Just as last year, during the Labor Day weekend two big dance events took place at the Hilton Hotel on 6th Avenue and 54th street: New York Salsa Congress and New York Hustle Congress. One admission charge gets you to attend both. The Salsa Congress took place in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel pictured on the left. The Hustle congress took place in three separate rooms nearby. During the afternoon both congresses offered extensive dance workshops tought by top dance instructors. At night the Salsa Congress featured a stage show of salsa performers from around the United States and even other countries. After the show the humongous dancefloor was open until 5 AM for salsa dancing to a live band and a DJ. The Hustle Congress also continued until 5 AM and featured competitions of various levels from amatures to professionals as well as performances and of course there was plenty of dancing for the public.

Photos
Videos:

To see the videos of amazing dance performances, order the official New York Salsa Congress DVD here.

Mara is one of my favorite people to dance with at the weekly Hustle Party at DanceSport held every Monday. She has great style, incredible flexibility, and she can improvise like no other without me having to lead her into every single step. Finally today I was able to ask her friend to videotape us: Still Captures

During the Labor Day weekend was the annual New York Salsa Congress which was held at the Hilton Hotel. The format of the event was similar to last year - every night there was a salsa show and general dancing. One difference was that the shows took place in the main ballroom instead of in a separate smaller room. Although there was no social dancing at the same time as the shows took place, the good thing was that there were plenty of seats for everyone to see the show and the view of the stage was much better than last year. After the shows were over at around 11 PM, they cleared all the chairs and made the giant ballroom available for social dancing to the sounds of live bands. Here are some photos that I took during the show on Friday. Some people who wanted special attention danced on the carpet in the foyer of the ballroom. They were surrounded by the crowed of people with camcorders. Here are my video clips:
Here is a cute Salsa Pas De Trois:

The other good thing about the shows being held in the main ballroom is that the room that was used for the show last year served a different purpose this year. It was used for the first annual New York Hustle Congress. It was great to be able to go back and forth between the Salsa and Hustle. I am also glad that Hustle was being exposed to the Salsa crowd who may have never heard about it. The Hustle Congress consisted of general dancing, shows and competitions.

Here is the video of the winners of the Theater Arts division - Kelvin Roche and Lori Ann Greenhouse:
The second place was taken by Louie and Ann Rosa. Here is the video:

Today was the bi-weekly hustle dancing event in Central Park's bandshell. For complete schedule click here.

Photos

Every Monday DanceSport dance studio hosts the best hustle parties in town. Here is a video taken at one of the parties:

IHSC 2005 is going to be held at a new hotel. Below is the information. Check out hustleandsalsa.com for more information.

IHSC 2004 Videos

Today from 3 to 7 PM Central Park had a Saturday Afternoon Fever as the sounds of Disco came out of the Bandshell where DJ Bobby Morales had set up his sound equipment. Instead of a bunch of rollerbladers and skateboarders, the area in front of the Bandshell was occupied by the Hustle dancers showing of their best moves in front of the crowd of spectators. You can see the video clips of me dancing with the Hustle addict Amara here:
There are also still captures from the first clip here.

Dancing on the concrete was not as good as on the conventional wooden dancefloor, but I appreciated all the space that we had. We could just move around all over the place without worrying about bumping into other couples. Most people who were dancing were the regulars who come to the Monday Night Huslte Party at DanceSport. David Padilla and Zula performed a Mambo routine and Miguel Marrero and Stacy Redler performed their Hustle routine full of fancy lifts that pleased the crowed of spectators. Anyone could participate in the event but most people preferred to watch rather than to dance. Perhaps hey were intimidated by the fancy moves of the hustlers. But this was not true for a groom and a bride who were passing by and decided to join the dancers.

This free event premiered two weeks ago. I hope that it will continue through the rest of the summer, since it's a good way to expose the world of Hustle to the masses.

At the Salsa & Huslte Bash 2 Lisa Daniels and her partner did an excellent Hustle performance. Here is the video:

They were dancing to the song More More More by Kylie Minogue.

The room was brightly lit for the performance which made this video to be one of the better dance videos that I shot with my digital camera.

Maria Torres tought hustle workshop at DanceSport dance studio. Her students performed at the weekly Monday Night Hustle party today. Here is the video:
It's impressive how together everyone was given lots of open choreography and only two hours of rehearsing.

Click here to see my collection of Hustle videos.

Click on the photo above to see more photos.

I had a fabulous time at the 5th Annual International Hustle and Salsa Competition held in Deauville Resort Hotel in Miami, Florida. I arrived on Thursday, April 1st and stayed there until April 5th. Every day except for the last I was dancing. I was competing on Friday and did social dancing on other days. I have never danced so much before. I really think my dancing improved a lot just from such an intense practice. The weather was beautiful compared to New York City. While taking a break from dancing I enjoyed my time in the hotel's pool and jacuzzi as well as swimming in the ocean and relaxing on the beach.

Videos

Professional Hustle
Professional Hustle Jack and Jill
Cabaret Division
Salsa
Amature Jack & Jill
Social Dancing

Scores

This competition was held at DanceSport dance studio and was sponsored by IHSC and Van McCoy Music, Inc. in recognition of Van McCoy for his contribution to hustle through his music. The competition consisted of two divisions - amature and professional. Each group had to perform a group dance, followed by a solo performance and finally another group dance. The 2nd and 3rd place winners received medals and the 1st place winners received plaques and free registration to the 4th Annual International Hustle and Salsa Competition held in Miami in April.

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Video Clips

Amature Division:
Raphael & Mihoko - group: Stream Download (3 MB)
Raphael & Mihoko - solo: Stream Download (3 MB)

Professional Division:
Group: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #1: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #2: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #3: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #4: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #5: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #6: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #7: Stream Download (3 MB)
Couple #8: Stream Download (3 MB)

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This was a student showcase that I did with my friend Ismerie at DanceSport dance studio. We choreographed it completely on our own and rehearsed for two weeks. The music is called "The Legend Of Babel" by DJ Dado.

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Screenshots