Photos courtesy of CONTRA-TIEMPO. Photography by Tyrone Domingo
Southern California has lots of great dance talent and I love learning about dance groups that make a difference in our local communities. CONTRA-TIEMPO is one of these dance groups.
CONTRA-TIEMPO is a Los Angeles-based activist dance company founded in 2005 by choreographer Ana María Alvarez and a dynamic group of performers. The company fuses Salsa, Afro-Cuban, Hip-Hop, and abstract dance-theater to create an invigorating blend of physically intense and politically based performance. The dance company prides itself on its community roots and involvement with the local community itself. The group strives to incorporate geographic, economic, political, and even national focus into their dance presentations. Here is a short preview of what you can expect from CONTRA-TIEMPO:
We are lucky here in San Diego as CONTRA-TIEMPO will be presented by the United Association of Labor Education’s 2010 Conference at San Diego City College on March 26th, 2010.
A Colombian salsa performer, Reinaldo Ojeda, contacted me recently to see if there would be any interest from our salsa community to see him perform at the 2010 San Diego Salsa & Bachata Festival. The videos here are ones he sent me to share with all of you. What do you all think? Share your comments here please.
Just a quick reminder that our monthly 1st Wednesday’s of the Month with Meetup.com event is coming up Wednesday March 3rd at Cafe Sevilla. For March we are going to have a DRESS IN IRISH GREEN theme. If you have any green shirts, pants, shoes, whatever make sure you wear it when you show up at 8pm to meet and greet other members. Remember that this is a FREE event and everyone is welcome to attend (especially people that need to get out of the house like our friend in this video below:)
I saw this online the other day and thought it was interesting. The makers of this film, “MANO The Film”, released a short 24 minute film all about salsa dancing. What is unique about their approach is that they infused the film with drama as they showcase the dancing we all love. Below is a short synopsis from our friends over at Salsa Dynasty:
“Written, produced and directed by Nardolillo, “MANO” tells the story of Victor and Machito; best friends growing up and heavily involved in the underground salsa scene. Separated as teenagers after the death of Victor’s father, Victor leaves New York all together; however the passion for dance and music never leaves him. After returning to the block he grew up on years later, he seeks out his childhood buddy Machito, whom he discovers has followed his father’s fatal footsteps. Staring Giancarlo Esposito (Do the Right Thing, Carlitos Way; Rise to Power, Usual Suspects, Feel the Noise), Laz Alonso (Jarhead, Stomp the Yard, Avatar) , Lee Thompson Young (Friday Night Lights, Akeelah and the Bee , The Hills Have Eyes 2), Yesenia Adame (Dancing with the Stars, National Bingo Night) and introducing Anthony Nardolillo. The short film is the predecessor to the feature length film which is currently in development and being produced by Michael Watkins – Executive producer of X-Files and Prison Break.”
To get more information on this unique project and film check out the MANO the Film webpage.
Latin Dance Store, a salsa dance clothing supplier, is offering our Meetup.com members and Ritmo Bello readers a special 5% off all purchases when you use coupon code “SDSALSAMEETUP”. This new sponsor offers a variety of tops, dresses and accessories for the salsa dancers in your life.
Our second new sponsor, Burju Shoes, is well known in the salsa community for her innovative salsa dance shoe designs. Burju is offering our Meetup.com members and Ritmo Bello readers a great discount of 10% all products if you use coupon code “RITMOBELLOPROMO”.
One thing that you learn as a salsa dancer is that you have to adapt to change very quickly. What kind of change do I mean?Try the kind of change that happens once the live band comes on to perform and that great big dance space shrinks into a little, tiny piece of floor.
It is at this point that you can separate the average dancer from the truly exceptional one, not based on routines or moves but on how careful they are to respect other dancers around them. Indeed, the mark of a truly expert salsa dancer in my opinion is one who can still dance with their partner given a tiny dance area but without giving everyone around them a black eye.
Recently I went to a newer salsa venue here in San Diego and saw this play out first hand right in front of me. Although there were dancers of all levels on the dance floor, you could easily see that some of them were crashing into other people without so much as a nod to say they were sorry for the intrusion.These folks were not beginners mind you…
I think it’s important to emphasize that little to no dance space means you have to change your style of dance accordingly.This doesn’t mean you can’t execute moves you want to, it just means those moves may have to be smaller in scope and more focused on the immediate space of your dance area. I call this the “art of small space salsa dancing” because when you see it in action it truly is art in motion to see dancers having a great time within the space they have on the dance floor.
If you have any comments or personal experiences regarding this topic feel free to share them here.
Last year the San Diego Salsa Festivalfeatured lots of dance shows, great social dancing, and introduced a new focus for the event:Bachata dancing.
With the advent of bachata specific dance rooms, attendees to last year’s San Diego Salsa Festival were able to add some variety to their night and take advantage of the varied music offerings.
This year the festival will feature both salsa and bachata dance workshops, so if you need to learn or simply brush up on the dances you’ll have great opportunities to learn from the best.
The theme for this February edition is “Dress in Red” so if you have a favorite red dress, pants, shoes, whatever this will be the night to wear it. Last year when we held this event at Cafe Sevilla the whole club was filled with people dressed in red and we hope to do the same this year.
This monthly event held at Café Sevilla is a great way to break the ice with new people in a safe and friendly environment.Don’t forget the event is FREE to attend!
The event is open to everyone so feel free to come alone or bring any friends. We’ll meet downstairs at 8pm in the VIP area of club that will be reserved for our group. Just look for the Meetup.com signs. Valeriewill give a free salsa lesson starting at 8:30pm.
For full details and to RSVP please check out the special event page here on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group.If you have additional questions feel free to contact me on Twitter@RitmoBello. Don’t forget to wear red!
At first glance you probably wouldn’t think that San Diego has much going on apart from the traditional surfing and other recreational diversions for which this place is known.It takes a simple look under that well known surface to see that San Diego is a teeming hot bed of salsa dance talent.
Much of that dance talent is due in part to the myriad of salsa dance competition teams that offer a wide array of styles and philosophies of salsa dance.San Diego is fortunate to have a salsa scene influenced by such a great group of performers that help inspire those new to the scene to learn more about the dance. Here at Ritmo Bello I’ve been privileged to get to know these performance groups over the years and I wanted to highlight some of them here.
These and many other dance teams which I haven’t mentioned here all deserve to be recognized for the great exposure they give salsa dancing to the general public. For many people here in San Diego, joining a dance team is a great way to accelerate your learning of salsa dance while expressing yourself through performance.
If you’ve had a good experience with a local San Diego dance team feel free to leave a comment on this post.
I love history, especially when it deals with dance. I wanted to share some video resources out there with those of you wanting to learn more about Argentine Tango.
This first video has a short overview of the history of Argentine Tango by a Florida based Tango Instructor. I think it serves as a good intro to the subject:
This second video explains in more detail the history of the dance itself and its influences:
This next video is actually one in a series of videos that does a great job of breaking down the history of Tango according to the development of orchestras in the genre:
I’m sure there are many other good videos out there concerning the subject, so if you have one to share please do so by leaving a comment on this post. Thanks!
For those of you new to San Diego and/or new to the dance scene here, check out the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group. The 1,000 + member group offers a wide variety of events that are posted by many of the dance studios and instructors that make up our dance community.
You’ll find everything from dance auditions for performance teams, latin dance themed house parties, and simply getting together for a night of dancing at all of San Diego’s great venues.
The group is made possible through our many Meetup.com sponsors and through member donations (the group is free to join though!). Come check out the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group!
Even though the 2010 San Diego Salsa Festival is not until September of this year, it is not too early to submit your entry to perform at the event. The organizers for the event are accepting video submissions via YouTube and Facebook for anyone that might be interested in performing.
To submit your entries simply email the links to info@sandiegosalsafestival.com.
For more information on the event keep checking Ritmo Bello and the official website for the 2010 San Diego Salsa Festival at www.sandiegosalsafestival.com.
On behalf of Ritmo Bello, I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe, happy New Year. 2009 was a tough year for many of us, but it was great to have lots of fun filled events with the San Diego Salsa & Latin Dancing Meetup Group to help us get through it.
Thanks to everyone in the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dance community for your continued support. We hope you can all make it out to our first official event for 2010 at 1st Wednesday’s of the Month with Meetup.com at Cafe Sevilla January 6. I plan on giving away FREE EK Clothing Latin Dance 2010 calendars at 8pm sharp (see the pictures above)! See you all in 2010!
Okay, if you are like me you are probably not done with your Christmas shopping. Indeed, I still have many gifts to get for all types of people on my gift-giving list. Some of those folks, surprising enough, are Salsa and Latin dancers.I thought I would share (Shoooo! Don’t tell them!) some ideas I have for gift giving to them and anyone inclined to dance.
An easy gift idea for a salsa dancer is salsa music. Depending on the person’s current collection of salsa music, you may have to think outside the box to get them something unique. I found one salsa compilation by Dimelo! Records that is different enough to warrant my writing about it in this article. The CD, a salsa Christmas compilation titled “Ponle Salsa a Tu Navidad,” features Orquesta Tobaco y Ron and Chino Espinoza jamming out to all sorts of Christmas tunes.
Another great gift idea is something for the salsa dancer to wear.EK Clothing has some great clothing for women that want some style when they hit the dance floor. They also have a great selection of salsa dance shoes (check out some of them in this video above) that are functional yet comfortable for regular use.
For salsa dancers that are guys, sometimes simple gifts mean the most. A great gift for the avid salsa dancer could be as simple as handkerchiefs that they can use when they go out and dance (you know to wipe all the sweat off with class). They are inexpensive and if you really want to spruce them up you can have them embroidered with their initials.
If you have other ideas for Christmas gifts let me know via Twitter at @RitmoBello. Merry Christmas!
1stWednesdays of the Month with Meetup.comis coming up again and with it a great opportunity to meet new people here in San Diego. It’s hard to believe that this is the twelfth and final Meetup event for 2009 at Cafe Sevilla!
Pleasebring any new, unwrapped toys for donatingto the Marine Toys for Tots. We will have an area on site at the event (8pm to 10pm) to collect any new unwrapped toys to help out the less fortunate during this Christmas season. For those of you unfamiliar with the Marine Toys for Tots organization check out these videos here that explain some of the great services they provide to our community:
This monthly event held at Café Sevilla is a great way to break the ice with new people in a safe and friendly environment.Just like last month, the event is FREEto attend!
The event is open to everyone so feel free to come alone or bring any friends. We’ll meet downstairs at 8pm in the VIP area of club that will be reserved for our group. Just look for the Meetup.com signs. Valeriewill give a free salsa lesson starting at 8:30pm.
