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)