Although the San Diego Salsa Bachata Festival is not until later this year if you’ve been to the event in the past you know the rooms and tickets sell really fast. Angel Rivera, one of the main producers for the event, recently released this informative video that explains how you can obtain rooms and tickets. It also does a really nice job of showcasing the myriad of changes that are in store for this year’s festival including the new venue at the Town & Country Resort Hotel and Convention center and the new focus on bachata.
Okay, so by now you’ve probably heard about the 1st Wednesday’s of the Month Meetup.com events at Cafe Sevilla (we’ve been hosting them for more than a full year now!). Well, for those that have made it out in the past you know that there is a simple formula for how they work: 1) Come out with the intent to have a good time 2) Meet new people & 3) Do something different to interact with your local San Diego salsa community.
This month the theme is to “Spring into Salsa Dancing” with everything that this implies. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about coming out to our events or if you’ve gone in the past and it’s been some time since you’ve been, I encourage you to come check it out. The event is free and Cafe Sevilla has been gracious to offer drink specials to our group members for the night (see the RSVP page for details).
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. Valerie will 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. See you all Wednesday April 7th!
As many of you know, the 3rd Annual San Diego Salsa Festival is coming up September 17th-20th and with it great opportunities to interact with the world of salsa dancing.
As a Festival Promotional Partner, Ritmo Bello has 1 Full Event pass (a $220 value) to give out to one lucky reader. The Full Evening/Day pass gives you access to shows, competitions, & social Dancing – including the Pre-Party. We are going to give away the Full Event pass to someone who can share their best “Salsa Dance Story” i.e. how salsa dancing has changed their life.
To enter into this competition we are simply asking for our readers to:
1. Share your salsa dance story in 600 -1000 words (What attracted you to salsa, your initial experiences learning salsa, funny stories about you learning salsa, etc.). If you want you can also include a YouTube video clip about yourself explaining your experiences as well (your article will get better consideration if you have it in writing and supplement it with a video).
2. Explain how salsa dancing has been an important part of your life.
3. and share with us why you should receive the Full Event pass.
Along with winning the Full Event pass, the winning article will appear in a special post on Ritmo Bello recognizing the winner.
Please submit entries to Ritmo Bello (bello_jf@ritmobello.com) before 3pm on August 28th, 2009 and use the header “My Salsa Dance Story – YOUR NAME HERE.” Also, please include your contact information at the end of your submission so we can contact you if you are the winner and the YouTube Video link you’ve created. The winner will be announced the first week of September on Ritmo Bello and the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group.
Good luck and we look forward to reading about your salsa dance experiences!
The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group is looking for a few good sponsors! Sponsorships are a great way for businesses, organizations or brands to support local meetup groups, while getting exposure to active, local members.
Some ways that you could possibly help our group as a sponsor include:
* Paying money to support our meetup.
* Supply samples to distribute to our members.
* Offer free or discounted services to our members
* Give discounts or coupons on products to our members
So far we’ve partnered with a number of great businesses and as a thank you to those organizations I wanted to highlight some of them here:
Unus
Unus is a web developer dedicated to helping businesses grow through online solutions. Open communication and no pressure sales are their mantra and they pride themselves in providing a great experience driven by excellent customer service.Unus has over 20 years of experience and they are not your typical techies.Every project is important to them, regardless of size. (Case in point, they did a pretty good job with my own website Ritmo Bello!)
e.K Clothing
e.K. Clothing / Dancewear is an online shop devoted exclusively to offering the latest in Latin dance apparel and clubwear. Many of the clothes in their store are Salsa & Mambo inspired styles however they also carry flower hair clips, asymmetrical skirts, flare pants, and halter dresses that are great for Ballroom, Swing, Tango, Jazz and Flamenco fashion.
Gabellini Dance Shoes
Gabellini Dance Shoes are created by dancers with the utmost comfort in mind and the most original, fashionable looks of the day. The shoes are designed by Giancarlo Gabellini and I can tell you from personal experience that the shoes are awesome for dancing as I own a pair myself.
I want to remind all of you in San Diego about a great monthly event. Held on the first Wednesday of each month (Our group is featured in Cafe Sevilla’s official flyer above), Meet.com night at Cafe Sevilla has been a great way to meet other local dancers before the dancing begins. The photo here is from last month’s Meetup.com night at Cafe Sevilla.
Cafe Sevilla has been very gracious to our group, including reserving a special VIP section for our members and offering reduced cover for Meetup.com members (check out the RSVP page here to find out more information about this). If you do come I suggest coming at 9pm sharp since most dancers go out to take advantage of the dancing after 10pm. From 9pm to 10pm or so you’ll have an opportunity to meet other local salsa dancers and talk before the dancing begins. Also, don’t forget that I’m still giving away 3 Putumayo CD’s to the first three people that show up at 9pm.
Overall, Meet.com night at Cafe Sevilla is a great way to break up the work week and make some great new connections with the San Diego salsa community.
For those of you familiar with salsa dancing you know that there are tons of different styles. Some styles emphasize flashy movements and others are simpler, focusing more on the connection between the partners.
One type of salsa dancing that I enjoy is circular style salsa dancing. Unlike the hard hitting salsa performed by most dance troupes which tends to be linear, circular style salsa puts more focus on the partner and allows a couple to travel together on the dance floor. This can be important for a number of reasons. From a social dance perspective this is important because it allows the couple to steer the sometimes dangerous place we call a dance floor.
Just a reminder that the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group will be at Cafe Sevilla this Wednesday February 4th. It will be a great opportunity to meet group members and find out more information about the group itself. Don’t miss a great night of salsa dancing at one of San Diego’s best salsa clubs.
I’ve got some great news for salsa music fans here in San Diego.Our friends at Blue Agave Nightclub are presenting Gilberto Santa Rosa & Victor Manuelle live in concert.
Coming direct from Puerto Rico, the two well known salsa musicians are reuniting once again as they did back in 2001 for their music tour “Dos Soneros, Una Historia.”This time around the concert is being called “La Historia Continua” or “History Continues” and they are sure to deliver more of the same great music that they are famous for creating.
There is a great tango dance event coming up here next Friday January 30th for the TANGOCENTRIC Dance Project.
The event is a preview performance where the group will preview works that are currently under consruction from their workshop and performing ensemble.
Under the artistic direction of Susan Lake (you can see the interview I did with her in a previous post), TANGOCENTRIC’s projects are unique in that they incorporate traditional Argentine Tango along with ballet, modern and interpretive dance.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday season.
2009 marks not only a new year but new opportunities to go out and dance here in San Diego. The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group calendar is full of new events for January including a new series of salsa dance nights at Cafe Sevilla.
Long known for great salsa dancing in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego, the club is extending a welcome to meetup members to take advantage of reduced cover on the first Wednesday of each month. The first in this regular series of salsa nights begins on January 7th, 2009. To find out more information about the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group and this specific event please visit the event page that is already setup.
Come out and start the New Year on a dancing foot!
I’ve been salsa dancing here in San Diego for many years now and I’ve seen so many changes in our local salsa scene. Indeed, in the last few years there seems to have been a proliferation of numerous dance companies and individuals that now call San Diego home.
When talking about the history of the San Diego salsa dance scene, though, one company stands above the rest in terms of originality and their influence on the development of salsa here. Majesty in Motion, well known not just in the local community but worldwide as well, is synonymous with San Diego salsa dancing. I recently had the privilege of talking with David and Jennifer Stein of Majesty in Motion about their commanding presence in the world of salsa dancing and how they continue to have an impact on San Diego salsa dancing today.
***************
Ritmo Bello: David and Jennifer Stein, thank you both for taking some time out of your busy schedules to address the Ritmo Bello audience. San Diego’s salsa dancing scene has seen many changes over the years, but Majesty in Motion has remained a strong force here locally. What does Majesty in Motion offer to the San Diego dance community that makes your organization so popular?
Majesty in Motion: We offer students a challenging, fun program with great teaching. Our team members can take group classes for free in addition to discounts to our events. Members can work with a variety of instructors, ourselves along with Steve Meyer, and Juan Carlos Hernandez. We have over 10 years of teaching experience in working with teams and groups. Our Mission Statement is TAKING DANCERS TO THE NEXT LEVEL. We have trained most of San Diego’s Directors.
Ritmo Bello: Every dancer has a story about how they “found” salsa dancing. Tell me a little about how you each started dancing salsa. Did you know that you were going to create Majesty in Motion from the very beginning?
Majesty in Motion:
David: I was looking for dance auditions and stumbled across an ad that said DANCE TEACHERS NEEDED. I completed a teacher training program and learned all the ballroom dances and salsa was one of them. I fell in love with salsa and stuck with it. After attending the LA Salsa Congress I knew I wanted to be a part of something big and wanted to strive to be the best and create some of San Diego’s best dancers. Majesty in Motion is now known worldwide!!
Jennifer: I stumbled across Cafe Sevilla and met David and was introduced to this dance. I took a lesson the next day and was hooked. I had previous jazz dance training and it helped me while I was training with David. Since then I have travelled the world and started my own ladies team which also now has the opportunity to travel. I also strive to be the best and we both work hard to keep Majesty growing.
Ritmo Bello: Majesty in Motion is known throughout San Diego and worldwide as one of the premiere salsa dance teams in competition today. What types of teams do you currently have in formation and where do they compete?
Majesty in Motion: We currently have 2 beginner teams, an amateur team, semi- pro and pro team along with our pro ladies. Our pro team competed in SF and won 1st place which qualified us to compete in the World Salsa Championships where we placed 12th in the world!! We just got back from Houston where we performed and taught, we’re scheduled to teach and perform throughout the US for the remainder of the year.
Ritmo Bello: What is the process like for someone interested in joining one of your teams? Do you have to have prior dance experience?
Majesty in Motion: We have auditions twice a year once in January and in July. You do not need experience since we have teams for all levels. We do sometimes have openings that pop up. For someone who is interested visit us in group class and let us know. We are always looking for motivated dancers who want to work hard. For more info check out our website: www.majestyinmotion.com/auditions.htm
Ritmo Bello: Some of the most popular events regularly hosted on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group are your salsa socials at Starlight Dance Studio. What do these events offer to somebody brand new to salsa dancing?
Majesty in Motion: Our socials generally cater the dancers. Our friendly environment is less intimidating so every dancer no matter what level is just there to have fun and dance. You get a free group class with paid admission which includes free water and free food. Starlight has a HUGE dance floor so you can practice your dance moves without feeling crowded. We also offer entertainment such as performances and dance contests.
Ritmo Bello: David, some people here in San Diego still refer to you as the “salsa white boy wonder.” Where did this name come from? Is there a story associated with the name?
Majesty in Motion: The name came from Troy Spooner who recently taught a workshop here along with his wife Jorjet Alcocer. I was on my 1st trip to Bermuda and Troy gave me the name White Boy Wonder. He was wondering how a white boy could dance the way I did so he called me the White Boy Wonder.
Ritmo Bello: Anything else you’d like to share with the general public?
Majesty in Motion: We both love our job and we want to continue to give great instruction and to keep salsa alive in San Diego. We remind those out there to have fun and stay humble. We encourage you to keep dancing, keep learning and keep having fun!!
Ritmo Bello: How can the Ritmo Bello audience reach you if they want to find out more information about Majesty in Motion?
Majesty in Motion: Feel free to call us at 619.917.1721 or visit our website www.majestyinmotion.com, check out our youtube videos, or stop in for a group class anytime.
Ritmo Bello: Jennifer and David Stein, on behalf of Ritmo Bello and the San Diego salsa community thank you for all you do to promote salsa here in San Diego and around the world.
Majesty in Motion: Thank you John and for those of you who support us, friends and students!
From time to time I come upon something new in the dance world and today I found out about a dance called Zouk Lambada. More specifically, the music is called zouk (it’s a french-caribbean inspired blend) and the dance is called zouk lambada. Described as the “Coolest Dance You’ve Never Heard Of”, Zouk Lambada is becoming more popular with the salsa and tango scene worldwide.
Usually salsa and tango dancers can pick up this type of dancing easily with a little help and San Diego is fortunate to have a visiting Zouk Lambada instructor coming in October. If you see this video you’ll see some elements found in other Latin dances that appear in Zouk Lambada:
Willem Engel, a Zouk Lambada instructor from the Netherlands, will be hosting a workshop event at a local studio here in San Diego. To get a sense of what this workshop will look like and to see Willem in action I’ve posted this video from a previous workshop he hosted in New York:
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:
