Today NYU hosted their first ballroom social of the school year. It was a huge turn out - the biggest that I have ever seen at this event. My x-dance partner from many years ago Kathernie has progressed to much higher levels of ballroom dancing and was performing at the show. You can see her in the videos on the left.
Also my friend from Norway Caiila was in town and came to the social too. In addition being a great dancer she is a big yoga enthusiast. Check out her blog.
Leo Juashkovsky & Daniella Karagach, USA DanceSport Junior II Latin Champions and 10 Dance Runners-Up performing at the Annual National Ballroom Dance Week Social hosted by New York chapter of USA Dance. Leo is 14 and Daniella is 13 years old.
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
A bunch of NYU Ballroom Team members and other college ballroom dancers volunteered to show up in full costume at Dance Chelsea dance studio at 6:30 in the morning to be seen live on TV during Fox 5 Good Day New York program segment on Ballroom Dancing. The segment features the American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. Click below for the video.
As part of many events held during the National Dance Week in New York City, the United States Latin champions Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin hosted a free dance social in their studio Dance Times Square. The social included a free dance class and dance performances by the staff and students of the studio. The highlight of the show of course was the exciting Cha Cha performance by Tony and Melanie themselves. Check out the video:
Manhattan Amature Classic (MAC) is an annual ballroom dance competition held in (you guessed it) Manhattan. This year is the 15th anniversary of this competition. It was held at Lerner Hall at Columbia University. It is a three-day event. I went to the first two - on Friday and Saturday.
Photos
Went to the Crane Club today for swing dancing. It was my first time going there and I liked it. The dancefloor was not big, but there was room to dance outside of it. Live music was provided by Todd Londagin Combo which included the piano, bass, drums, and trombone. There was a separate room with couches and arm chairs and wall pictures from the 1920's. At around 12:30 AM they had a burlesque show the photos from which I will not put up to keep my website rated G...
This weekend was filled with Salsa music, dancing and performances as I attended the 3 days of the New York Salsa Congress. This was one of the yearly salsa big events that take place in various parts of United States and other countries. I was there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The total cost was $75, but it was well worth it. Dancing went on from late afternoon until 5 o'clock in the morning! Of course I did not stay all the way to the end since I had reached the limit of how much dancing I could do in one night. What I enjoyed the most about the event is the unique opportunity to dance with some of the best Salsa dancers from around the country and from abroad. Below is my review of the event with many photos and videos.
(Click on a small picture to see a larger version.)
The congress took place at the Hilton Hotel located at 53rd street and 6th avenue which is only 3 blocks from my apartment building. Since it was so close, I felt guilty not go there for all 3 days of the weekend. According to David Melendez, more than 900 rooms of the hotel were occupied by the salseros who came to the event.
Good thing that I got to buy my wrist band in the afternoon, because when I got there at around 9 PM there was a long line at the registration booth. Another advantage of living so close!
At the entrance to the grand ballroom there were plenty of bouncers making sure that the crowd going in had the appropriate bracelet. They were also checking people's bags.
The foyer of the Grand Ballroom was filled with various vendors selling dance outfits, shoes, dance instruction videos, and other paraphernalia.
The Grand Ballroom was humongous. Even though there were hundreds of people dancing at the same time, there was plenty of room on the dancefloor. This certainly beats dancing at a typical salsa club where almost always I end up stepping on other couple's feet or pushing my partner straight into them.
In addition to the DJ, the music was provided by a live band.
During the day separate hotel rooms were used for workshops on Salsa dancing conducted by the top instructors. A separate fee was required to participate in the workshops, but they did not seem to stop the people without the appropriate colored bracelet from entering the rooms. At least I can speak for myself. In this shot separate instructors discuss the steps for men and women. Later they joined partners to work on the routine.
One of the rooms was reserved for the Salsa Museum which displayed many photos which illustrated the evolution of Salsa from the early years to the present.
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday there were 3 spectacular shows during each day at 5 PM, 9:30 PM and Midnight. Each show featured around 10 dance groups ranging from just a single couple to a group of up to a dozen people. They were dressed in matching colorful costumes. Salsa dance groups from all over the United States and several foreign countries were performing some of the best salsa routines on the stage in front of hundreds of spectators. The foreign country that supplied the most number of dance groups turned out to be... Japan. There is something about the Japanese that makes them fall in love with Salsa. Among the performers were such Salsa legends as Eddie and Maria Torres as well as Freddy Rios and Mike Ramos. The latter were hornored by a Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to Salsa dance.
My absolutely favorite was the final act of a Saturday show: Edie "Salsa Freak" & Al "Liquid Silver" from Los Angeles. This was not really salsa, but instead a funny break-dance style routine which was totally synched up to the music with funny sound effects. Oh my god, this was so funny and creative and definately made me clap as loud as I could at the end!
Unfortunately the room which was chosen for the show was too small to accommodate several thousand of spectators. A section of the room was actually around the corner from the stage and people sitting in that section had to watch the show on a video projector. Also there were not enough seats for everyone, so a bunch of people (including myself) had to stand in the back or in the isle against the wall. The second shot on the left was taken right after the last act of a show finished as people started to leave. As you can see that's a LOT of people. The organizer of the congress David Melendez promised that next year a different room will be chosen that can accommodate everyone.
On Sunday dancing took place not in the Grand Ballroom but in a smaller room which had 3 separate dancefloors. There were substantially less people who came on this day so still there was plenty of room to dance.
New York Salsa Congress Videos
As we paid to get our bracelets to get admitted to the event, we had to sign a waiver saying that during the event the dancers may be videotaped for promoting Salsa dancing and the Salsa Congress.
Later in the night, in addition to the professional videographers there were plenty of spectators who gathered around in a circle with their camcorders to videotape some of the best salsa dancers. Below are the video clips that I shot with my digital camera.
(Note that the latest version of RealPlayer is required to watch the videos.
Here are some other couples showing off their stuff:
This woman amazingly managed to dance non-stop with one guy after another yet showing now signs of tiredness. Her name is Ana and she is a Salsa Instructor from Boston. Check out her website.
A couple from Italy performed today at Jimmy Anton Latin Sunday held every other Sunday at Dance Manhattan Dance Studio. This is one of the most heavily attended salsa dance socials in New York City where you can see some of the best salsa dancers. I met someone who came to the social all the way from Upstate New York which is an hour and a half away.
The couple performing probably came from Italy for the upcoming New York Salsa Congress. Click on the links below for the video:
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.
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.
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.
Photos
A couple from Italy performed today at Jimmy Anton Latin Sunday held every other Sunday at Dance Manhattan Dance Studio. This is one of the most heavily attended salsa dance socials in New York City where you can see some of the best salsa dancers. I met someone who came to the social all the way from Upstate New York which is an hour and a half away.
At the
Salsa & Huslte Bash 2 Lisa Daniels and her partner did an excellent Hustle performance. Here is the video: 
Maria Torres tought hustle workshop at DanceSport dance studio. Her students performed at the weekly Monday Night Hustle party today. Here is the video:
