a dance form. On Saturday night, after volunteer practice and classes, we quickly ate and zoomed out to the Denim Salsa Party in Etobicoke. We got there just in time for the two shows by Dance To Live and Grupo Sabroso. The energy was high that night and the two groups gave it their all and the crowd loved it. You can check out a piece of the action on video or through photos. Everyone was having a good time either dancing or chilling as DJ Mas spilled out the tunes. Arthur did a fabulous job as MC by ensuring the who's who of the salsa scene was acknowledged; while Salsaspot was busy manning the door. And while I was dancing around, 8 more readers wrote into the Clicks and Cliques discussion and thanks to Eva, Ophelia, Joshua and Maria -- it's become the hottest topic around town; with more dancers tuning in everyday to see what all the hoopla is about and wanting to read every last detail. The best rendition of this debate has to be from Eddie, a dancer from NYC, who visited my site and emailed me about places to go dancing and got totally hooked by this discussion and wrote back, "Im so hooked on your site. Reminds me of the time I was fixed on this Spanish Soap opera... " It's a hilarious summary of what this debate is all about through another city's eyes. Click here... And on a final note, maybe partially thanks to these hot topics(?), we've moved into 5th place in the rankings in the Google search engine when you type in "salsa dancing" only surpassed by Amsterdam, Salsaweb (LA), SalsaNewYork and Salsacrazy (SF). March 6, 2003 Gorillas vs. Peacocks P2 Well, the saga continues as we now have 8 more posts, including a final word from me... To ensure that EVERY-ONE understands how I use the term, "charity or sacrifice dance", it's NOT for beginner dancers, but for dancers who pull your arm off, throw you into dips and whiplash your neck, are drunk and bump and crash you into other dancers. Have you ever experienced that? If not, you're lucky, I have from not refusing a dance from anyone who's asked me whether it's Berlin Nightclub, El Rancho's, Plaza Flamingo or even Babaluu's. Editor's Note: My long-term memory clicked in and I see where the typo was in my Berlin story and that's what happens when you write at 2 am in the morning when you're in a hurry to finish and you don't read what you write too carefully. My apology to those who were understandably offended by it. Also, if I thought dancing with beginners was a charity dance then why would I help volunteer-teach beginners -- it's a great way to help dancers improve one-on-one and makes me remember what I might have forgotten about the basics myself. The only time I refuse a dance is when I need a break and then I promise them a dance afterwards and KEEP my word. Click here... And for some of you who think the "superstars" are showing off, maybe you should read my article on "How to Get Your Salsa Groove Back". Did you ever think that MAYBE they are dancing as if nobody's watching? And more Dear TOsalsa, plus a review of the Hong Kong Salsa Congress by Tom who lives in Hong Kong and has agreed to be our official HK correspondent. March 5, 2003 Gorillas vs. Peacocks... Sigh... will it ever end... in the past 3 years, it never ceases to amaze me how writers can write something in innocence and have someone turn it around into a catfight on the net. And yes, I'll say catfights, because most of the "nasty emails" have been by women! Why do dancers who don't know anything about another dancer judge and criticize before they even get to know the person; believe everything they hear from their friends without finding out for themselves until they just boil over; or if they have a beef, have the guts to face the person rather than attacking them with email rage; and/or find a way to actually twist the actual meaning of the story to suit their attack? People forget how easy it is to let loose on the net what they wouldn't do in person, but they also forget that sometimes the damage goes too far to turn back the clock and they may never be trusted again or forgiven, especially in the salsa WWW. Then again, if we didn't have these little net-spats once in awhile, maybe we'd have one less thing to gossip about in the clubs. And to Ophelia and others, your email rage has just brought the "clicks" closer together as we ended up having fun all night long dancing together at Berlin and with other dancers NOT in our "clique". You have obviously totally missed my point in my explanation and choose to ignore everything I said and in turn, contradicted yourself in your own response. It was tempting to rebuttal back, but I won't waste my precious time as I have more positive things I like to do with my time. As someone else has said, "I thought we were out of high school!" But you can check out the feedback from a few of the people you personally attacked in your email. And on that final note, to quote what a New York Dancer said about coming to Toronto, "I can't wait! Gorillas dancing with Peacocks? I'm bringing my camera. love -e" March 4, 2003 The Heat is On! The colder it gets, the hotter it seems to get via the internet... dancers are still writing in and due to the amount of responses, I've had to open up a page for Clicks and Cliques; and the African- Canadian comment. March 3, 2003 Baby, it must really be COLD outside... Wow! It must be really cold outside as it seems people are choosing to stay in, surf and write... It's only been two days and we've been swamped with more emails regarding music and more debates in our Discussion Forum... and in Dear TOsalsa the age-old debate about clicks... cliques... whatever... some of Joshua's findings are valid, but then again, the salsa is always greener on the other side... check it out and email your own feelings about this matter as it sounds like it just might turn into a debate... and two more Top 10 Song Lists... one Bachata List from Montreal and one Salsa List from Peru... March 1, 2003 Do you Wanna Dance with Me? As we "march" our way into Spring, it's warming up to be a hot month of salsa in Toronto. This Friday, March 7th, if you're a dance fanatic, you can't afford to miss seeing upclose two ballroom couples, Dermot Clemenger & Diana Karlsson and Hubert Pierzchalo & Magdalena Pozarska, either at the Toronto Eaton Centre from 12 noon to 1:30 pm with a demo and master class or later in the evening at the Courthouse at 11 pm. How did it come about? Well, Hummingbird Centre just happened to contact me to let me know that these dancers were coming to town and doing a dance demo, and I casually happened to ask if they were doing anything that night... after all, many ballroom dancers also like to dance salsa... and voila... upclose and personal, how lucky can we get... Click here for all the info... And for those of you who can't get enough of dance videoclips, I've posted up some new clips of Toronto's Berlin Salsa Dance Preliminaries and some nostalgic highlights of the 2000 Toronto Salsaweb Convention right here in Toronto, just a week after we launched our site. This is what kick-started many of us into learning how to dance on 2 and shines. Click here to see clips. And what were your favourite video picks? Top 10 Feb. Dance Clips 1 - 2002 Berlin Pro - Ana&Orville 2 - 2002 Berlin Amateurs 3 - Frankie & Aisha - Palomillo 4 - 2001 Berlin Pro - Steph&Oren 5 - Bong & Trionne in Detroit 6 - Frankie Social Dancing #1 7 - Oscar & Vanesa, Bar One 8 - Frankie Social Dancing #2 9 - Berlin Semi-Pros, MarcA&Mona 10-Nelson Flores Social Dancing Top 10 Countries 1 - United States 2 - Canada 3 - Netherlands 4 - France 5 - Italy 6 - Mexico 7 - UK 8 - Singapore 9 - Argentina 10 - AU February 28, 2003 Baby it's Cold Outside! Check out Dear TOsalsa and the Discussion Forum... it's been over the top! and Another Month bites the dust... It's hard to believe how fast this past month has flown by... and even though I'm swamped every which way, I now treat myself to a few nights of salsa dancing or I'd go crazy... Once again, I was at Berlin on Tuesday -- not only to get my fix with all the dancers that showed up that night, but I also had fun watching the contest and of course, taking pictures, especially at the end of the night, when I can get some of the dancers to "ham it up". In the amateurs, there were 3 couples. I remember two of these couples trying out last year, and another couple who didn't make it last week into the semi-finals, but bravely tried out again and got in. That's what I call persistence... if you don't succeed, try try again! In the professional category, Frank Bishun with his new partner, competed first. He's a veteran of our Toronto salsa scene and it was hilarious to hear DJ Victor announce him and say something like "and this should be interesting to watch"; and have Frank look up and make a face at him. I wasn't sure if he was commenting on his dance style or just the fact he was a veteran of the dance scene challenging the new Pro generation. Next was Pawel and Dora, who won 2nd Place last year and were Champions two years ago at Berlin. They wowed their crowd with some of their funky sensual moves. And finally, Bong with his new Cuban partner, Irene, demonstrating their version of the Cuban style of dance -- something we really haven't seen in a contest here in Toronto. She is an exceptionally strong, trained dancer who has no problem doing splits any which way; and it's going to be interesting to see what they come up with for the finals. What's also nice to see is that the crowd is truly appreciative of all the dancers -- amateur and professional. No one has to announce to the audience to show their appreciation -- everyone's into it. On another note, if you're a fan of Burn the Floor or ballroom dancing, I was able to snag a performance by two couples who are arriving in town to promote "Burn the Floor" next Friday, March 7th at Courthouse for 11 pm. They are also performing at lunchtime at the Toronto Eaton Centre downtown. By next week, I'll have more details and some info on the dancers. Also, in the next 2-3 weeks, Melissa Leong of the Toronto Star has written an article about salsa dancing in Toronto which will be featured in the new Metropolis Sunday Section, which features commentaries from many of the movers and the shakers of the salsa scene.  And
what's happening in the wide world of salsa?Well, in my not-so-busy-schedule, we also sponsored a salsa calendar which was launched at the Chicago Salsa Congress by Nadya Cortes from Chicago. In the calendar, she features some of the hottest salsa babes in North America, such as Joby Vasquez (Salsa Brava) from LA, Aisha Koswara (Abakua) in NYC, Candy Mena from NYC and more... Ana and Orville of Salsation were nice enough to bring me back a copy and the guys of course were drooling over some of the pictures. Unfortunately, I can't post them all, or you'd have no reason to buy the calendar which is retailing for $15 US, but guess what? We'll be putting up a draw for anyone in the World to win a copy of this calendar... so stay tuned... If you're interested in purchasing a copy of this calendar, let me know and if there's enough interest, we might get some copies to sell here... February 24, 2003 The Salsa Treadmill... Last week I caved into my salsa cravings after two weeks of deprivation and actually went dancing 3 times last week! On Tuesday, I was at Berlin's for the preliminaries but stayed to get my fix and ended up with a couple of "sacrifice" dances. It's one thing to dance with someone whose lead is a bit like a diamond-in-the-rough and knows some old Toronto-style with some new stuff, and you can bring a smile to their face when they realize you can follow their lead no matter what... or how about a dancer whom you don't know that just insists (and won't take no for an answer) for a salsa... and as I was dancing with him I was in fear that one of his elbows was going to hit me in the head. At the same time, I was thinking of Trish's article, the "Salsa Safai" -- he would make a perfect "Gorilla", who then turned into ' "Rabbit" when he insisted later on at the end of the night to dance a bachata with him. What was also hilarious is that he insisted that one of the bouncers hang onto my dance shoes for me while we danced. His version of a bachata was more an up and down motion (rather than side to side), and it probably didn't help that he was a little bit tipsy... What made it even more hilarious was that he kept insisting that I should "feel the music" -- here's another dancer who's oblivious to who I am... and how much I "know". On Thursday, after the STC practice, I decided to go dancing at Babaluu's as I needed a break and ended up seeing alot of the old regulars from a few years ago. It was another fun evening as I got to hangout, chill and dance with people I haven't seen in awhile. On Friday, I again decided to push myself out the door to go dancing, and headed down to Courthouse. The past two weeks I got into the bad habit of telling my friends that I was going and then not show up cause I was too tired. Many of the Courthouse regulars were there and I literally had a non-stop night of almost New York on 2 dancing; along with a fun discussion on who were the "sluttiest" male and female dancers in Toronto in terms of styling? Maybe you'll see our top pics in a new Reader's Poll and we'll let you choose. What more could I ask for? Except that tomorrow it starts all over again... And while I took a dance siesta... dancers were once again writing in, check out the Dear TOsalsa section and the Discussion Forum for another lengthy email from Vladimiar and a response to Salsa Attire... and there's more updates in the days to follow, including the 2 winners of the Tango Buenos Aires tickets... February 18, 2003 Salsa as it should be... It's been a long two weeks since I hit a club and got to social dance... and some of the best nights to dance is after watching a competition. Not only are you sure that alot of the best dancers and regulars will show up, but everyone gets an extra sparkle of energy to dance their best and have lots of fun... and possibly with one of the coldest winters we've had in a long time, it's nice to have a night where you're guaranteed to get your fix. And how was the Berlin Contest? Well, there were 5 amateur and 2 pro couples, and they all made it in except for two amateur couples. I have to admit this was a really fun contest to watch because all the amateurs were smiling, having fun and giving it all they got -- which is as it should be. It was also fun to watch and see a "signature" move from various salsa schools in the city who teach various turn patterns or styling; and it was nice to see the level of the amateurs go up another notch. In the pro division, only Rocky & Sharon, and Ana & Orville competed tonight, so they both made it in. At the end of my Berlin photo gallery, you'll see all the couples that made it to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, I know many of the faces of the amateurs that danced tonight, but I don't know all their names. They will be posted as soon as Jennifer can email them to me... On another note, one of the competitiors even admitted to me tonight that he watched my Berlin videoclip highlights to get him pumped up for the contest and that's why I posted them -- to give a little history of the dancing in TO and at the same time, give a little inspiration to the dancers who are brave enough to see how far they can take their dancing in front of an audience. It's also hilarious to meet up with dancers who know I run a website, and STILL ask if I'm going to compete... yeah right, like I need to add another 5-6 hours to an already overloaded day in the life of Rose Knows. Sleep? hmm... same no. of letters as the word, Salsa?! Is there a hidden meaning somewhere? Salsa as a replacement for sleep? not! Although I will admit I never really enjoyed sleeping until I started salsa dancing, the website, STC, and anything else I could fit in to my 24/7 lifestyle -- to the point where I was just happy go to bed and sleep as long as I want and not have to wake up to an alarm, a coffee and a non-stop schedule. Or how about co-workers who ask if you're going to compete cause you're telling them you're going to a dance convention. They absolutely have no concept of what the salsa dance world is all about and the fact that you can travel anywhere in the world and meet up with other dancers who share the same passion you do. February 17, 2003 What does it take to be a Salsa Team Canada Performer? How about being able to salsa dance in -30 C weather in Canada's capital, Ottawa. Click here for mini-story and all the pics, thanks to Michelle, STC's Communications Manager... February 15, 2003 What a nice surprise... Thank you Richard and Lou for your responses regarding TOsalsa.com, click here to read their feedback! February 14, 2003 Happy Valentine's Day... We have a new Top 10 Salsa Song List from DJ Rod in Hawaii, and Maria wrote in and asked... "Which Salsa Style is the most choreo-graphically complex? Cuban? Cuban-Miami? L.A. Style? Puerto Rican Style? New York Style? Click here and let me know what you think? Psst... I found a way to my heart... well almost, how about a fresh waffle with strawberries, a little bit of honey and icing sugar, with a huge scoop of very yummy vanilla ice cream and a dollop of fresh whipped cream on the side... and some salsa to whittle the calories away... February 11, 2003 Yet another day goes by... It's less than 3 days until Valentine's Day... and while many of us will probably be dancing in the clubs here in Toronto, some of my friends will be dancing and performing at the Chicago Salsa Congress... and you can be sure I'll have the usual scoop and probably a "few" videoclips in the upcoming weeks... And it's also pretty obvious that it must be pretty cold in North America in general because I'm finding people are getting quite chatty and writing in some quite lengthy replies in Dear TOsalsa and/or the Discussion Forum... On a disappointing note, I found out today that the Ibrahim Ferrer Concert is basically sold out and the tickets we were giving away on our site was overlooked in the usual marketing hustle and bustle. Although it won't make it up to the potential winner of these tickets, we will be giving away an extra pair of tickets to Tango Buenos Aires. So for those of you who entered both -- you'll have double the chance of winning... Also, you still have two more chances of winning tickets to Burn the Floor. For this draw, you only have to enter once and of course be a member of our mailing list to win! February 10, 2003 No Rest for the Wicked... It just doesn't get any worse than this... too much to do and not enough hours day or night... to the point where I barely have time to keep up with emails, can't take time off for the Chicago Salsa Congress as I had planned to because of my real day job, and only have time to post what's already written, such as "Dear TOsalsa" and Discussion Forum debates, including our fun Valentine's Day Salsa Song List from last year... Haven't had any time to research any new songs, but three songs that come to my mind that wasn't listed, the bachata song "No Es Amor" by Aventura, a very romantic salsa song, "Esa Mujer" by Tony Vega, which is a very beautiful ballad that you can't get tired of dancing to... or how about "Thinking of You" by Lenny Kravitz. And if you happen to be in Ottawa this weekend, you can catch dancers from Salsa Team Canada performing at Parliament Hill, click here! Congratulations to Robin Nest, Ticket Winner, Noche Flamenca February 3, 2003 A Fresh Start! Yikes, it's already February, and about 3 weeks away before the Berlin Contest starts... I thought it would be fun to put together a video collage of the winners from my video collection from 1999 onwards; and to inspire those who plan to compete this year. Hope you enjoy them as much as I had fun looking back... Also, we've posted up our official Berlin page which will as always provide complete coverage of the competition each week. You can also get directly to that page with www.tosalsa.com/berlin in your browser. Also, check out the Cuban versus North American Style Discussion -- it seems to be heating up as we are now on our 5th page! January
31, 2003
January 26, 2003 January 23, 2003 Here we go again... Thanks to two passionate readers who obviously have seen the Si Cuba commercial... and more discussions or shall I say debates... And for those of you who have been wanting to know what's happening with the Canada Salsa Congress... check out their website! Also, Jennifer Aucoin has mentioned that there are dancers who are interested in competing at the Berlin Competition here in Toronto, and would like to have a dance partner... She's been telling them to sign up with our Partner Search, soooo if you're looking for a partner, you now know where to find them... We'll be posting the rules (which are basically the same as last year) no later than next week... and by the end of January, I'll be posting up some "nostalgic" videoclips of some Toronto dancers from the last 3 years, maybe more... January 21, 2003 Life Marathon... I guess you're all noticing that my stories are slowing down and maybe I don't return calls or emails as quickly... and that's because there's not enough hours in the day and night to do everything that I've been working on for the past month -- real work, home work, TOsalsa redesign, regular updates, email overload, STC, and a little bit of salsa thrown in! This past weekend was a little salsa-filled on Saturday, but there's not enough hours right now to write about it... In the meantime, you'll just have to make do with Dear TOsalsa and the usual debates in the Discussion Forum... guess which ones? The two most popular and longest running ones -- dancestyles and ballroom vs. salsa. January 15, 2003 What's New?! Coming up in February, dance competitions in Toronto and Ottawa, 2 more Top 10 Salsa Song Lists, and more Dear Tosalsa... And if you're thinking of competing, you may want to read this great article by Edie the Salsa Freak first... January 12, 2003 Reminiscing the World of Salsa... A few days ago, I got an email from Steve Shaw of Salsa New York, who truly made me laugh when he nicknamed me "unstopp-able". At first, I didn't understand what he meant and then realized it was version of what I call myself sometimes, "the energizer bunny who just keeps going and going about anything and everything to do with salsa..." He then surprised me with a mini-article about how he and DJ Nik from Boston have these great salsa/mambo song lists... "But in spite of this American display of strength, we have been absolutely trounced by Canada. Rose Lau, the unstoppable webmistress of Toronto's TOSalsa.com... Hmm... nice to see that Canada is getting recogni-tion worldwide as a mover and a shaker... And what's even more timely, I have actually finally finished my 4th List of Great Songs to dance to... and it took me less than 3 months to put it together. As always, listening to my favourite salsa tunes or finding out about songs I truly love to dance to, always brings my salsa addiction back to "normal" levels. What was hilarious is that I have a "library" of salsa music I have not had a chance to go through from the past few years, and when I started to listen to them... I was amazed to find out how many more songs I knew and have danced to... but just didn't know the artist or the name of the song... and in one night, I was able to put together 80 more songs! So here it is... my 4th list of Top 100 Salsa Songs to Dance to... If you truly love the dance, eventually you go through the many phases of salsa addiction... every once inawhile I have a good laugh and review Edie the Salsa Freak's great graph which tells you the phases you go through when you first discover salsa; and there have been days when I thought it would be fun to put together a graph for the "regulars" who just never get enough of it... If you've been in the "scene" as long as I have, and there's others who've been dancing alot longer than myself... you lose your "groove" for awhile, or just need a break to recharge those salsa batteries... Over the holidays, I took a much-needed "siesta" away from the whole salsa scene to recharge and reflect on where I've been and what 2003 would bring. 2002 was an amazing whirlwind of non-stop salsa as I went wherever and whenever I could to as many events across Canada and the US as I could possibly handle, along with the new project of Salsa Team Canada. It was a very fast-paced year... as I bought a new camcorder, digi-camera and computer which helped to make my salsa experiences memorable on and off the net, travelled somewhere almost every month including Chicago, LA, Puerto Rico, Detroit, Montreal and Ottawa, got to meet or hear some of the salsa music icons either in Toronto or while travelling; and made so many new friends on and off the dance floor from all over the world. It's been a long time since I also had a chance to reflect on the ever-changing Toronto salsa scene... We've evolved so quickly since we started TOsalsa.com and started to see and learn how to dance the many styles of salsa from around the World -- from dancing Toronto colombian or cumbia style which was predominant in Toronto for at least 10 years until around the Year 2000 where Toronto began to learn LA style, Miami casino rueda style, to dancers who now regularly dance on the 2, Eddie Torres style; and a small following of dancers who are immersed with Cuban style or learning traditional cuban dances; with a smattering of hip hop, argentine tango, flamenco and belly dancing thrown in. I also spent a night reviewing old Berlin salsa competition videos, and have started to put together a videoclip compilation of all the winners from the past five (5) years. Something you can look forward to watching in February 2003 -- just weeks before the preliminaries start here in Toronto. It's guaranteed to be a fabulous snapshot of the evolution of our Toronto dance couple and performance style; and some of the movers and shakers of our ever-changing salsa scene. In the past few years, Toronto has also started to make it's mark on the international circuit as we have some established dance groups (such as Los Salsomanos, Strickly Salsa and Grupo Sabroso), dance couples (such as Ana and Orville, Pawel and Dora), and individuals such as Bong Gonzales, Stephanie Gurnon, Nicole and Mark of Soles, Jennifer Aucoin, and/or Ivy Cuervo, who have trained with some of the best around the World and bring back the knowledge to Toronto; and of course the tireless efforts of Rene and Teddy who have a volunteer teaching program which has helped kick-start various social dancers into the world of teaching salsa on a semi-professional or professional level; or just helps to take their dancing to the next level. In some instances, Canada has also gained international recognition in the past few years by either winning international competitions or getting standing ovations at various Congresses -- you know who you are... And there are some great dancers here in Toronto (male and female) who just keep pushing the envelope... I couldn't begin to mention all their names... but I think you know who you are in my books... (gee this is starting to sound like one of those thank you speeches). Special mention must also go out to the tireless efforts and talents of Sonia and Moris of San Tropez Dance Company in Montreal, who have been in the international circult now for the past 5 years... and have influenced Toronto with their professional knowledge and experience as directors of a dance group, instructors and performers. And another upcoming group from Montreal, Salsa Etc, under the direction of Edson, who captured our attention with their new Egyptian routine at the Ottawa Salsa Congress. Thanks to the goals of Salsa Team Canada, I believe we are also the first country to ever gather together a salsa choreography with over 40 amateur and professional dancers from 3 cities to perform at a Salsa Congress, close the Friday night show over Salsa Brava Dance Company (who is known to close out the show for many of the Congresses), and get a standing ovation. Will any other country be able to take up the same challenge and present a dance performance at a Salsa Congress this coming year? On the Toronto musical front, this past year has been great as we are starting to get more international artists coming to Toronto; but at the same time, we are truly blessed with the number of talented Cuban musicians and singers that are now living and playing in Toronto. On the World Circuit, I've also had the opportunity to get to watch socially and on stage; and/or get to know and/or dance with some of the best International Instructors, Performers, Musicians and Dance Groups from around the World... Through my stories, videoclips, photos, interviews and articles over the past few years and in the future -- you will eventually get to meet them all... there's too many to list... and then there's the memorable dance performances by groups who are not well-known on the dance circuit... who capture the crowd's imagination... and you can look forward to some of those for next year... And since I had time to recharge my batteries, along with a few fun nights of dancing like I used to... this is probably one of the longest stories I've written in a long while... I've already kick-started my own goals for 2003 to the point where they inspired me to write a few new mini-articles on Salsa New Year Resolutions and Tips to help improve your salsa dancing. What inspired these articles -- you, the Readers and the dancers, on and off the net who are constantly asking, writing or talking about all these salsa-related questions on dance and music.
January 8, 2003 January 7, 2003 Salsa on the Net... and New Year Resolutions... Yikes, I know the holidays are finally over as I've been totally swamped with emails from the past few days... I took a nice "siesta" AWAY from the salsa scene for almost two weeks over the holidays to get ready for this super-charged New Year where once again I'll be travelling to various Congresses, dancing once again with Salsa Team Canada, possibly travelling to the Orient later this year, and trying to fit some personal life and TOsalsa inbetween it all... While I'm trying frantically to fit in my headstart on my New Year Resolutions and the redesign of our site, I've had a pile-up of Dear TOsalsa (including some letters I missed over the past few days). A Special Mention goes out to the discussion on North American vs. Cuban Salsa which was our first official topic, starting its third year of debate, and is now 4 netpages long. To kick-start some new ideas for New Year's Resolutions... so I can have it all... I found some fun websites, which gave me some useful tips and reminders to make my resolutions realistic and/or to save me time remember-ing all the things I want to catch up on before the salsa whirlwind hits again... A site on "How to Keep New Year's Resolutions" Two quizzes (home or work) you can take to see how "organized you are". A great women's site with lots of great articles, such as "Kick the chaos habit -- If you think you’re doomed to disorganization, take heart. You can conquer clutter and confusion once and for all." Feel Better with Exercise 10 Resolutions for your PC 1. Banish Junk From Your Hard Drive 2. Give Your PC a Jump Start 3. Protect Your Network 4. Give Your PC a Flu Shot 5. Browse Without a Trace 6. Say No to Sneaky Ads 7. Want to Be Spam-Free? 8. Out With the Old 9. Stay on Top of Fraud 10. Break Free of Entanglements--and Bad Posture January 2, 2003 Latino Discussion heats up in the middle of a TO snowstorm... Well, it's only the 2nd day of the New Year, Toronto is in the middle of a snow-storm; and already we have four posts in one night regarding the on-again, off-again discussion amongst latinos about class... What sparked it once again... maybe this enlightening post from a NY salsera, Janemas, and I received two more Top 10 Salsa Song Lists from various readers... Also, I've posted SIX more videoclips for those of you who can't get enough... Ray Baretto Live in Puerto Rico, more social dancing with Frankie Martinez and Nelson Flores, and others...click here! January 1, 2003 Happy New Year! Oh my goodness, it's 2003 already and I hope everyone will have as amazing a year as I think it may turn out to be... To kick-start the New Year and the countdown to our 3 year Anniversary, TOsalsa is pleased to announce that we have a pairs of tickets to 3 great shows at Massey Hall, along with 3 pairs of tickets to give away for Burn the Floor here in Toronto... and our usual dose of Dear TOsalsa... PS the anniversary refers to our site, TOsalsa... not Ziv and I, although it does feel like a marriage once in awhile! Top 10 Videoclips (Dec) 1 - Abakua, Palomilla 2 - Ana & Orville in SF 3 - Kids Social Dancing, PR 4 - Roni & Dinora in SF 5 - Frankie Social Dancing 6 - Luis & Avra in SF 7 - Drew & Claire in SF 8 - Vanesa & Oscar, TO 9 - Griselle & Danny in SF 10 - Alex & Liz in SF Top 10 Visitors of the Video Library (Dec) 1 - Canada 2 - France 3 - USA 4 - Netherlands 5 - Italy 6 - Singapore 7 - Spain 8 - Switzerland 9 - United Kingdom 10 - Australia December
29, 2002
December
25, 2002 December 18, 2002 Less than a week before Christmas! Ahh... where does time fly... it's been a non-stop busy month so far with work deadlines, loads of personal catch-up from all the months of non-stop salsa activities and travel-ing this past year. There's also a virus floating around that I have been lucky not to catch so far because I haven't been burning the candle at both ends this season but trying to balance everything out which means I can't be everywhere and for those of you who don't leave a proper message or email, may not get a prompt reply as there is not a moment to waste this month. There is lots of events happening in the next two weeks and you'll find all the last minute parties and events in the What's Happening section to the right of the home page, including some New Year's Eve Parties and some temporary latin club holiday closings. I've also posted the latest pics from the shows from the United Salseros Christmas Party at Tequila on Tuesday. I've also posted new videoclips and 18 new lyrics, including some of my classic romantic favourites, such as Dejame un Beso and Corazon Partio. Hope you're all enjoying your holidays and stay tuned as there will be more updates in the coming weeks. December 15, 2002 Happy Holidays Everyone! Hopefully everyone's finding time to enjoy themselves this holiday season... I'm trying to... I had two very different dance experiences this past weekend... On Friday, I went to our Office Xmas Party, but left early so I could go to Courthouse and let out some steam... and I did, until almost closing. It was a fun-filled night dancing to many of my favourite songs in an evening gown, and hopefully not too painful for some of the guys as I was a bit tipsy. On Saturday, I went to a Chinese dinner banquet where they had karaoke and their own version of a ballroom dance with everything from disco, ballroom line dancing, cha cha and their own version of a macarena. I danced a cha cha with my mom and a waltz with my dad. It was obvious to see that my dancing genes runs in the family. My dad (who really doesn't like to dance) was actually up doing all the line dances (but he did admit to me that he really doesn't like to dance, but it's "something to do" now that he's retired -- something we can all look forward to? Except I plan to hit the salsa clubs! On another note, I got an email from a dancer who prefers to be anonymous, but shared his "dance horror story" with me. "Partner Search Service -- Hi Rose, Congratulations on an excellent service to the salsa-dancing community. I was wondering if you had a section on your site that refers to the appropriate etiquette to be followed when you agree to meet a potential dance partner. Should you meet outside of a dance-club and discuss the gameplan and expectations? What if you find out that the dance styles are very different and the moves don't flow from the get-go? I had an unpleasant experience last Thursday at baabalu's where the potential partner basically left me standing on the dancefloor. I think her expectations were different than mine. I would like to avoid running into this situation in the future. I did not go back to the dancer and asked her about the reasons for her behaviour. To tell you the truth, I was quite shocked at the whole experience and I also thought that someone displaying such rude behaviour wasn't really worth pursuing anymore. Nevertheless, the good news is that I'm not discour-aged from continuing to use your partner search service." Ladies, where are you manners, how would you like it if a guy left you standing on the dance floor. It's just one dance! If you don't like the way he dances, then just finish the song... but if he's doing something that really ticks you off, then let him know BEFORE you walk off! Sometime ago, Julie wrote an article about 10 tips for using a Dance Partner Search almost a year ago, maybe it's time for some of you to reread it... click here! Congratulations to Tatyana Shevchenko who won a pair of tickets to United Salseros Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 17th. Please email me if you didn't receive my email. December 11, 2002 A Video a day keeps me dancing each day! Well, not quite, but I had such a good time dancing at Babaluu's tonight that I just had to play with one of my videoclips from the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress before bedtime... So it's still not rocket science yet as there is no real definitive guide on how to do this right except by trial and error, and remembering whether you tried that variation already to compress the files down to a manageable size... so in the meantime, I'm not going to lose more sleep over it, but at least give you the same enjoyment and reason why I love this dance so much... so I present to you my latest gift to you... these great kids dancing salsa socially at the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress this past summer! click here! And what keeps me going and inspires me, well, as I said I was at Babaluu's tonight as I couldn't stay away from the clubs and the music any longer; and I haven't been to Alvaro's vintage vinyl night in a long time to hear music that I don't own from the 70's and 80's. He is one of the DJ's who has helped me immensely in learning about the artists and being able to hear and dance to these classics. It was a super-busy night, but comfy-cozy with enough dancers coming in and out all night to get my fix and to hang out. I watched, danced and got my fix with some of the best male leads in Toronto... and maybe in another edition, I'll recount some of the best dances or fixes I ever got. But before I forget, one of the most enjoyable things you can do in a relaxed, less crowded setting is to have the chance to sit back and really enjoy watching another couple just having a good time and being creative or playful on the dance floor at the same time. As many dancers state, it's not just about the moves but how you interpret the music, and some of my friends tonight just showed me how far we've come dancing on 2 and that we can be just as playful as the best dancers in New York City. But don't expect a typical New York attitude, I think Toronto has a more softer, touchy-feely playfulness on 2. December 10, 2002 123-567, 123-567... No, it's not salsa... it's my new baby -- a computer to go with "TOmuch" (the upcoming, long-awaited redesign of TOsalsa which Ziv and I have been planning on and off for about a year, you'd think we were doing some "family planning"). What's a really weird coincidence is I bought a new computer around the same time 3 years ago just before we started TOsalsa... so that's a good sign that 2003 will be an amazing year... as everything's coming up 3's... and you'll hear more about that when January rolls around... Also, I'm slowly learning how to set everything up on my new toy day by day... and trying not to get too impatient. After all, I'm going thru a new learning curve once again, but this time with more bells and whistles such as video capture... ugh... how geeky can I get? So here are my first attempts at it... I'm sure I'll get better as I learn more; just like when I first got my digi-camera and camcorder less than a year ago... hmm 3 new toys this year... Don't forget you need Quicktime Player. (If you don't see the Quicktime symbol, then you need to download it.) Some clips may take longer to load as I was experimenting with various settings to see what would work and wouldn't... click here! I've also posted the photos from Marc Anthony's bday celebration at his new salsa night at Kascata Lounge on Thursdays taken by Ziv and myself. And you know it's still cold outside when you get more Dear TOsalsa and the North American/Cuban style discussion continues with a post from Italy from a dancer who has travelled to various salsa cities in the world and from another dancer. December 9, 2002 Winter is really here! but salsa is still hot on the net! Just as I think people are going to be busy shop-ping, many others are just as busy dancing on the net! What's new? Check out this cool review of what's happening with Cuban Timba music... thanks to a New Yorker, Louise, who seems to surf as much as I do... but not in the same places, thank goodness... More Dear TOsalsa... and A new Top 10 List from DJ Nik in Boston! December 8, 2002 Toronto's on the move... Congratulations goes out to Anna Tapia, who won a pair of tickets to the Dance To Live Christmas Party on Sunday, December 15th. But we now have another draw for tickets to the United Salseros Xmas Party on December 17th! Look out in the next few days as I will be posting pics of Marc Anthony's birthday celebration at Kascata and I was also hoping to post some new videoclips (if I can get my new computer to cooper-ate, but it's giving me video but no sound... but just think what damage I can do with all the tapes I have in my possession once it's up and running). It was my first time at Kascata and many of the regulars showed up and we all had a great time as many of us haven't seen each other in awhile. It's very cozy and perfect hangout to dance, mingle and listen to Marc Anthony's collection of classic salsa. He plays tunes that probably no other DJ in Toronto probably has as he went to Puerto Rico and went crazy buying vintage vinyl. I'm also waiting for Arthur's pics cause he actually got a picture of me dancing with Ziv, now how often do you capture those classic moments... that's how it all started for Ziv and I... our love of dancing which translated into our baby, TOsalsa! I've also posted a great article on Timba by Charles Silverman, and the North American vs Cuban Salsa debate still continues... it's almost 2 years old! And on December 12th, another club is having a Thursday Latin night, the newly renovated El Mocambo -- go figure... so now there's Babaluu, Kascata, El Convento Rico, Fregata, El Rancho and now El Mocambo's. If you think salsa is going to heat up for Christmas, just wait until the New Year... I'm trying to catch my breath and get organized before the salsa treadmill starts again... December 5, 2002 Baby, it must be cold outside... Wow! just as I think everyone's busy getting ready for Xmas, the email hasn't stopped in the last few days... and there's lots more to read on Dear TOsalsa, including (and I was wondering how long it would take him) a rebuttal to my experience at Berlin with Evaristo Muchado. What I recounted was an experience that myself and other dancers had -- never stating that the music sucked, but the mere fact (as always) that dancing "our style" is a roller-coaster ride with some cuban bands; and don't forget Billy, I'm not leading, I'm following the guy... so I guess all the guys in Toronto need lessons on how to lead our style of dance in cuban music... Gee, I would love to see how the cuban instructors could change the NY/LA style of dancing to suit their style of music; but that could open up another humongous debate! click here... I also got a great email from Steve Shaw of SalsaNewYork which talks about how guys need to remember to make the Girl look good on the dance floor and got permission to post it... click here! December 4, 2002 What's New! Dear TOsalsa... Tips on how to Spin Do you love the song, Lady by Orquesta de la Palabra, if so, I just found his brand new site with lots of interesting tidbits... And for the Toronto dancers who auditioned a few weeks ago for Salsa Team Canada in Toronto, an email has been sent to all those selected by Sonia and we are just awaiting your response via email. The Congress Race is heating up! Since I've spread the word to other dancers in other Cities about our Congress Survey, Paris is beating out LA and not far behind Puerto Rico! 54-Puerto
Rico (July) November
30, 2002 November 28, 2002 December Madness... Just started to post up all the new events for December and some great Dance School Xmas Parties that are all bunching up mostly in mid-December along with my own office xmas party... ahhh... plus I've been able to put names now to most of the SF dance groups, except for two, thanks to a bunch of emails from salsa dancers from the south! Also, have another Top 10 Salsa Song List from Peru, just posted a great list of top salsa songs from Steve Shaw of SalsaNewYork (it's about time NYC!) and also a cha cha list; and finally his take on how DJ's should play music. Finally, I can't wait for more dancers to cast their vote in our Reader's Poll for Salsa Congresses, cause Toronto is winning by a slight margin right now, followed by Puerto Rico! Quote: Dancing, like laughing, releases the soul of the person... November 27, 2002 Salsa Video Madness 2! Here we go again... here are 18 dance group clips from the San Francisco Salsa Congress! Enjoy and don't forget you need to download Quicktime Player. And with Christmas around the corner, then the New Year? It's going to get HOT internationally as there will be some BIG international competitions coming up in LA and Puerto Rico next summer! Oh the agony of deciding where to travel... and on that note, let's see where all the Salsaholics will be going this year... click here! November 26, 2002 Salsa Video Madness! Tadah! Thanks to the determination and drive of Orville Small of Salsation, we can present videoclips of the 12 competitors of the San Francisco Interna-tional Salsa Competition on 1 and 2 -- check it out! And by this weekend, I'll also have about 18 group clips posted up... Orville got a little excited as you can see... must have been the rush of winning... he had so much energy he just used it up on clips! Also special congratulations goes out to Sonia and Moris of San Tropez, Montreal and Ana and Orville, Salsation, Toronto for being pre-selected as the two Canadian couples to represent Canada at the 2003 West Coast Salsa Congress in LA, along with an amazing line-up of top instructors and teams that includes Eddie Torres, Frankie Martinez, Seaon Stylist & Amanda Estilo & Stylists Dance Company, Johnny Vazquez, Luis & Joby Vazquez & Salsa Brava, Francisco Vazquez & Los Rumberos, Edie "The Salsa Freak" & Al Espinoza, Jai & Candy, Nelson Flores & Descarga Latina, Ismael Otero and Caribbean Soul and many more... click here! November 25, 2002 Salsa Marathon continues... Whew, the auditions are finally over, it was a very nice turnout of dancers from which I had no clue were interested in signing up; and Sonia and Moris are on their way back to Montreal. The weekend just flew by between dancing, meetings and an Afro-Cuban class. And the smart regulars will definitely go out dancing on Tuesday and Wednesday as there will only be one club instead of two to choose from -- Berlin and Babaluu. November 21, 2002 And we keep going and going... Just getting ready for a crazy-busy weekend as Sonia and Moris from Montreal will be coming to Toronto starting tomorrow night. Our first salsa stop will be Courthouse, Saturday is iffy right now, Sunday at either Babaluu's and/or Left Bank, and Monday at the Salsa Team Canada auditions at the new Sweetwater Latin Mondays from 7-9 pm and then the Grand Opening party... Just received a great review of the San Francisco Salsa Congress from Maya, an SF dancer who paid us a short visit sometimeago. November 20, 2002 No rest for the wicked... or is it salsa-addicted... well, now that I'm totally immersed in my real job and religiously going back to the gym, and trying to get out a little more, it's hard to take a "day off" the net as it's been crazy-busy as well -- must be the winter season where people like to stay in a little more and write or email, not including the fact I'm making a lot of new salsa e-friends from around the World who love to chat as much as I do. Due to these great contacts I get to find out things that you wouldn't know unless you live in their city. So where have I gone dancing these days? Well, after the action-packed weekend with Angus' bday, the ballroom show and Edwin Bonilla being in town, I headed to Berlin's last night to check out Evarito Muchado and they were great, but it was mostly cuban timba music and again, I have to stress (and I don't care what you timba lovers think) it's not the best music to dance to if you are dancing on 2 using alot of turn patterns. Don't get me wrong, the music is probably great for dancing cuban style, but I felt like I was either on a roller-coaster ride when they would speed up or we would have to abruptly cut the flow of the turn patterns to dance on time to the music. Also, they would have these abrupt breaks in the music which sounded like the ending, we'd cut off our dance, and then have my partner apologize cause he thought it was the end of the song, and I would respond, "It's okay, welcome to the world of timba music!". Later in the evening, I had the chance to watch one of the singers dance cuban style and yes, they do know how to get it down in their own style and looked great, but that's not the only style that looks great or is the only way to dance salsa. On the web, there's a great photo review of Latin Madness in New York City and of the Dominican Republic Salsa Congress (which I totally forget about). I love how Pablo designed the page linking photos to each show to the actual playbill -- there's some really nice pics! I heard through the grapevine that the show didn't have the same umph as the 1st one, but most of the reviews were by New Yorkers who obviously have "seen it all". As this production matures, they will obviously look at what they did right and wrong and just take it to the next level. November 19, 2002  Oh Canada! And why am I singing... well, for starters, back on Friday August 2, 2002, a night I'll never forget, when the organizers of the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress picked Salsa Team Canada to close the Friday Night show over the usual routine of having Salsa Brava from LA, the standing ovation (which was totally unexpected), and then all the great feedback we got over the net and in emails about how we set a new standard for teamwork and the challenge was on for other countries to try and do the same. And then this past weekend hearing that Ana and Orville had actually beat out two of the top LA couples internationally, and to see our Canadian flag in 1st place over all the US flags... what's next? When we started this website, one of our goals was to help make Toronto one of the capitals of salsa alongside New York, LA and Miami... and I'm proud to say our hard work is payng off... Toronto has come along way in the past 2-1/2 years since we started this site; and then to see this quote for Ana and Orville, ""Perhaps the best Salsa routine since Johnny and Olivia! They brought the house down and received a standing ovation - TWICE" and I also heard they also had perfect scores (50) from all the judges. Way to go Ana and Orville! And what move got the crowd going wild, well if you're not familiar with their routines, then check this out... so LA! What probably made this contest really unique was that they split up the on 1 and on 2 dancers into two separate contests, which means you were judging purely on the merits of the two styles, rather than trying to pick out the best couple out of two totally different styles -- makes great sense if you have enough contenders and much easier for the judges to mark. The look and feel of on 1 and on 2 in competition I would imagine would not be the same. On 1 dancers in competition tend to lean towards tricks, drama and flash, whereas on 2 is more about dancing with a lot of style or attitude with very few tricks or dips. It would be difficult to judge fairly -- like oil and water. These past few years, since many of the pros have learned to dance on 2, Toronto can proudly say that we can dance on 1 or on 2 with the best of them, even Ismael Otero, after watching Pawel and Dora win the Ottawa Salsa Competition with their innovative routine, that NYC should watch out -- Toronto has grown up fast since the first time New Yorkers came to the Toronto Salsaweb Conven-tion back in April 2000. And on the website front, TOsalsa is no. 6 on the search engines, beaten only by Salsaweb, Salsa New York and a few LA websites. In the past 6 months alone, I've been surprised by the no. of readers who visit from NYC and LA on a regular basis, not including our growing international readership, along with our totally addicted Toronto dancers who tell me they check the site more than once a day during breaks at work, to relieve stress or in case I did an update. Let's keep this salsa flame alive and I can't wait to see what 2003 will bring -- way to go Toronto and Eastern Canada! November
18, 2002 November
18, 2002 November 17, 2002 Dance Crazy Weekend! As you know it started on Thursday, when I danced all night at Bab's, and then on Friday, a bunch of us went to a latin ballroom show with Slavik Kryklyvy & Karina Smirnoff who were third in the overall Latin division at Blackpool this year. As always, these shows are inspiring to watch and the lady always wears the most gorgeous dance outfits. With the speed of their movement, it was difficult to get the best photos, plus they also covered the whole floor during a dance routine the way figure skaters do. Karina was apparently quite sick with a 32 degree fever, but you couldn't tell -- that's how professional they were. Some of the funniest moments dance-wise, was watching Oscar of Latin-Energy, trying to pick up on the line dance for the first time with Bong; needing some moments to pause while dancing a Viennese Waltz with Frank Bishun; and Jason Ng, who's competed in ballroom and myself, about to attempt a waltz (which I haven't danced in two years), but we both chickened out; and watching our salsa friends jump up to dance to merengue, because they all didn't know how to dance any ballroom so grabbed at any chance they could to dance. After the show, some dancers headed down to Courthouse and I went to Palazzo's to check out Edwin Bonilla (who was absolutely wonderful), but for whatever reason it wasn't packed that night. I'm not sure how busy Palazzo's is normally, but it's not the same as it used to be when it first opened. On Saturday night, even though we had our first snowfall, I went down once again to Lula Lounge just in time to catch Con Cache, and later danced the night away to the music of Edwin Bonilla. He played a wicked first set, but wore the dancers out, including me, as every song was fast. They didn't start the second set until 2 am, but most of us left as we were all tired from the last few nights of dancing. While we've been partying here in Toronto, Ana, Orville and Ziv are down at the San Francisco Salsa Congress. Albert Torres even made a special announcement that TOsalsa and Salsation from Toronto was in the house! I should have some pics up early next week and if I'm lucky, maybe some video footage. Ziv was running around in the afternoon trying to find a way to email the pics since he didn't remember to pack the cable in his rush to get to the airport! Men! Here's a new saying -- can't work with them, can't work without them? and for that matter, in most cases, it can also be said that "you can't dance with them or dance without them" unless you find a great female lead! November 14, 2002 Never a dull moment continues.... Well, thanks to my salsaholic friends, I was swept away on the tide of let's go dancing. Since the Ottawa Salsa Congress I was immersed with regular work and TOsalsa catch-up, and reignited my Muscle Potential class which I missed for the last two weeks due to schedul-ing. I was aching from bicep to thigh from the workout yesterday and since it was Angus' bday, I headed down to Babaluu's with my friends and so many of us showed up that I haven't seen in awhile, plus DJ Carlitos was playing quite a bit of salsa -- more than usual, so everyone stayed until the bitter end and danced up a storm, including me! It was Angus' bday, you know the cool white dude that has taken TO by a storm in the past year and a half? from dancing on 1 and then the 2, throwing a bit of that funky R&B styling and having the girls just melt in his arms with his awesome lead and funky moves. After I don't know how many drinks, he still could throw down (as NY would say) some awesome moves without missing a beat... but by the end of the night, the drinks sunk in but he could still give one last funky dance. It was the first time in a long while that many of the regulars showed up and danced until the bitter end, but it's also been a long time since DJ Carlitos has played this much salsa, and we weren't the only happy dancers -- it was the most dancers I've seen who closed the place in a long time. While I was having a blast with all my friends, I came home to more salsa news, like two new club openings -- Thursday nights with Marc Anthony and Stephanie at a new club where Marc Anthony will be the DJ spinning vintage vinyl -- he used to be a DJ and went hog-wild buying up vintage salsa albums when he was in Puerto Rico; and then got an email also for a new Monday salsa night hosted by DJ Eddy at Sweetwater Nightclub on Eglinton. And I'm also happy to report that Babaluu will be sponsoring our Sunday afternoon audition on November 24th as some dancers mentioned they couldn't make the Monday night audition, so Babaluu's has generously donated their space from 4-6 pm. Monday's dance audition location has not been finalized as of yet, but will still be available so stay turned. So even if you're undecided about joining Salsa Team Canada or have any questions, please feel free to join us on Sunday, November 24th or Monday, November 25th to find out more. Also, Sonia and Moris will be here in Toronto starting Friday, so we will probably go dancing on Friday at Courthouse, Sunday at Babaluu's and Left Bank, then Monday at the new Grand Opening of Sweetwater Nightclub. Saturday may be our chill night, but who knows... And lastly, just for the record for those of you who don't know me personally; no, I'm not married to Ziv (but I spend soooo much time with him and talking on the phone these past 2-1/2 years that we act like a married couple which is why I jokingly call him my e-hubby), and we don't really have any kids except TOsalsa, although if we did have more kids, our second would be named TOmambo (my choice) and Ziv picked the name of our third child, TOmuch! Edwin Bonilla Winners Danilo Sierra Giovanny Castro Lisa Ditri Doreen Yeh Dayle Espiritu If you haven't received an email, please contact us. November 12, 2002 Never a dull moment... Just when you think you can have some time to relax, there's always something in the works... or something to be done... so here's the latest... Ottawa Salsa Congress Pics: Friday - Saturday Aventura Concert Pics More discussions... more upcoming promotions are in the works... we're even going to have a countdown starting in January towards our 3 year anniversary in April... not only are we going to have 3 new promotions from Massey Hall, the Hummingbird Centre has also given us 3 pairs of tickets to give away to Burn the Floor in 2003. And oh the pressure, we've been working on and off for the past year on our new look and I'm threaten-ing to divorce Ziv if we don't get it out in time for our anniversary! But he went one better and promised it to me for Christmas!? hmmm.... I also just got an email from David Melendez about the Canada Salsa Congress in Toronto from October 10-13, they've already signed up Ismael Otero (New Jersey, Josie Neglia (LA), Yesenia Paralta and Danny Ramirez (NY), and are working on getting Nelson Flores (NY), and Edie and Al Espinoza (LA); and we'll also be raffling off congress passes to this event too! so stay tuned... Other news... good luck to Ana and Orville who decided last minute to compete in the San Francisco Salsa Competition this coming Sunday! Bring home a trophy for Toronto! And big congratulations goes out to Nick Ali who's going to Cuba to represent Canada at the Havana Jazz Festival! "I can barely contain my excitement. Dig this - I've been asked to represent Canada at the Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba! A monsterous honour (I leave Dec 8)... however, Fidel doesn't have the funds to fly me down, so we're trying to raise it ... sooooo my 10-piece salsa group MARRÓN MATIZADO will be giving a special benefit concert on Sat., Nov 23 at the Lula Lounge in Toronto ($10), the proceeds of which will go to gettin' my brown butt down there. So puh-lease come on out and dance the night away.... you'll be supporting a Canadian jazz artist who's about to represent. Order taking for boxes of Cuban Cigars will now commence (I knew that false bottom in my horn case would come in handy some day... *rubbing hands together*)" as quoted from Nick Ali. Tentative scheduled performances will include Brownman as a featured soloist with the legendary IRAKERE, a concert with cuban drumset master Enrique Pla and a trio performance with members of the Cuban All-Stars. Having just returned from representing his country as a featured soloist at the Nomme Jazz Festival in Estonia, he's off again to spread the latin-jazz word. November 11, 2002 Here we go again... Well, while I was partying it up in Ottawa, others were writing up a storm about my opinion about latinos (not Heidy), debating about dance styles and technique again! and so on... November
10, 2002 November
8, 2002 November 6, 2002 Oh the torture... As I'm working away on all the backlog I haven't had time for this past year, I took a break and surfed over to SalsaNewYork, to find out that there's going to be an Official Cast Party after Latin Madness' last show at El Flamingo on Monday with Frankie Vasquez with Los Soneros del Barrio, who have two great albums -- it's just not fair... I am also going to miss alot of the great new friends I've made in New York City, another great show from Latin Madness and a Jimmy Anton Social?! It's hard to believe that the Latin Madness Opening Night is tomorrow! Click here for more info... Also, people have been busy writing again, two more letters regarding Cuban Salsa in Toronto, a response to World War II and the salsa syllabus and more Dear TOsalsa... And in case you forgot, this weekend is jam-packed full of salsa, such as Aventura and Son Ache in Toronto, Latin Madness in NYC, but many dancers, performers and instructors from Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal will be heading over to the Ottawa Salsa Congress, including Caribbean Soul from New Jersey! And finally, something a little different, and only because I love you Bong! In case you didn't know, we ALWAYS (the chiquitas that is) love to talk about how Bong always seems to have a new dance partner and how we can never keep up; and we always joke about who the next one will be... so, I've added this fun little Reader's Poll for when you have nothing to do. So here's your chance to vote who you think would make a great new dance partner for Bong Gonzales... hee hee, have fun, but you can only pick one... psst. the hardest thing about putting this poll together was finding a nice pic of each contestant, so they may change eventually as time goes on... Aventura Winners! Michelle Sequeira Shaidy Maza Juan Carlos Buendia Noha Nour Anabel Maldonado Please email me if you didn't already get a TOsalsa email. November 5, 2002 Best Salsa Club anyone? Toronto.com is at it again, except now you can vote for your favourite salsa club... who's winning? well right now it's: 1. Babaluu 2. El Convento Rico 3. Cafe Havana 4. Plaza Flamingo 5. Berlin 6. 97 Bistro & Tapas Bar 7. El Rancho And how about the best late-night dining spot? Alot of the salsa dancer's favourite haunts are listed here... such as Swatow and Rol San. November 4, 2002 More... Dear TOsalsa and more letters surrounding the Cuban discussions, shall we call them letters of love or passion-- when they're not wielding "I know better" comments; but can have some interesting insight into other cultural view-points and brings up some interesting ideas about how you could develop your own style of salsa if you take away the rules; and some interesting moments of Arthur's photography of his own "dark" party and Halloween at Bar One... enter if you dare... PS I know I owe someone a response... but I'll be busy until after the Ottawa Salsa Congress this weekend... anyone else up for the challenge to test your own knowledge of salsa technique and possibly open your own eyes to things you usually don't think about... Remember dance is a creative and physical art form -- in the days when you couldn't communicate with someone in your own language, the only way you could learn from them was by following or emulating their movement and/or explanations through body language. Even today, when I've taken some Argentinue Tango workshops with instructors from Buenos Aires, some didn't speak a word of English and to understand different dance steps, we communicated thru dance and body signals. That became our fun, common method of communication in a noisy dance club. November 3, 2002 What's New! How about 3 new Top 10 salsa song lists and 1 cuban timba list? or more emails in Dear TOsalsa, or how about 2 more cuban salsa discussion, check them out in Discussion Forum... 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 Winter Thrills 2002
I had fun watching them last year, but this year, they truly got into
the spirit of putting together their own routine and coordinating outfits
to try and make it to the finals. We had 12 couples compete for the
coveted 6 spots and I was proud of all of them and their efforts this
year.