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“… 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.
Now, until I get the new ‘Salsa Congress‘ pages up and running, I’ll inform you of the good salsa congresses that are coming up. Another great salsa congress to watch out for is the 7th Annual NYC Salsa Congress. If you couldn’t make it to the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress this year, this is your second best bet since NY and PR are very similar in Latin culture and dance style (ON2).
If you are in NYC or in the surrounding area, I say give it a night and check it out, especially if you haven’t been to a salsa congress.
Well, I haven’t been this excited since coconut shreds started coming covered in chocolate. The 1st San Diego Salsa Festival 2007. ’nuff said. This event is going to rock and kick some serious butt. It is the first big event in partnership with Albert Torres that will be held in San Diego, CA. Home of (me) the new addicted2salsa.com guy. This event is also in conjunction with one of the most influential dance instructors in the San Diego area : Angel and Tulane Rivera
Now, while it has always been a dream of mine to teach at a salas congress, I won’t be teaching here (hopefully in the future..). However, Albert and Angel have lined up some of the best dance instructors from around the country to attend, perform and instruct. I think that while the West Coast Salsa Congress (LA Salsa Congress) for now is the biggest congress - I think San Diego has a great opportunity to leave its mark and be the second largest! If you are or aren’t coming to this event, still support the festival by checking out the event website and spread the word. If you have decided to come, let me know because we are planning to host some addicted2salsa social events - just like LA congress but now - with home court advantage!
The event is on September 21-23rd 2007 at the Four Points Sheraton. Buy you tickets, because I am getting word that this event might sell out. For more information check out the website or contact info@sandiegosalsafestival.com.
Here is a favorite video of mine of watching Angel and Pauline “Flare” dance.
As you know, we ended up going to Los Angeles (2007) West Coast Salsa Congress a couple of weeks ago. To my surprise, I ended up meeting someone that I ‘knew’ from my childhood. As you can already tell, I used to watch this show called the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers - old kid’s tv show where these teenagers had special powers to do some ninja butt-kicking. Anyways, to my surprise at the salsa congress - the Black Power Ranger now does salsa! His name is Walter Jones (known as Zack in the MMPR). I got a chance to meet him and talk to him for a bit on the saturday night event.
Who would have imagined? Well after doing a little more research, it ends up being he is pretty big in the LA Salsa scene. Even so - they were the 2004 Mayan World Salsa Champions! Impressive! I have a deep respect for people who support salsa. And for an actor (celebrity) to also be very supportive of the salsa scene requires great praise from all of us. It more than what most do.
[Updated] You can see his mad ranger skills (aerials) here:
“… 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.
“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.
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