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Wow !!
It's hard to believe it's been just over 6 months since we've started TOsalsa. So much has happened in such a short amount of time! We've seen conventions, competitions, workshops, parties, festivals, concerts among other events, and we’ve tried our best to report them all to you. When we started out, TOsalsa had five basic goals in mind:
Of course, TOsalsa does not accomplish this by itself. Our purpose was to support others in achieving these goals. The promoters, instructors and dancers are the ones who directly develop the Toronto salsa scene.
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Goal #1: Popularity of Salsa in Toronto
Has salsa become more popular? Let’s see... We now have many new salsa clubs. In June alone, we had 10 new club openings! Of course they don't all last - many close down very soon after they open, but a few (good ones) remain. And right now, dancers have more clubbing options than ever before. Here are some of the clubs that have opened new successful salsa nights:
- Left Bank (Sundays) And just recently, two more clubs have opened up - Club OV on Mondays and Palazzo on Fridays, we’ll wait and see how they turn out! The important thing is, we can now dance every night of the week at a different club if we so desire, and on most nights we have multiple choices. Toronto has never seen so much variety. Toronto also now has three official dance groups : Strickly Salsa, Los Salsomanos, and the very recently formed Salsa All Stars. If you have not seen them perform already, most likely you will in the near future. It takes a LOT of work and effort to put together a dance group, so please do support the dancers whenever possible. Toronto is lucky to have them! Lastly, Toronto also has more salsa instructors now than ever before. This is great for students. But most imortantly, after talking with various salsa instructors in Toronto, we are happy to report that there appears to be a strong increase in demand for lessons. Students are lining up to learn how to salsa. That's really great news! More clubs, more dance groups, more instructors, and more dancers. So, has salsa increased in popularity? YOU BET!!! Goal #2: Become a source for Toronto Dancers We're really proud to announce that we’ve seen our readership increase every month, along with our mailing list which is your last-minute updates, and first warning to what's happening in the Toronto scene. We'll keep on trying to provide dancers with all the hot salsa events and all the juicy salsa news they can handle. Thank you so much for your support and feedback !!! Goal #3: Help improve skills of Toronto Dancers Quality is no less important than quantity. Has the quality of dancing changed in the last 6 months? Oh yeah! Just look around you. A before and after video would prove it. Many of the Toronto dancers look as if they stepped off a plane from LA or NY! This dramatic change in our dance style is largely due to the Toronto instructors who provide great classes and/or workshops. As we've mentioned before, Toronto has more salsa instructors than ever before, providing a variety of lessons in the different styles of Salsa. You can learn traditional Toronto style, NY, LA and/or Miami Casino Rueda. You can also take a class on shines, ladies and/or men's styling. You can find more instructors information in TOsalsa's Instructors section, or workshop information on the events section. We believe Toronto salsa has never been stronger. Remember Spring traditionally kicks off salsa competition time in Toronto. You can be sure that we'll get to see some fabulous performances. Watch out! Goal #4: Help bring more events such as workshops and competitions to Toronto Since the Toronto SalsaWeb Convention, we also had some great guest workshop instructors from out-of-town, such as Seaon Bristol (LA) and Luis Zegarra (NY). In August, there will be a SalsaWeb Reunion in Toronto. You can be sure that we'll be seeing a lot of instructors and dancers from all over the world. Count on TOsalsa to keep you informed about upcoming workshops, competitions and other great events you don't want to miss. Goal #5: Put Toronto on the map Why do we want to put Toronto on the map? Easy, we want more great dancers to come to Toronto so we can learn from them. By increasing the popularity and level of salsa in Toronto, we'll attract international attention. We think that's quite important. Has Toronto improved its international prestige? Let's look at the last 6 months... For the Toronto SalsaWeb Convention, we’re sure some of the out of town dancers had to look us up on the map. Not only did they learn that we do not live in igloos, but we salsa -- on 1, on 2, and Miami-style! We’d like to thank (again) SalsaWeb and Wepa Productions for bringing us this awesome experience. Toronto salsa has forever changed. In addition, Toronto has recently made its mark abroad. The following are three examples of Toronto dancers exhibiting their talent in major salsa events in other cities:
Strickly Salsa Dance Company was the first Toronto group to perform on an international level. They performed at the Toronto SalsaWeb Convention in April, the (huge) Los Angeles Bacardi Salsa Congress in May and the Montreal Salsa Congress in August. This is a great accomplishment for Toronto, thanks to the efforts of Strickly Salsa dancers. We have shown the world we are on the map. Way to go!! Los Salsomanos dance company actually instructed at the Toronto Convention, and very recently instructed in Washington DC as part of the SalsaWeb Reunion. Not only the dancers but also the instructors in Toronto have elevated their skills! And lastly, Toronto's Bong and Trionne recently competed on our Thanksgiving weekend, and won the Washington SalsaWeb Reunion Amateur Competition, competing against dancers from all over the world. Congratulations! What does this mean to Toronto dancers? Firstly, it means dancers no longer need to travel to see or learn from great talent. We’ve got some homegrown dancers that deliver. We do highly encourage to check out the dancing or salsa conventions outside of Toronto, you will be inspired by all the wonderful dancers from around the world. However for the many dancers who cannot afford the time, there is a lot to learn right here at home. Secondly, with more Toronto dancers travelling and networking with other international dancers and instructors, we may start peaking their interest even further to visit Toronto to teach, dance, perform and/or compete.
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After 6 months
Looking good Toronto! Toronto salsa is changing fast, and TOsalsa is hanging in for the ride. TOsalsa would like to thank everyone who took part in shaping the scene. Most of the credit goes to the great Toronto instructors who work hard to develop great dancers. Many of these instructors train also, and some even travel abroad to learn new dance styles/steps to bring back to their students. In addition, some promoters have created and organized special workshops, and brought out-of-town instructors to Toronto, again for the benefit of the students. The results of all these efforts are apparent in the clubs today. If the next six months will be a continuation of the last six months, we’re in for some great times ! Where is TOsalsa heading next? We have lots of ideas and plans which will improve our services, and help the "Toronto Salsa Cause". It is a lot of work and involves sleepless nights - progress is not always fast, but it will come, slowly but surely. Some of the more immediate plans include completing the Travel Diary section, adding salsa bands section, and the long promised (and asked for) partner search. These however are only a fraction of our plans. Stay tuned. It has truly been our pleasure to host TOsalsa over the last 6 months, and we look forward to many more months of success. We have you - our readers who dance - to thank for your support and great feedback. See you on the dance floor !
Ziv and Rose
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