YA Salsa

Detroit Rock Salsa!

jamin0 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:39:12 -0500

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 the 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)

June 2008 Super Social Review

geo — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:17:53 -0500

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.

Ruthie & Roy beating the heat

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.

Best seat in the house

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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The Word Is IN

geo — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:04:34 -0500

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.

YA Salsa Promo Packs - Join Our Mission!

geo — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:03:26 -0500

There is the saying "it takes a village" and nowhere else is it more true that with YA Salsa and the Detroit Salsa Scene. It takes lots of people spreading the word and doing what needs to be done to make everything happen.

Promo Pack Envelope
Take one & give a flyer to a friend

We're trying out a slightly new approach to get everybody involved in getting the word out. If you've attended a YA Social or have been to one of the clubs or studios in the Detroit / Ann Arbor dance scene you know how awesome they are - but most still people have no idea. So, we are going to arm willing salseros with a simple promo pack with some of our flyers and a mission:

Spread the Word

The promo pack is a simple envelope with flyers that you can keep in your car, purse, backpack -- wherever. When the opportunity arises you can hand out a flyer to a friend, co-worker, passerby in the street, the person standing next to you in line at the grocery store... or post it at your gym, church, office, coffee house, dance studio or favorite club...

You know your routine and you don't have to go out of your way to do a bit to help keep the scene healthy and growing.

So, please pick a promo pack up on your way out of the social Sunday night and spread the word -- at your own convenience!

YA Salsa on the Red Wings Dance Cam

geo — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:52:46 -0600

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.

YA Salsa @ The Joe with the Detroit Red Wings Tonight

geo — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:28:18 -0600

YA Salsa will be appearing at the Joe Louis Arena for the Cinco de March - Cinco de Mayo Fiesta celebration as the Detroit Red Wings face the St Louis Blues. YA Salsa will help pump up the latin night festivities by providing fun introductory lessons and then show em how its done on the Red Wings Dance Cam. Our instructors, performers and volunteers include Jessica, Akil, Samer, Valerie, Sebastian, Nellie (of course), Charles & George.

The fun starts @ 6:00 PM on the concourse section 124.

YA Salsa Interviewed by Nuevotec

geo — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:25 -0600

Zeke and the Nuevotec crew caught up with Detroit salseros at the 2008 Chicago International Salsa Congress for a talk about YA Salsa and dancing in Detroit.

Yasalsa.com - Detroit's Finest interview

Bitter cold on the outsitde, Blazin' Salsa on the inside!

jamin0 — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:37:08 -0600

Fire & Ice Social

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??

Sky Mambo Project Celebrates One Year Anniversary at the Harem Nightclub

geo — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:48:57 -0600

Labor of Love Salsa Night Continues to Grow

When a group dedicated salsa dancers got together to create a night that was just about salsa and just about dancing, no one was sure if it would really work. Salsa clubs that were popular in hot spots like New York in the 80's and 90's fell on hard times as dancers became more technical with spins and performance quality social dancing and started consuming less alcohol. Just as the dancers thirst dried up, the dance venues did too. In November 2007, the Copacabana in Manhattan closed, due to subway expansion, ending an era in New York City where the American style salsa dancing originally took shape. However unlikely, the Detroit salsa scene has not only survived, it has become resurgent with clubs like Harem showing that not only can it work, it can thrive. Sky MAMBO team member Samer Georges recalls when he first was introduced to the salsa scene "Back in 1996 we had one club. Now we have a new club opening every week!"

YA Salsa Images

geo — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:36:10 -0600

YA Salsa Images and Logos may be used on other websites linking to YA Salsa or promotional materials developed in explicit agreement with YA Salsa.