| September
23, 2003
Salsa in September...
OR
As the Salsa World Turns...
The
dates, locations and times are finally set for the 2004 Salsa Team Canada
Auditions. This is open to amateur and professional dancers across six
cities -- Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal
-- click here
for all the info!
And "As the Salsa World Turns", my nickname for these hotly
debated salsa discussion postings... more "polite" responses
were made in the two hottest topics in September, Absurd Cover Charges
and TO men shunning Black Women...
And on that note, how timely was it for me to get this email in my inbox
to check out an inter-racial
loving matchmaking website... sorry, I just couldn't resist...
Check out the updates in Dear TOsalsa,
and two new Top 10 Song Lists...
from various DJ's or readers from around the World...
September
15, 2003
How Salsa Swings...
Yes,
I know it's been awhile since I wrote one of my columns, BUT sometimes
you can't ignore the real world; and your responsibilities... There
is life for most of us, outside of salsa... and I'm no exception. This
is not my full-time job as some readers seem to think, but a hobby that
took a life all it's own...
Over the past 3-1/2 years, I've shared my love of this dance and music;
and have got to meet (either in person or over the net) and make friends
from all over the world who share the same love.
Unfortunately, since the Summer, I've been so busy, I haven't had time
or the energy to go out dancing except "once in a blue moon"
and on those nights, I'm just therw to chill and see some of my salsa
friends.
On the other side of the scale -- now that I had some time to step back
and reflect on my salsa life... and its readership... it amazes me how
today's generation seems to have forgotten good old-fashioned morals
and values. And with the growth of the web, it seems you have to remind
people about email rage... or how many ways can you take someone's email
and make a mountain out of a molehilll OR take it and twist it to your
own way of thinking...
And if I sound like I'm preaching, well maybe it's time for people to
wake up a little. As I read the opinions, insults or plain rudeness
of some writers and/or experience it on the dance floor -- it amazes
me how most people have forgotten to be polite, smile, say please, thank
you or apologize.
Don't
believe me? Just read some of the letters from Dear
TOsalsa and the updated Discussion Forum!
So why do I post or condone these "rude" emails... Well, many
times, it's to prove a point... some writers think they can outsmart
the other writer, or to possibly inflate their own ego by putting someone
else down. But when the "audience" tunes in, they don't realize
they just make themselves look bad and show themselves up in their true
colours. The smart ones are the ones who can just look past what the
person wrote and really see what the persons true colours or motives
are.
Once in awhile, it amazes me when a feedback comes in with a really
insulting, and I mean heated response, that I could not post. If it's
someone I know who regularly writes in, and I have time, I occasionally
send it back with a note asking "do you honestly believe I can
post that"?
Then they usually write back, apologizing and send in a more civil response
that can be posted.
And then you have the occasional writer who just likes to vent by insulting
our site and/or try to take out their frustrations out on me. Initially,
I get a little shocked by what they write, and then start to feel sorry
for them as they obviously do not have many friends and/or have nothing
better to do than to surf and insult people they don't even know anonymously.
But luckily, this is the exception, not the norm.
But all in all, salsa has been a very strong, positive influence on
my life and for many dancers who have embraced it either socially or
professionally. Not only has it kept the flame alive for latin music
and dance, but it has other fringe benefits that you may not be aware
of:
1. A form of exercise that you can do "after normal working or
workout hours".
2. A creative way to socialize and mingle with people from all walks
of life.
3. An opportunity to have an alternative career as a full-time instructor
or a part-time job.
4. An instant community you can mix with in almost every city in the
World.
5. A great way to improve your coordination and social skills.
6. With the website, it gave me a chance to change my career at work
with the knowledge I gained from computers and the web.
7. The inspiration to learn the Spanish language.
8. A great excuse to dress up or to buy another pair of dance shoes!
9. The opportunity to meet people from all parts of the world.
10. Where else can you become an instant super-star just be being a
great dancer...
September
10, 2003
How can you tell Summer is almost over?
When
you get 10 responses in a day to post... check out Dear TOsalsa and the
updated Discussion Forum!
And the final 3 sets of photos from the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress...
 Friday,
August 1st
Saturday,
August 2nd
Sightseeing
in PR
September 8, 2003
The End of a Perfect Summer...
Yes, the pics are finally up! BUT this was the first summer
where my whole life didn't revolve around salsa every night and all weekend...
For
the past two years as I was consumed by learning about salsa music and
all the new toys I had gotten (digi-camera, digi-camcorder and how to
make videoclips), salsa took up every non-working hour I had 7 days
a week; and this year I didn't want to burn out and get frustrated that
I didn't have time to enjoy normal summer activities, such as getting
a tan, do some sightseeing when in other cities and many other things
a normal non-salsa person might do in the course of a summer.
For
all you non-salsaholics that do this only as a social pleasure, you
don't realize the hours it takes to keep a salsa website updated (especially
when it's established and with many different sections) -- and because
I loved it so much and as our readership grew and as it became the "norm"
to travel to the different congresses, it was easily taking up 40-60
hours a week. Then along comes Salsa Team Canada for about 6-8 months
and that can easily take up to about 8-10 hours a week with practices,
coordination between cities, and extra duties only the coordinators
can handle. And that of course was when "I had some free time"
during the week (yeah right!)
With all these commitments, something has to give, and for the past
two years, it seems my non-salsa personal life was the lowest priority.
This year that had to change or I would burn out or heaven forbid, I
would not want to keep this passion alive. But I still do, but not to
the same extent as before -- there has to be a balance.
And yes, some of the things on this site that took up hours of my time,
will hopefully change in our new release which is temporarily on hold
until I have more time to analyze what works best regarding servers
and other techno-geeky stuff.
But in the meantime, you can enjoy all the pics, Dear
TOsalsa and the updated Discussion Forum!
August
18, 2003
Getting Back into the Swing of Things...
OR the balance of a salsa and non-salsa summer lifestyle...
yes it is possible...
After 3 non-salsa days in Puerto Rico touring around... 7 salsa days in
Puerto Rico, 3 regular workdays back in TO, then 5 days of a non-salsa
holiday in Montreal with a one day side tour to old Quebec City, then
back to 1 day of work to only be welcomed by the largest power blackout
in North American history on Thursday, August 14th. If you're into chinese
nos. mixed in with a little numerology, what's interesting about that
day is that it was the 4th day of the week (4 meaning death), 8th day
of the month (meaning wealth but in numerology stands for power and abundance),
and the day, 14, stands for going to die... so potentially a dead day
of power going to die... how more coincidental can that be? Then 1 day
of power ups and downs on Friday (no way was I going to play cards or
take a gamble with my new computer and lose files or heaven forbid, some
of my digi-photos), then a half-hour drive around lunchtime to find a
gas station that was open to line up only for one hour to fill up the
tank so I could leave Toronto to head to Niagara Falls for the weekend
where I knew I would be guaranteed power for the whole weekend and a chance
to really experience Niagara-on-the-Lake, the wineries and other delights
of the Niagara region; rather than sweating it out in good ol' Toronto
with potentially no power to do much of anything in a crowded city...
And finally as Toronto is almost back to normal, a chance to catch up
on Dear TOsalsa, Discussion Forums
on the right and another Top 10 Salsa
Song List from the Dominican Republic!
For those of you who are fascinated by this moment in North American history,
click on these links of interest...
Page
dedicated to Blackout
How
to Save Power
For a snapshot
in graphic form of what happened Thursday, where and exactly when click
here. And for a look at how the power was restored in Toronto click
here. For a closer look at the numbers
click here.
Next major update will be all the pics from Puerto Rico...
August
15, 2003
Up and Down and All Around...
Well in case some of you haven't heard, the northeast corner of North
America had a major power outage (including New York City, Detroit and
Toronto).
The good news was I got an extra day's holiday, the bad news was the inconvenience
of not having power and having to sweat it out at home, learning how to
read by candlelight, what you can do without power (not much), how to
go to bed when the sun sets and reset your body to earlier waking hours...
(and try to forget that you might be missing out on one of your favourite
nights to salsa...) It also brings you back to basics and gives you time
to rethink alot of things... anyways, off to enjoy the rest of my extra-long
weekend away from the computer and salsa as you never know if the power
will stay on or off; and crossing my fingers that everything will be back
to normal by Saturday or Sunday... Enjoy the present as it may never happen
again and have a wonderful weekend! I sure will!
August 13, 2003
Back to Reality P. 2
I just got back from a short but busy non-salsa vacation
and just started to clean up some of the backlog...
Yes, our videoclips were down as we were in the process of changing servers
and thanks to our Readers, we didn't realize that another server wasn't
running up to par...
Also, you can check out the new updates to Dear
TOsalsa (almost updated), Discussion
Forum and some new Top 10 Salsa
Song Lists from various countries.
August
5, 2003
Back to Reality...
 That's
probably the toughest thing to do... especially since the weather is so
crappy back in Toronto... Although we didn't have perfect sunny days everyday...
it was still one of the best salsa vacations I have ever had as I decided
this year to take time for me and see the island, and only watch shows
in the evenings so I would have some time to get some suntanning and social
time with friends... since I knew 2-3 hours of each day would be spent
practicing with Salsa Team Canada in primetime suntanning time.
Although I was there earlier in the week during the San Juan Open Salsa
Competition, I didn't watch any of the performances as I would not have
had time to tour the island.
What was also a little nuts was that everytime I promised my salsa friends
that I would be back in 5-10 minutes, it would actually take me sometimes
30 minutes to an hour to get back to where I was because I kept running
into salsa dancers and performers from all over the World and would stop
to chat and/or say Hi.
Who showed up, well that's a story in itself...
and we had dancers from around the World... and if I didn't have a chance
to talk to them, someone else got the scoop... there just wasn't enough
hours in the day to do everything as always... and it was difficult to
always figure out what all the STC members were doing and when... I've
downloaded all my pics (about 1200) and have started organizing them into
various sections, such as STC, social and shows.
And then I had some awesome dances and watched some awesome dancers...
and got to hear some great music that you don't hear in Toronto... need
I say more... stay tuned as I'll try to post the pics BEFORE I take a
mini non-salsa vacation this coming weekend... and post all the emails
we have been receiving for the past 10 days! Now back to reality...
July 30, 2003 (from Puerto Rico)
Sun, Fun and Salsa in sunny Puerto Rico!
After
arriving on Friday, July 25th… as a normally insane salsa aficiando,
the first thing you do BEFORE you check into your hotel room is get
your salsa congress pass… Why do you ask... because as it gets close
to the first week, most dancers are lining up for usually more than
an hour to get their pass.
Another bonus was the free café negro and leche that I grabbed while
waiting… then off to the Hotel Miramar where you have a fabulous supermarket
down the street with everything you need, Los Pinos Café for locals
which has a great Mofongo Pollo (mashed plantains formed into a bowl
filled with yummy chicken), and just a 10 minute walk to Caribe Hilton.
But although the San Juan Open World Salsa Competition was on, and we
had Oscar and Vanesa, Pawel and Dora, Sonia and Moris competing from
Canada… only Sonia and Moris made it to the finals and finished in fourth
place. 1st place went to Jhesus and Marielys from NYC, 2nd Place to
Marina and Iberocay from Sweden and 3rd place was Luis and Marta from
Colombina. While these salsa fanatics spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday
competing all afternoon… I spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday sightseeing
all over the island…
On Saturday, I spent the day driving along the northwestern coast to
check out the beaches and then into El Yunque Rainforest. It was a lovely
trip into nature with running streams and waterfalls… and then a very
long uphill climb back to our car which gave me an amazing workout…
and then experienced a detour through the middle of Puerto Rico which
is full of winding hilly terrain and had a rollercoaster ride back to
San Juan.
On Sunday, I spent the day driving towards the northwestern coast to
find beaches, but it was mostly secluded private waterfront beaches
and a trip to the Rio Camuy Caves, the third largest in the world, but
unfortunately, it was full due to the holiday and couldn´t get in and
then zoomed back to San Juan to enjoy the evening at the Puerto Rico
Salsa Congress, which had a live band, but there wasn´t as many dancers
as I suspected because it was before the actual Congress was starting.
I was exhausted so I didn´t have the energy once again to wait to watch
Willie Rosario as I was planning to get up early and go south to the
southwestern coast to try and find a white sandy beach and enjoy some
seafood in a local restaurant.
We
succeeded this time and then decided to take some local central roads
back to San Juan. The only problem with these roads it that they wind
so much in the middle of the island that to so a short distance on the
map literally takes you a couple of hours, and it would have taken possibly
one to two days to drive the center horizontally so we opted back to
the main highways so we could get back to San Juan at a decent hour.
Driving 3 to 5 hours on winding roads seeing all kinds of farm animals…
such as my search for the perfect short of the scrawny little roosters
that kept crossing our path, occasionally seeing a bull or cow on the
side, or how about passing 3 local Puerto Ricans riding horses on a
road that looks like it barely can hold two cars side by side… I have
my own one hour documentary of my 3 day trip across Puerto Rico… moments
never to be forgotten…
And then on Tuesday, it was time to come back to reality as I had my
first Salsa Team Canada practice with 6 cities… it was difficult to
get back into the salsa swing of things, and then spent the afternoon
on the beach to catch some of the sun I missed as we had a mix of sun
and rain each day and a lot of time in the car… and then zooming around
and getting ready for the evening shows.
That´s when I started to finally get back into the salsa groove, I was
even so tired, I forgot where I left my dance shoes, not realizing that
I left them in a corner of the bedroom, which I couldn´t remember and
thought I lost them after the practice. Typical dancer behaviour and
found again thanks to Michelle, the Ottawa Coordinator.
The shows were great, the stage was great, but the best part of the
evening was seeing, hearing and-or dancing to Roberto Roena LIVE! He
rocked, he even danced shines with Papa Tambour from Puerto Rico, along
with Stacey Lopez and Tito Orto… he even had his shoes off and did it
all.. What most dancers don´t realize is the songs we dance to from
these amazing artists, and he had some awesome classics, but the only
song which name comes to mind is Bin Bin and it was off the hook. And
then they had some musician solos that just blew the crowd away, including
a three cowbell solo which was awesome to watch.
It´s one of those moments where I didn´t have my camera and digicamcorder
to videotape those precious moments which will may never come back again
in the same moment of time and feeling but will live forever in my heart…
not including watching some of the fun dancing of the night including
a Puerto Rican couple who looked like friends and just flirted to the
music of Roberto Roena... another snippet never to be forgotten.
What a way to start the Congresso, but I had already missed some of
the salsa greats, such as El Canario and Bobby Valentin. Why were they
playing so early in the week, well they are off to Colombia, and that
was the only time slots available… but at least there´s still the dancing…
Only two more practices with Salsa Team Canada, and we perform on Friday
night. This year is more challenging as we had to wait until we arrived
in Puerto Rico to do our transitions between the cities and learn the
choreography for the finale. Which is made up of shines which I love
so dearly, thank goodness they are simple… I guess I´ll soon become
an expert at those…
Now off to the beach for some sun!
July
23, 2003
Salsa Team Canada
Salsa BBQ by the Lake
Yeah,
I finally posted the photos and the winners of the raffles.
Special thanks goes out to those who donated their time to help make this
party a success (in no particular order): Marc-Anthony the DJ,
Bong the BBQ Chef, Miguel and Pierre at the BBQ and anywhere else I needed
their help, Monica for the Costume Alterations, Pawel & Dora, Jennifer
Aucoin, Dance to Live, United Salseros and my "regulars" who
helped me out with video and photos...
It was an awesome day and night -- great sunshine, perfectly cool weather
for a party, a BBQ beside a beautiful view of the lake, and a great night
of dancing (when I could squeeze in a dance) inbetween running around
like a spring chicken making sure everything was running smoothly between
the door to the BBQ.
I knew it was a success when even the STC dancers from all cities either
told me in person or emailed me to say "they loved the party"
and had a great time in Toronto, as they started partying it up on Friday
at Courthouse where the "dance energy" was hot; then they got
hotter on Saturday at the Argonaut Rowing Club, and then we wound down
and just had fun eating and talking at JJ Muggs on Sunday.
And now we're all scrambling to get ready for Puerto Rico. Sonia and Moris
are already there ensuring all the arrangements are set for Salsa Team
Canada's arrival and they are also preparing to compete once again at
the San Juan Open Salsa Competition. Tonight, Toronto has one last practice
before many of us scramble to leave at the crack of dawn to the airport
-- including me!
July 22, 2003
Dear TOsalsa...
Yikes, take a look at the emails and updates to Dear
TOsalsa and discussion forum... cleaned
them up while I had some spare time inbetween salsa duties...
July 21, 2003
What a Weekend!
Thanks again to everyone who supported us and/or helped us out at the
Fundraiser... and I'll be posting an update before I leave for Puerto
Rico hopefully in the next day or so...
From what I heard through the grapevine and from the STC dancers, everyone
(including us) had an amazing time and it was a great way to end our fundraisers
and prepare us for Puerto Rico!
July
19, 2003
The Salsa Zombie Lives On!
OR
Shall we dance by the Lake?
After a very action-packed work and salsa marathon on Friday from
morning until night... it's amazing what your salsa stamina can handle
based on party prep muscle memory from the two previous parties and
last year's experiences. I almost don't even need a checklist except
to ensure I didn't forget something!
After a fun night at Courthouse when dancers from Ottawa and Montreal
came in and brought new energy into everyone's dancing, it's time
to rehearse and get ready for today's festivities.
You can still buy tickets and there is still space in the workshops.
Where to buy tickets?
You can still get tickets from Super Latin Music at 416-654-2217,
Dance to Live at 416-516-4019 or Jennifer Aucoin at 416-78-14644.
You can also check the "party hotline": 416-988-1389 as
I will advise if we are "sold out", but I advise to get
there early -- between 8-9 pm to ensure you don't have a problem --
unless you already have your tickets.
July
18, 2003
A non-stop weekend of Salsa Team Canada...
My
goodness, it's here already, after 6 months of dance, sweat and more
sweat, we are in the final countdown to Puerto Rico! and it just flew
by before my very eyes... I just finished our own Toronto dance practice
last night and still can't believe how many little details you can
still work on if you can find time to practice again during the week.
The phone and emails have not stopped "ringing" with people
wanting to know if tickets are still available. And they are -- as
I suspected, everyone's waiting until the last minute to buy them
as they find out whether their friends are planning to attend or not.
Where can you still buy them? Well, we'll all be at Courthouse tomorrow
night to welcome the earlybird dancers from Montreal and Ottawa. Also,
Dance to Live, Jennifer Aucoin and Super Latin Music will still be
selling tickets on Saturday.
On Saturday, you can call my cell at 416-988-1389 or this site to
find out details and directions
about the party; but we'll be busy all day in rehearsals until the
workshops start at 5-8 pm, and then the social dancing starts until
the wee hours of the morning, along with a BBQ, great raffle prizes
and dance performances from Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto... with DJ
Mas spinning old and new salsa hits.
On Sunday, STC members will get together for brunch and then bid farewell,
as they all start getting ready to leave for Puerto Rico the following
week for 7 or 10 days. Once again, we will be performing on Friday,
August 1st -- which means we have 4 days of practice with our west
coast cities -- Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver for the first time!
July
16, 2003
Celia Cruz dies at 78...
Also known as the "Queen of Salsa" died last night.
Other Links
Washington
Post
Reuters
Yahoo
Music
Eonline!
July 15, 2003
Salsa Zombie...
Only 3 more days before our fundraiser and I'm already out
of salsa batteries, running on back-up right now... my to-do list just
keeps piling up and so does my non-stop schedule... so if you see me
in the clubs, it's probably just a quick salsa fix before I get back
to the grind to put on the final touches to our Salsa Team Canada Fundraiser
for Saturday... but at the rate I'm going and if I want to be partying
it up on Friday at Courthouse with STC members from Ottawa and Montreal,
then I'm going to be burning the midnight oil until Saturday! It's times
like this that makes me wonder why I always get myself into these situations...
especially as there have been lots more emails from readers in Dear
TOsalsa, Discussion Forum and another
Top 10 Salsa Song List from Italy!
since the weekend!
So a quick way to get my fix is drop off flyers at various clubs, then
get in a quick salsa dance or two, then back to the races... What's
nuttier, is that once non-stop salsa weekend is over, then I have only
4 days to get ready for Puerto Rico; and with Ziv back from Israel,
you can be sure that I will be writing stories from time to time.
July
12, 2003
How Time Flies...
Yikes,
summer is almost half-over and it's amazing how little sleep you can
get by on and then get energized to do more salsa activities, whether
it's running around from city to city or just running around from
work to home to clubs to meetings to phone calls -- non-stop with
a power nap or two to tweak the brain cells back into salsa gear...
But finally I got a chance to update my Dear
TOsalsa section, the Discussion Forum
and a new Top 10 Salsa Song List
all the way from Puerto Rico (how timely) as I'll be there in less
than 2 weeks!
There was about 3 weeks worth of Dear TOsalsa letters and as I was
posting them, I was amazed at the variety of the content from selective
bouncers at the Mayan Club in LA (and why choose my forum to post
his complaint?), to more cuban discussions and debates, and the usual
smattering of who sang that song that Frankie dances to in Puerto
Rico and music translations. You are guaranteed to be as entertained
as I was by those emails.
I also finally had a chance to download my pics from the Ottawa Salsa
Congress, and hopefully those will be up by Monday at the latest...
and then it's the countdown to the Toronto Salsa Team Canada Fundraiser.
The response has been great and please don't wait last-minute to purchase
your tickets, especially for the party, as we can only hold 280 dancers,
of which 60 are made up of Salsa Team Canada members from Toronto,
Ottawa and Montreal, along with some guest performers.
And where have I been dancing? Well, I try to fit
it in when I've had a really stressfully, busy day at work and I need
to let off some steam, which usually hits me mostly on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Fridays and sometimes Sundays. This past week, I got out a little
more as I had to gallavant to various clubs to meet dancers and finalize
details for the party. So I briefly hit, Tequila and Berlin on Tuesday,
but wasn't in the mood to dance, Wednesday I was at Bar One which
had a nice size crowd for social dancing and I got my fix there, then
Thursday I was so exhausted from running around and my STC dance practice,
that I just chilled at home. Then on Friday, I took a mini power nap
after another crazy day of work and went to Courthouse. Ana Hovanessian
was celebrating her bday there and many of the dancers came out to
celebrate with her. Courthouse was absolutely jammed and everyone
was in the most amazingly high spirits that I've seen in a long time.
It was such good energy, and it was fun watching Ana's bday dance
and all of us kidding and joking around together.
In fact it was interesting to see how well some people can dance after
a few too many drinks. I had a dance with Orville after a few too
many, and I couldn't understand why I was being spun 2-3 times each
way in almost every or every other turn pattern... until he confessed...
Mind you, even with a few drinks, it just made the dance more challenging,
although at times a little tipsy-turny...
Anyways, I still must find some time to talk about the Ottawa Fundraiser,
but I also vowed that I would enjoy this summer and it's been awesome
so far...
July 10, 2003
Summer in the City P2
Oops, in my crazy-busy lifestyle, I just realized
I never told anyone where to buy the tickets and they are ready now...
STC stands for dancers selling tickets -- Oscar & Vanesa, Steve
Russell, Steve Voulgaris, Tammy Travassos, Kadir, Amanda Roberts and
myself of course. Tickets will be available at the following clubs
until Friday, July 18th.
Tuesday - Tequila (STC) and Manhattan Fuel (Jennifer Aucoin)
Wednesday - Bar One (STC)
Thursday - Babaluu's (STC)
Friday - Courthouse (STC)
Saturday - Martha Hicks (TBC)
Sunday - Left Bank (STC) and Babaluu (Oscar)
Also Jennifer Aucoin and Dance to Live will also have tickets on hand
to sell starting tonight as I make my rounds with tickets. And Super
Latin Music has also agreed to sell tickets for us!
Please note that STC dancers will also have raffle tickets to sell
as we have some amazing prizes, including a Roundtrip airfare for
2 from Toronto to Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver, compliments of Flight
Centre. You don't have to be at the party to win!
For workshops, you can email me
and reserve a spot. Please note that if you take all 3 workshops and
the party, you also get an extra chance at the raffle prizes and possibly
other bonus goodies. But more details will follow in the next day
or so about this hot party, that hopefully will not burn me out...
not including the fact I still have pics and stories to tell... and
yes, my loyal readers, I haven't forgotten about you, but life is
a little crazy right now... and it is summer after all...
July
3, 2003
Summer in the City...
How
time flies especially when you add another project to your already
full lifestyle. It's been such a busy year for me as work continues
to be super-busy with many deadlines back-to-back, no different to
my summer salsa schedule.
It's less than two weeks to the Toronto Salsa Team Fundraiser and
less than 3 weeks before I leave for Puerto Rico, and inbetween there's
planning, organizing, dance practices, volunteer teaching, website
updates that are coming out of my ying-yang, and some dancing for
a little stress release. Not including all the fun from the Ottawa
Fundraiser last weekend and the pics! and some readers have been begging
for the LA videoclips, but I just don't have enough time unless I
get no sleep at all until after the non-stop summer salsa schedule
calms down. But you just never know with me...
And while in Ottawa this last weekend, we finalized the workshops
and the shows for Toronto's Salsa Team Canada BBQ Salsa Party by the
Lake on Saturday, July 19th. It's guaranteed to be the salsa summer
party not-to-be-missed as we can only hold about 280 dancers of which
60-70 alone, will be dancers and performers from Ottawa, Montreal
and Toronto.
The workshops are not-to-be missed as you have:
5 pm: Shines with Edson from Montreal, who's got a great repertoire
of shines and is an up-and-coming instructor to watch out for and
one of my favourite social dancers who's helping to bring out a new
croup of pro dancers who can dance on 1 and 2. An inspiration for
tall dancers as he's 6 feet tall!
6pm: Turn Patterns with Oscar and Vanesa from Toronto. What can I
say about them, as they are one of Toronto's most-popular couples
to watch anytime. Oscar has been in the Toronto scene for over 10
years and someone you can never stop watching as he can throw down
tricks in any setting with almost any dancer off the floor.
7pm: Guaganco (body movement) with Moris. Why this class? Well, when
I was at the Ottawa Salsa Congress last year, it was one of the largest
classes as everyone wanted to learn more salsa body movement. And
since Toronto has matured as a salsa city, we are always looking to
improve our technique, and with the popularity of the afro-cuban movement
classes, this seemed like a perfect chance to get Moris to teach it
in Toronto.
Here's another dancer you can have fun dancing with and is "easy
on the eyes" (wink wink)... Also, he's an inspiration for anyone
to watch if you see his connection with Sonia as I've watched them
since they first competed 3 years ago in Toronto at the Berlin Salsa
Competition... They just keep raising the bar on every level... I
know of many female dancers who would love to have their partner look
upon them the same way... Don't believe me, just look at him when
he's dancing with his wife, Sonia.
Also, we'll have about 11 performances from Ottawa, Montreal
and Toronto, including top finalists from the Pro Division, Sonia
& Moris, Pawel & Dora, and possibly Orville & Ana (TBC).
We also have group performances by Dance to Live, Salsa Etc Dancers
(and we may be getting their whole team of 10 dancers doing the Egyptian
Routine that blew my mind at the Ottawa Salsa Congress) and the premiere
performance of the East Coast STC Show that will be performed in Puerto
Rico.
And then there's the fabulous prize of a Toronto round-trip ticket
to Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver, compliments of Travel Centre and
West Jet Airlines, thanks to Amanda! and many more prizes to be announced...
And finally the BBQ... we'll be having hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken
all night long (unless we sell out), and of course being the last
STC fundraiser and party -- you can be sure that the social dancing
will be a blast. I was amazed at how much everyone has improved in
the past year. So you will be guaranteed to get your fix with all
the great dancers from Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto under one roof
-- dancing on 1 OR 2....
Definitely a party you won't want to miss...
June 30, 2003
Salsa Party Central P2
Just got back and all I can say was "Go Rose", "Go Sonia",
"Go Salsa Team Canada", and many other thoughts as it was
a weekend to remember as it was all about salsa in its many different
facets. Alluding to salsa as a "diamond" where dependent on
where the light does shine, you will view it differently; and that's
how multi-faceted the weekend was... Unfortunately, I did not make it
to the TLN Latinfest in Toronto as I was still on the road; but for
the best of reasons which will be written soon, along with pics... And
if I wasn't so exhausted (6 hours of sleep in 2 days), it would have
been written already as I usually like to write while my memories flow
freely, but it's a long one. And for those of you lucky enough to have
the day off, enjoy, summer only comes once a year...
June
28, 2003
Salsa Party Central...
Well as I decided to have a few dances at Courthouse before
I head off to Ottawa in the wee hours of the morning... it ended up
being a fun night to just let loose after a very busy week of work and
more work. And it's amazing how much energy you can have in one night
if you haven't been out in the clubs for over a week.
And then tomorrow night in Ottawa for Salsa Team Canada we'll be holding
workshops, lots of dance performances and a great night of dancing at
VOX Lounge.
While back in Toronto, it sounds like there's going to be a fun night
of partying at a special salsa and latin dance party at York Event Theatre
(n/e corner of Yonge & Eglinton); with live band, DJ, salsa go-go
dancers, dance performances and more until 3 am in the morning. Unfortunately
I can't be in two places, but you can be sure I'll probably be getting
the scoop and have been promised alot of great pics from the event.
If you don't want to pay $20 at the door, you can head over to Super
Latin Music who will be selling tickets for $15.
Then on Sunday, when I get back, it's time for the TLN Latinfest with
the salsa sensation Frankie Negron, merengue house marvel Magic Juan,
Puerto Rican pop sensation and ex lead vocalist of popular group Son
by Four Angel Lopez, and direct from the Dominican Republic, rising
bachata artist Joe Veras. Hmmm, I wonder if I'll have as much as I did
last year with Huey Dunbar and Oro Solido... it remains to be seen...
June
24, 2003
Woohoo!
As
I was surfing, I decided to see where we ranked on Google.com under
"salsa dancing" and we are presently ranked as the #2 salsa
dancing website!
And for those of you who love Oscar de Leon's music, here's the latest
info on his health...
Oscar De Leon Recuperating!
Last week Friday, Oscar De Leon suffered 3 heart attacks
while performing in Martinique, Caribbean Island. Medical tests discovered
that he had 3 heart attacks, 1 on the stage while performing and 2
more in the hospital. The diagnosis of the heart attacks were due
to high cholesterol and he will have to control his diet in the future.
After speaking with Oscar De Leon's management office in Miami we
were informed that Oscar is currently in stable condition. He is currently
back home in Caracas, Venezuela. Oscar, who will celebrate his 60th
birthday on July 11th, is already feeling great and wants to continue
with his touring schedule but according to doctor's orders he is required
to take a short rest period. Within 2 weeks he will continue with
his tour to Europe for 1 month.
June
23, 2003
The continuing saga of Dancer's Etiquette...
OR
How NOT to get more dances...
Well,
summer is finally here and how could I stay home and not take the
time to at least get a few hours of dancing in, so I decided to check
out Babaluu's on a Sunday as I haven't been there in at over 3? months.
It was comfortably crowded for dancing, not as busy as it used to
be in previous years, but ran into some regulars I normally don't
see anywhere else that I've known from previous years who only come
out once in awhile so it's always nice to catch up either by talking
or having some fun dances.
And some male dancers seem to have a tendency to forget WHY a girl
might enjoy dancing with you? Is it the amount of great new moves
you know? No, sometmes that might make it more interesting if you
dance with the guy on a regular basis in the clubs. New moves can
make it more interesting if you only do all the same, old predictable
moves consistently each week in the same non-emotional style. We don't
lead, you do, but we need to follow well.
Is it the amount of shines you know? No, some girls actually don't
like shines and/or don't like it when it seems their partner wants
to "show off" if you're not connecting to your partner while
doing it.
Is it how many dips and tricks you know? Most times, no, because if
you're not very good at it, you'll have her bumped into and stepped
on by yourself or other dancers around her.
Well, have you figured it out yet? It's the connection!
It's not always about how well you can dance or not dance (unless
you have a very rough lead or are totally inconsiderate of your partner),
it's whether you are connecting with your partner... Are you sharing
the love of the music together? Are you paying attention to your partner
-- certainly not by a piercing stare the whole time, or by looking
at everyone around you... but smiling at your partner as you lead
her through the dance with whatever moves strikes your fancy. You'll
see that many of the most fun dancers to dance with are fun because
they pay attention to their partner and get that same energy back;
and it even doubles in bonus points if it's to one of your favourite
songs. It's how you both feel and enjoy the music together. And if
you have the same girl coming back to you for a dance, then you know
you have done your job.
For example, I danced to some of my favourite songs with a dancer
who knew mostly the old Toronto-style. He apologized that he didn't
have a lot of moves, BUT he forgot that he was so much fun to dance
with because he emanated his enjoyment of the dance through his simple
moves with simple grace and style and by paying attention to me and
not to who was looking.
It also doesn't hurt when he has great rhythm, a nice smile, dresses
nicely and takes care of himself by working out (bonus) and is down-to-earth.
versus a Latino, who asked me for a dance, saying
he was a beginner and would be happy if I showed him some advanced
moves. (Ah, I'm here to have fun, not give a dance lesson).
And then during the whole dance, he just went through the motions,
looked at the crowd around me, and asked me how he was doing, then
looked away again the whole time until the end of the song. You can
imagine how much enjoyment I got out of that dance and I just couldn't
wait for it to end so I could politely say "Thank you" with
a whole new meaning. Of course by that time, I was ready to end the
dance but he seemed to think that I would be more than happy to dance
another -- not!
But all in all, a nice evening amongst old friends.
And just when I thought it was the only the ladies who had these problems,
I got to hear one of my original male friend's worst dancing nightmare
at El Rancho's since the time he had a girl who dipped herself and
then proceeded to bounce off other dancers around her like a pinball
machine (to the utter horror of my friend who watched it all in slow
motion) while other dancers were mad at him thinking he didn't have
any control over his partner. He was devastated that night and left
early because he couldn't believe that his partner just decided to
dip herself and he didn't have enough time to "save her"
and he looked like the guilty party when he was totally innocent.
He was one of my favourite dip partners at the time -- a total natural
and knew exactly how to execute them.
Well, his latest dance horror story had me totally in stitches (while
being thankful that it has never happened to me). Ladies, what is
this world coming to? Yes, clubs do get hot and many dancers unfortunately
do sweat. Many male dancers do bring a change of tops for hygiene;
but this had to be the icing on the cake from a Female. Imagine dancing
with your partner, she wipes her hands off her sweaty face and sweaty
arms to then proceed to wipe them on my friend's shirt while all he
could do was watch in utter frozen horror once again! His immediate
thoughts were "how could she -- how totally disgusting -- I can't
wait to end this dance!" I even asked why he just didn't say
something and get off the floor, but he was in such shock, and is
so used to ending the dance at the end of the song as a gentleman
should -- he waited until the song was over, thanked her and promptly
left after the dance.
Dancers, please remember your manners... and remember, actions speak
louder than words.
June
21, 2003
Summer is FINALLY here!
Yippee, we are finally getting amazing weather perfect for having fun
in the sun! And for those of you who keep worrying and emailing us about
SARS in Toronto, well, I just don't know what all the hoopla is about
because it hasn't stopped us dancers from doing anything we don't normally
do everday and we don't wear masks!
And after a small siesta, it seems dancers are starting to write in
more regularly once again... check out Dear TOsalsa, my Top 10 Salsa
Song List and Discussion Forum on this page...
Hopefully by next week, I'll be able to start dancing again a little
more regularly and then next weekend I'll be in Ottawa for our STC fundraiser...
You may also want to check out the action next weekend in Montreal as
the Jazz Festival will feature Spanish Harlem Orchestra on Monday, July
1st at 9:30 pm... You don't want to miss them as they had a grammy-nominated
album last year and some of the best on2 music everyone was raving about
last year... and is still one of my favourite albums. 3 weeks later,
we'll be having a BBQ dance party in TO and then I'm off for sunny Puerto
Rico! How time does fly?!
June
16, 2003
More News from the West...
OR
What does it take to really be a STC Member?!?
Sonia
just got back from the West Coast Salsa Team Canada Fundraiser and apparently
it was alot of fun... And for all those dancers who feel they are country-bumpkins
to the east, well you sure impressed Sonia with your inventive shows
and enthusiasm.
As always, we have moments of bonding we will always remember... and
in this case it was at the end of the night when they were closing up
shop. Just as they packed up the last of the equipment and supplies,
Maria's car (Edmonton Coordinator) got a flat; and luckily some of the
other dancers hadn't left yet. Of course everyone pitched in to help,
but in their excite-ment, another dancer locked his keys in the car.
What was hilarious about this, is that we had almost exactly the same
incident in Ottawa last year. Everyone was searching around for the
missing car keys in the dark parking lot and inside the party room,
to only find out in all the commotion that it was in someone's bag the
whole time, and of course, the dancer insisted they had checked it out
already. Needless to say, some helpful dancers were not amused to be
missing out on all the dancing inside...
In the meantime, back in Edmonton, they found a coat hanger and proceeded
to pry it open when conveniently a cop came along and they had to convince
him they were legit and from Team Canada; and he said "Team what?"
and during all this commotion they videotaped the whole incident including
the cop. Oh the memories...
Remember,
you can email or let us know
in person, any updates, feedback or suggestions on what you would
like to read.
|
Highlights
of Toronto's Summer of Salsa 2003
