When the clubs stop having Salsa...

[danceguy]

I just found out that one of my favorite local Salsa venues closed...its pretty dissapointing and I can honestly say that I didn't see it coming. I'm kind of sad about it...but I imagine this happens a lot the more you get into Salsa.

Man...now I only get to go dancing twice a week...hmm...I may have to start travelling out of town now...darn it. :?

Is this a common thing for most of you Salsa folks?

[SDsalsaguy]

Unfortunately. Not sure if it's the same in the salsa mechas, but I've seen more clubs close than stay open here in San Diego...

[borikensalsero]

Sadly this is so in NY City as well. Except for the venues who are well known in the commercial circle, all salsa only venues come to an end at one point or another. The ones that manage to stay afloat only do so becuase their principal nights are for "commercial" use instead of specific to salsa.

With the help of the bar folks and estrogen/testosterone filled usual nights at given venues, salsa nights within those venues manage to stay afloat. Otherwise... they go down down down... It is always sad to see them fold. Especially if we like them, I feel for you SG.

[youngsta]

Around here there are only 2 clubs that have been around more than 2 years, but there is a constant cycle of new clubs opening and closing. No matter what, we seem to have 6-7 clubs at any given time.

[danceguy]

Hmm, well unfortunately the Salsa community is small where I live and we only had two venues for Salsa dancing. Luckily there is still another that draws a huge crowd and its been going strong for a while, so I know its here to stay for the mean time.

But I'm sure something else will open up...this new venue that just closed opened after another closed last year...it was just kind of special to me as it was the first club I ever went to.

Hmm...perhaps its time to relocate? :?

Oh well, life goes on...and I'll just practice more at home now. :P

[SDsalsaguy]

Oh well, life goes on...and I'll just practice more at home now. :P
Yeah... but who's home? :wink:

[Neil]

There must be hundreds of bars around here that play Salsa music. I would say that about half play at least some Salsa. The problem is that I like a venue that plays a mix of partner dance music, like Salsa, Hustle, Swing, and maybe even a little country and ballroom. Plus, I like a huge floor, no smoking, plenty of tables, chairs, and ice water. That's really hard to find. There is one place like that one night a week, but I have to drive almost an hour to get there.

www.GoldcoastBallroom.com

[peachexploration]

There must be hundreds of bars around here that play Salsa music. I would say that about half play at least some Salsa. The problem is that I like a venue that plays a mix of partner dance music, like Salsa, Hustle, Swing, and maybe even a little country and ballroom. Plus, I like a huge floor, no smoking, plenty of tables, chairs, and ice water. That's really hard to find. There is one place like that one night a week, but I have to drive almost an hour to get there.

www.GoldcoastBallroom.com

Gosh, I really wished I could have moved to Miami when I had the chance. A lot of variety there. :roll: :? :)

[salsachinita]

It's so sad to see salsa clubs close :( isn't it?

We are pretty lucky in a sense that our main salsa clubs have remained open for years (but catering towards more commercial side :roll: , with a few nights for dancers).

I think what makes Melbourne clubs unique/healthy is the live band culture. People (from all scenes) respect/support live music. In turns, musicians feed off this energy & willing to play just about anywhere, for the love of it, even if the money is a bit on the low side. Then people follow their favourite bands etc. The cycle goes on.....

We have a lot of Latin (mostly salsa) bands for such a small city, wherever they find residency automatically becomes a latin/salsa night 8) .

I do agree though, to keep a good profitable salsa club, we need BOTH the dancers and drinkers. A mix of 'studio' & 'street' dancers. One group don't mind paying $10-15 to get in, but won't drink. The other group never pay at the door but would spend any amount at the bar.

This is what I am working on.......getting the two groups to interact and perhaps frequent the same clubs. Everyone wins this way. Some of our more successful nights are living proof :D .

(my personal benefit.......? I get to dance with EVERYBODY 8) ....all night!)

[danceguy]

Yeah... but who's home?

Good point SD...working on basics at home gets old real fast. :?

Perhaps this is just an incentive to find a girlfriend so I can stay home some nights. :wink: :P :wink:

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

It´s pretty much the same here. The bars play salsa during a certain night of the week, the other nights are reserved for commercial latin or non-latin music. At first, the club managers get excited because they notice that salsa nights draw large crowds of people. They start seeing dollar signs (Euro signs actually). After a while they realize that salseros/as don´t drink and therefore it´s not profitable. Eventually they replace salsa nights with something else. NO!!! :cry: This has happened so many times that I felt club managers saw us as a plaque from medieval times, leaving us salseros orphans time and again.

To overcome this, there are now regular salsa nights in places other than bars or clubs. You just rent a place for a certain night, send the details to the salsero mailing list and voilâ! The salseros appear! YES!! :D

[Vin]

You all are so lucky, where I live we are lucky to get a latin night. We had one every friday at a club but the club had a disagreement with the band and so now the band plays somewhere else every thursday. Both clubs are a 45 minute drive for me. In the town where I live a friend and I have a set up with a club where they play salsa on thursdays from 8:30-11:00 and we promote it around town. This and the once monthly latin party are all the salsa we get. Now a question, when latin parties associated with college students are thrown, how come they play 5-6 salsas in a 4 hour period. This sucks.

[HothouseSalsero]

Is it really a trend? In Philadelphia we've lost particularly salsa nights, but we have gained others, so it has sort of evened out.

[Soñador]

:cry: :cry: :cry: In my city we had only one club having salsa nights (only on fridays though) and it closed two weeks ago... Because of some imature idiots who came there to drink and got drunk and fought and now there's no more dancing there... :cry: :cry: :cry: It was the only club here... now I have to go to another one 200Km from here... in another city... But who cares, I'm going there anyways, every friday night! :wink: Viva la salsa!

[borikensalsero]

:cry: :cry: :cry: In my city we had only one club having salsa nights (only on fridays though) and it closed two weeks ago... Because of some imature idiots who came there to drink and got drunk and fought and now there's no more dancing there... :cry: :cry: :cry: It was the only club here... now I have to go to another one 200Km from here... in another city... But who cares, I'm going there anyways, every friday night! :wink: Viva la salsa!

Sorry to hear about your spot closing. Bring a couple good CDs with your search for more dancing 200Km away. :D :D

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

:cry: :cry: :cry: It was the only club here... now I have to go to another one 200Km from here... in another city... But who cares, I'm going there anyways, every friday night! :wink: Viva la salsa!

Don´t lose hope. I´m sure another will pop up soon if there´s a big enough salsa market for it. If not, you can always move away... :wink:

[dessaix]

yes im in the miami area as well, lots of variety or an abundance of it :wink:

[hobrien]

Well clubs just dont make enough money out of us since dancers "normally" dont drink so much alcohol.

When I lived in Ireland, bar men looked at me like I was an alien when I asked for a glass of water !!??! :)

Clubs could increase the charge for coming in through the door but that can also be off putting for dancers if its too high.

I have moved around quite a bit, and one thing that plays a big role here is population density. But here is a hint for you guys who live in relatively low population areas,...

I train salsa now 15 hours a week give or take 3 hours. I only actually go out dancing in a club once in a blue moon, maybe once every nine weeks !?!?! What me and my salsa friends do is we make shows, that we get to preform at various events once every two months or so.

So the point is if you really need a salsa fix and live in a place where that isnt easily found, then even get a small groups of peple together and create something.

I love getting dressed up, going out to a club and letting rip, but, these shows we are doing are "almost" as good in the long run. Well they keep me sain !?! :bandit:

[Neil]

yes im in the miami area as well, lots of variety or an abundance of it :wink:

I agree. I'll be at Mystique tonight. I can't stay late though. I don't know how these kids stay out til 4am and go to work the next morning.

[borikensalsero]

yes im in the miami area as well, lots of variety or an abundance of it :wink:

I agree. I'll be at Mystique tonight. I can't stay late though. I don't know how these kids stay out til 4am and go to work the next morning.

i don't know either but I sure join them. :banana: