The wonderful (possibly future co-host) Julie sent me these videos, and I found them to be inspirational. It is of course a biased list since you have some of my favorite-styled dancers there.
Here you have Magna and Adolfo social dancing at a Salsa Congress to “Para Ochun y Yemaya” by Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon.
Here are two great dancers: Burju (Hacha y Machete) and Milton Cobo (Cobo Brothers) social dancing in the San Francisco Salsa Congress. They are both known for having incredible body movement, and while the video is short, it is still sweet.
One of the favorite videos in this set. This is my favorite couples to watch dance. This is Hacha y Machete (Victor and Burju) Freestyling at the UK Salsa Congress. Of course, I’ve never asked the question to Victor or Burju on who is the Hacha and who is the Machete out of them both.
And of course, finally - for something a little faster - is the other Cobo Brother, James Cobo dancing at the UK Congress showing the pattern he taught (or just freestyling).
Well, I got a good email from a viewer that just mentioned that they just finished having their first Salsa Congress in Dubai! The event was from Nov 22nd - 24th, 2007….Wow. Dubai - all the way over there. Even near the desert there is still salsa. Here is the clip he sent in.
Some of the other performers at the congress: Alfredo (Bulgaria),alsa Dance Squad (Holland), Hacha Y Machete (Burju&Victor): (Boston), Susana & Leon Rose (UK), Tito & Tamara (USA), Edwin Rivera (New York), Los Hermanos (Spain), Kaytee (India), James & Alex (Dubai), Salsa All Style (France), BNF(Dubai), MajuSee(France), Neeraj & Ania(Switzerland), Carmen & Rodrigo (Spain)
Well, last year’s Jack and Jill contest at San Francisco Salsa Congress was just simply amazing! This year was even better! These people just stole the show. You just have to watch some of the best improvised performances anywhere in the US.
The first place winners this year were Milton Cobo and Masha. Of course, I’ve talked about Milton before, and this video just shows how slick and smooth he is (unbuttoning his shirt while giving a girl multiple spins). Now, or Masha - wow - I’ve never seen such great (yet subtle) footwork styling. You will be rewinding this video a few times in order to appreciate the details. Enjoy!
“… Everybody else in the world or the country basically we’re saying that San Diego didn’t have a big enough salsa scene. And so my husband and I set out to prove them wrong, and prove them wrong we did.” - Tulane Rivera.
2007 marked the return of the large format event to San Diego with the 1st annual San Diego Salsa Festival. Others can add more insight, but the last large event in the beautiful city was held in 2005 (San Diego Congress). The quote from Tulane Rivera is in regards to the growing salsa community. That very community created the demand, and Angel and Tulane Rivera from A Time To Dance Studio (with Albert Torres Productions) helped fill the need. The married couple talked about their salsa experiences outside California, having themselves traveled to different parts of Europe and Asia. “Getting out of your bubble … seeing another world” - Angel Rivera. So they focused on securing a few key performers (and instructors) outside of their area, including Hacha y Machete, Tito and Tamara and Jayson Molina from Puerto Rico. Additionally, the promoters also talked about the level of dancing in San Diego increasing dramatically, and that locals aren’t necessarily looking at L.A. anymore for its trends.
While I wasn’t able to attend any classes, (from what I understand) the workshops were quite successful, with full passes almost selling out due to lack of physical workshop space. Of course, you could not have a San Diego event without its incredible local talent such as Majesty in Motion, Iran Castillo, Mario and Sarai, Salsa Divas, Juan and Susie, etc.
I was only able to attend the Saturday night party, and wish I could have extended my stay. When one’s camcorder lens instantly *fogs up* after immediately entering the main dance ballroom, one can make some simple observations - 1) There’s too many people dancing and 2) There’s not enough air conditioning and 3) the venue is too small. The venue was fairly large, and there was a massive amount of people social dancing filling the room up to capacity. Great turnout? You betcha. I also saw a few out of town social dancers from places such as NJ, NY, and Florida. The future looks bright for the 2008 festival, also in late September.
With that said, most of the comments I got were: “I like your YouTube videos“. And I realized that the way I danced in those videos is wwwaaaaayyyyy to old. So, thanks to Allan, he captured me dancing with the wonderful Jennifer Stein from Majesty In Motion Dance Co. Enjoy!
