Friday, May 25, 2001

Well this was my first time at a salsa congress ever and I must say I had a blast! Just to see the amount of people who came from all over the world just to dance salsa was amazing. The congress was billed as the world's largest gathering of salsa dancers and it totally lived up to that claim. It was definitely a great experience overall. However there is definitely room for improvement in the organization of the event.

I arrived in LA on Friday and thankfully all of my luggage was there and intact. When I arrived at the hotel I knew it was going to be great weekend because people were dancing and practicing moves and shines in the lobby. It was great meeting other salsa addicts from all over North America and we all shared info on what the salsa scene was like in our respective cities. (It seems that the best nights to dance are during the week no matter what city you're in.) Since I arrived early in the afternoon and the Congress didn't start till 8 p.m. a fellow Toronto salsero and I jetted off to Santa Monica to see the sites. It was really pretty and scenic with lots of great shopping. I'm glad we went because that was the last time I saw daylight for the rest of the weekend because it was so jam packed with SALSA!!!

Friday night at the congress we were shuttled to the Hollywood Park Casino where the congress is being held. It's about 10 min. drive from the hotels. The Casino looks pretty flashy from the outside with large fountains and 50's style Architecture but the inside was pretty ordinary.

The congress is held on the second floor and though the space is large, I was surprised by the size of the dance floors. The space would have been great (if it was all hardwood) but there was quite a large expanse of carpet in the middle, which separated the space into 2 distinct dance floors at either ends of the room. The main dance floor was right in front of the stage for the bands and the smaller dance floor at the back had a separate DJ booth as it had different salsa playing from the main dance floor.

The energy at the Hollywood Park was electric. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face everywhere I turned I saw hardcore dancers doing their thing. It was like Salsa Heaven. I didn't know if I should dance, watch, or start videotaping. I wanted to do it all. Well I started off watching and warmed up with one of my fellow Toronto salseros. I was determined not to dance another dance with anyone that I knew for the whole weekend so I stood next to the edge of the dance floor and tried to look as cute as possible. Success! I didn't stop dancing until they stopped the music to start the performances.

I must say I was simply blown away with the routines put on. The energy, variety and skill displayed was just awesome. I really appreciated the Afro-Cuban performance by Young Ambition from New York -- I was amazed at how incredible these young kids were. Some other performances, which stood out, were Ismael Otero's Caribbean Soul dancers (New Jersey), Heartbreak Boys (New York), Santo Rico (New York) and Jai and Candy (New Jersey).

The only problem was the set-up the performances. They were held in an adjoining long rectangular room and instead of having the stage at one end and having rows of seats facing it, they put it in the middle of the room with only 5 rows actually facing the front of the stage. All the other seats were facing the sides of the stage. I couldn't figure out the logic for that seating plan. Since there weren't enough seats for everyone, about half the crowd just stood up and watched. The performances went on for over 1.5 hours and when they were over, I was ready to DANCE. Some people had even started dancing while the performances were still going on -- and it became the best part of the night.

Thousands of great dancers from around the world getting down to the music of Johnny Polanco y su conjito Amistad. It was a wonderful sight to see. Well since I had resolved to dance with as many great dancers as I could, I asked some dancers who I admired to dance and once on the dance floor, I didn't stop dancing until my feet hurt and I was dripping with sweat at 4 am. It was such a great environment the bands were great and gave off so much energy. Even though I was tired and could barely walk, if they had kept on playing music, I think I could have danced for another hour!

Saturday, May 26, 2001

On Saturday I woke up with a smile on my face remembering all the fun I had the night before and anticipating all the fun I was going to have at the workshops. The workshops were divided into 3 levels with beginner, intermediate, and advanced happening simultaneously on separate floors. The instructors were all of great caliber, but the classes were really huge; and maybe for that reason I didn't find the choreography advanced enough. But I learned a few things about technique and styling. LA styling is very flashy and sexy a little different from here in TO where we have more of a NY influence. Most of the routines and shines I've since forgotten but just the different tips on dancing and technique given by the instructors were still worthwhile.

One of my favourites was the shines workshop given by Felipe Polanco from Puerto Rico. Felipe doesn't speak any English (he had a great interpreter) but that didn't stop him from teaching a great class. He wanted us to stop counting to the music and start FEELING the music. He broke down the basic step so well and made me focus on things I'd previously never thought of. Felipe instructed us to use our abdominal and thigh muscles to move forward while doing the basic step. I normally pay no attention to either while dancing but when I tried it his way I felt so graceful and balanced and my posture seemed instantly improved.

Another good workshop was the one given by Ismael Otero. He did 2 short but sweet shines and a nice turn pattern. Well, after a full day of workshops I was tired, but they had a DJ play music for about an hour or so. I stayed for the dance and tried to incorporate some of the new stuff I had learned that day into my dancing. I had a fun dance with Super Mario from England who is really challenging to dance with as he purposely tries to do moves you won't expect. He really makes you work. We danced to a really fast song and after that was over I was totally out of breath and I had a cramp in my side. Though I suffered at the time, I must tell you nothing feels better than dancing so hard that you get a cramp. After about an hour they kicked us all out to set up for the night event. I went home ate, had a nap and got ready for the evenings festivities

Saturday night we got there late because our naps went a little longer than we had planned and all the shuttles were full by the time they got to our hotel. So when I arrived the performances had already started. I watched for about an hour and there were some great routines. I really enjoyed the Addi-tude dancers (New York) they had a really sexy routine, which left all the men with their jaws on the ground. Seaon Stylist (LA) were also really memorable. Seaon had and unbelievable costume that was threaded with pulsating lights that actually lit up while he was dancing. Just imagine the effect that the lights created while he was doing his many spins. It was so original. The performances (though amazing) went on for too long in my opinion and I was just itching to dance.

Many other hardcore Salseros must of felt the same way because there were a whole bunch of dancers on the smaller dance floor dancing up a storm. So I chatted with a salsero I had met earlier from Washington and then we just danced and danced. I must say I was really glad that I knew how to dance on both the 1 and the 2. It was really helpful because I could dance with anyone. If I only knew how to dance on 1, I would have pretty much eliminated all the New Yorkers and most of my favourite dancers are from NYC.

The floor was quite crowded and when the performances were over and the band started, I moved over to the main dance floor. The band was Israel Lopez "Cachao" and his all Star Band and they were amazing. The band was huge (16 pieces) and they played lots of heavy hitting salsa that just seemed to give you energy and make you want to dance. This time I wanted to make sure I got some of this on camera because I knew I would forget what I was seeing as it was almost like a salsa sensory overload. So I filmed some of my favorite dancers freestyling to keep for posterity. I could only handle videotaping for about 20 min at a time since I would feel the need to dance again; the music was that good.

It was even better because this time I could recognize some of the people I was dancing with from some of their performances. I danced with members of Seaon Stylist (LA), Heartbreak Boys (NYC), Pretty Boys and Girls (San Francisco), RicoSalsa (SF) and Caribbean Soul (NJ). It was awesome! I also danced with some amazing dancers who weren't from any group at all. For some reason most people thought I was from New York and were surprised when I said I was from Toronto. A few people I danced with actually said, "There seem to be a lot of good dancers from Toronto here". So I guess our Toronto dancers are making a good impression in the international Salsa scene. By this time all my fellow Torontonians had gone to bed, like sane people, but I just couldn't leave. Not while they were playing salsa and there were still so many great dancers around. I asked Ismael Otero to dance and found him to be really friendly and nice. Unfortunately for some reason my dancing was off for our dance (totally my fault), but he has such a great lead and so many amazing moves that I still really enjoyed it. Ismael definitely keeps you on your toes as he has so many different and really unique turn patterns. Now I know why he's called the "million move man". I did things that I've never seen or been led through before and definitely never on 2. Another person I really enjoyed dancing with was the Mambo Papa, Mario Gonzales. He is a lot of fun and my dances with him were some of my favorites. He's great because you can tell that he really enjoys dancing and he has a lot of style and flair. Again I danced until 4am and went to bed tired and happy. Let's just say I got my FIX!!!

Sunday, May 27, 2001

Sunday I thought I would be exhausted but I think I was running on the adrenaline from the night before. Another full day of workshops. I found the level of the workshops today to be a bit better than Saturday in general. I took a wonderful workshop from Addie Diaz. She taught 3 different shines with added ladies styling. I also really enjoyed Felipe Polanco's advanced shines on 2. When Felipe says advanced he REALLY means advanced. And though I didn't get the entire routine I really appreciated that he didn't compromise the intricacies of his shine to accommodate the masses. I also had a great time at the Addie Rodriguez workshop she gave us so much energy and seemed to genuinely enjoy teaching the class.

All in all a good day filled with 100% salsa. I skipped the last few workshops and watched some of the performers do their dress rehearsals. The routine that stood out the most was the one by Edie and Al Espinoza. Their routine was a mix of Salsa and Breakdancing. It was FABULOUS. Really fun and Al can do the best robot I have ever seen. I also saw a great routine by Salsa Brava. They are the dance troupe that helped develop the flashy LA style that we see today. They delivered a very entertaining routine that included a lot of tricks and drama. So after the workshops were over they had another hour or so of DJ'd music. I left the dress rehearsal to get some more dancing in before it was time to go home and rest up for the final night.

Sunday night I arrived a bit late again. And the performances had already started. I didn't even bother watching them as I had seen some of them in rehearsal earlier in the day and I could see the hardcore salseros were already dancing up a storm on the smaller dance floor. I danced for a bit and then I decided that I would watch for a while so I can see the best of the best do their thing. That lasted for about 10 minutes before I felt the need to dance again. Watching the best of the salsa world dance is a great thing. It's very inspiring but at the same time it makes you see how much you have to learn. They made the most complex moves look so easy.

I danced for about an hour with some of my new favorite dancers. Then I took a break and tried to get some stuff on videotape then I went back to dancing. I didn't watch any performances for the whole night. I felt a little guilty but then I figured someone was probably taping then so I could watch the shows later.

The person I found most awe inspiring was Seaon's partner, Amanda Moncion. She definitely stands out in a crowd even when the best in the world are dancing around her. She has so much control of her body every thing she does seems to be with little or no effort. She is sexy and funky and graceful all at once. I had to get out my video camera just to see her freestyling with one of the kids from the heartbreak boys. She is definitely the best of the best in my opinion.

Then in another corner of the dance floor there was actually a "shine-off" with Frankie and Johnny Vasquez and a lot of the other great LA dancers. It was unbelievable!! One person would get in the circle that had formed around them, and do a shine or spin or whatever. Then the next person would get on the floor and add to it or try to top it with even an even harder shine or faster footwork or a longer, more complicated pattern. It was just great! Unfortunately my tape ran out but just to see it was still wonderful.

I did a lot more watching this night because I was pretty tired and I had already got my fix with my favorite dancer from Caribbean Soul. I don't know his name but I really admire his dancing because he has such a funky style. He really plays with the music and best of all always seems to be enjoying himself when he's dancing and his partners seem to as well.

I had a nice dance with Clifford Jasmin, an instructor from France, who speaks no English. He had received an award from Albert Torres the night before. He dances much more closely than most other men I danced with do. This makes the dance a bit more sensual, which is actually what he's known for. I then got my second (or more accurately 6th or 7th) wind, found one of my favorite partners from Washington and danced hard for the rest of the night. The band was Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Sound from Puerto Rico. They were fabulous and the strong percussion present in their music had us jamming until the wee hours of the morning. I stayed till the very end for the traditional salsa-train send off. Afterwards I was so tired I could barely get myself to the shuttle. Must……………….sleep………..……..feet..……………
….…hurt…..……………..……tired…..…………………..sweaty.

It was a fabulous weekend I highly recommend that every salsaholic experience it at least once. Make sure, if you do go that you have a few days after to recover before you go back to work or school. You'll need it! I fortunately spent of the rest of the week touring around different cities in California visiting beaches and checking out the sites. But the experience was definitely worth all the lack of sleep. Where else are you going to get the opportunity to dance with the best in the world to great bands and DJ's until 4 am every night. I danced with people from every ethnic background, from all around the world, all shapes and sizes and all age groups. And though everyone I met was very different individually it felt like we were all part of one big community. Salsa is sort of like a language in itself -- it's just that you speak it with your body. See you on the dance floor!

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