YA Salsa

Anticipation! It seemed like an eternity since the last social but it was well worth the wait! After almost a 6 week break, the July salsa social drew in about 300 people from every corner of Michigan. As we always say, the YA Salsa mission is to help expand the Detroit salsa scene, and after seeing all the new faces on Sunday, I have to say that it is working. Thank you all for coming out to dance with us and thank you for helping us spread the word by telling our friends about salsa!

 

This social was certainly a hot one! I think we all lost about 10 lbs of water weight by then end of the night. People often ask if the American Legion has air conditioning and if it is even on.The answer is YES and YES. Unfortunately the AC is no match for 300 people dancing salsa for 4 hours straight. We do our best to help the AC keep us cool by adding the fans, ice cream treats, and face towels at the front desk, We even try to play slower salsa tracks! I guess the only thing left to do is to dance less… Come on, who are we kidding. That is simply not an option!! Maybe we should all wear less clothes? (evil grin)

 

Mother Nature. With us or against us? Just when it seemed like our biggest worry would be the heat, the Michigan weather changed it up and sent the high winds, torrential rain, fallen trees and power outages. On the upside, the storm cooled things down like nothing else and didn't deter more than a handful of the dancers who have been anticipating this Super salsa weekend.

We call them super salsa weekends because they are truly big weekends for YA. Months of planning and effort from many volunteers goes into delivering top notch instructors and performers with unique and interesting styles and talents to our collective doorstep here in Detroit. Offsetting the cost of these super socials is where the majority of proceeds from the regular socials end up. The more support and enthusiasm at the other events, the more encouraged and capable we are of delivering the super events.

The super social weekend started off with a fun impromptu performance with Johnny, Andres and Laura Geldys at The Harem. Johnny and Andres demonstrated their 2:1 partnering style where they simultaneously dance with the same partner -- pretty slick and of course kudos to Laura for being so exceptionally adaptable. After a fun night there, things started early Saturday with a full day of workshops at the new Jewish Community Center location. After that, it was on to the Canton-Plymouth High School Salsa club's social and then if that were not enough dancing a final stop at the Dance Revolution Serious About Salsa social. Then came Sunday...

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It's true. The word got out and we continue to blow the doors off of the American Legion. The March social was a whopper with 325 dancers coming IN and then walking out (or hobbling in the case of a few unlucky feet) tired and happy. Yes it's crowded, but its a great crowd and one can't even begin to explain to the uninitiated, the energy and feel of these events. It's not only an opportunity to dance or meet up with people you haven't seen in a while, we also get the opportunity to acknowledge the people who by doing their thing make our lives better.

Thanks & Happy B-Day

This month it was a birthday shout out to Cisco whom with his Salsa Detroit crew have been pillars of the Detroit salsa scene for longer than I've been dancing and a he is a key member of YA Salsa too. Everyone knows, the dancers can be tough on the DJs and promoters but that's because we are so into the scene that we want it to be perfect all the time every night -- which is of course different for everyone. So Sunday Jamin made a special point of not only calling out "happy birthday", but also making Cisco step out from the DJ station and join the rest of us on the dance floor for the snowball with a great running commentary. Little does he know that he'll probably be dragged out there every month until he goes willingly.

The YA Salsa Team made its mark on the Red Wings crowd at Joe Louis Arena Wednesday the 5th with pre-game lessons and dancing followed by a feature spot on the Red Wings Dance Cam. It was a great event and a great team effort to pull it all together.

Red Wings fans watch Jessica & Akil perform on the Dance Cam

Just as the Red Wings have to pull together as a team to win games, YA truely does that to support and grow the Detroit salsa dance scene. Special thanks go out to sheshe (Lashena) for continually keeping and eye on us and divinely intervening from Dallas without even being asked; playing a key role helping to make this event a success.

As always we say thanks to you for coming out to dance with us on Sunday. Surprisingly 250+ people braved the sub zero temperatures just to dance salsa! It was bitter cold on the outside, but once inside it was blazin’. When you have 250 people dancing non-stop, not even the artic temperatures can keep a room cool! By the way, where did all the new faces come from??

Every time I try to describe the difference between a YA Social and a club, I get it wrong. Not that the description isn't accurate, but that the comparison is wrong. You can't compare it to clubs, congressos or studios. The YA social is like a big living room and a giant house party.

You take this kind of non-descript building on a non-descript street, invite a few thousand people from all walks of life -- almost 500 show up. You have a band -- one of the best in town. Have 10 or 15 salsa slaves running around to make it go smoothly and this is what you get. It's unique. Any of the individual elements on their own is good. A band like Grupo Salvaje playing is great, but with dancers -- each their own show, it's something else. 450 people dancing at a club is nothing new, but when you take salseros - young and old, new and hard-core, mix them up shake them around -- its completely different. You pay a few bucks to cover the cost and there's nothing more to buy. There's no security, no VIP, no dress code, no formality. Maybe the best comparison -- a street party.

More Pictures Online & Video coming soon!

It seems like every few months I',m compelled to write about Sunday's at Sangria which somewhat to my suprise but much to my delight is really kicking now. Being the night before New Years Eve, my guess was that it would be pretty empty as everyone saved up energy for the big one. But to my amazement, when I arrived the place was packed. Every table was filled, the band was swinging and the dance floor was already jumping. I hadn't even planned to take any pictures, but it was such a great night that I couldn't help myself.

It's always great it is to see the dancers come out in force, but it's even better to see a lot of new faces. One couldn't help but notice the many new people either having dinner and drinks or out for their first time dancing and seeing what salsa is really about. One of the new faces was Shahida Nurullah - one of Detroit's jazz gems who knows her clubs and it was obvious that she absolutely loved the music and vibe.

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I don't know if anyone ever bothers to read this page but I am going to ask this question here and hope that someone actually reads it and responds.