Sorry for the delay in Song of the Week section. I've been working on a new music player and new method for posting songs for you to listen to. (No its not ready) but I decided to take some time and change the salsa song - so check it out if you haven't noticed the update already. 
Monthly Archive for February, 2007
This article is one of the best ways to learn how not to be an EVIL DJ. Great job Mr. Will Pagan.
"The Evil DJ" By Evil DJ Sal S. Amambo (Written by Will Pagán)
Source and Full Article: http://www.williefuego.com/evildj.html
DISCLAIMER The following article is entirely fictional. No particular real-life DJ was considered in writing this work. Any resemblance to a DJ, club owner, social organizer or party manager known to you is completely coincidental. The evil DJ Sal S. Amambo is a fictional character comprised of many of the worst qualities in DJ-ing I have born witness to throughout my salsa career and throughout my many salsa travels (e.g. NC, NY, DC, LA, ATL, etc.). The name Sal S. Amambo, in it's many forms (e.g. Dr. Sal S. Amambo, DJ Sal S. Amambo, etc.) is a ficticious name that I use to represent all that is evil and bad about salsa and the salsa scene worldwide.
INTRODUCTION I am the evil salsa DJ, Sal S. Amambo… Tremble before my wrath. The villainy of my DJ'ing knoweth no bounds. So proud am I of my talents at ruining salsa parties and events that I am compelled to share with you my methods, such that you can truly appreciate the genius of my contemptuousness. I come in many forms. I could be spinning the records at your local club, at your social, at your private party… I could also be several places at once. The destructive might of my many salsa event tactics are only matched by the omnipresence thereof….
My perspective
I've been dancing salsa for almost a year now. I was a very slow learner at first, but the last few months I have gotten a lot better and I would consider myself an intermediate dancer, at least before this weekend. I usually dance LA on1…I have a few weeks experience with casino rueda, and a few workshops worth of experience with NY on2.
Performances
The performances started late both nights (90 minutes and 60 minutes or so for each night). That was understandable since this was the first event ever of this magnitude in Atlanta, but it was especially disappointing on Saturday night because it only left time for the band to play 1 set. The quality of the performances was amazing. Juan Matos did an *amazing* footwork performance along with Marco Ferrigno. While all the performances were great, my personal favorites were the two by the Masacote dance company. The first night they did an amazing routine to Mambo Gallego by Tito Puente, and on Saturday they performed "5 Beat Mambo", a routine danced to original mambo music written by Joel Masacote in 5/4 time. Overall, these were some of the most original and exciting performances I have ever seen. I'll post a link to video of the performances in the forums as soon as I have them.
The performance above is titled "The Cipher", by La Oscuridad - Gordon Neil, Shaka Brown, Sekou McMiller, Leon Rose, and PsyonMaurico Scott. The song is "The Hustler" by Willie Colon.
Workshops
Flava invasion had a very good selection of workshops. My personal favorite was Milton Cobo's workshop. We learned a very good pattern that I was mostly able to pick up, despite my lack of on2 experience, and at the end, he gave some very good general tips that explained his smooth style. I also got a lot out of Magna's spinning workshop, I was actually quite surprised at how in depth she was in an hour workshop. There was a lot of explanation, and a lot of drills that will be very useful in developing spinning technique.
Juan Matos had an amazing footwork workshop with a lot of afro cuban influence as well. The only on1 workshop I attended by Leon Rose was also very useful and entertaining. Anna and Joel Massicot also gave a very good workshop on musicality and choreography. While most of the information wasn't new to me as a former musician, I think it was explained very well and is knowledge that every dancer should have. To end Saturday, there was a workshop by Bachata Greg that was very popular. I have no idea how the Sunday workshops went since I was so exhausted from Fri/Sat that I slept all day Sunday…
Parties
Although the parties started late due to the previously mentioned delays in the performances, they were the best dance parties Atlanta has ever seen. The quality of dancing was so amazing that I really started to feel like a beginner again. There were 4 different dance floors, and the selection of music was great, although I personally prefer DJs who have breaks in between songs, which wasn't the case for these DJs. The band was fantastic, I have seen them several times before and they always put on a good show. However, they only played for about an hour since everything got started so late.
Other
There were a few vendors on hand at the event, but I was upset that the only shoe vendor sold only women's shoes. Beside that shoe vendor, there were a few groups selling dance DVDs.
Although I am a big fan of Gordon Neil and I usually find him very entertaining, the MCing in this event tended to go on a lot longer then necessary. For example, it took them about half an hour on Saturday night to hand out two simple awards, one of which I could not see the relevance for, as it was given to a dancer that has no ties to Atlanta that I know about, even if she is really amazing.
Overall
There were quite a few organizational issues, but it was not enough to ruin the event, and I expect it all to be fixed for next year's version. With the amazing performances, social dancing, and workshops, Flava Invasion was a great success!
Now, I love old salsa clips and videos. Again, for those who don't know me, its mainly because I sort of re-live my childhood (and also get to see what I missed out when I wasn't into salsa). I feel that my salsa passion came later on in life even though the existence was always in my life. (kind of like a religious experience, on how you finally realize that God exists and just something changes you personally - please no hate mail). Anyways, this is from the old show called Noche De Gala which they used to air in Puerto Rico on channel 2 (now known as Telemundo own by NBC). This clip is from the 70s that guest stars the master Roberto Roena! (Sorry for the audio quality, but still enjoy it - relive the moment)!
Well, for those who missed the great salsa congress in Chicago this year (2007) - and this includes me, here is a cool clip of the famous band called Puerto Rican Power that performed in one of the nights at the congress. If you are a fan of Puerto Rican Power's music, well I hope you went because its always MUCH better listening to them (and dancing) when they play their music live. Its amazing!
I'd like to thank Josh for the clip. This is from the 2007 Chicago Salsa Congress. I'm a big fan of the Cobo brothers and their body movement style. It was actually Milton Cobo that got me thinking about smoothing out my salsa patterns and footwork - and as you can see, the footwork that he teaches here is very simple, but with a lot of upper body movement. Again, I recommend any chance you have to take one of their classes. Enjoy!
Well, this might be one of those days where I cry out of happiness! I finally got to see (through video, sorry I couldn't make it Geoff) one of my best friends perform a salsa routine at a 2007 Chicago Salsa Congress. Geoffrey Spain started dancing with me in Ames, Iowa (Iowa State University) back in Feb 18th, 2000. It is funny to think back now, because at first one of the reasons we started dancing was because it was the only way to meet (cough..cough..) people since we were too young to go to the bars - but old enough to go to a Latin club called Boheme which might have played 3-4 salsa songs the whole night. It is amazing to think, how when we first started, that this thing called 'salsa' would change our lives forever. This also reminds me of the time Geoff and I went to our first salsa congress (it was Chicago Salsa Congress 2005) and talked to ourselves dreaming on someday being up on stage at a salsa congress and performing a routine! I am extremely happy for them and very proud that he made his dream come true. I only wish I had video of Geoff in his 'early stages' of salsa, so you can compare him now - so it can give everyone inspiration that you can become as good as Geoff: we all go through hard work to get where we are at. Congratulations to Geoff and Limari again - great performance! (and song choice).
If you'd like to send a message to Geoff, he's on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gspain
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