I’ve received a number of emails regarding Saturday nights upcoming Tiempo Libre concert and what Timba sounds like.  This video I’ve included in this post is a nice taste of what you can expect from the band on Saturday night.

If you don’t have your tickets yet there is still time to buy them.  You can find out more information on the RSVP page of the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group (Click here to be taken there).  

See you all at the Tiempo Libre concert Saturday!

As the San Diego Salsa Festival approaches, I’ve received numerous emails from people that are attending the event. For many of these folks it will be their very first salsa festival or congress that they will be attending. Many of these dancers are unsure about how someone can maximize their time at a salsa festival given that there will be so much to experience.

Apart from taking advantage of the salsa workshops that I mentioned in a previous Ritmo Bello article , I think it’s vital for new attendees to the salsa festival to fully integrate into the event by simply dancing and interacting with other attendees. I know from my own experience that it can be a little intimidating to arrive at a salsa event of this magnitude and be overwhelmed by the big names in attendance when you are just starting out. The Unlikely Salsero (aka Don Baarns , a friend of Ritmo Bello and online salsa dance resource, recently wrote about the upcoming San Diego Salsa Festival and addressed some of these issues. In particular, he’s written a 2 part series with tips and recommendations for those attending a salsa festival or congress.

Check them out and feel free to offer up any comments here to help out those attending the San Diego Salsa Festival for the first time.

It’s getting close to that time of year again, time for the 2^nd Annual San Diego Salsa Festival ! Hard to believe a whole year has gone by, but I’m glad this fun event is coming up soon. This year the event is taking place September 19^th through the 21^st .

For those of you planning to attend the San Diego Salsa Festival this year I’ll be writing a number of articles with some helpful information, especially for those coming from out of town.

If you are traveling to San Diego via air, most people will be able to easily find flights that arrive at Lindbergh Field . Lindbergh Field is San Diego’s main airport and offers domestic and international flight options to travelers. If you are on a budget and don’t mind putting in a little work to save a buck another option might be the Tijuana International Airport . I recently took a family member there for an international flight to Colombia, South America and he was able to save at least $600 on his ticket.  The only catch is that you need to make your way from Tijuana into the US and this could add additional wait time due to border crossing.

Once you arrive, you’ll need to get to the venue where the San Diego Salsa Festival is being hosted. This year the San Diego Salsa Festival will be at the Four Points Sheraton once again, same place as last year. If you stay at this hotel the reservations for choice rooms could be pricey, but you can try finding good rates through hotelscombined.com , as this website will allow you to compare over 30 major reservation sites in one search. I did a specific search for the Four Points Hotel and found that the rates are pretty good.  Check it out here:

http://www.hotelscombined.com/Hotel/Four_Points_by_Sheraton_Hotel_San_Diego.htm

Apart from getting here and finding your lodging, you’ll want to explore San Diego during your stay and there are plenty of rental car agencies available for car rentals. You could take advantage of public transportation to get to places like Downtown San Diego most notably taking the iconic San Diego Trolley to travel around.

I’ll keep you posted on more things to consider for your trip to San Diego as it gets closer to the 2^nd Annual San Diego Salsa Festival.

What if we could start having our kids learn to dance early on as well here in San Diego? Well, its already happening.

Dancing After School (DAS) , a 501c3 non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing comprehensive life changing dance programs to youth in under-served areas throughout San Diego County. Dancing After School has been able to make tremendous strides in educating and inspiring youth to learn dance. Based locally here in San Diego and founded by Walter Meneses, the organization serves all of San Diego including the border regions teaching dance to thousands of elementary school children.

Why teach kids to dance? There are lots of reasons I can think of including giving kids a positive role model to follow in terms of instructors, giving them something to master in their free time, and getting kids up and moving around. Indeed, with obesity rates rising every year with our youth I think it’s paramount to give kids another outlet for meeting their needs.

The video I’ve posted here is from an Argentine Tango dance class taught by DAS instructors. They also teach other types of Latin dance including salsa, merengue, bachata, mambo, Cha Cha Cha, and Jazz. After the students are taught the dance for a term they are given an opportunity to showcase their work. This next video shows a performance by a group of kids who’ve gone through the classes.

Ritmo Bello and The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group will be supporting DAS at an upcoming event to raise money for the organization. For anyone interested please visit the special RSVP page that has more information including how to contact DAS .

Please come out to support a great organization!

Dance San Diego Magazine and Mina Communications (DSD & M) are presenting San Diego’s first citywide August Dance Awareness Month initiative (ADAM) this August 2008. Over the last few months, Dance San Diego magazine (DSD) and Mina Communications (MC) have been preparing for San Diego’s first August Dance Awareness Month (ADAM) initiative. Since their announcement, many artists within the dance community have shown a sincere desire to help the cause including Tango Producer Susan Lake . There is even congressional support for this as seen in this letter from Susan Davis .

The concept of a dance awareness movement in San Diego was first initiated in 1996, when Eveoke Dance Theatre held their first Celebrate Dance Festival (CDF) . Today, the CDF is an annual tradition that has become Southern California’s largest dance event of its kind. The CDF has served as a valuable exposure outlet for hundreds of dancers over the years, and serves as the inspiration establishing the August Dance Awareness Month initiative. This year’s CDF from Aug. 22-24 will be the major event highlight of the inaugural 2008 dance awareness campaign.

An inauguration party will kick off the events this month on August 14th , 2008.   All are invited.  Apart from this party, there are dance film presentations, in-studio performances from various dance companies, free dance classes at various dance schools, and much more.

Ritmo Bello and The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group are supporting the event and there is an event on our calendar for you to access all the information .

Celebrate Dance Awareness month here in San Diego!

San Diego is a big convention town as we all saw with the recent Comic Con International Meeting here this last week. Every time there is a big convention in town I inevitably receive a ton of emails from people asking me where the best places to dance salsa here in San Diego. One thing I’ve noticed from these emails is surprise when the people I write to learn that there is not a regular salsa club that is open on Fridays and Saturdays in the Gaslamp Quarter . Indeed, the best salsa dancing downtown is located at Café Sevilla Tuesdays through Thursday in my opinion. Sometimes, though, it would be nice to have salsa dancing downtown on a Friday or Saturday night for a change.

Well, looks like change is coming our way, albeit for one night in August. Aubergine, the uber upscale restaurant and club venue , is opening its doors to salsa dancing on August 22^nd , 2008. Located in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter (and across the street from Café Sevilla), the club is known for its fashionable and unique vibe that would serve well as a salsa dancing venue. (Indeed, there are lots of places downtown that would be great salsa and Latin dancing venues but unfortunately the club owners haven’t been all that open to the idea).

The event is hosted by Angel and Tulane from A Time to Dance Studio who will be providing a lesson. There will also be dance performances by well known groups like Majesty in Motions Pro team and the Sexy Salsa Divas.

The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group will be in attendance at the event this night and I’ve organized a place to RSVP for the event .  You can find out all the details about the event there including instructions on how to get placed on the VIP guest list.

See you at the Aubergine!

Specifically, there are spots open on all teams. Majesty offers ON1 and ON2 training. They currently have 2 ladies teams and 1 men’s team.

The auditions will be held on Sunday July 6th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at Cheek2Cheek Dance Studio in Pacific Beach.

Make sure to bring your dance shoes (or jazz shoes), water, their application which you should print out, and dress comfortably (gym clothes are fine).

Everyone is welcome (yes this includes beginners as well).

For more information visit Majesty in Motion.