SAN FRANCISCO SALSA FESTIVAL IS ALIVE AND KICKING AT 13!

Back in 2015 I was wondering if salsa was dying https://salsalocasf.blogspot.com/2015/02/is-salsa-dance-craze-dying.html?showComment=1424685393796

Now after Covid these concerns look like a temper tantrum...The pandemic was a major blow to salsa community so a variety of SF venues vanished and did not come back.  But, at least one of the major events of the past, San Francisco International Salsa Festival did rise from the ashes with a vengeance!

The lock-down began just before the yearly event was supposed to take place, but had to be canceled and caused major losses. However, the plucky organizers,  John Narvaez of America Got Talent fame and his long-time friend and dance partner Liz Rojas mobilized their Salsamania team once again and brought us their first post-pandemic production last year.

This year, I had to come out of retirement to tell you about the San Francisco Salsa Festival's 13-year anniversary. https://sfsalsafestival.com/  To celebrate this "unlucky" number, the organizers, Colombianos themselves, brought one of the world's most famous salsa bands from Colombia: Orquesta La 33.  Even though their songs, including famous classics, were mostly too fast and too long for mambo dancers' taste, the band was so tight and professional and the beat so danceable the crowd danced all night and begged for more at the end late at night - no one left early not noticing that their feet had enough!  Even DJs played more mambo tunes this year in response to growing mambo dancers community in the Bay Area.

In pursuit of higher profits, some promoters skip live bands altogether - not John and Liz who proved time an again that great bands still attract crowds including beginners and old timers who return to the scene to experience the good ol' days when San Francisco was hopping 6 nights per week and twice on weekends!

The band was truly a highlight of the event, but the most important fact that plays a huge role in the festivals' success: how responsive the promoters are to the dance community.  As always, dancers want more time for social dancing, so this year there were less performances and earlier start times to accommodate the majority not keen on late night hopping.

I've met John and Liz over 20 years ago when John was trying to spin on a bottle tip. Since then, they have trained countless dancers, performed in countless shows, won many prizes, but remained humble and approachable treating their dancers and every participant like family. The event runs like a huge family affair with personal anecdotes, some laughs and some tears that make everyone feel included in the family.

Like family, John and I had a disagreement over one of my somewhat critical past review, but, to keep the readers' trust, journalists must remain independent so that glowing reviews like this one will be taken at face value.

Thanks to organizers/ efforts and a great team of their dedicated volunteers SFSF became well known throughout the salsa community in California and beyond attracting many visitors and performers.

In my final review,  I'd like to thank John and Liz on behalf of Bay Area salseros for injecting the lifeblood into San Francisco salsa for the past 13 years and wish them all the luck in the world for all their future endevors.

DIP (dance in peace)

IS SALSA DANCE CRAZE DYING?

Bay Area’s salsa mogul Evan the Salsacrazy  has been lamenting salsa’s decline for years - if anyone would know it would be this former dancer turned promoter who traveled the world checking out salsa hotspots.  A recent Portuguese visitor who lives in Ireland confirmed the sad fact that kizomba is converting European salsa fans.

Here in the Bay Area we also had our share of turmoil.  A popular salsa club The Glas Kat closed awhile ago and the remaining salsa “church” Cafe Cocomo finally closed its doors for good.  With it we lost Taste Friday and other salsa nights.    Hot Bachata Nights lost its first venue, then, once again, lost its new home on Broadway. Tianne’s socials popular with dancers - gone. Old Roccapulco history spooked dancers who never really adopted this club as their own in spite of the new owners’ efforts to offer salsa competitions and boost attendance.  The new venue at 550 Barneveld is still trying to live up to the good old Cocomo, but $20 covers and $4 water deter many regulars.

So, for awhile, San Francisco salseros were “homeless” and things looked bleak.  It was a great opportunity to infuse new life into the salsa scene, but, one after another, new venues failed. Short lived Cesar’s Palace? Gone.  Club Verdi, a fabulous old club that has been home for swing dancers for years ($8-10 with a live band), could have become the new salsa “church”, but  overpriced cover deterred avid salseros who spend a small fortune to cover costs including gas, bridge tolls, drinks, dates etc.  So promoters who are milking the vacuum run the risk of losing them altogether.“Secret words” to get a discount fueled further resentment.  By the time reduced cover and free nights were introduced, it was too late to bring dancers back.  Lesson learned? If dancers don't get what they need, they'll create their own choices and the salsa scene will be further split into beginner venues and dancers' socials.

So what do you do? Promoters who think they must accommodate beginners first and foremost - after all they are the ones who pay for lessons - forget a simple fact: without advanced dancers on the floor who inspire them, beginners will take a few lessons and quit so the promoting process and expenses never end as you’re always chasing new faces. 

In an alternative business model smart promoters cater to regulars who can be accommodated with the good music, good  floor and free water.  Is it too much to ask?  But if you do win their loyalty, regular dancers will reward you with regular attendance and priceless free word-of-mouth promotions that will bring more beginners.  In Paris, good dancers are not only encouraged to attend with all kinds of perks, some are hired as taxi dancers and must invite beginners or those ignored by others.  They wear neon bracelets, everyone can see them and they cannot refuse a dance if asked.  As a result, dance schools are flourishing, beginners take classes for years, instructors are demanding, and the overall skill level is astonishing.  In a regular dance venue,  85% of salseros are advanced and the number of dance troupes is minimal.

But “revenons nos moutons" (back to our sheep) as the French say.  Here in the Bay Area we worried that bachata would destroy salsa, now the new threat of kizomba is looming, but, in spite of all the fears, there’s still a solid hard core group of salseros who will save the day once again.

A new dancers’ initiative, Palladium Mambo, is thriving on the last Friday of the month in spite of total lack of promotions.  Ricasalsa brought back its social, aptly named Deja Vue, to the Metronome ballroom. https://www.facebook.com/events/738514679573822/  Mentioned above Bachata Nights with 3 rooms of dancing will be held every Friday at 550 Barneveld.  Check http://www.dancefridays.com/  where you can print your free pass.  Moreover,  its promoter Corey The Sweetheart,  printed 100s of free passes to his new dance spot in Berkeley every Wednesday night - that’s how you attract a devoted following to a new venue, especially a pricy one.

So it looks like Bay Area salsa junkies have new choices now.  Moreover, while SF salsa congress has been steadily shrinking, the yearly SF Salsa Festival is thriving and is coming back on the first weekend in April with none other than New Swing Sextet - one of the dancers’ favorite bands from NY.  Salsamania’s John and Liz are current with changing music tastes and are keeping up with San Francisco’s mambofication.  Still, the remaining fans of Avance will have a chance to dance to their faves too.  http://sfsalsafestival.com/

Finally, let’s not forget  Cuban salsa that lives in a parallel world mambo aficionados rarely  visit.  Its yearly Salsa Rueda Festival is happening right now http://www.salsaruedafestival.com/ and in spite of expectations of being bored, I was pleasantly surprised at the festival’s opening Thurs. night - it was fun; the music was not as monotonous as I remember from Ritmo y Armonia days and many dancers were superb with varied and creative moves.  This salsa scene is alive and kicking.

One last note: behind all the successful venues there’s a people’s person or a group of people’s people who will do their best to please even the most demanding crowd and avoid aggravating anyone.  Corey and Ricardo and Tianne and John and Liz and Nick from Salsa Rueda Festival are successful largely because of their accommodating nature.

So is salsa dying? Decide for yourself.

DIP (Dance in Peace)

WHAT YOUR DANCING SAYS ABOUT YOU

                                      A tongue-in-cheek psychoanalysis

Years ago, a Spanish (Portuguese?) entry won an international Clio award for best commercials.  In it, a woman talking directly to the camera complains with embarrassment that her husband drives too fast, which is a subliminal sign of a problem in the bedroom.  Without mentioning any of it, the message pinpoints the most sensitive pressure point of the target audience:  don’t drive like Speedy Gonzalez unless you want everyone to suspect your performance elsewhere…What does it have to do with dancing?  Let’s broaden Jeff Foxworthy’s popular stand-up routine “you might be a redneck if…”:

1. if you dance exclusively with attractive young partners, you can’t get their attention off the dance floor
2. if you dance only with popular skillful dancers watched by gawkers, you’re desperate for attention
3. if your dancing has a lot of flashy tricks, you’re desperate for attention
4. if you’re dying to perform on stage and never go social dancing, you’re desperate for attention
5. if you dance only in the most visible spots on the dance floor, you’re desperate for attention
6. if you hide among other dancers, you don’t want to be seen with your partner
7. if you hide among other dancers, you’re insecure about your dancing
8. if you’re a guy and wear heels, you’re trying too hard
9. if you can catch flying birds with a rake and still wear high heels, you’re a dominatrix
10. if you’re an instructor and never dance with your students, you can’t
11. if you’re an instructor and never dance with your students, you don’ have many
12. if you’re an instructor and never dance with your students, you’re selfish
13. if you’re an instructor and never dance with your students, you got sick and tired to dance with beginners
14. if you learn to dance with less popular partners then ignore them when you advance, you’re a “step-up” dancer with insecurity issues
15. if you refuse a dance cause the asker is ugly, you’re too
16. if you refuse a dance to a beginner, you’re selfish
17. if you refuse a dance to a beginner, you’re too old to waste your time.
18. if you refuse a dance to an advanced dancer and you’re a beginner, you’re gorgeous
19. if you refuse a dance to an advanced dancer and you’re a beginner, you don’t know he/she is a good dancer
20. if you refuse a dance to an advanced dancer and you’re a beginner and know he/she is a good dancer, you’re an idiot
21. if you never refuse a dance to anyone, you’re an angel
22. if you never refuse a dance to anyone, you’re a beginner
23. if you never refuse a dance to anyone and you’re an advanced dancer, you’re rarely around anymore
24. if you repeat the same moves and patterns regardless of the music you can dance without it 
25. if you're afraid to improvise, you're insecure in your dancing
26. if you you think this is all about you, you're....(add your own adjective here)
27. to be continued…
28. your additions here...

DIP (dance in peace)

BACHATA BOOM

Can you believe it? SF International Bachata Festival is 5!  Who could have guessed that this basic Dominican social dance with a simple beat would convert so many SF salsa devotees into bachata fans?!  But knowing Rodney Aquino for 15 years I got worried when he started building bachata fan circles a few years back.  I had reasons.

He may have gotten his humorous biography at the festival showcase, but, in reality, back then Rodney started as a shy quiet dancer who joined/built a small group of beginners to go social dancing together and called it Salsagang.  Time passed.

Rodney became an experienced leader and created a wildly popular website and forum, you guessed it - Salsagang.  Time passed.  He got bored and sold the site.

Rodney started dancing on2, got comfortable in that style.  Time passed.  He got bored and became a timba fan.  Time passed. 

Rodney was looking for a fresh cure to his newly renewed boredom and found bachata.  At first, I was skeptical about the bachata threat to salsa, but knowing Rodney’s bullheaded determination, I was following his moves closely.  Lo and behold, he succeeded once again.  SF now has many bachata social dancing venues and the SF International Bachata Festival is a major success.  And then… Now you know how kizomba appeared on the Bay Area horizon…

New this year are musicality workshops from Don Baarns who has 27 online sections dedicated to music structure.  Musicality in social dancing is my personal pet peeve and I’ve written about it extensively (MUSIC CONNECTION 101 (for salseros), mentioned  it in almost every article related to dancing and interviewed many instructors and dancers.  A handful of instructors trying to come up with various ways to teach musicality to salseros are largely unsuccessful due to many factors: they cannot follow the music themselves; they may not know the music’s ins and outs; they’re unable to come up with effective teaching strategies; advanced salseros are too vain to admit they don’t know something and take musicality classes; salseros are too insecure to try etc.etc.  When I asked Troy Anthony, the bachata and salsa star and guest at the festival, which dance he likes most, bachata or salsa, he said – are you ready?  – West Coast swing!  He added that all his dancers are required to take swing lessons.  Maybe it’s swing’s  musicality training?

Maybe Rodney, instead of looking for other dance forms around the world, will eventually choose to tackle this problem head on and create a new trend, pleeeeeeeease!?  How about a musicality competition?  Viewers always appreciate well placed music accents in dancing,-  that will challenge dancers to try it for themselves.

Bachata became a major drain from salsa.  One solace for hard-core salseros is a salsa room available for social dancing at the festival concurrently with bachata.  Theoretically, it’s open even during shows, but always overtaken by performers so it never serves its stated purpose during performances.  And yet kizomba room remains open and empty, what’s up with that, Rodik?! (Rodney’s nickname from his 1 person Russian fan club :-)

Social dancing is what everyone is waiting for: after all, partner dances are first and foremost a social pastime thinly disguising the true purpose of its young devotees (conscious or not) – facilitating social interaction between the sexes.  Everything else is icing (welcome or not).  Huge bachata ballroom was packed all nights.  Kizomba room, empty during the shows, came to life with growing numbers of kizomba fans and remained busy till 4 am.

For hard-core salseros, Fri night was perfect: great music set by DJ Carlos and many skillful dancers. When another DJ came on at 2 am the crowd thinned out.  Sat. night floor was thinner – a rare occurrence – perhaps due to all the commercial salsa and long and fast songs.  Advanced dancers dropped in to check it out, but didn’t stay long.  Sunday night was thinner still in spite of the best performances reserved for the last show of the festival.

Trying to serve all dance communities is a noble endeavor, but experience shows it never works here in the Bay Area.  Unlike Europe, where you can hear a few styles of Latin dance and even swing at the same night, salsa and timba dancers are not tolerant of each others’ music here and do not share events.  Timba DJ Antonio scheduled at 2 am every night played mostly for himself.

And yet, overall, SF bachata festival became a major event for local and visiting Latin dance lovers who pack the hotel ballrooms every year and assure the survival of partner dancing.  What else can we expect?   

Stay tuned…

DIP (dance in peace)

BAY AREA SALSA PRODIGY

Years ago San Francisco salsa scene got 2 new kids on the block: brothers Jairo and Luis Aguilar.  Both joined Salsamania Dance Company and quickly rose to the top.  The older brother Jairo got married, had a family and became a popular salsa DJ commonly known as DJ Chino.  Luis, however, in spite of being underage at the time, was so determined to learn salsa he sneaked into clubs, quickly progressed and made yours truly to remark he’d be a star some day.

Seeing Luis’ dedication and hard work it wasn’t hard to predict his future.  Fast forward to the present and this kid has grown into a dashing young salsero known all over the world and winning one prize after another.

After couple of years of absence from the Bay Area when he trained in New York with masters, Luis returned to his home town in spite of his NY-based partner Anya Katsevman.  Why? Because, according to Luis, Bay Area is THE place to dance.

Unlike many salsa instructors, Luis is a courteous partner who dances not only with his students, but will never refuse a dance to strangers.  His students praise his teaching and friendly attitude.  There are always critics in salsa and Luis is not spared due to his healthy self-esteem, but, at least in his case, it’s based on achievements.

Since his return, Luis started teaching, created his own group Couture Dance Alliance or CDA. (The word “couture”, - “fashion” in French -, was used to express Luis’s other passion)  CDA quickly attracted some of the best dancers who joined talented beginners.  The group and a few couples already won some coveted salsa awards.  Unlike other groups who practically disappeared from social dancing, Luis stays active in the salsa scene and started organizing his own monthly socials Wepa Tuesday at Club Cocomo promoting social dancing.

Moreover, on the last day of June, Luis partnered with his brother to create a special event with workshops followed by a dance party and invited some salsa luminaries to participate.  His partner Anya flew in from NY; Mexican cha-cha champ Maritza was already in the Bay Area; Luis’ mentor Billy Fajardo and his partner arrived from Miami and, for the first time in SF, Mexican couple Rodrigo and Selene completed the roster of highly regarded professionals. Their performances that quickly flowed one after another energized the audience and left plenty of time for social dancing. The best Bay Area band Pacific Mambo Orchestra helped keep that energy going all night.

All CDA parties are well attended and this event, first of its kind for Luis, was no exception.  Let’s hope this is only the beginning for many more to follow.

DIP (Dance in Peace)

BAY AREA SALSA FESTIVAL IS 5!

Can you believe it?  5 years ago Bay Area dance troupe Salsamania branched out beyond its multiple teams and offered us another opportunity to get together, dance, celebrate and showcase  local salsa achievements.  And achieve we did.

Just a few years ago visiting luminaries would wow local dancers.  Some still do, but now that we have so many great dancers of our own, our bar has been raised.   Moreover, we no longer aspire  to dance with strangers when there are so many fabulous choices right here.  Too bad, the proliferation of dance troupes that helps dancers improve also snatches them out of the social scene so they become virtual "visitors" to special events like the festival.

Outsiders may still think New York is the norm, but, at least in social dancing, it's hard to distinguish between "Nuyokas" and our "home-grown" talent.  The world is beginning to recognize  and respect our progress thanks to Bay Area salsa ambassadors like Salsamania and its alumni Luis Aguilar who won multiple championships and has his own team Couture Dance Alliance.

Unlike European and other salsa ventures, American salsa events are performer-centric charging aspiring dancers for access to the public.  So it's easy to frustrate attendees whose main goal is to dance.  Rumor has it that the attendance at salsa congresses has been dropping partially due to long shows and other kill-joys.  Unlike the SF congress with its extended performances that leave little time for dancing, the festival organizers try to accommodate all participants.

John and Liz, the heart and soul behind the festival, manage to avoid these pitfalls by listening to all sides and trying to do what they can.  Results? Last year the event was sold out and people had to be turned away at the door.  This year - still full, in spite of bad economy.  At this point, it will be safe to expand on their success.

Some innovations were introduced this year as well.  Performances flowed smoothly with circus interludes between the numbers courtesy of tiny Zoe, a former New-Yorker who blew away the viewers at America Got Talent by lifting her heavy-set partner in their acrobatic routine.  Another addition to the program was a fashion show featuring dance shoes.  It was amazing to see girl dancers strutting their stuff better and with more spunk than professional models.  Maybe expanding this to a full blown dance fashion show with models doing clave on the catwalk would be an idea of a lifetime bringing revenue and subsidies from big manufacturers and sellers.  Combine that with other dance forms and your potential is limitless for a stand-alone production.

But back to our sheep.  Surprisingly, not all Salsamania teams participated in the shows. (Lady Mambo had knock-out costumes)  Some visiting performers were returns from last year and some were unusual surprises such as John presenting footwork numbers with a 10-year old Brian and a mature dancer Tatiana who dances better than most young chicks (she did have other dance training before salsa)  Don't judge the book by its cover, guys!  The most popular DJ in Britain is an 80+ year old lady.

Ricasalsa presented yet another routine with non-salsa music stretching the boundaries and provoking discussions as to the nature of the dance (it was a very jazzy and unusual arrangement of Duke Ellington's Caravan).  The girls' classy and simple yet sexy dresses stood out. 

John and Andrew  were superb as usual.  One couple used a slice of a heavy hitting classical piece that was apparently an opera excerpt found on youtube that seemed completely out of place.  Innovation for the sake of innovation?

Omar and Nina demonstrated skills only highly trained dancers possess: quality of movement and ease of execution. You can watch 2 couples doing exact same routine with the same tricks and yet they'll be a world apart.  It's not WHAT you do, it's HOW you do it. 

Many dancers think if they can manage to cope with difficult routines and moves or run through the fast songs they're advanced and stage-ready.  So they keep learning new moves instead of working on the quality of their movement.  They usually prefer fast music because in slow songs and cha-cha their awkwardness or lack of style and creativity will be more revealing. Sometimes, the audience will "buy" the complexity of the tricks they manage to get through, but can they DANCE?

Music at the festival seemed to please most people.  Thursday night opening band was surprisingly good in the first set, but the second set was mostly one speed - fast.  Avance demonstrated its professional quality musicianship and even played some new songs, mostly romantic salsa.  The star of the event was PMO, Pacific Mambo Orchestra, in full attire and with great repertoire including some original songs.  If this otherwise great band was responsive to mambo dancers' aversion to fast tempos and slowed down, it would conquer the mambo world.

This year the doors were staffed by polite and pleasant security guards, but the 2 sets of doors at each end of the ballroom, perfectly suited for entry and exit at each end, were not used as such and people had to go through rows of chairs to exit.  Some seats, including VIP section, were empty, yet people were not allowed to sit down and had to stand around to watch the show.  Those who dared  were hassled by a volunteer bouncer even during the performances causing unnecessary commotion and word-of-mouth complaints.  Form over function?  Good to keep in mind that stage promoters hire  seat fillers to avoid the bad impression of empty chairs.

The main attraction of any salsa event, social dancing, is what draws people in.  The 3 dance floors were full yet there was enough space to move.  There was a good mix of dancers of all levels, even some star performers showed up.  Their lack of participation in social dancing is deemed to be another cause of dropping salsa congresses' attendance and some promoters now include mandatory social dancing in their contracts with paid stars.

Who can blame advanced dancers for not wanting to go through  excruciating dances with beginners or intermediates or even some advanced dancers (especially if they're not  young and cute)?  But if you chose to do it for a living, that's kinda your job, guys.  Smile and bear...:-/
Imagine a system of taxi dancing: every festival  ticket buyer gets 10 free tickets for dances with paid performers who must collect at least 10 of these tickets.  Wouldn't that be fun?

The word of mouth was mixed and it's understandable: your personal impression will be tied to your dancing experiences - different for everyone regardless of other factors.  The floor might be empty, but you had fun dancing with 2 or 3 partners you'll be thrilled.  On the other hand, there might be a room full of great dancers, but if your hopes of dancing with them does not materialize you'll blame the world. 

What was missing from the chatter are common complaints  which means overall the festival was a success witnessed by tired but happy faces leaving the hotel after 2 pm (San Francisco should reconsider its restrictive time ordinance for events like these).  But, most importantly, let's hope John and Liz will finally decide to expand their salsa festival. Maybe next year?

SALSA MANIA WITH SALSAMANIA

Mention these  words in the Bay Area salsa circles and everyone will immediately think of the popular salsa dance troupe. If you have anything to do with salsa you heard about this local company comprising dozens of dancers of different levels.  In spite of its size, this tight-knit family is just it: a family of dedicated and hard-working salsa aficionados bonded by Salsamania founders John Narvaez and Liz Rojas.  John's strict, but caring demeanor and Liz' all forgiving kindness make them the perfect group "parents"/ instructors.  Moreover,  John and Liz manage to stay neutral and avoid offending anyone which helps  navigate in treacherous salsa "waters".

I met them both when this up-and-coming couple "performed" on the dance floor.  (I even heard rumors of John's dancing on a bottle :-)  My beginner's attempts to follow John's lead ended in complete disaster, but he was patient and never refused a dance in 14 years I've known him even after he inexplicably withdrew his friendship.

The duo's skills evolved and, at the time when Bay Area had only a couple of salsa dance troupes, Salsamania was born and rose to the top by winning a yearly salsa group competition with its energetic rendition of a popular song.  At the golden age of local salsa around the turn of this century everyone - group members or not - and all instructors were out dancing almost every night.  Cafe Cocomo was "the church" where dancers came to pray to the divine music and dance.  It is still the traditional venue for the opening nights of all major salsa events in the city.

As Salsasmania's fan club grew, John and Liz quit their day jobs, expanded classes and competed winning prizes almost everywhere they went.  Their student roster expanded even beyond US borders: hopefuls were coming from Mexico, Canada,  even France and other countries (one trainee claimed there were no equally qualified instructors in his area in France which has a reputation for the best salseros).When beginners asked for instructor recommendations, John and Liz were always my first choice.

Creating their own salsa festival was a natural follow-up for this hard-working couple.  Held every year in March, the festival will be celebrating its 5th year anniversary next year.  So far, it showcased mostly growing local talent with a few invited salsa luminaries, but given its growing popularity and attendance, Bay Area salseros are hoping for an expanded version that could accommodate all the participants that had to be turned away Saturday night - the ballroom already had over a 1000 people!  With SF Salsa Congress losing its appeal, the festival might become the salsa event of choice for locals and visitors alike.

Held at the hotel Westin in the heart of San Francisco in a beautiful ballroom with 3 great dance floors, the venue is more convenient for SF, South Bay residents and visitors who don't have to cross the Bay bridge to get there.  All the usual choices are there; workshops, performances, competitions, vendors etc.  So far, J&L wanted to keep it small, but maybe they can be convinced? :-)

Albert Torres, the biggest salsa promoter in the world, who withdrew his association with the SF Salsa Congress, comes to support the festival and acts as an MC.  Performances did not seem too long and featured mostly high caliber dancers.
 

The host company Salsamania is an audience favorite thanks to its usual prowess, especially John and one of his trainees Andrew who won the salsa world cup  in same-sex category.  Ricardo and Tianne's routines always tell a story.  They danced to an Adele song with Tianne covered head to toe in stark contrast to the sexy salsa costume tradition as if saying don't look at my body, look at my dancing. Her face says it all, but emotionless Ricardo makes you wonder why she'd be so upset over him.

Cha-cha champs Ernesto and Maritza from Mexico were not very impressive.  Current on2 winners, also from Mexico,  David and another Salsamania alumni Paulina were top-notch.  The stars of the show, Grizzly and Alien, who won the world cup in cabaret division, were flawless performing head-spinning tricks.  Another Bay Area native Elly and her partner Jonathan danced to loud audience cheers - their routine was impeccable.

Jonathan was also incredible and very gracious in social dancing which is not always the case in salsa.  If we believe Albert Torres who said he would not engage anyone who doesn't dance with everybody, then he should drop Ernesto and especially David who blew me off 3 times. In contrast, his partner Paolina can be seen dancing with just about anyone.  Still,  social dancing was great with many skilled dancers, 3 dance floors and the best Bay area band Pacific Mambo Orchestra playing Saturday night.

Dedicated volunteers ran the festival without a hitch. The only complaint was the mess with 4 doors: instead of assigning - and keeping - 2 side-by-side doors on each side of the ballroom as one for entry and one for exit, patrons were herded through the rows of seats to another end to exit.  Also, about 2 dozen spectators were denied entry and missed  Salsamania's performance Fri night when there were plenty of empty seats available near the door.

Another disappointment: it was too short!  According to many satisfied customers, they would love to see the festival extended and expanded.

Maybe next year?

DIP (Dance in Peace)

SALSA BUSINESS

This year, the 10-year anniversary edition, I did not attend the SF salsa congress (read on to find out why). So, instead, I'll attempt a taboo topic that, as far as I know, has not been discussed by anyone publicly.

For years, I was wondering why salsa remains below the surface of the mainstream entertainment in this country. It seemed puzzling that such a popular trend would not be explored by the big business. Mambo fever of the 50s became a country-wide phenomenon. Why not salsa dancing? It remains a localized affair largely ignored by the mainstream. It is even more surprising now when ballroom dance shows spearheaded this style to the new heights. We cannot blame it all on ethnic origins: tango is as popular as ever and multiple tango shows and performers sell out theaters. Yet swing, the US originated dance, has never had a long sustained interest even after its brief limelight time thanks to a Gap commercial. Swing community is not interested in commercializing the dance, there are no groups, no shows or big congresses. West Coast swing is run like ballroom: mostly competitions and a few showcases. Lindyhoppers are happy to attend various camps and dance "exchanges" between cities organized by volunteers who also host visitors in their homes. The biggest camp that runs every summer in Sweden offers huge discounts to attendees from poor countries. Therefore there's no profit to be made and no big-time promoters.

Salsa is different. Congresses are a for-profit business and should follow business rules and ethics. Most small ventures fail and the rest remain small for various reasons, but often due to largely do-it-yourself entrepreneurs with little or no business know-how. They try to cut corners and save pennies thus bypassing opportunities for growth. They alienate partners, squabble about minor issues and shoot themselves in the foot by breaking promises and deals. It's been proven time and again that "the customer is always right" and even if you lose a little now, the happy client will come back and, most importantly, tell others.

Savvy and successful businessmen know that publicity can make or break your undertaking. It costs thousands, often millions, to advertise and companies set aside a huge portion of their budget for this purpose. They also know that independent opinions are best and word of mouth is priceless. Major cultural events follow the same rules. Film and music festivals court the media outlets and roll the red carpet for reporters who are willing to cover the event even though it's hard to calculate who or how many people read their reviews. When someone offers to cover the event, it's even better: free publicity!

Yet salsa doesn't seem to get much exposure in American media. No more ESPN broadcasts. So You Think You Can Dance fired Alex da Silva and never got anyone from the salsa world to replace him. Over the years, Dancing with the stars had only one salsa couple in one presentation. SF Jazz Festival used to have huge salsa nights at the Billy Graham Auditorium. There were Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri and other big stars + huge floor for dancing. I was covering the festival every year and talked organizers into issuing about 2 dozen free passes to dancers. Only 3 showed up. No more salsa dance nights at the festival. Swing dancers have had an outdoor dance floor at the Fillmore Jazz Festival for years, but no salsa until this year. Even Latin media is not covering SF salsa congress.

Is it any wonder that after writing for 35 years for various publications and media outlets, including CBC Radio Canada International, Radio Free Europe and Voice of America; after publishing and broadcasting 100s of articles and reviews; after covering Toronto and San Francisco film and jazz festivals as well as SF Latino Film Festival, I was denied accreditation to cover SF salsa congress this year. The main honcho, Ricardo Sanchez, was unsure if my reviews were helpful. So at the cost of nothing he lost the only reporter willing to sit through endless shows and competitions, make notations, interview participants, spend days after the congress writing, editing, posting and emailing while everyone else rested.

True, I cannot provide traffic stats from someone else's website where my articles are posted (some website owners keep their stats secret so even free contributors cannot find out how many people read their work). But even this blog that I do not promote and don't commercialize in any way, gets 100s of visitors from all over the world in spite of Google's reluctance to show it in searches due to lack of any sales. One can only imagine the 1000s that visit commercial sites!

SF congress website states in its About section that "National media, newspapers and magazines have all documented the extraordinary event that the SF Bay Area International Salsa Congress has become." Yet, there's not one quote, one name, one publication. Either it's not true or the promoter is not aware of its benefits. Even salsacrazy.com no longer promotes the congress.

Could it be due to salsa promoters' narrow-minded view unable to see the forest for the trees? My recent conversation with a businessman who dealt with salsa "venture capitalists" confirmed my suspicion.

When I first plunged into the salsa world, I was shocked to find out most performers and competitors must pay to participate and unless you're "in" you'll never know who pays and who gets paid. In other countries, if you're good enough people will pay you to see or hear you, if you're not ready - you don't perform, period. Oh sure, aspiring dancers yearning to strut their stuff are willing to pay for it, but is it fair to the audience? That's why SF salsa congress is centered on performers / competitors and their family and friends who come for support.

In this inherently closed-in model non-participants who come for dancing have to sit through the long shows and are made to feel like outsiders, especially when organisers' family members are being introduced. It's fine if you'd rather keep it "all in the family", but if you want to expand your reach and bring more people, this business model needs major tweaking and appeal to wider audiences. Without the necessary flexibility and ability to work with outside entities salsa will remain below the mainstream surface indefinitely in spite of its tremendous appeal.

DIP (dance in peace)

BAY AREA SALSA ROCKS!

Do you suffer from SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder? (winter blues got an official name now) In these bleak economic times there's nothing better to cheer you up than a fiery spicy dance. San Francisco annual salsa festival gives you that opportunity and this year its 3d installment seemed better than ever: dance floor was full throughout the event including its opening night at Cafe Cocomo on Thursday March 10 and subsequent dances at Westin hotel.

Besides the festival, San Francisco will be celebrating 10 year anniversary of its salsa congress in November as well as the new US Open salsa competition in July debuted last year. All these events along with lessons, club dances and salsa dance troupes provide local salseros with great opportunities for improvement. And it shows.

The organizers, Salsamania dance company under the guidance and direction of 2 of the most beloved Bay Area instructors, John Narvaez and Liz Rojas, have been consistently churning out salseros since the 90s. They can take a clumsy duckling and turn it into a graceful swan. I used to think it could not be done, but - I've seen it happen. Their own success story as competitors allowed them to quit their jobs and create a prosperous dance production company. Salsamania family has several level groups and its alumni include many high level competitors and a few champions.

In shows and competitions, dancers and the audience alike can measure up and see where they stand. I'm proud to say that the quality gap between local salseros and visiting stars is diminishing fast. Just a few years ago I used to seek out visitors with higher level of expertise. Now, I'm just as happy dancing with local dancers whose mastery is comparable to any prominent guest. No longer should we feel inadequate even if the rest of the world does not recognize San Francisco as THE place for salsa. New York or LA salseros who had a long-standing clout over every aspiring and experienced dancer are no longer the only game in town. A former New-Yorker who used to think his city is the best place for salsa changed his mind after vacationing in Paris. However, many visiting Parisians admit they have fun dancing right here in SF. Even our own homeboy, the world champ Luis Aguilar, came home after a stint in NY. (Just make sure they announce you representing SF next time you compete, Luis:-)

As always, festivals and congresses bring some big names to boost attendance. This year, SF salsa festival showcased Majesty in Motion from San Diego, Yamulee from NY and world champs on1 Liz Lira and Christian Oviedo from LA. No doubt these dancers are superb. In spite of many years of training in salsa, no matter how good one becomes, salseros with additional experience in other dances such as ballet, jazz or ballroom will always have an edge, especially ladies (let's face it, guys, you play a supporting role in salsa :-) I'm not a big fan of ballroom, but you can surely appreciate their technique as was demonstrated once again by the couple of ballroom experts who danced to the smoking hot Temptation by Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall.

But what happens when we compare apples to apples and the technique level is comparable? What distinguished the stars from the rest? Festival performances provide a glimpse into audience's reaction and appreciation. Even on its home turf in SF, where Salsamania gets a lot of support from cheering crowds, you could see the public's reaction when a star performer is announced: people are sitting on the edge of their seats expecting greatness; they react with awe to every little move or accent. Of course you need to be great to feed this exaltation, but I'm not sure someone without any knowledge of who is who would see a substantial difference- technique wise - between let's say Yamulee or Majesty in Motion and Salsamania, Isidro and Arielle, Liz and Andrew (who showed a stunning routine at Cafe Cocomo) and some others.

What does count is the ease of execution. To become a world star, one needs to dance so it looks like a walk in the park to them. And, as a matter of fact, highly trained dancers with technique ingrained in their bones need only to put together a routine - they already know "how", they just need "what". At this level, their attention can be given to creative accents that are particularly popular with all audiences. Moreover, creativity and humor can overshadow less than perfect technique. Corey and Mireille in their bachata number were one example. (Corey's salsa is no less imaginative - this is a dancer to watch) Swing Guys are far from salsa gracefulness, but their unique routines are in demand all over the world.

Once the technique is equally great, the distinguishing factor becomes uniqueness, either in style or creativity. Salsa can become boring especially to audiences who repeatedly attend clubs and events. How many times can you watch Oliver and Luda as well as the majority of great salsa dancers unless they bring something else to the table-stage? To keep it from getting stale, you need either constant innovation in the "salsa sauce" or your own unique style like Frankie Martinez, Juan Matos, Shaka Brown, Vasquez brothers or Felipe Polanco. You can be a great imitator and competitor, but that will not make you a star.

Montuno Swing band that played the festival opening night at Cafe Cocomo ruined its impression from a few months ago when they presented a great repertoire at the regular Tuesday night dance at The Glas Kat. This time, the band leader Cristian Tumalan decided to experiment with hip-hop and bachata in spite of the negative reactions from the floor. Wrong crowd, guys! Too bad, we did not get to hear the new Pacific Mambo Orchestra playing on Mondays at Cafe Cocomo - it revived the true mambo classics (read Monday Night Jem for details).

Mazacote did a decent job on Friday - if only they cut their songs in half! "Titans of trombone" Saturday night were far from titans: they could not improvise to save their lives. Moreover, most songs were musically boring and these excruciating attempts extended them to unbearable lengths. Cut out the improvisations and everybody wins: you'll make better impression and dancers will be happy with shorter tunes. Dance promoters can put a stop to this demanding that songs must be under 5 min. or the band will not get the gig.

Overall, the festival was a great success. It attracted salseros who hardly ever show up in clubs anymore so seeing even local dancers was a pleasant surprise. Most participants stayed till the very end and some even lingered in the hallways past 2 am.

Thank you, Salsamania!

MONDAY NIGHT GEM

Awhile ago I wondered about the absence of dancers at Cocomo's on Monday nights: the nearly empty dance floor with plenty of room to dance, decent DJ music and only $3 cover - what else do you need?!

Since then Fernando and Mimi who teach there built a sizable following with large classes of beginners who know the value when they see it. Thursday nights dancer attendance has been steadily dwindling with unpredictable appearances, but now Coco's Mondays deserve to become new dancers' night. The difference is the incredible Pacific Mambo Orchestra, a new Bay Area mambo big band that showcases some of the best talent around. Moreover, they play for next to nothing. New faces as well as familiar salsa band members we never knew could play like that. That's what inspiration does to musical ability!

For years we danced mambo on 2 to salsa bands with rare mambo songs from a couple of local bands. Now mamberos have no excuse: Pacific Mambo Orchestra plays some of the classic mambo covers and other very danceable tunes. The golden era of big bands in the 40s and 50s with Tito Puente and many others on top of their game is behind us. But, if we support them, Pacific Mambo Orchestra will have a chance to become the only Bay Area Latin big band - how many of them left in the country?

San Francisco swing dancers revived the swing era that spurred faithful swing dance following all over the world. Can we do the same for mambo? Dance bands need dancer support to survive. It's up to us.

DIP [dance in peace]

MAYA SALSALOCA

DANCING ON THE RIVIERA

Sounds glamorous, doesn't it? For those not familiar with the word, it's a region in southern France on the Mediterranean sea near Nice ( no, not "naice", it's "neece", a gorgeous city similar in many ways to SF, only more beautiful. Next door to Cannes with its world renowned film festival, and Monaco - another country - with its world famous casino attracting the rich and famous, French Riviera is a playground for those who can afford the rides.

I was lucky enough to spend 4 weeks in Nice and explore the local dancing scene.

SALSA

My first impression was disappointing: most dancers are on beginner or intermediate levels and Cuban style prevails. But then it's the impression every visitor will get attending local SF clubs with advanced dancers rarely making an appearance these days. However, as I dug deeper, I uncovered some master salseros in both Cuban and what they call Porto styles - you just need to know where to go and when.

Stationed in Nice city I've had very little opportunity to explore beyond its boundaries until I met Enzo and Armelle from justsalsa.com - two of the rare instructors who teach on2. They have afternoon dances on Sundays and they were kind enough to give me a ride to a fun dance at Joa Casino in Antibes (where you cannot enter without an ID even if you just want to buy a sandwich at the bar by the entrance.) Both places had some advanced dancers. The centre of the Porto style in the city is La Bodeguita on Sunday nights where you can dance on1 and on2 to mostly old style salsa. Same club Wed. nights is empty for inexplicable reasons.

Those sparse experiences would have been it for me if I did not have a chance to meet Jean, a retired factory manager who created the most popular salsa site on the Riviera, websalsazur.com with the most up to date info of events, classes, workshops, photos and videos. Moreover, even swing and its derivatives get a spotlight there. Jean makes rounds of dance spots almost every night carrying his video and photo cameras and snapping pictures by the hundreds! The next day they all appear on the site! Every dancer immediately refers you to it.

Jean was kind enough to take me along on his rounds for my remaining week and thanks to him I saw a variety of places, dances, styles and abilities. The most popular by far is L'Idem in Juan les Pins that is packed with salseros week after week. Here you have a different instructor every night. The arrangement is different from SF. No cover charge, students pay instructors directly and he DJs the rest of the night for the privilege to use the dance floor. The club survives thanks to the purchased drinks and with big classes instructors can make pretty good living. Most are guys who rarely use a partner. But, they all dance with their students throughout the night!

Another difference is a wild variety of music and dances in some clubs. Besides an (over)abundance of bachata, there's zumba, other Latin dances, reggaeton that they do in line following "animateurs"- instructors and even a rare cha-cha or mambo. It was amazing to watch almost everyone eagerly crowding the floor and getting excited about line dancing. One fitness studio went even further changing the music periodically between the 2 floors so the dancers favoring Latin styles had to switch with swing lovers every few minutes going up and down the stairs! Why, you ask? Because many folks here like them all and want an opportunity to dance them all. - something we should encourage. My attempts to introduce French songs that we love here were met with indifference at best - no one is a prophet in his own land. Only one DJ played some French swing and salsa tunes by a Tunisian-French singer Dany Brillant who dabbled in both styles. Very basic voice and even more basic tunes with 2-3 chords, but some are catchy enough to please the public.

Of course, as everywhere in salsa scene, strangers are not exactly "popular" (unless they're young and gorgeous) and I would remain glued to my chair if not for generous leaders (and gorgeous hunks) like Enzo and Sebastien who accepted my invitation with a smile. Besides those 2 gentlemen, I met other great dancers like very creative Arno (who even asked me a few times), local "diva" Vladimir, a fellow Canuck of Haitian descent Nico, a Congolese Steve Bacula (both DJ and play the occasional mambos) and a a few others. The stars of the local salsa scene, however, are Parisian transplants Mike and his lovely and very gracious partner Erelle from U-tribe. They travel most of the year teaching and performing.

Some dancers even drive to a small Italian town of Sanremo famous for its old international singing competition that started in the 60's maybe earlier - long before American Idol. By some Porto style lovers there's great dancing in Italy and it's all within 1 hour drive. Milan, the current home base of many star salseros like Juan Matos, brothers Vasquez and other American transplants, is only 2 hours away.

SWING

My first shock: almost total absence of regular swing venues. None in Nice and very few in the outlying areas as far as 1 hour drive. Local instructors Olivier and Natasha tried to introduce lindy, but most folks here prefer WCS. Nevertheless, the event with mixed salsa-swing msic was full. The second shock: almost everybody was over 40! Coming from the overwhelming majority of young lindy-hoppers in SF it was surprizing to see almost total absence of dancers under 30. The only swing night dedicated solely to WC and lindy did not bring out many people and the only advanced level dancers were the instructors including Jay from Toulouse who prefers lindy and charleston, but must teach the WC to make a living.

This sad situation is partly due to demographics: retirees are overrepresented in these areas. However, there's a large university in Nice and the French Silicon Valley is close by so maybe better promotion is needed to attract new blood.

While in Nice, a casino Ruhl show titled Swinging Fantasy attracted my attention. For about 2 hours poor voices were killing all the golden tunes form the past and some disco. I expected better from French cabaret experts.

It was an unusually cold and rainy November, I did not dance much, I'm not too keen on the never dying double kiss greeting of the French (man to man too) and yet I want to come back. Once you taste the French savoir-faire and joie-de-vivre you'll heal your "heart left in San Francisco'.

DIP (dance-in-peace)

Maya Salsaloca

"SALSA-SPORT"?

Whoever came up with this oxymoron: dance-sport?! In France there's an institution to watch out for the purity of the language, but in American English everybody is a creator. First of all, dance is art, not sport. If it were otherwise, you would not need the music - just see who is better at specified and regulated tricks. Dancing has been the most exquisite form of art for centuries and to reduce it to a combination of steps and moves is blasphemous. Yet, it's exactly what ballroom has done in its fervor to compete, forgetting that the best dancer is not the one who stays within prescribed limitations (don't they all look the same?), but the one who innovates and breaks the rules, who feels the music and forgets that he is dancing to compete or to perform.

One glaring example is a pair of figure skaters who won the world championships 6 times in a row years ago. Figure skating IS considered sport and yet, this couple who started training at the age 15 - way too late - beat all their younger competitors every time thanks to their incredible artistry and true passion on top of flawless technique.

So what do we do with dancers who want to compete? How do we establish common criteria to reward the best, especially in such varied street dance? Ballroom salsa has very little in common with its parent,- it's a given -, but the sheer variety of salsa styles makes this task mind-boggling. Where do we fit Cuban or Colombian style; which category would be appropriate for the likes of Victor and Gaby who look nothing like highly stylized and refined couples and groups we've been seeing. We like them BECAUSE of their originality and reflection of their Mexican roots in their choreography, but were they to compete, which category is appropriate for them? Brothers Vasquez, Juan Matos, Ismael Otero, Frankie Martinez - none of them look alike. Comparing apples to oranges always did and always will produce complaints of unfairness and personal preferences of the judges.

Ballroom dancers are professionals who train since childhood, at least those who compete. If we do establish rules similar to ballroom competitions then we must have trained judges who can discern every execution detail, every flaw, and untrained salseros - the majority - will be in extreme disadvantage in comparison to dancers with professional training in other dances (pointed toes alone would fail the majority of salsa competitors.) It would be wise to partake in the experience of other well established social dance competitions such as West Coast Swing.

All of these questions will have to be answered sooner or later, but for now, the very first US Salsa Open competition launched by PB&G Productions and sponsored by Telemundo just wrapped up at the Oakland Marriott hotel. For the first time - and it's about time - a major TV network picked up a salsa event. (ESPN's broadcasting of the World Salsa Competition treated it like another sport show and made it impossible to watch having commentators blabbing non-stop throughout the presentations. Let's hope Telemundo will take a different approach)

We must give credit to Ricardo Sanchez for this bold undertaking considering he is already involved in the annual SF salsa congress in November and Bay area already has a salsa festival organized by Salsamania in March. Moreover, a major bachata and salsa festival running concurrently just ended the weekend earlier so the first US Salsa Open was in a tough spot. Nevertheless, there were plenty of registered competitors and their fans in the audience. They had a wild variety of categories to choose from, even, for the first time in salsa, for dancers over 40 (please, come up with a more creative name. (ex. Masters in West Coast Swing)

In many ways, it felt like a congress with competitions, shows, vendors etc. The scale was smaller this debuting year, but just like the World Salsa Competitions that started slow then picked up steam with numerous competitors from all over the globe, US Salsa Open has all the potential to become a major salsa event especially if Telemundo does its part broadcasting it to the mainstream audiences.

The opening Thursday night at Cafe Cocomo was promising enough. The crowd filled the club dancing to a perennial favorite Johnny Polanco and his band from LA. However, the invited "gods" from "Noo-Yok"'s Yamulee dance company "ascended into heaven" (balcony) soon after arrival and did not descend to mingle with SF "mortals" almost all night. Other invited luminaries and judges were absent. By comparison, a pro competitor from Philly, a Dominican Republic transplant by the name of Darlin (that suits him very well) danced his heart out with anyone who asked and displayed such joy he was a pleasure to watch. He later won the first place in one of the pro categories - congrats, Darlin!

Workshops (called Dance Camp this time) ran for 2 days concurrently with day competitions that continued well into the night leaving little time for social dancing. That is another dilemma that must be solved in the future if US Salsa Open is to attract wide audiences and not just competitors' fans. Unlike ballroom competitions where there is no social dancing, in salsa events' business model attendance is crucial. The main attraction for salseros is and always will be social dancing which is at the heart of any social dance. If competitions, shows and especially award presentations usurp that time no salsa event will survive in the long run. How about scheduling them AFTER social dancing? That way dancers who competed will have to stay to hear the results and those who don't care are not forced to sit through them.

Smart competitors who know the best times to scoop most awards participate in the first competitive event before the word spreads out. And they did just that. Many competed in multiple categories and took home several medals and awards. When the competition gets a world-wide reputation, they can always boast about their wins. As expected, most of the winners were local Bay Area dancers. Some pros like Salsamania's John Narvaez danced with their students and partners in so many presentations it was a wonder how they did not mess up their choreography. Among his many awards, John won the pros' solo shine competition beating an extraordinary dancer Arieh Alexander from Utah who advanced to the finals in the popular TV show So You Think You Can Dance. He also received the best instructor award along with his long-time partner Liz Rojas. Both of them created a family dedicated to dancing and each other. Well deserved.

A Salsamania prodigy who rose to fame, became a world champ and came back to his native San Francisco after a stint in New York, Luis Aguilar formed his own group Couture Alliance that won the first place in pro team competition. Another local pro team, Ricasalsa, chose a great song for their presentation, but used it again in several other numbers of their family teams and that may have cost them. Ricasalsa placed 3d after Salsamania.

3 pro couples competed in 3 oategories. They were so close I would not want to be in the judges' shoes to pick the winners, so the results were worth of Solomon's wisdom: they each got a first place in 1 division.

Unlike DJs wh had their own page in the printed program the live bands were not even listed neither in the program nor on the website. (Could it be due to musicians' notorious unreliability and last minute changes?) Fri night local band Conjunto Rovira played great music selections and sounded great, but, as often the case with SF salsa bands, each piece was extended to the point of exhaustion with unimaginative and monotonous improvisations. The floor was far from crowded. Saturday night the presence of Jose Alberto El Canario helped revive the attendance.

Francisco Vasquez was his usual self leading impromptu shines on the dance floor. His "students" were picking up his moves, but not his musicality. In salsa world, even the majority of salsa pros and instructors are lacking music connection in their social dancing.

The weekend ended with the celebration of Colombian independence day and the famous Grupo Niche band.

Yours truly was interviewed by Telemundo and I seized the opportunity to emphasize the importance of TV for bringing salsa into the mainstream of American culture. If we manage to put our differences and petty grievances aside, abide by the ethics of business and unite for the cause of popularizing the dance we all love, US Salsa Open will become a major event in the world of dance.

DIP (dance in peace)

BACHATA Y QUE?

Salsa lovers beware: the growth of bachata's popularity is worrisome. Its sex appeal is so obvious, salsa looks tame in comparison. Besides this appealing "feature", bachata's simplicity in music and dance moves also attracts those who find salsa too strenuous and too difficult to learn. Will it overtake salsa and "cure" many salseros of their salsa addiction?

Those were my thoughts when I saw the crowds of local and visiting dancers - mostly "former" salsa junkies - grind and sweat in the huge ballroom of Park 55 hotel in downtown San Francisco where the second bachata festival took place last weekend. The 3 dance floors were almost completely in the dark, presumably to make everyone attractive for the intimacy of bachata :-D

Out of the 2 smaller ballrooms downstairs dedicated to the salsa festival run concurrently with the bachata event, one was empty and the other was never packed attracting salsa die-hards taking a break from bachata. A few pros would show up late at night and assemble a crowd of onlookers.

This year the San Francisco bachata "pusher" Rodney Aquino, the organizer of the festival, pulled all the stops and invited a few dance luminaries and bachata bands to make it a full blown 7 day event involving local clubs like Roccapulco that opened its doors for the opening night and The Glas Kat that hosts monthly bachata dances as well as other venues.

In 12 years I've known him, this shy salsero went through several transformations getting tired of salsa patterns, "1 or 2" debates, Cuban style and finally bachata. This journey made a promoter out of a dancer. In my review of the first bachata festival last year I came out as a non-fan of bachata and for me nothing has changed. But, as a former singer familiar with the ugly side of show business who would never again deal with cranky managers, unreliable musicians and everyone in between, I must sing praises to Rodney's hutzpah: he raised awareness of the dance that was not on anyone's radar before he introduced it to the Bay Area.

The festival had all the trappings of a salsa congress: nice hotel, vendors, great dance floors, workshops, competitions, shows and dances. And just like many salsa congresses, it featured presentations of beginner dancers who should never set foot on stage and waste the audience's time. Add to that the MC's ramblings, hocus-pocus performances etc. and the social dancing that is THE main reason dancers attend these events, is cut drastically. No wonder promoters pitching future festivals promise to cut shows to 45 min or less.

Years ago when as beginner I liked dancing to fast songs, one wise and experienced salsero pointed out that you could do more with slower music. Do what? DANCE. In salsa you can run through the song showcasing your technical prowess, but with bachata and its slow languishing moves styling is even more important. Those who think they mastered these basic steps and can now perform, think again.

Still, there were a few memorable performances, including a fusion tango with classical music. Technically it looked great and the music was enchanting, too bad the couple had no chemistry or passion. A pair of ballroom dancers were superb in their rumba to Jose Feliciano's rendition of Suzie Q - let's just say his version would probably be banned from most radio stations..One non-dance performance attracted attention: Vassili's songs from the Seattle's band Children of the Revolution. Nice voice.

Quite a few bachata performers were creative and experimented with moves from other dances even non-partner stles. Do they look like the original bachateros? Does it matter? Like salsa, street dances often have their own lives and develop with the flow - nothing to be argued or complain about. This is not ballroom with its strict rules and "allowable" moves.

The introduction of other dances to the workshop lineup was a pleasant surprise as well: from West Coast swing (reflecting Rodney's past forays) to lap dance (?!) Add to this poll dancing and striptease and your bachata training would be complete:-)

There are so many other dances we don't about - yet. Europeans are good at exploring the world and bringing its cultures into the limelight. Zouk, soca, zumba etc. are already making inroads into local dance scenes. America catches up eventually thanks to entrepreneurial folks like Rodchata & Co

DIP (dance in peace)

GROUP COMPETITION: ANNIVERSARY EDITION

It's been 10 years - yes, already 10 years! - since brothers Oscar and Tony O decided to launch Bay Area salsa groups' competition. Held at the expansive Roccapulco salsa club it attracted pros and amateurs alike and gave them a chance to measure up and test their skills and endurance, both physical and emotional.

Throughout the decade we've had it all: ups and downs, hurt egos, temper tantrums, attendance fluctuations, even threats to end it all from the promoters. But, in spite of all the problems, the event that became the staple of Bay Area salsa scene survived and endured. The result speaks for itself: this anniversary year seemed to beat all expectations with the crowds that filled the spacious club throughout the night in spite of early starting time. The dance floor was still full at 1:30 am whereas previously the majority left right after the competition.

Starting tit early to reserve more time for social dancing is a great idea that should be kept in the future. Too bad, I did not bother to check the flyer, assumed the usual arrival time and missed most of the presentations. Thanks to youtube, however, I managed to see all the pros and the winning amateur division group.

There was even an unexpected benefit from watching online: my connection speed is too slow causing freezes that display synchronicity (or lack thereof) frame by frame. By repeating each video I could see the downloaded normal speed version as well. Sure, you don't see minute styling details, but overall they were great.

Too bad I couldn't find all the amateur group performances, but the winning number from Projecto Mania was quite impressive. Based on that video, one would be hard pressed to see much difference between them and some pro groups especially their own Salsamania family member Son de Mania.

Even though many groups were missing from the competition, those that did participate proved once again the rising skills of local salseros. The return of the Bay Area's son Luis Aguilar who grew up with Salsamania, pushed beyond local scene to make his mark in New York and become the world salsa champion put pressure on the competitors: now everybody had to measure up. Lo and behold, Luis' newly created dance company Couture Dance Alliance took 3d place in spite of a tight routine and fiery energy. A minor stumble I saw in the club, but not on video, may have been the culprit.

Salsamania presented a previously seen routine with nearly flawless execution and won the second place. Almost every frame on the video had perfectly synchronized moves - not easily achieved even with 2 couples.

And finally, the winner of the competition Ricasalsa kept its title from last year proving once again that the formula of choosing a song and adapting the choreography to its breaks is the way to go, not vice versa. Interesting music with countless opportunities for play and imaginative dance moves to illustrate the music arrangement will beat technique in a close call. Ricasalsa's numerous couples, challenged with many changes and formations, seemed a bit chaotic, yet kept it all together thanks to high level dancers on the team. Success breeds success and the group's numerous fans and junior members kept the cheers going. Not that it was needed: the audience in general appreciated the spectacle as well.

Tianne brought her experience in other dance styles and enriched traditional salsa with moves never seen before. Those innovations did not seat well with some competitors and hard core salseros. They should remember, however, that the essence of salsa is...well... "salsa" which is the music first and foremost as well as a mix of dance moves created by someone at some point. Any future innovations should be welcomed, not questioned. Everyone is free to like it or hate it, but it's hard to argue with the general public's acceptance. Learn to adapt or be left in the dust.

DIP (dance in peace)

SALSA SURVIVAL: glass half-full or half-empty?

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How can we possibly worry about salsa survival in the Bay Area where salsa clubs like Cafe Cocomo and The Glas Kat are thriving; where in addition to already established and very popular yearly salsa congress held in November we just celebrated the second installment of the Salsa Festival organized by the leaders of Salsamania Dance Company John Narvaez and Liz Rojas?

The Second annual Salsa Festival took place at the Westin hotel in downtown San Francisco this past weekend and it felt like a full-blown congress with workshops, performances, visiting stars, vendors and even ever-present Albert Torres himself (this time only as a guest of the festival).

The hotel was more luxurious (even though last year we had better parking opportunities); the attendance was higher; the performances were short and sweet and the 3 big dance floors accommodated all dancers.

Even the music rocked with a newly created local band opening the festival at Cafe COCOMO Thursday night. Their song selections were very danceable and appealing to both experienced dancers and social crowd alike. If only they would shake off the irritating salsa bands' habit of playing long songs they would be perfect. Another new band - or rather a gathering of local musicians - played Sat. night to rave reviews. Some songs were too fast for many dancers sitting them out and, once again, cutting out uninspiring horn section improvisations would shorten the songs and improve the band's reputation. Fri. night was a DJ night and felt flat according to a quick poll of regulars.

With the skill level of local dancers rising every year there's no longer much difference in world-wide congress performances with mostly local groups representing Bay Area at the festival. Even world competition champs on 1 and on 2 - as fantastic as they were - should stay on their toes with others getting close with one notable exception: Eli Torres. This salsero from Philly, a follower with his partner Yen made a sensation at the last year's festival. In all the salsa dancers I've seen over the years - local and world wide - one would be hard pressed to find a match to Eli's incomparable technique.

Bay Area salsa is gearing for another major event already on the horizon - another congress-like feast for those dancers who live and breathe competition: US Salsa Open, to be held in July at the Oakland Marriott Hotel, the regular venue of the SF Salsa Congress. Organized by PB&G Productions, it already became a point of contention between traditional salseros who want to preserve the social dance origins of salsa and young dancers with competitive spirit.

This topic was one of the issues raised at the lunch time discussion about the ethics of salsa that attracted about 30-40 participants facing the 6 panel members across the huge dance floor. Speakers needed individual mikes to be heard. It would be more "user friendly" if it was held in one of many of the hotel's empty conference rooms so that people could interact on a more equal footing. Some comments would prompt a lively discussion given the opportunity, instead, it turned out to be a sterile question and answer session.

Still, the soul-searching question in the title seems to be on many dancers' minds these days. Why in this dance-fever craze going on in the mainstream shall we even ask? The prospects should be great: dancing is finally getting some attention and dancers - this long ignored and unappreciated group - is finally getting some recognition for the hardest life-time training they need in order to succeed in their craft. Does it mean salsa will finally get some American limelight?

Opinions vary, but before we cross that bridge we need to sort out our internal dilemmas. SF Bay Area salsa scene was bursting at the seams a few years ago when clubs, classes and workshops were packed with aspiring and advanced dancers alike. Everybody wanted to learn this fiery dance - fast! The influx of beginners prompted many skilled (and not so skilled) dancers to make quick cash by creating dance groups with intensive training sessions robbing the new trainees and their trainers of energy to continue their practice in social settings. Moreover, intermediate and advanced dancers driven to showcase their stuff by performing and competing abandoned the social scene as well.

The result? The very nature of salsa as a social street dance is changing. "Dancers" and the social crowd who support the scene by attending the clubs and providing the audience for the aspiring stars are growing further apart. Is it a worrisome trend that should be "forbidden" like some forum posters tried to insinuate? Not necessarily.

Dancing is a pastime with no laws and regulations. It has a life of its own and no forceful measures would be appropriate. The standardization of salsa similar to ballroom, necessary for fair competition rules, will erode the essence of salsa as a street dance open to individual interpretations. However, we should respect people's choices whether they want to keep salsa a social event or strive to become performers and competitors: to each his own. Nevertheless, to prevent further isolation and separation of salsa's 2 streams (and to prevent shooting themselves in the foot) group leaders must lead by example and encourage - even insist - that their members continue to support social dancing by attending the clubs and inspiring the newcomers. We should never forget that social crowd will survive without pro dancers as they did for decades, but the dancers and instructors will keep "boiling in their own soup" and fizzle without the influx of outsiders.

A few years ago I cajoled a producer to come see salsa performances at a congress. He walked out when family presentations and tears started. I didn't want to be crucified as a messenger of his comments then, but now, when so many in salsa community are striving to get exposure it would be worthwhile to hear him out.

First, it's fine to want to showcase your skills and measure yourself against others, but in spite of tremendous progress made, most salsa dancers are still not on the level needed to be on a professional stage with professional dancers who spent their lifetime in dance training, not only salsa patterns. To be less then perfect on TV you need to be a star first. Second, as long as salsa events remain in "la familia" they will never be broadcast in the mainstream media. The unsavory choice the organizers are facing is: dump the grandma or show the combination of 3 fingers to the media moguls(Are my nails ready yet? :-)

Another controversial point was made by DJ Fab Fred who came out in the open defending his long-standing philosophy of hiding, even soaking away labels off the records(!), in order to keep secret from the public and other DJs the names of songs and artists they liked. Even many artists and composers themselves do not want their creations blocked even from the non-paying public (record producers want that), but a DJ who did not create any of it and just happened to find a nice song to play is hiding it from you?!

It's beyond just being selfish. DJs play a crucial role in popularizing music; they get free samples from record producers, they're paid to play and it's their JOB to help bands and artists reach their audiences. It's bad enough that musicians busting their chops all night are paid less than DJs who spin someone else's music during the breaks!

Luckily, not every DJ agrees, even Fred himself. I got a few of my favorites' names from him until he accused me of sharing with other DJs. I was guilty as charged and would do it again if I ever hear something I like (once in a blue moon). Swing DJs actually hold music exchange parties where everyone is welcome to come, share their music, get something or just listen. There are websites where DJs post their music collections for all to see. We cannot separate the issue of salsa survival from the issue of popularizing its music and DJs have an integral part to play.

So, before salsa crosses into the limelight, we should all encourage each other including social dancers supporting the ambitions of others - if salsa does manage to get mainstream exposure, it'll be good for everybody. Salsa fans, dancers, DJs, competitors, musicians, promoters etc. should stop squabbling and present a common front appealing enough for the mainstream to take notice.

STREET VS STAGE

Surprise, surprise - despite the recession, the SF yearly salsa congress was fairly well attended. This year it started early on Wed night at Roccapulco with Pepe y su Orchesta, but the word did not spread out and it was light. However, the official opening night at Cafe Cocomo on Thursday was packed as usual with many regulars and visitors alike. This club - the dancers' favorite - has a world-wide reputation and is considered one of the best in the country.

Last year, it rocked with the best music of the congress and this year it did not disappoint either with Tabaco y Ron from LA. NG2 from Puerto Rico sounded great - very professional and polished, but it fell into the frequent caveat of Latin bands: songs that are too long and/or too fast for dancing. Ditto for Andy Montanez. Montuno Swing sounded better than in clubs with varied tempos and even added one of my Tito Puente faves. Between the famed concert bands and good dance groups who respect their audience and their needs, which ones would you choose? Would you pick any live band over good DJ music?

DJ Fred did not repeat his all-time best night from last year, but he "reserved" a few great tunes for the late night "dancers" crowd. (During the congress isn't it all dancers' crowd?) Each DJ has his own idea about what works and when. Some think the general club patrons don't appreciate the same music as the dancers do and stick to monotonous string of songs repeated week after week. The enormous popularity of Fania All-Stars all over the world with all kinds of audiences do not seem to convince them that good music is enjoyed by all. Others, unaware of numerous complaints, think congresses require "speedy Gonzalez" music to maintain energy. Some DJ's don't seem to realize they "create" audiences by attracting the crowd that enjoys their selections and chasing away those who don't. DJ Lobo (who would not crack a smile even when complimented) came up with a compromise when he had his chance at the end of the congress Sun night. His medium tempo selections were "popular" enough yet had the appealing mambo beat for those of us who prefer it.

Congresses are best for meeting out-of-towners, watch and experience new styles, patterns etc. However, this year I was just as happy to see local dancers who are so busy rehearsing in their respective groups they are too tired for social dancing. If in previous years one could detect a gap in the skill level between locals and visitors, now it's only a rare star whose repertoire of patterns is so rich you can't help noticing. This year it was Sam Mr.Sleek from London who caught my attention. Despite his misleading nickname (given to him for his smooth style) he did not strive to showcase himself with top-notch pretty ladies, he stood quietly in the corner waiting for the never-ending stream of girls asking him, and he danced with everyone (unlike many salsa "luminaries" who suddenly need to go to the bathroom, lose contact lenses, get broken legs etc. to dance with you, but get instantly cured by a pretty and well-known face.) Sam will be teaching in California until March and might be able to come back to SF in Feb. if anyone is willing to invite him for workshops. http://mrsleekdance.com/index.php?page=about

There will be no show and competition reviews this year, instead, let's talk about a few key issues and determine the ingredients needed for a great performance. In this country, if you got money, you should be able to get anything your heart desires including a stage performance whether you're ready for it or not. Who cares? The audience forced to sit through amateurish efforts of aspiring dancers who lack technique, inspiration and creativity. Yes, they work hard and we all appreciate it, but dancing takes years of rigorous bone-breaking training that's evident in truly professional performers. You would not trust your surgery to a resident doctor, why art should be any different? Ok, ok, nobody died from a bad performance - not yet anyway. :-)

However, there are solutions. So You Think You Can Dance producer repeatedly states they're not looking for the best dancer, they're looking for the most popular one. A few years ago the swing dancer Benji Schwimmer won even though he lacked the technique his competitors had. What's his secret? Creative choreography, choice of music, humor and performance skills.

There are plenty of examples in salsa as well: Los Callejeros from Utah pick an interesting song, create original choreography to the music, add humor and costumes to illustrate it and voila - a memorable routine even without head-turning tricks and polished technique. Newly created Montuno chose a 50's song in salsa (Mr.Sandman) in 50's school theme and costumes in its presentation. Canadian trio Salsa Rica established themselves as a unique group with non-conforming salsa dancing and nobody is telling them "it ain't salsa". (The efforts of an LA group trying to copy that formula was pitifully inadequate) Seaon always comes up with unique ways to entertain not to mention Al and Edie who perfected salsa showmanship to the incomparable level.

What makes all of them memorable? Already mentioned creative choreography, choice of music and performance. When we watch a stream of presentations with similar patterns, similar moves, similar tricks and similar costumes year after year, technique alone - no matter how good it is - becomes boring. Why Junior and Emily and Dave and Zoe did not proceed to finals in America Got Talent? Because no matter how incredible they are at what they do, they're still a "one trick pony" and will benefit from creative approach to their skills that can be utilized in a variety of ways. It's great to watch them once, but more is needed to sustain interest in a multi-level competition. After proving themselves in spinning and arm pretzel patterns, J&E can slow down and showcase their dancing.

It seems that most salsa performers create their choreography then choose the song that fits or simply pile up pieces of different songs without any regard as to how they fit together. Al and Edie paid professionals to do their mixing so the music score was flawless.

At the congress, there were a few incredible, grabbing your attention intros into the routines that were abruptly cut and followed by a mediocre song, you wonder why they would not just follow though. It shows lack of patience or low importance value given to the music which, together with creative choreography, can make or break the performance. It is doubly important for dancers whose technique is not perfect.

Ideally, the process should be reversed: one would spend time and effort choosing an interesting song with intricate arrangement that allows for play and interpretation and never a standard played in clubs to death. (Maybe a new specialty in music selection should be created). Why not search beyond established collections - so much mainstream music was arranged in salsa it will be an enriching experience. Seaon and his Latinization of M.Jackson should be an inspiration.
Secou chose a vocalized jazzy samba by Brazilian singer Tania-Maria - not a mainstream fave, but still very danceable as his group proved it to be.

If your choreography skills are limited, there are professionals to consult or other dances to watch: after all "salsa" means just that - a collection of various styles that were created by somebody at some point and that can be enriched by mixing in new and exciting moves. (Claims "it ain't salsa" come only from those who are limited in their creativity.) Then you choreograph the song you selected respecting its flow and reflecting its breaks. The styling should be adapted to the music as well: if your style is smooth, don't pick a song with many breaks that demand knife-sharp accents. Most importantly, experience shows that in fast complicated routines many tricky moves often go unnoticed, but creative choreography with a few well executed accents - even pauses - will go a long way.

It boils down to how serious you are about your performance. If you just want to get on stage to catch your 5 minutes of fame and lukewarm applause does not bother you, fine. But if you are determined to get to the top, you should be willing to spend the time and effort required, admit you cannot do it all and hire professionals if necessary. Besides getting classes and privates in dancing, salseros would benefit from expanding their horizons by taking lessons in other dances, music and choreography.

Media moguls are finally waking up to the dance craze following the trends rather than setting and predicting them as they should. The inexcusable misrepresentation of salsa in Dancing with the Stars and in general ballroom community must stop misleading the public. It's time salseros break that glass ceiling, rise to the occasion and represent what real salsa is all about.

DIP (dance in peace)