"Latin Madness in NYC!"
or
Rose Knows Goes to ... New York City!
April 26 - 30, 2001

Article and Pics by Rose Knows (July 15, 2001)

Finally, after making friends with so many people from NYC over the last year, I had a great excuse to finally go and check out the Big Apple -- the "Latin Madness Mambo Musical", co-produced by Nelson Flores and Carlos Mendoza! Thanks to an email from Steve Shaw of www.salsanewyork.com on March 14th, I read:

This is the dynamic new mambo musical (produced by Nelson Flores of Descarga Latina & Carlos Mendoza of the Side Street Kids) that guides audiences through the last 25 years of the ever-changing NY Latin dance scene. This is not simply a dance performance. It is a big musical-dramatic-comedy Off-Broadway production with great music and dance, fun and laughter, showcasing some of New York's finest mambo dancers. It is of interest not only to dancers, but also to theater, music and dance lovers, so please invite your non-dancer friends and families. This is an absolute "FIRST" in New York mambo & theatrical history. There has never before been a theatrical, dramatic, musical about the NY world of mambo, and it could only be done right by some of our own. This is not Vanessa Williams after a salsa crash-course. This is the authentic real deal, by the real salseros who have lived it everyday in the rich urban New York mambo culture. Tickets have gone on sale for this Off-Broadway Mambo Play "Latin Madness", and are going fast, so we suggest reserving your tickets as soon as possible. For complete details including how and where to get your tickets, see our writeup on the NY News page at http://www.salsanewyork.com/magazine/news.htm#latin_madness.

Well, after I read that and flipped over to that section, I got goose-bumps, then was totally thrilled -- thinking what a fabulous idea Nelson had, knew it was "history in the making", and quickly emailed him about this event and that I wanted to get a group from Toronto to go. Then I got so busy I forgot about it for a few weeks, then called him directly. I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered me, as we did meet briefly last April in Toronto and then again at the West Coast Salsa Congress one night with Mark and Nicole of Soles Dance Studio for about half an hour or more.

We had another pleasant chat about all the typical things salsaholics talk about and discussed details about the show, itinerary, etc. After that, time flew as I had to quickly plan, find out who was going, and in the meantime, got a chance (thanks to Body Chemistry) to post a pair of tickets to be given away on our site to "Latin Madness" which was open to anyone who could go for a Saturday night performance. Thanks to Nelson Flores, it turned into a pair of front row seats to watch the show! After, I emailed SalsaNewYork and the surrounding cities about this promotion, we had our own "madness" started with people entering from Toronto and the eastern parts of the United States.

Thursday, April 26th, 2001

I decided to leave for New York on Thursday, April 26th to give me time to experience the New York night life, enjoy the show, the city, the shopping and the salsa scene with Karem Rodriguez and Steve Russell. Our first night was spent at Latin Quarter with our "tour guide", Dave Paris. It's the usual salsa hangout for dancers on a Thursday night, but it was unusually devoid of many regulars. Luckily for me, a New York dancer (whom I originally met in Toronto) also showed up that night and introduced me to some great "on 2" dancers. Because we arrived early, we didn't have to pay a $10 cover charge and got to hear and dance to a great salsa and a merengue band. Because I decided to keep to the rule of not refusing a dance based on "appearance", I had the misfortune (at the fun expense of my friends) to dance with a 'asian' guy who reminded me of one of the crazy characters in "Strictly Ballroom" with his very exaggerated salsa dance poses. I suffered terribly through that dance and was told by Dave that everyone avoids him. (A little too late, Dave).

Later in the evening, they played a section of house and merengue. Another difference there, is how close you dance with your partner in Merengue -- that took a little getting used to; but I had a blast dancing with all the "latin lovers", including an older gentleman wearing a black fedora, a columbian (who supposedly had a film co.) and a cute Dominican-Chinese. Apparently, they can spot "newcomers" and will ask you for a dance (and hopefully more), so I literally got to dance non-stop all night and had a blast! By the time we left, we didn't get to bed until around 4 am!

Friday, April 27th, 2001

On Friday morning, we unwillingly woke up at about 9:30 am to get ready to go downtown and shop, then go to a workshop and check out Copacabana's since it was my first time. Karem gave me great advice -- dress comfortably as we had a full day of walking and to bring a change of clothes for the workshop and the evening. We were staying out in Brooklyn which is about one hour's subway ride into the City! So it didn't make sense to waste time travelling back and forth. Luckily I was already mentally prepared for this type of "get up and go" from previous salsa trips, but not to the extent of using a backpack to keep myself organized. Not only did I need to bring a change of clothes, shoes and bottled water, but I also lugged along a video camera and a camera! Luckily, I was smart enough to wear a pair of birkenstocks for walking.

It was a beautiful sunny, Spring day as we walked the streets shopping. I had forgotten how large the city was and found some bargains. In the meantime, I also decided to purchase a US$5 phone card thinking it would last me the whole trip (after all in Toronto, we only pay $0.25 for one unlimited phone call). On my first call to a local New Yorker, we must have talked for half an hour and the card told me I only had $2.50 remaining! I totally freaked and realized that you get charged for every minute of talking -- you'd think someone would warn me about that!

As the evening approached, I took a beginner-intermediate workshop with Delille Thomas on Friday night and thoroughly enjoyed it. He concentrated on dance technique and styling with some partner work in the last half-hour. Apparently, he's one of the few instructors who breaks down proper technique and styling which helps me to understand the New York styling a lot better. He was also an original ex-Eddie Torres dance performer and can be seen in Eddie's instructional video. There was a second class for intermediate-advanced, but by this time I was too tired to take in anymore information as I had no time to nap; so I relaxed and made a few phone calls to other New York friends.

Afterwards, we went to Copacabana, I was lucky enough to have a friend who could put us on the guest list, as the cover charge was about US$25/each. That night, Jose Alberto "El Canario" was playing, but I found his set a little short; and again, they also had a merengue band beforehand. The DJ music again was fabulous and the nightclub was what I expected in terms of size and look.

Again, another New York dancer I knew showed up and introduced me to an older gentlemen "who was a great dancer". At that time, I didn't know it, but it was Joe Wieder who occasionally has articles in SalsaNewYork.com which I had read in the past. Apparently, he's a regular at the Copacabana and can be seen every Friday and Saturday there. I had a couple of dances on 2 with him, he definitely knew his stuff and was a lot of fun to dance with -- a very smooth, classy dancers with some neat combinations. That was another surprise from dancing in New York, is the wider range in ages. You have every age group dancing in New York and they all can dance really well. Again that night, there was another "wacky" dancer who was dancing "crazily" to merengue songs which had the crowd entertained; and later in the evening, we spotted a lady who had the chutzpah to wear a see-through top with no bra! But again, it's not a place to go to on a Friday night if you want to hang out with the New York regulars. We didn't stay too late because we were tired and knew we had lots to do in the days ahead. Plus to save money, we were taking the subway which meant walking and a 45-min. ride back to Brooklyn.

Saturday, April 28th, 2001

On Sunday, we took it easy and hung around Brooklyn, had a nice, relaxing brunch of Eggs Cubano with Beans. Then I went to the Brookly Library so I could go on the internet. The Brooklyn Public Library is unbelievably huge -- looks more like a museum than a library and has large flat-screen computers with fast internet connection! I spent a few hours there, checking email and updating some stuff for Ziv back in Toronto.

Then Saturday night, it was finally time for the Latin Madness performance. Although I knew the potential calibre of the New York dance groups and the level of their dancing from the three dance conventions I attended last year in Toronto (April), West Coast (LA) and in Montreal -- nothing prepared me for the non-stop salsa action I was about to see. Unfortunately I arrived a bit late due to the ever-crazy construction from the New York Subway system -- it took me an hour-and-a-half to get there from Brooklyn. I arrived just in time to see the last-half of Mamaguela from the Santo Rico Dance Co. What was lucky for me was that Nelson was kind enough to have me sit beside Steve Shaw of Salsanewyork.com who filled me in on who the dancers were that I wasn't familiar with. Click here for all the Latin Madness highlights.

After the show, I met up with Robert Vidal, an ex-Addietude performer, who had visited us in Toronto last August. Everyone was going to the Wild Palm Nightclub in the Bronx (and if you didn't have a car, it was definitely a very long and expensive ride away). Some of the cast were there and I mingled and had a dance with Dave Paris (whom I always enjoy dancing with), Robert Vidal (to see if my on 2 was getting any better since I met him last year), Milton Cobo (who has also been to Toronto a few times), Mario Gonzales (Mambo Mamas NYC who was a lot of fun to dance with), Steve Shaw (who surprised me as I didn't realize how proficient he was on 2) and lastly, Nelson Flores (his sacrifice dance for the night!). My dance with him made me realize I had a long way to go before I would be proficient on 2 and I don't know who was tortured more -- him or I! It was a late night and we didn't get to sleep until 5 am that morning!

Sunday, April 29th, 2001

On Sunday, I took it easy and decided to go back and see "Latin Madness" again from the very beginning. So this time, I made sure that I got there at least half-an-hour before the show began.

There was so much to see and remember from the first night that it was amazing how much of it you could forget until you see it again for the second time. It was just as enjoyable as you have a chance to look at it differently, the same way you can watch a movie over and over and still catch things you didn't see the first time. There were some out-of-town dancers who went all three (3) nights to watch the show!

Afterwards, I went backstage hoping to get some pics and interviews, but the dancers were just so tired and happy it was over that it was impossible to do anything. That evening, we had a chance to go to China Club and celebrate with the Cast, but I decided to take it easy, have a sit-down dinner with a friend and then crashed back at the hotel.

Monday, April 30th, 2001

On Monday, I decided to shop around the World Trade Centre area and go to the library until it was time to go to Hush Nightclub -- which was the new hotspot hosted by Henry Knowles. I was looking forward to it as I wanted to see Frankie Martinez and the Abakua Dancers perform again upclose and take his introductory class that he offers there.

I was also hoping that Tony Meredith and Melanie LePatin (professional latin ballroom dancers) would also show up that night as I had read that they do go there occasionally to dance. I wasn't disappointed -- I've seen them many times on television and have always wanted to meet them. I went up to Melanie and introduced myself, mentioned that I was also going to be at the Detroit Bacardi Salsa Congress in May (where they would be teaching) and if I could have a quick picture with them. I would have liked to have spent some time talking to them, but it was obvious they were there to chill; so I respected that and walked around the club to see the rest of the action.

When Frankie Martinez finally showed up, I waited until his intro class was over and had a chance to go over and talk to him. He was also someone else I was curious to meet as there was a great buzz in Toronto from many dancers who were totally in love with his style of dancing. After seeing his choreography of La Libertad (more afro-cuban from the roots of salsa) and Matrix (modern salsa based on Aisha's new haircut which reminded him of the movie) -- I could see why.

Frankie and Aisha are very down-to-earth and easy to talk to -- and they took the time to sit with me and talk about themselves and their dancing. We must have talked for at least 45 minutes about how they both got started in dancing and how it evolved to the present. It was fascinating to talk to him as his background comes from Martial Arts and he spends alot of time researching the roots of the dance and the music.

Then it was time for them to get ready for their show and I went out to see what was happening outside. The music in the club as always was great and many dancers were out that night including Caribbean Soul, Nick Robinson, Abbey from Mambo Mamas and even Seaon Bristol was in town. As for dancing, I had a sacrifice dance with a 61-year old who did not know how to salsa, then I had some fun dances with Fernando Lamadrid (justsalsa.com), Ron McGugins (promoter for Wayne Gorbea), another funky dancer who was just a social dancer but had great styling, and I actuallly had the nerve to ask Frankie Martinez for a dance on 2 later in the evening. I can't say it was bad dance since Frankie would only do basic patterns; but it seemed it really wasn't in the mood, and was too polite to say 'No'.

When it was time for Abakua to perform -- it was great to see it upclose once again. Click here for the pics I took before and during the show.

After the show, more dancers seemed to appear and the energy in the room was great! At this point, I didn't care to dance, but preferred to watch... Seaon had an amazing dance with a dancer from Tropical Storm which was so entertaining and playful to watch. They were teasing, bumping and grinding and having a blast -- definitely one of the most fun dances I've seen in a long time. There was also another fabulous ex-Eddie Torres female dancer who had so much energy and style which totally blew me away again. There were also other dancers there that I never saw before who were amazing, and I wished I had brought my videocamera, but I had been too lazy. It was definitely a great night of dancing to end my trip to NYC!

Tuesday, May 1st, 2001

On Tuesday, I dragged myself out of bed early as I was planning to see my family in Queen's as I had a great-uncle who just turned 100 this year.

Manny Siverio (webmaster for salsanewyork.com and Addie-tude performer) was nice enough to come down and meet me at the hotel and we chatted for about an hour about Latin Madness and anything and everything to do with salsa including our websites.

I had a fabulous, but short, visit with my family and then back to the airport for our trip home.

Final Thoughts about New York?!

I wouldn't call going to NYC a vacation as it is a very large city with lots of things to see and do! I will definitely want to come back to New York as I had a blast dancing with the men! They have a totally different attitude to dancing with women! They aren't in their own world with their dancing or take it too seriously, they actually dance with you, and share their passion for the music. Because of this, you're inspired to put your best into your dancing and don't worry about whether you're going to screw up with some moves on 2. They just pretend it never happened and continue dancing with you.

Here's what your friends don't tell you about New York!

1. Culture Shock of the Big City -- Toronto seems small in comparison.
2. Great Subway System --- but construction on weekends and takes you twice as long to get anywhere if it's during their 'rush hour'.
3. Phone Cards in US$ -- they charge you by the minute! But if you don't have one, then you're always scrambling for change!
4. Cell Phone -- what would I do there without it! Everyone's on the run!!
5. Backpack and Walking Shoes -- a necessity as you don't have time to go back and forth from the hotel!
6. Late Nights at the Clubs -- they don't close before 3-4 am!
7. Unhealthy Eating -- it's so easy to eat junk food cause it's readily available if you're on the run. Definitely a good idea to grab something from a convenience store, such as the whole grain sandwiches and a water!
8. Cars versus Walking -- hard to say which is better as they have their pros and cons in the City, possibly a bit of both?
9. Rude Concierge/Subway Attendants... what happened to Customer Service?
10. Definitely need to plan what you want to do and see BEFORE you go?! Never enough hours in the day to do everything.

But does that stop me from wanting to go back -- NOT! It is the mecca for dancing on 2 and they have lots of great dancers and great talent and all the best latin musicians go there to perform! Can't wait for the right excuse to hit the Big Apple again...