Just a quick reminder that the Los Angeles Salsa Congress is going on this weekend. The theme of the Los Angeles Salsa Congress is “Creating Unity Through Salsa” and will feature Cheo Feliciano as a featured performer tonight.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to catch some great salsa dancing and music.
There is more to salsa than just the dance. Salsa, of course, is also about the music itself and the salsa recording artists that allow for all of us to continue dancing. Many of these salsa recording artists would never be known without any of the salsa recording labels waiting to discover them. I recently had an opportunity to sit down with salsa recording label Dimelo! Records to discuss this and the efforts they are putting forth to support new salsa recording talent.
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Ritmo Bello : What is the mission and focus of your organization as it pertains to the San Diego Salsa community?
Dimelo! Records : We would like to perform more live gigs in San Diego. We have recently purchased a "Dimelo! Records Van" that will allow all our bands to travel to and from the area more conveniently. We have recently launched a Social networking site www.dimelolife.com which will allow us to interact with more Salseros. We hope to better understand the communities outside of Los Angeles through this medium.
Ritmo Bello: What are the origins of your organization?
Dimelo! Records: Dimelo! Records was founded in 1998 in Los Angeles. It is a subsidiary of Latin Music Entertainment, Inc. a full service music company, which produces, licenses, manufactures, markets and distributes all its own product independently since 1994.
Ritmo Bello : Are there any artists you are currently promoting that you’d like the public to know more about?
Dimelo! Records : Dimelo! Records currently has 3 artists on their roster….Our 1st release was "Salsa De Verda" as performed by Orquesta Tabaco y Ron in 1998, since their first release, "OTR" has released 6 albums on the Dimelo! imprint, including one remix album, and a live recording. Our second addition to the Dimelo! line up, and of Costa Rican decent, was Chino Espinoza y Los Dueńos Del Son. Extremely popular, Chino Espinoza is the most booked band in Los Angeles. His discography includes, "Pura Vida", "Maria", a Salsa Christmas album. Our most recent and third artist is, La Charanga Cubana. Their 2007 freshman release on Dimelo! Records was immediately, nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Album of The Year. They are currently, in the studio vigorously wrapping up their follow up recording.
Ritmo Bello: How does an up and coming Salsa artist sign on with your label?
Dimelo! Records: We are a boutique niche label. We seek bands with a heavy commitment to live gigs. We are always looking for a great opportunity to include a fresh and unique piece to our arsenal of artists. We always welcome new material for review. Please send any information to:
Valerie Guzman
Marketing Department
Dimelo! Records
10835 Chandler Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601 USA
Yahoo Messenger: dimelolife
AIM: dimelolife
Twitter: dimelolife
Ritmo Bello : Anything else you’d like to share with the general public? I heard you mention the launch of a social networking site, right?
Dimelo! Records: dimelolife.com will be a major commitment for us in 2008. Although still in beta, we plan to officially launch the site in a few months. DimeloLife is not about one record label or a handful of recording artists, or select events. DimeloLife will be ALL things Salsa, every recording artist, every dancer, every promoter, every dance-club, every night – an online Salsa Social Community. DimeloLife will be the place to share videos, audio, photos, blogs/stories with unlimited media uploads…all for free – there will never be a cost. This site will also be the home of Dimelo! TV our new video pod-cast network which will include general interest programming, Salsa videos, and Special Event coverage.
Again, our official launch is around two months away. We would like for you and your readers to beta test the site with us. We are slowly opening it up to a few exclusive friends to get their accounts set up and upload some media before we officially launch. Feel free to invite a few other of your own special friends to setup their accounts, add some pics and video, and chat it up. This invitation will guarantee you "Founding Member" status, which will be rewarded in a unique Dimelo! manner before the end of the year.
Use this link for now to take a sneak peak and set up an account:
Ritmo Bello: Is there contact information available to reach you for more information?
Dimelo! Records: Yes, please send any enquiries to:
Valerie Guzman
Marketing Department
Dimelo! Records
10835 Chandler Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601 USA
Yahoo Messenger: dimelolife
AIM: dimelolife
Twitter: dimelolife
Are you a salsa addict? Ever wondered who else is thinking about salsa dancing as much as you are? Well there is a program called Twitter that allows you to connect with those people as they are having that thought.
Twitter allows salsa dancers to find out when and where other salsa dancers are going to be dancing, what experiences they might have during a night out dancing salsa, and a whole scope of other thoughts that could be expressed about the dance. I recently signed up for it and was amazed at the thriving salsa community that is using the program world wide. I now know in real time when one salsa dancer is going salsa dancing in Japan and whether someone in Berlin enjoyed their last dance at a local club. I think there is a lot of good potential for the dance community to utilize this technology and I’ll keep you updated on my own experiences with it.
The video here explains in more detail how it all works. To check it out online visit my own Twitter page that I set up. Have fun tweeting!
Hope you are all having a great Memorial Day weekend.
As we go about enjoying this weekend please take a moment to remember those men and women that have died in service to this country. Many of the freedom’s that we have (including our ability to go out and enjoy something as simple as salsa dancing) are due to their sacrifices.
Have a safe holiday…and keep salsa dancing!
I received a number of emails regarding my Salsa Boot Camp post. Many people were asking about other types of salsa dance videos that may be available and one reader shared with me the Steps 4 Salsa website .
The website is a nice resource for instructional salsa DVD’s featuring well known salsa instructors like Eddie, the Salsa Freak , Alex da Silva , and Josie Neglia . They also have some local San Diego salsa talent such as the Angel and Tulane videos available for purchase. A nice feature of the website is the ability to download some of the videos directly for your use at a click of the mouse.
The list of Salsa dance instructors is very extensive and should keep you busy learning new salsa moves. Enjoy!
Hello Everyone!!!
I wanted to let you know about another Salsa Congress coming up in July in Las Vegas, Nevada. Specifically, the Sin City Salseros in association with David Nieto are hosting the 5th Annual Las Vegas Salsa Congress .
For those of you unfamiliar with Salsa Congresses, the 5th Annual Las Vegas Salsa Congress and other congresses like it are official qualifier rounds for the World Salsa Championship coming later in December.
San Diego’s own Majesty in Motion will be competing with David Stein assisting as a guest instructor.
The event will be July 4th -5th at the Tropicana Hotel……..hope to see you all in Las Vegas!
I recently found an online resource for salsa and other types of latin dancing. Dubbed "Salsa Boot Camp" it is a compilation of online salsa dance classes, instructional DVD’s on subjects ranging from traditional ON1 salsa to ladies salsa dance styling tips, and other useful salsa dance information.
Although I am an advocate of learning salsa dance "hands on" with a local instructor, the resource provides another option for those who want and need a different way to learn the dance. The resource also allows for more advanced dancers to pick specific areas they may need to brush up on.
Some testimonials taken from the site include:
To find out more information about this resource click on the link located in the advertisers section here on Ritmo Bello labeled "Salsa Crazy – 2 Left Feet, No Rhythm, No problem" and with the man woman in pose.
