phila salsa congress

[dancin/dj]

hello all,i've not been on in a while,they dont call me the dancin dj for nutin 8) ,anyway is anyone going to the phila salsa congress 4th of july weekend here in phila? and second question has anyone seen the tropical gem dance company from italy? i hear there da bomb in salsa.there coming to phila whats the dilly on them.

[Sagitta]

Haven't heard anything about it until now. :( Got a link to more info, or moe info on it?

[dancin/dj]

Haven't heard anything about it until now. :( Got a link to more info, or moe info on it? hello sagitta,the web site for the congress is www.philasalsacongress.com .im not promo-ing the event-but will most likely go 1 night...this tropical gem dance co web site is.www.tropicalgem.com .

[tj]

Well, that's not too far away. I think I'll go Saturday and/or Sunday.

What's the difference between the Salsa Open and the Salsa Congress?

[dancin/dj]

Well, that's not too far away. I think I'll go Saturday and/or Sunday.

What's the difference between the Salsa Open and the Salsa Congress? beats me tj,the difference between salsa open & the congress.

[Pacion]

second question has anyone seen the tropical gem dance company from italy? i hear there da bomb in salsa.there coming to phila whats the dilly on them.

Belated welcome to DF dancin/dj! I have never seen Tropical Gem but I have heard incredible things about them - to the extent that some of the guys drool when ever they think about the girls dancing :roll: :lol:

How about if you made sure to see them and then reported back to us :wink: :D

[tj]

So do most of the dancers in Philly dance On1 or On2?

[salsalawyer]

where`s youngsta? he should know philly well!!

[dancin/dj]

So do most of the dancers in Philly dance On1 or On2? tj,most of the dance teachers teach on 1 and dancers dance on 1,there are some who cross grain(on 2) some have tryed to push the 2 deal-making waves etc(not saying on 2 is not valid)but we got used to on 1.i'll leave that at that lol.if your a on 2 dancer im sure you'll find a group of people who can 2 ya.

[dancin/dj]

second question has anyone seen the tropical gem dance company from italy? i hear there da bomb in salsa.there coming to phila whats the dilly on them.

Belated welcome to DF dancin/dj! I have never seen Tropical Gem but I have heard incredible things about them - to the extent that some of the guys drool when ever they think about the girls dancing :roll: :lol:

How about if you made sure to see them and then reported back to us :wink: :D thanks for the welcome pacion,tropical gem sounds cool-i''ll let ya know what i think of the girls after they go to dinner with me 8) lol.

[tj]

Hey thanks for the info.

I'm an On1 dancer, so it sounds like I won't have any issues.

Now I gotta decide which parts to attend!

[tj]

So what is this "Guiness World Record attempt" thing going on at 6PM on Saturday (and what is "Salsa on the Parkway"?)

[Lita_rulez]

hello all,i've not been on in a while,they dont call me the dancin dj for nutin 8) ,anyway is anyone going to the phila salsa congress 4th of july weekend here in phila? and second question has anyone seen the tropical gem dance company from italy? i hear there da bomb in salsa.there coming to phila whats the dilly on them.

Yep, they are. Great performers, and very nice teachers. I didn't get to dance with any of the girls, but one of 'em promised me a dance for the next evening. Since I could not attend the party the next day, well, I hope to cash in on that proposal anytime I get to cross paths with her again
http://membres.lycos.fr/owk/FORUM/MINI-ICONES/BD/troll.gif

They were in LA and in Paris, and will be in Cann...

Wait a sec ?!? How can they be in philly and in Cannes on the same day ?!?

[dancin/dj]

hello lita,tropical is coming july 24th to phila.

[dancin/dj]

So what is this "Guiness World Record attempt" thing going on at 6PM on Saturday (and what is "Salsa on the Parkway"?) hey tj,the guiness world record thing-as far as i can tell there trying to break a record of whoever-and all the dancers dancing the same thing :roll: im not interested so thats all i know-salsa on the parkway-i think that means people dancing on ben frankin parkway-thats where rocky was filmed doing the running up the steps etc......i'll be there sat-ask around if anyone knows the dancing dj-and we can intro-to each other-i'll be there with a very italian looking girl-with the pretty green eyes-im italian also.

[mambochino]

If you like Tropical Gems, they be in NJ in November 8)

http://www.nynjsalsafestival.com/program.htm

[tj]

So what is this "Guiness World Record attempt" thing going on at 6PM on Saturday (and what is "Salsa on the Parkway"?) hey tj,the guiness world record thing-as far as i can tell there trying to break a record of whoever-and all the dancers dancing the same thing :roll: im not interested so thats all i know-salsa on the parkway-i think that means people dancing on ben frankin parkway-thats where rocky was filmed doing the running up the steps etc......i'll be there sat-ask around if anyone knows the dancing dj-and we can intro-to each other-i'll be there with a very italian looking girl-with the pretty green eyes-im italian also.

Cool, thanks for the info. And I'll introduce myself if/when we meet.

I think I'll go to the show/music on Saturday and maybe do all of the events on Sunday.

[tj]

Ok, here's my report:

I showed up late on Saturday to go check out the Philadelphia Salsa Congress.

Turns out I missed a major party during the day. They had 4,500+ dancers dancing outside on the Parkway to beat the Guiness Book of World Records. Congrats to those that participated!

I paid $30 to watch that evening's performances and another $30 for the band/dancing afterwards. I find that to be a bit pricey. But hey, at least they had free water available.

The performances were nice. Saw a lot of familiar performers. (side note: why is it that I tend to like to watch the performers dancing on the dance floor more than during their performances?) It was Eddie Torres' birthday along with about 1/2 dozen others. I particularly liked their performances. Very nicely done.

The band and dancing was good. Large dancefloor with plenty of space. Lots of friendly salser@s. I was pooped by 2:30AM and left to go get a cheesesteak.

It was the first Philly salsa congress, so there was the typical small technical difficulties, but nothing that made the congress come to a screeching halt. Some of the speakers weren't particularly prepared, but overall it was a nice homage to one of the founders of salsa, Eddie Torres.

I'll go next year - that's for sure. I just wish the open dancing wasn't from 11pm to 4am. Yikes that's late for me! :shock:

[dancin/dj]

we did not meet tj, perhaps another time,i was there sat night, your review is kinder than mine,im glad you had a good time,i thought it was great that over 4000 people did that parkway thing and broke a record not my cup of tea,but cool they did there thing.anyway i was there and im sorry i was not impressed-the sound system was bad-the dj-(on sat) from say 1130-130 played in my (opinion) bad salsa music-nothing interesting about the music and it did (not) make me want to dance-(side note) im like that with any type of dance be it hustle or west coast or whatever. they made us wait till 1130 to dance-the performance was in another room-and the main room was empty till 1130,why? shoot dont punish people who are not going to the performance room.-the other room could have had the dj-spinning at 900-not 1130-im not into waiting so long to dance-seems some of these dance congress or whatever dont understand that-some do- i like the ones that have many rooms and different things going on(and mainly a open room for dancing from say 900 to 300-but i usally dont hang that long.anyway some people will say ohh its there first one,i dont buy that at all-these folks who put it on have been around-so im cutting no slack-bad sound-is not acceptable in 2004 get on board with pro stuff,ps i did not think the band was all that either.

[tj]

we did not meet tj, perhaps another time,i was there sat night, your review is kinder than mine,im glad you had a good time,i thought it was great that over 4000 people did that parkway thing and broke a record not my cup of tea,but cool they did there thing.anyway i was there and im sorry i was not impressed-the sound system was bad-the dj-(on sat) from say 1130-130 played in my (opinion) bad salsa music-nothing interesting about the music and it did (not) make me want to dance-(side note) im like that with any type of dance be it hustle or west coast or whatever. they made us wait till 1130 to dance-the performance was in another room-and the main room was empty till 1130,why? shoot dont punish people who are not going to the performance room.-the other room could have had the dj-spinning at 900-not 1130-im not into waiting so long to dance-seems some of these dance congress or whatever dont understand that-some do- i like the ones that have many rooms and different things going on(and mainly a open room for dancing from say 900 to 300-but i usally dont hang that long.anyway some people will say ohh its there first one,i dont buy that at all-these folks who put it on have been around-so im cutting no slack-bad sound-is not acceptable in 2004 get on board with pro stuff,ps i did not think the band was all that either.

Lol - so the question for next year is will the promoter be open to feedback/lessons learned from this year. He certainly appeared to have had a sizeable turnout.

And yes - hopefully next time we'll get a chance to meet.

[starry]

I was at the Philadelphia Congress. I made it to the dance Saturday night, the workshops on Sunday and the competition Monday night.

Okay, let me give a bit of feedback on my experience with the congress, which, by the way, was the first in Philly and held in Center City on Market Street at the lovely and spacious Loews Hotel.

Because the real planning for the congress started less than a year ago, the event suffered its share of labor pains before the birth. Lack of communication seemed to be the biggest issue. I am pretty sure the slow communication was a result of the monumental task it must have been to plan such a large-scale, first-time event. A Web site was set up, but was incomplete until only several days before the congress commenced. I, for one, did not purchase a full pass because I could not plan how much of the congress I wanted to attend because the schedules of workshops and performances were posted so late in the game. Had I been better informed earlier, I probably would have planned to attend more of the event and purchased a full pass as I have for the West Coast Congress this year and New York's congress last year.

As for the party on Saturday night, it was moderately attended but a lot of fun and very festive. I agree the sound system left a bit of room for improvement, but there was a large ballroom provided with lots of seating. At the New York congress last summer, there was very little seating and the dance floor was jammed. Also, at Philly, the workshop space provided was more than ample, which I appreciated. I do think the event was a bit pricey, ala carte-wise, at any rate. If they were going to charge $75 per day for workshops, $30 per day for performances and an additional $30 per day for the dances, they could have provided at least sodas and lite snacks. I know the prices kept a lot of locals from attending, especially when it came to the contest on Monday night, which was an additional $50 over and above the other congress fees.

The contest, however, was OFF THE HOOK! Eleven couples vied for the prize money, which was, I think, $10,000 total. The couple who won was Luis and Marta from Columbia. Judges included Eddie and Maria Torres, and Billy Fajardo and Katie Marlow. Eddie and Maria gave and exhibition performance to a standing ovation as did Billy and Katie. As a side note, if you ever, EVER, get a chance to see Billy and Katie perform their cirque d soliel inspired routine, DO NOT MISS IT FOR ANYTHING! Eddie gave an additonal performance with his daughter. The performances alone were worth going to the contest for, still I think $50 was a little steep. The only major problem I had with the contest was the lack of information given out about the event beforehand. I never saw any rules posted on the Web site.

I thought the event itself was run pretty efficiently. It was the planning beforehand that seemed to need tweaking. I am certain the event can and will improve for next year. As I said before, the first one had its labor pains, but each birth gets easier. I was really impressed that the organizers were able to inspire the Torres folks to come. Maria told me herself that she was impressed with the congress and the city of Philadelphia and that she would love to come again next year. Both she and Eddie were highly energetic, welcoming, personable and a joy to have with us.

I do think it needed to be advertised a bit better. Many non-dancing folks I know told me they heard all about the Salsa On The Parkway event earlier in the week, but didn't hear anything at all about the Congress.

As for the workshops, I enjoyed them, especially the lifts workshop given by Dave Paris. I can now do "the bird" with my dance partner.

I hope to go again next year, and will probably get a full pass, since I saw many talented folks came to teach, perform and play their music and mingle.

[pygmalion]

Hi starry. welcome. And thanks for the full report on how the congress went.

Yes, first-time events do suffer lots of pains. One of the biggest problems is that people often forget about the advertising piece until much too late in the process. You're right on target, there.

Just incidentally, where on Market Street is the Loews Hotel? I haven't been up there in a while, but when I was there, the lower end of downtown (near the Gallery) was all under construction. Guess it's time for a visit ...

[dancin/dj]

tj,lol-you got your cheesesteak,from where?

[tj]

tj,lol-you got your cheesesteak,from where?

Lol, since it was 2:30AM, I didn't wanna bother with searching for a place that I didn't know so I went over to Abner's over at 40th and Chestnut.
Been about 10 years since I was last there - it used to have a line out the door at that time of night back when I used to go to college then. The cook called it, "the good ol' days". Apparently, they're not doing as good as they used to.

So how about some recommendations? I'll be back in Philly soon.

[dancin/dj]

as they say different strokes for different folks :D ,i've been around long enough to know both sides of the coin are valid.meaning some people have (great times) at certain events- i was part of a fairly big philly event in june (working it) and myself and some people who went did not like certain things- hey were whiners what can i say :lol: ,so its cool and im glad people have really good times,but there are a (lot) of people in the dance world who think if certain problems are not corrected they(wont- or dont )go back-i have dance friends in philly- new york- and new jersey who feel the same about such matters.

[Lita_rulez]

hello lita,tropical is coming july 24th to phila.

OK, my bad...

Just came back from the Cannes Congress, and it was wonderfull.

Well, ups and downs, like every event, but all in all, I ended up having a great time.

I would say I ended up having the best time if I had had a chance to dance with Susana Montero, but she was not available when I was (well, I did dance a lot too, you know 8) )

Anyways, to get back to Tropical Gem : Only the girls came to Cannes.
The main drawback is that since there were only girls, the only workshops with Tropical Gem were Lady Style. As a side effect, during those workshops, the other ones incindentaly found themselves with hardly any woman to lead...

On the plus-side, theire shows while only girls are on stage are great, and I had never seen them whereas I have already seen (and loved) shows with couples on stage.

And on the me-side, I got to dance with each and every one of them, and believe it or not, it is great !!!

They have it all : technique, speed, style, flava, spins, body movement...
The only thing that was hard while dancing with one of them (well... the other thing that was hard :wink: ) was deciding when to put your hand back on her to lead her again she is spinning so fast !

Congrats, hugs and kisses to you girls !!!

[capricorndancer]

My girlfriend and I flew to London on a Sunday, arriving early Monday morning of the week of the Paris Salsa Congress. So, we missed what is probably the best night of Salsa in London proper: Salsa on Sundays (SoS). Apart from walking all over London (from Piccadilly to The Palace to Big Ben, Westminster & Parliament; Regent’s Park & Abbey Road (think: The Beatles); St Paul’s Cathedral; Leicester Square and Soho), we also went to see Fame (stage show; London’s theatre district is like that of New York) and on our last night (after returning from Paris) we saw the latest Harry Potter at the Odeon in Leicester Square. We only missed Tower Hill, where the crown jewels are kept, and Tower Bridge.
This was all much more fun than Salsa in London; we went to Bar Salsa on two nights of the four we were there. The clique “in” crowd was quite evident, and none of them approached us. I danced with one of their number on the second night we were out, being a bit too tired to make the effort the first night, so the ladies weren’t totally averse to strangers, but I didn’t get a positive feel from the group. This is what I previously found in London clubs, with the exception of SoS.
After a few days in London, we trained across to Paris (there’s a tunnel under the Channel), a journey of about 4 hours, and made our way to our next hotel, near the Gare de Lyon. (The trip costs the same or less than a plane flight, and is about the same time when you count in travel to and from airports). We found our hotel to be in late stages of renovation, for which we got no consideration, a fact about which I am still not impressed.
The Paris Congress, on the other hand, was one of the better congresses I’ve seen in the last year. There were many regular favourites amongst the performers, with the addition of Eddie Torres. Although I’m sure it could not compete with LA for live music, featuring only one band on the last night, the extended performances done by the organising Salsa troupe, Salsabor, were exceptional.
As previously, the women there were generally approachable and easy to dance with, and my girl was also taken for a few good spins by other guys. On our way home one night, we also chatted with a young Indian programmer from WHO in Switzerland, who had a friend in common with me, who lives in Seattle, which was amusing; the usual small world phenomenon one finds at such events. I also got to catch up and dance a bit with a friend from Oz, who made it out one of the nights in spite of being a bit under the weather; travelling takes it out of one.
Apart from the congress, Paris was great: the weather was good for trekking about, and we walked a lot, to The Sacred Heart; the Eiffel Tower and the Parisian Statue of Liberty (small version of the US); from Chatelet to Notre Dame; all about the Left Bank, and through the Musee d’Orsee; from the Arch de Tiomphe down the Champs Elysees towards the Louvre.
My GF loved Paris, too, and as we both enjoy sculpture and architecture more than paintings, the Musee d’Orsee (located in what once was a huge train station, recently refurbished: see http://www.goamcan.com/photos/dscn4004.html; also http://www.paris.cx/cgi-bin/pagatoz.cgi?framed=http://www.musee-orsay.fr) was the best choice for us . . . And we saw some of the old masters’ work there, too – Renoir, Van Gough, Degas, Monet, which was some cause for excitement for her, who was familiar with their work. The one thing for which we didn’t have time was the collection of Rodan’s sculpting, the majority of which is located elsewhere in Paris.

So, that wraps up my synopsis. More culture than Salsa, but we went for the cities, more than the dancing – that was 'just' a bonus.

Regards,

CD

[dancin/dj]

coooooooooooooooooool lita-im looking forward too there class in philly in a couple of weeks ,thanks for info.

[dancin/dj]

tj,lol-you got your cheesesteak,from where?

Lol, since it was 2:30AM, I didn't wanna bother with searching for a place that I didn't know so I went over to Abner's over at 40th and Chestnut.
Been about 10 years since I was last there - it used to have a line out the door at that time of night back when I used to go to college then. The cook called it, "the good ol' days". Apparently, they're not doing as good as they used to.

So how about some recommendations? I'll be back in Philly soon. hey tj-when my friend whos a philly police sargent calls me back i'll get you the 411 on the steaks 8)

[tj]

tj,lol-you got your cheesesteak,from where?

Lol, since it was 2:30AM, I didn't wanna bother with searching for a place that I didn't know so I went over to Abner's over at 40th and Chestnut.
Been about 10 years since I was last there - it used to have a line out the door at that time of night back when I used to go to college then. The cook called it, "the good ol' days". Apparently, they're not doing as good as they used to.

So how about some recommendations? I'll be back in Philly soon. hey tj-when my friend whos a philly police sargent calls me back i'll get you the 411 on the steaks 8)

Cool - thanks. (Feel free to PM me if you like.)