That’s right!  Carlos Santana, the legendary latin rock artist, will be performing live at Cricket Wireless here in San Diego tomorrow Tuesday September 30th.  

I was lucky to get some VIP tickets for the performance and I look forward to hearing him in concert.  Santana, as most of you know, is credited with popularizing Latin music through the years with many hits such as “Oye Come Va” and “Black Magic Woman.”  Both of these songs are enjoyed by dancers as they follow cha cha cha beat and are club favorites.

I believe that there are tickets still available and you can find out more information directly from the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre Box Office Website.

Here is another clip of Santana performing “Black Magic Woman.”  Come out and see a Latin legend Santana live here in San Diego!

San Diego is lucky to have another visiting salsa band coming to perform in October, Seattle Salsa Band Picoso.

Picoso founder Eli Rosenblatt began playing guitar at thirteen.  He has played many styles of music including blues, salsa, son, reggae, jazz, Brazilian, Zimbabwean and Malian. He got hooked on Latin Music at age sixteen and has been writing dance music since that time.  Along with the other members of Picoso, the band is well known in their hometown of Seattle, WA.  To get a sense of how they play salsa I’ve included this video clip here for you to check out:

Picoso will be performing live here in San Diego at Miami Grille.  For more information and to RSVP for the event please visit the event page set up at the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group.

Santo Rico Dance Company is coming to San Diego as part of a weekend of workshops and performances this November 14^th-15^th, 2008.

The talented dance company, as many of you might know, has been busy since 1996 spreading salsa dancing throughout the world.  The group is credited as being one of the longest standing performance teams in the world with exposure in over 25 countries and over 40 U.S. cities.  They are well known for their famous choreography called the “Santo Rico Spinning Technique” and have influenced a great many salsa performance groups over the years.

Santo Rico Dance Company has performed for some of salsa dancing’s biggest names including Gilberto Santo Rosa, Tito Puente, Marc Anthony, and Victor Manuelle.

We are lucky to have them visiting San Diego in November and I’ve put together a special San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup event for a performance they will be giving at the La Jolla Marriott on Saturday, November 15^th.  

I’ve attached a video here so you can get a sense of the type of performances they’ve done in the past.  Check it out and see you at the La Jolla Marriott!

For many in the Salsa and Latin dance scene, Bachata is not as well known as the other Latin dances.  Indeed, when it comes to this native Dominican dance many of us know very little about the influences that formed what we understand today as bachata.  Fortunately, others have extensively studied the history of bachata dance and compiled their findings. 

I recently was sent an email about one such resource in the form of a book called “Bachata:  A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music” by Deborah Pacini Hernandez.  I’ve included a synopsis from Google Book Search for you all to review.  

An interesting aspect about Deborah’s book is the comparison that she makes between the development of Bachata and Rap music.  She identifies that both genres share a parallel history in the way both became more main stream and respectable.  

Check out the book and share your thoughts about it by leaving a comment.  Enjoy!

It was a busy weekend for San Diego dancers and music lovers as both the San Diego Salsa Festival and Street Scene took place this last weekend. Both events had tons of performers and it would be great to hear from reader’s out there that attended both about your experiences.

Don’t forget that later this week we have Colombian powerhouse Grupo Niche visiting and that we still have our RSVP page set up for the event.

If you’ve been following Ritmo Bello for some time now you know that I’ve written about the upcoming San Diego Salsa Festival covering topics ranging from San Diego Salsa Festival travel deals to tips for first time attendees.  I thought it would be fitting to complete my review of the upcoming festival by including the full schedule and performance line up for the whole weekend.  

Along with the original schedule of salsa dance workshops, this updated schedule below of salsa performers has the additions of Richardo and Michelle (Pretty Boys & Girls Dance Co.), Jo and Jo (Afeenix Dance Company), and Edwin Rivera and Ashley Dawson (From “So You Think You Can Dance?”).  Most if not all of the performers are in competition to receive a coveted spot for the World Salsa Championships.

Don’t forget to RSVP for the San Diego Salsa Festival if you haven’t done so already to find out more information about the event that starts Friday night.  

Junior and Emily of Amicitia Dance Company are back from their competition on America’s Got Talent and are busy here in San Diego with new training sessions.

For those of you not familiar with the brother and sister salsa duo, the video here is a promotional training video about them.  (Although I don’t support one studio over another, Junior and Emily definitely stand out amongst the crowd for their national exposure.)  

To find out more information about the group, I know that Alex Tiger is part of the Pro Team and is also an Assistant Organizer with the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup.  Feel free to sign up for the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group if you are not already a member!