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CT Salsa Fest 2009 Review
Ian and I had the pleasure of of going to the 5th Annual CT Salsa Fest in Stamford, CT (Ian’s hometown!). What can I say about the Salsa Fest? It was exciting, humbling, exhausting, entertaining, and all around amazing. The short version is that the CT Salsa Fest hosted incredible performers, phenomenal instructors, and fantastic (and unpretentious) dancers. Held at the Hilton Stamford Hotel, the festival included professional workshops, dance performances, live bands, DJs, and social dancing starting on Friday May 22nd till Sunday May 24th. The event was hosted by Lou Lopez of Latin Moves Dance Studio, one of the premiere Latin dance studios in Stamford, CT.
The PreGame 
To wet the salsa whistle 
, Friday night at the CT Salsa Fest included more than 20 performances from groups primarily in the Tri-State Area, although there were groups from Canada, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Colombia. This is definitely the way you want to kick off an event of this magnitude. Just hit us with what you’ve got; great, energetic performances. Following these performances, the open dance portion of the night started with the band “Karibe Mambo“, a fantastic CT-based Salsa Band. They lit the dance floor on fire, figuratively of course 
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And The Workshops Begin…
By Saturday morning, we were scrambling to get ready for the workshops. Luckily, since all the salseros were running a little late, we ended up being on time (that makes sense, I think). The first class we went to was Ismael Otero of Caribbean Soul. We’ve taken classes with him before and it is always a pleasure. He is a fantastic dancer, proclaimed the “Million Moves Man”, and it’s true but I learned his secret. Well actually he said it out loud. “I like to make simple moves, look hard.” All we really did was a Cross Body Lead and a Right Hand Turn, nothing mindblowing, but the hand holds and the execution was what made it so challenging and impressive. Then we went to Jerome Ramos’ class for Cuban Body Movements and let me tell you we have never felt so white before. His class focused on isolations particularly the shoulders, head/neck, ribcage, hips, everything really. But apparently our bodies were on strike. I say that because it was like the signal from our brains got lost in transit so that not only did that part NOT isolate, some other random body part started moving on its own. Challenging but good. For our next class block we split up.
I was with Mario B and Katie went to CC Williams of Revelations Dance Company for Ladies Styling. In Mario B’s class we did an intermediate move, (that frankly i forget most of it). What I do remember is that the move was awesome and that Mario B is quite comedic instructor, which I enjoy.
The Ladies Styling Class was a nice break. We focused on simple arm styles incorporated into some quick spins. At first it seemed a little slow, but it was nice to take the time to focus on the little things. Sometimes we spend too much time trying to make moves “bigger and better” and not enough on the basics.
Then Katie and I went to MetaMovements for Men and Women’s Styling, which was pretty good. Not too difficult but good to workout some old habits. Finally, the day ended with Hip Hop Salsa Shines by Combinacion Perfecta. To be honest the shines weren’t very Hip Hoppy, but they were pretty cool and kinda difficult. All in all, the day went by pretty smoothly. We did a lot of shine/body isolation classes.
After the last 5 hours of practicing, we were exhausted. So we took our lunch break and sat down. We had to rest before the performances and next 4 hours of open dancing. At 6pm the Youth Showcase started with preformances by the younger students of the traveling or local groups. Following the Youth Performances were the Adult Performances which included another 20+ groups from around the country and world. This was the big showcase everyone came out to see. The room was packed with people. Check out our video gallery below for specific performances. I have to mention the jaw dropping everyone jump out of their seats performance by Fusion Salsera from Caracas, Venezuela. These guys and gals were AMAZING!! I’ll let the video speak for itself.
After this prodigious performance, the excited crowd bolted for the door, eagerly awaiting the dance floor to be set up. A short time later the Grand Ballroom opened up and the Salseros y Salseras poured in. Almost immediately the purpose of the room changed as the band, The Latin Heartbeat Orchestra, kicked in with its pulsating rhythms and driving percussion. The floor was flooded with dancers many of whom I recognized. It’s kinda funny to me, even after going to a couple congresses and festivals, that I was watching the dancers I used to watch on Nuevotec. As soon as I started dancing it all became a blur, and all of a sudden 3 hours had passed by and I was a little more than drenched in perspiration (hopefully my own, yuck..). We decided we weren’t gonna push ourselves and retired for the night.
The Next Day
Sunday dawned and we knew we had another 5 hours of salsa workshops. So we made a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for our Breakfast De Salseros…which consisted of a strong coffee and a bagel with cream cheese, delicious. Again as luck would have it we were all a few minutes late or better yet “a few minutes relaxed” from the scheduled time. Our first class was with Mario B for Intermediate Partner Work, which was a very smooth routine. Next we went to Ismael Otero’s shine class, which was quite awesome (in fact I’ve been doing it over and over since the festival). As a way to cool down, we thought how about the next class we’ll take Bachata with Juan Portella of Cache Dance Studio. How wrong we were… That class was INTENSE. It was like crack bachata – they played bachatarengue (yea that’s bachata and merengue). Fast and high energy – we had a lot of fun nonetheless.
Plus Juan was awesome; definitely a great teacher. So much so that when we saw he was teaching the next class for Int. On2 Partnerwork, we said “Yup! Gotta do it.” He taught a great move that you can see below, plus he gave me a thumbs up while I was dancing 
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Finally, to end the day, we split up, Katie going to Ladies Styling with Shani Talmor from Caribbean Soul and I went to Beg. On2 Partnerwork with Darlin Garcia. The Beginners partnerwork was not too difficult but a good reintroduction to the basics. Since I am primarily an On1 dancer, I never “formally” learned On2, although I know it. So I also kinda went there to steal…i mean borrow, some of his teaching methods. Katie on the other hand was working hard with Shani and Jen on the shines.
The Shine class with Caribbean Soul was amazing. It was fast paced, smooth, sexy, and exhausting! This was the last workshop of the weekend and me and most of the other girls were shot. I opted to stay in my heels because I like dancing in them the best, especially for shines but I soon came to regret it. I never wanted to kick off shoes so bad. Well, except for the end of the last congress we went to. It’s inevitable, I guess. I was glad I got the shine on tape so I could practice it after my feet stopped throbbing.
Then it came time for some performances (full list below, btw). Which was immediately followed by open dancing. We had a little change of location due to a wedding, specifically an Indian wedding and let me tell you I was considering ditching salsa ’cause the food smelled SOOO good. I’ll just say I’m there distant very albino cousin – works everytime. Either way we moved to our new location and again danced the night away. I got in a couple dances with Jen from Caribbean Soul. OK so we went to school together and we’re friends, whatever, I still danced with someone famous! :-P
Notable Mentions
The list of instructors and performers was impressive (full list below), but we wanted to take the time to mention a couple:
Ismael Otero and Shani Talmor of Caribbean Soul
The Caribbean Soul Dance Company, founded in 1997 by Ismael Otero, is world renowned for its innovatively original routines. The group’s frontman Ismael Otero is hailed as one of the best salsa/mambo dancers worldwide and informally known as the Million Moves Man. His outstanding work with Caribbean Soul is a testament to his dedication to the salsa world and has landed them gigs at all the major congresses every year. But enough about him. The real appeal comes from the amazing dancers who make up Caribbean Soul, most notably, Shani Talmor. She is an awe-inspiring salsera with an extensive repertoire of dance skills. Prior to joining Caribbean Soul, Shani was the principal female dancer of the dance company “Imperio Azteca” directed by Johnny Vazquez and Ramon Morales. Also in the group are: Alex Morel, a NJ raised salsero who has, in only a few short years, skyrocketed from being a beginner to a professional salsa dancer under the tutelage of Ismael and Shani; and most important of all, the fantastically fabulous Jennifer Kung. I don’t mean to brag but we went to school with her and now she’s super famous. (We are… Penn State…salsa?)
Mario B of Salsa Fever On2 Dance Academy
Mario B, director of Salsa Fever On2, has had a plethora of success in the Mambo world. From performing, choreographing, teaching, and acting, Mario has just about done all that can be done. Once a student of Ismael Otero, Mario graduated from Caribbean Soul and now runs his own dance academy, Salsa Fever On2. Mario’s credits include an off-Broadway production entitled “Latin Madness”, a Mambo musical, as well as appearances in the movies “Empire” and “Kal-ho-naho”. His teaching style is both relaxed and efficient but with a impressive level of complexity. But what’s most infectious is his sense of humor, which makes the enigmatic moves he teaches all the more enjoyable.
The Bottom Line
Our last Salsa Congress experience (before the CT Salsa Fest) had left us exhausted and more than a little sick of salsa. I think I took a week hiatus from listening to Salsa music. But after going to the CT Salsa Fest, it’s all we can do to keep ourselves from dancing at work, in line at the supermarket, while watching TV; just about anywhere and everywhere in public. The mood of the entire event was relaxed but exciting. The instructors were all so inviting and passionate about their art; they truly wanted us to learn. The Salseros y Salseras were unpretentious and exceptional. We can’t wait till next year.
Below are the individual performances by each group and a couple of the lessons learned in the workshops. If you have any other lessons or performances video taped that we don’t have here, upload it to YouTube and send us a link. We will be happy to host it here.
CT Salsa Fest 2009 Performances
You can also view these videos on the I Live Salsa YouTube Channel
CT Salsa Fest 2009 Workshops
Again, let us know if you have any other lessons or performances video taped, and please send us a link. See ya on the floor.
Social Dances
Full List of Performers (Alphabetical)
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Full List of Instructors
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