It’s hard to believe that 12 years have passed since San Diego’s first Salsa festival. In these last 12 years the festival has transformed from a small regional event to one that attracts attendees from all over the world.
The 12th Annual San Diego & Bachata Festival continues the tradition established by Albert Torres, Angel and Tulane Rivera and countless other volunteers who have helped make the event what it is today. If you have never attended a salsa dance festival before you are in for a great weekend of dance shows, competitions, dance workshops and of course live music and dancing. This video from the 6th San Diego Salsa and Bachata Festival gives you a glimpse of what you can expect to see:
The festival runs from August 30th to September 2nd and the organizers are in the process of updating the schedule of events now. You can follow along on RitmoBello.com with any updates as they come out and you can check it out for yourself at the official San Diego Salsa & Bachata Festival website.
See you all at the upcoming 12th Annual San Diego Salsa & Bachata Festival!
The salsa community worldwide is in mourning with news of Albert Torres‘ passing. As you may know Albert was a great supporter of salsa music, dance and culture with his many Salsa Congresses and events he hosted worldwide.
Although I didn’t know him that well personally I had the honor of receiving an award from him back in 2010 that really had an impact on my own work in our salsa community.
It was through little things like this that he touched the lives of many of the people in our local dance community. I know his salsa festivals and events will live on but they will definitely not be the same without him.
Please say a prayer for the repose of his soul and his family during this time.
The San Diego Salsa Bachata Festival has found a new home at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. Located on San Diego bay, the venue will allow dancers visiting San Diego the opportunity to not just have spectacular panoramic views of the San Diego skyline but easy access to the airport and many San Diego attractions such as Balboa Park.
The redesigned hotel offers five restaurants, three swimming pools, tennis courts, a spa and jogging trails to allow dancers to relax a little in between events. Here is a short video highlighting the new venue and what it offers to guests:
The San Diego Salsa Bachata Festival is coming up September 15th through the 18th and the schedule of events has been recently updated. In order to make it easy to follow the various events we’ve added the events to the calendar of the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group. Here are some of the main points of interest:
Of course you will need to purchase your passes to each of these events (you can purchase them here). There is still time, though, to get a FREE full access pass to all these days events by entering in the RitmoBello.com YouTube contest (ends Friday August 26th, 2011!!!)
The 1st Annual World Latin Dance Cup is coming soon to San Diego and the organizers have come out with a new updated schedule for the event. Wednesday December 15th is the first qualifying night with Thursday and Friday slated as semi final competition nights. The final competition will take place on Saturday December 18th.
San Diego’s Latin dance scene has been expanding over the years and nothing is a better indicator of this growth than the 1st Annual World Latin Dance Cup. The event, hosted by Albert Torres Productions, is a great tribute to not just different styles of salsa dance (from Cuban style to Colombian style) but also other Latin dances like cumbia and bachata. Teams from all over the world will converge on San Diego to compete in dance categories ranging from amateur to pro teams. Those groups will vie for more than $50,000 worth of cash prizes and the chance to be dubbed #1 in their respective dance categories. It should be very exciting to watch, if not perform in the event for sure.
The 4th Annual San Diego Salsa Bachata Festival is now in the history books and if you are like me your legs are still recovering from all the dancing (and you are catching up on lost sleep!). I want to take the opportunity to thank Angel and Tulane, Albert Torres, and the whole San Diego Salsa/Latin dance community for honoring not just Ritmo Bello but also Dan Delino and Tommy Rosas.
I received some emails and twitter messages asking me what the award I received looked like so I posted it here for you to check out.
Congratulations to all the dance show participants, especially the local dance studios, who went above and beyond to show San Diego’s true dance talent.
