Salsa in Puerto Rico

[DancerGirl]

Hi everyone! My hubby and I will be going to Puerto Rico April 1 - 9. Any recommendations for salsa clubs there? We will be staying in Isla Verde near San Juan and we'll be renting a car. We'd like to dance with the locals and are intermediate/advanced dancers. Do they dance on 1 or 2 there? I dance on both but hubby is still learning on 2. Thanks for your help!

[new-ish]

Okay, this is my first try at posting a link, so here goes:

http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=7840

I hope you enjoy your trip!

[salsera_alemana]

DancerGirl,

You lucky girl!!!!! I got the PR newsletter today and was so miserable that I cannot go to Puerto Rico NOW!

You will miss the Día Nacional de la Salsa on March 19 and the Sábado de Gloria on April 15, too bad.

But don't cry, you will be there for:
The Descarga Winston on April 1 in Carolina (very close to Isla Verde):
Manolo Lescano (great salsero!!!), Tito Nieves, Victor Manuelle and José Alberto "El Canario". And the event is FREE!

April 6: 3era Gala Salsa para la Cura in Hotel San Juan (Isla Verde). This one is expensive, though, ($50) and it doesn't mention who will play there. For the price they certainly have some great bands.

April 7: Eddi Palmieri pa'l Pueblo
Anfiteatro Tito Puente in Hato Rey (metropolitan San Juan, not too far from Isla Verde), this is in a nice amphitheater outdoors. This will be Latin Jazz, that is what it looks like from all the other participants.

And then you have the regular dance places. You find them at abailarsalsa.tk and click on "Actividades". This is a very long list, though. If you want you can send me a private message with an email address where I can send you an attachment (I do not think that works with the DF private messages), then I send you my latest newsletter with all the information for that week and you should be all set.

Also read the link that New-Ish posted and in which I SurfSalsa and I discussed salsa in PR.

You will have a blast! You picked the right time to go because of all the great things going on. A lot of Puertoricans dance on2 but many dance on1 also. By the way, don't assume that you cannot dance at life concerts. You can dance at all these events. You absolutely have to go to the event in Carolina, you will have four very famous salseros playing for free! Here in the US and in Europe you have to pay a lot of money for a concert like that and might also have to travel far.

I ENVY YOU!!!!! And I hope you will have a super time!
More questions?

[DancerGirl]

Wow, thanks for all the great information. I'll PM you with my email so you can send me the newsletter, thanks so much! I'm very excited :)
Here's a question for you: will it be likely that men will ask me to dance in PR at these concerts and clubs? (even though i'm not a local and I will be there with my husband?). We're used to dancing with lots of different people when we go out not just with each other, so i'd like to get the experience of dancing with the locals there. I have no problem asking guys to dance, just want to know if it will be acceptable?

[salsera_alemana]

DancerGirl,

I got your email address and will forward the newsletter to you.

Yes, men ask "gringas" (non Latinas) like you and me to dance, however, if you are there with your husband, you two have to make it clear that it is acceptable for both of you. In Latin America people have a strong behaviour code when it comes to that. For them it is a matter of respect towards a husband/boyfriend that men normally do not ask ladies who are accompanied by their boyfriend or husband unless they know both and know that neither of them minds. I never ask men to dance (unless I know them very well) but I am sure you can ask guys to dance. They will probably not turn down your request. And once they see that you can dance and dance with other guys, more will come and ask you. I am pretty sure. But be sure to ask single guys who are not accompanied by a lady. The same rule of respect applies the other way around. In Latin America jealousy is a much bigger issue as in our societies.

You will probably have a ball!

[elgrancombo]

Hi Salsa Alemana,
What is the PR newsletter and where do you find it? I've also been thinking about a Salsa trip to Puerto Rico and I'd love to be up-to-date on the dancing events going on. Thanks.

[salsera_alemana]

elgrancombo,

Go to abailarsalsa.tk, in the left navigation bar, above the editor's photo, you find the following:
únete a la Revista
Si desea recibir la Revista Semanal
"A Bailar Salsa" favor de enviar un mensaje a info@abailarsalsa.tk y en el asunto escribir "Quiero Comunicado".

Send a message to this email address and put "Quiero Comunicado" in the Subject line.

[elgrancombo]

Gracias.

[DancerGirl]

Salsera_alemana, thanks for all your help! I signed up for the newsletter too. Can't wait for my trip, will report back! :)

[borikensalsero]

I just got back from PR. The weather was wonderful! Have a wonderful time DanceGirl.

On Sunday nights, Oyster Bar in Isla Verde is rather nice. People get there very late. It is a very small place with live salsa. If you get there early, sometime before 10PM, you should have plenty of space to chill until it gets very crowded sometime around 11 or 12. Once it gets packed watch out, ricans aren't very good dancing in their space.

If you feel adventurous and like driving for a bit more than an hour or so from Isla Verde, go to Black Jack in Isabela on Friday Night. Take Rout 22 West to Rout 2 until you see a sign that reads (Rafael Hernandez Airport), you'll be on rout 22 for about 30 minutes and on rout 2 for about another 30 minutes. Steer right when you see the huge sign to the airport and keep a look-out to the south side of the street/your left hand side. The venue (a 2 story "house" with a parking lot to its right) will be past a long, somewhat dark road, a hotel, and when the road is light again there will be some factories on your right hand side, and to the left the venue will be present. You will have to go past the venue and make a U turn at the next traffic light. BTW, the west side of the island is perhaps the most beautiful in the island. Black Jack usually offers Salsa Bands on fridays, which are very good.

You will spend about 5 bucks on tolls round trip. There is an incredible amount of police throughout the island. It seems to have more cops than citizens. Don't be afraid if they are behind you with the "cop-lights" on, it is a must for traffic cops to use them at night.

It is a 100% local salsa crowd, unlike Havana, Rumba, or Oyster Bar that attract a good amount of turists. If you do go, it is best to get a hotel room in Isabela or aguadilla for a day since the drive back isn't all that short, and it will be late. If you do go, make sure to visit Jobo Beach in Isabela or Crash Boat beach in Aguadilla. Both about a 5 to 15 minute drive from Black Jack. It is also incredible cheap on that side of the island, except for hotels that is.

Saturday you may want to check out Havana Club. It gets going very late at night and usually has nice surprises. One of my friends and I went, he told me we were going there as there was nothing really happening form the band scene aspect, when we got there I got to see Willie Rosario and Giovanni Hidalgo banging away! WOW!

Ask around when you get to Isla Verde, especially if you go to Oyster Bar on Sunday night as there will be a good amount of dancers, who might not dance, but can fill you in about all the happenings during the week.

Rumba doesn’t really attract many good dancers, but God when I go in there it makes me think of movies from the 50s. Rumba is in Old San Juan. And Havana in Santurce.

If you decide to take early in the day 5ish AM drives, flip through the radio stations, you will run into old Jibaro music that is absolutely beautiful! You'll know what it is because of the sound of the cuatro. A type of "guitar". Also tune your radio to 93.7 For salsa music, and if you lose reception on the west side of the island try 100.3, or 100.7 for the same radio station but a stronger signal on that side. Also listening to it for lunch hour (12PM to around 2PM) is a must. A local radio DJ named el Buho has a request only show, where listeners truly know their stuff and ask for some music most folks would never hear. The sad side of it is that Tite Curret (Salsa's most reknown composer) Music isn't allowed to be played in Purto Rico because of issues with his family.

[DancerGirl]

Thanks for all the info, will have to use some of your tips!

[DancerGirl]

Ok so i'm back from puerto rico! Had a great time, definately did a lot of dancing. Met Ivan T from Dance forums. Every club had a live band, they are so spoiled over there as far as music goes. And the salsa radio station was awesome. But all of the clubs we went to had a tile floor. Made friends with some of the local salseros there, so then we knew where was the place to be every night. They all danced on 2 there.
These are the clubs we went to:
Oyster Bar on sunday - tile floor, very crowded, salsa band/dj
Tuesday: Rumba in old san juan, there was a rumba band playing that night, and a dj in between, tile floor again. People actually danced rumba there during the concert and there were 2 dancers on stage as well and they danced it like it was supposed to be danced (i took a rumba workshop before so i could see some of the stuff they were doing), it was a nice change of scenery, but i couldn't wait for the dj to come on with some salsa, cause the band played forever. The floor made the dancing really tough though.
Wed: El Criollo in Guaynabo, hard to find this place, band/dj, this was a nice place with lots of space, took the lessons beforehand with the teacher we made friends with there.
Thurs: Shots Sports bar in isla verde, nice place as well with a band/dj
Fri: Palo Once, nice place, live band/dj & Jackalope Cafe afterwards (got there really late so not sure what it's really like during normal hours (but didn't like the floor at all, it was very slippery tile). there were people there still at like 5, mostly drinking, chatting, but i had a few dances with some of the locals i got to know.
Saturday: Outdoor Winston Descarga Concert at the pista carolina (racetrack). It was crazy trying to find this place, but we finally found it, and it was worth it. saw El Gran Combo, El Canario, Tito Nieves, and Manolo Mescano, all for free. They laid out a huge dance floor, which was a nice surprise. The bands were awesome of course and i had a great time dancing to them :)
I was actually sort of dissappointed with the salsa scene there because of the tile floor, and lack of good dancers. There were not as many good dancers as i expected to be, only the teachers really, and a few of their students, but a lot of people danced old school (without lessons). I think the men weren't bad dancers even old school style, as long as they stay on beat, but it didn't look like the women actually took lessons. I was pretty much the best female dancer there, and when i go to puerto rico, i was expecting lots of competition. Also the problem was the men's lead was way too strong (i guess to control the women who didn't take formal lessons).
Hubby had a hard time getting girls to say yes to him to dance. I ended up asking guys to dance, cause most wouldn't ask, and they were surprised when i did (i guess its not very common there). It is not really a dance culture there with asking for dances(where dancers ask dancers just to dance), but more a social thing, which i'm not used to. Some people actually asked my hubby if they could dance with me following the social norms there. Also at the outdoor concert, i asked a few people that motioned for me to ask the girls they were with for permission first.
When i got back to Philly, i went out dancing that night, so that made for 6 nights of salsa, crazy :) Had a hard time getting back "on 1"

[SurfSalsa]

Hi DancerGirl, thank you for very informative feedback - this is especially useful as we are intending to go on a cruise later this year that ends in San Juan - our plan was to then spend a few days longer there with the focus on salsa...

[DancerGirl]

You should do that, you will have a great time, let me know if you need any info!

[Vin]

Boriken, do you mean in Aguadilla? or is there another BlackJack in Isabella. I have been to the Blackjack in Aguadilla on friday and didn't care for it much.