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.)
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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.
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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!
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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.
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The foyer of the Grand Ballroom was filled with various vendors selling dance outfits, shoes, dance instruction videos, and other paraphernalia.
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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. |
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In addition to the DJ, the music was provided by a live band. |
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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. |
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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!
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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.
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| 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. |
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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.
