It was probably the very first time I spent my Valentine’s Day with a crowd of ladies… Yes, I mean a big crowd! Oh, that was not because I became a great playboy this year, but I became a Salsero who attended the 2nd HONG KONG SALSA CONGRESS held from 14th till 16th of February 2003, joining hundreds of dancers from all around the world.

4Corners, a team of 4 active local Salsa instructors who came from different places, organized the second round of the big event together with famous Albert Torres, the world no.1 promoter of Salsa who has been pushing the passionate dance with his very effort for years and helped bringing Salsa congress to everywhere around the world. Taking the experience from the 1st HKSC, the organizers promised to bring an even better 2nd round – and they fulfilled it.

The biggest improvement was obvious. We moved to Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, one of the newest, largest and most beautiful – the inspiration of the gray silver roof design came from flying seagull -- exhibition facilities in Asia, sitting in the center of the charming Victoria Harbor. This is the same venue of the historic Hong Kong Hand-over Ceremony in July 1997. Taking advantage of the enormous building, this year we had the workshops running in 3 different large meeting rooms simultaneously, while the evening show took place in another hall.

In fact, the whole congress week was kicked off by 2 warm-up parties on 12th and 13th of February. Unfortunately both of them I did not attend – not because I was not interested but I was too busy, working hard on our rehearsals. This year, I was in the performance troupe Salsa Dynamic formed by local instructor Franky Wong, one of the 4Corners. Actually Franky, and his charming partner Chris, have been my very respected Salsa teacher and as well very nice friends of mine ever since I entered the Salsa world a year ago. Following them, I have taken parts in several performances through out the past year, and this time was my first congress debut.

And then there was the Valentine’s evening with many beauties – I mean the official Welcome Party of the congress on 14 Feb – and handsome guys, as well. Dancers from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Australia, and of course US and UK all got so hot showing off their gorgeous styles on the crowded dance floor of Regal HK Hotel. There, Albert Torres introduced the performers of the congress evening show, as well the famous instructors from different places.

At the Valentine’s evening party, I was given a mission by 4Corners -- to pick up some of the instructors to the venue on the congress day, 15 Feb. That was the reason why I got up at 7am on Saturday, and had my sandwiches and coffee all sucked into my stomach during the walk towards the hotel. Very soon coming down the lobby were the very nice and charming Duplessey Monic-Walker, the niece of the legendary “Mambo King” Eddie Torres, and her gentle partner José Antonio Medrano from New York City. Several minutes later, the big energetic guy, Rudy Zales – director of Royalty Dance Academy from Los Angeles, and 1st Runner Up of 2002 Club Mayan Professional Championship Final – appeared, after sweating in a morning run around the district. After Jennifer Silva -- the beautiful partner of Rudy -- saying hello to us, we headed to the congress venue by squeezing into a little cab, rushing for kicking off the morning workshops before 9 o’clock.

Besides the names I mentioned, there were also other instructors including Juan "Pachanga" Matos and Nancy "Chacon" Ortiz from NYC, Alexis Ruiz from Osaka Japan, Spin and Nari Son from Korea, and Gupson Pierre from Singapore. With the workshops in all level (from basic Cha-Cha-Cha by Duplessey to show moves by Rudy and Jen), we spent a very busy day and danced till we did not feel our feet… However, it was all a worth-it, simply because it was such a valuable learning experience following these big names from around the world.

I joined all three workshops by Rudy and Jen, except the show moves. Oh my goodness, with tons of humor Rudy made his workshops all filled with non-stop burst-out. Here’s the advice for attending his workshops: prepare to keep smiling or laughing for the whole hour! Otherwise he would pick you out and ask you “hey are you mad at me???” According to him, the three important rules of doing Salsa in the clubs are: “1. SMILE; 2. EYE CONTACT; 3. RESPECT – always go back with the girl to where you invited her…” Besides the fun, Rudy’s energetic way of Salsa left me deep impression, as well his detailed leading techniques. And surely, not to mention Jen’s sexy styling and smooth spinning.

Also I joined the Cha-Cha-Cha workshop by Duplessey and José. Since I always had to stand aside and rest while the Cha-Cha-Cha music plays in the parties, I could not afford to miss out their workshop. Especially while I don’t dance Mambo, it was the only hour I could try out their class. As imagined, Duplessey showed us she is a very nice and detailed teacher – very possibly because of the influence from her uncle – with sometimes her cute behavior and girlish laughter. While Duplessey was leading the class on the stage, José often came down into the crowd and danced together with us. He helped everyone whoever had problems following the class with patience. Ladies, let me tell you something: José is really a gentleman, with very nice character and very warm smile all the time – his smile was so cute, especially when he showed his “vampire” teeth. That was really interesting. Duplessey and José, what a charming couple and great dancers.

For most of the dancers who joined the congress, sweating time ends at about 5pm (and started again after the evening show). However, to those who participated in the show, the real game was just to be kicked off. The official rehearsal began right after all workshops ended. Although the stage was not finished yet, and the lighting effects were not ready, we, Salsa Dynamic stepped on the stage first and pre-showed the others what we had been working on through out the past 1.5 months. I am still not sure if it was only illusion or what, I noticed that the music played slower than the speed we were used to when practicing. Quite “spooky”… but it was true, everyone had the same symptom when dancing on the stage. Seemed like the time went slower around the stage area, though we were not dancing in the speed of light. Strange…

Guys in our troupe spent half an hour in the restroom. Many things I did there: got dressed, got my hair washed, gelled it up, and sprayed it – all into silver! That was our crazy idea, to get the hair color matching our silver shirt. Wow, how cool. However when I saw the ladies all dressed up in the backstage, oh my goodness, we were nothing at all… Yes, ladies always know how to stun the guys! (Especially the 12 babes of Aslas, another troupe from HK…)

After the audience all sat down in the large hall, lights out – and, show time!

About the show, not much should be transferred into words – words can never describe how elegant and stylish Duplessey and José partnered (Oh the extra sexy white dress of Duplessey…), how fast and smooth Nancy and Juan’s steps were, how crazy and cool Alexis spun, nor how energetic and stunning Rudy and Jen got their serial of show moves done! They should be what you check it out by yourself. Good news is, 4Corners will release the DVD of the 2nd HK Salsa Congress very soon. That would be a great chance you feel the fun of the congress and as well the taste of HK Salsa scene.

(Don’t forget to keep an eye on the guy in Salsa Dynamic team with silver punk hair – yes that’s me!)

-- To find out more about HK Salsa scene you can always check out http://www.hksalsa.com, where the HK Salsaros/ras leave their messages, and a calendar section for the party venues and schedules