Another spin at the NY Salsa Congress 2007

The 2007 NY Salsa Congress (NYSC) was just a blur of a weekend. Now that I've had some sleep and enough caffiene to restart my brain, that's still really the only way to describe it.

Arriving on Thursday night at the Hilton at 12:45 AM (a little late for the band, but plenty of time with the DJ), I knew I was in the right place. The room was packed with hundereds of the hard core "just love to dance" people like me alongside many of the best dancers, performers and instructors on the planet! Everywhere I looked, people were throwing out amazing stuff -- and this was just the warm up night. Two and a half hours later, I dragged myself out of there vowing to pace myself better -- my body couldn't really take three more days and nights of this... Stopping in a local deli for dinner afterward, I was off to the hotel "early" at 3:30 AM.

My first NYSC in 2006 was one of the really great experiences in my short time as a dancer. The workshops were terrific and the variety of styles and level of social dancing on display was beyond anything I had ever seen. Previously I had only a little exposure to On2 NYC mambo and it was a mighty challenge to face it down in NY. This year, a little more practiced and a bit wiser in their strange ways from the previous year, there was no way I could pass up a return trip.

Friday began with mostly beginner lessons which was part of the congress' theme in bringing in new dancers to the salsa culture. In addition to beginner classes, they also had what they call the NY Survival Challenge where they took new or amateur dancers and put together a performance routine for the Sunday night show. I have to say the routine worked and the people in it really looked like they had fun.

Friday evening I started seeing some of the familiar Detroit faces with Dal, Jeff and Yasmina as well as a few members of the Cleveland crowd and also YA Salsa's Ihuoma who last year made the move there. What can you say about dance after dance after dance till 4:00 AM when they thankfully turned the lights on... Catching up with Jeff, we wandered around the block a few times and found our way to Ray's Pizza for a couple slices and a beer -- and I said that tomorrow I'd pace myself because my body can't take two more days and nights of this...

Saturday as each day did, started a little later than the prior. But Saturday was the day the main workshops began and the big night of dancing. First workshop -- Pupy. When you enter a room with Pupy (whom I first met at an Energetic Soul studios worshop in July), you know you are going to be dancing and moving, jumping and letting it all hang out. Master of Afro-Cuban dancing and seemingly possessed with limitless energy, Pupi took the class through an empassioned whirlwind of rumba, vacunao and congolese dancing. With Pupy, you may not understand what he’s saying, but you know what he means. Next up was Shaka Brown from DC and his ultra-slick partner work. Then, on to Sekou McMiller from Chicago who if you had the chance to take his body movement workshop in the March YA social, you know that is is an amazing performer and great teacher. This workshop focused on cha-cha body movement and developing a deeper more complete movement in your dancing.

Saturday night I took a break from the congress, which consisted of an early evening tango lesson in Central Park and uptown for a jazz set and dinner at Smoke. Then, back to the dancing which by now the evening crowd had grown to over 1000. Needless to say it was something else and as 4:00 AM hit and the lights went on, I told myself...

Sunday morning I just couldn't believe I'd ever walk again. Oh, what did I do to myself? But there was only one more day left of dancing so, I figured I'd make it through somehow. A late breakfast and back to the workshops it was. In an effort to conserve my energy for one more night, I didn't hit the workshops till 2:00 PM.

First was Jayson Molina's mambo choreography On2. If you've ever seen Molina move, its crazy to even hope to mimick him, but it was fun to try. Next up was Thomas Gurerros partner workshop where he taught a slick routine and really showed how to incorporate it into dancing musically too. Finishing up the workshops was Sekou's second movement workshop where he took us into a choreographed cha cha / jazz routine and espoused his philosophy that "a picture is movement captured in a moment and dance is a moment captured in movement" – think I remembered the correctly. As always there is the one that got away and I regret to say I only caught the end of Miguel Esparza's (Spain) workshop on dance and percussion. But, even watching for 15 minutes I could tell that this guy is the real deal as a teacher and performer. He brought out percussion instruments, playing while dancing and taught his class how to find the beats and move to the many of the rhythms in salsa and Afro-Cuban music. He followed that up with a knock out solo performance on Sunday night. Good stuff!

Sunday night included great amateur and professional performances including a professional competition with stunning performances especially by the winning couple from Colombia who after almost missing the opening round of dancing literally had the crowd on their feet with their incredibly musical and gymnastic performance. Evening performances were highlighted with four or five performances by two unbelievably good children's teams from Puerto Rico -- Sabor Latino and Rumba Kids. They had the crowd on their feet over and over and keep in mind, this was not an easy crowd by any means. Salseros attending the last Chicago Congress saw them and know what I mean. The performances ended with Eddie and Marie Torres performing an exceptionally elegant salsa and really taking the crowd out on a high note. Then it was on to dinner, shower and back to dancing.

For one more night the crowd showed up in full force, ready to make it a night to remember! I pretty much danced till I could no more. Three o-clock came and they announced they would go till four. So, I danced a bit more... And at 3:15 AM I decided that self-preservation would win out. To go out on a high note, I had one last dance with a beautiful redhead from St. Louis whom I see at all the congresses and then it was off towards the hotel to collapse -- with a short stop at an Irish pub around the corner for a couple of stouts for sustenance.

Overall, the event was really well produced and my hat is off to the Team NY for the great job they did in bringing this all together. One complaint I'd have is the cost of the hotel rooms was exorbidant even for NYC. At $279 per night for four nights, the Hilton would cost as much as most other congresses cost for air, hotel and congress pass. In order to make the congress financially feasible I had to get a one star hotel 20 blocks away. You can read about that in TripAdvisor reviews of Hotel Riverside Studios.

In the end, no complaints. Four days of awesome dancing in the Big Apple can't be beat!