"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)