Anthology located in the Little Italy section of Downtown San Diego is a great location for music and dancing.Early in January the club will hosting World Class Cuban Salsa and Latin Jazz artist Jesus Diaz y su QBA.Jesus Diaz is known for his orchestra of accomplished artists who combine Jazz, Rumba, son and other Afro-Cuban rhythms into a unique medley of music.
Along with Jesus will also be an assortment of artists and friends including Raul Pineda (Chucho Valdes/Juan Gabriel), Perico Hernandez (Son De La Tierra), Fermn Sifontes (Charangoa/Afro Cuba) and Rigobeto Lopez (Adalberto Alvarez).
So how can a person new to salsa and latin dancing find places to go out dancing here in San Diego? Sure you can go about searching the internet for clubs and venues but an easier way is to let those venues come to you via Meetup.
The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group is a great way to find out quickly what is going on around San Diego. The organizers for the group, many who are local dance instructors in their own right, use the Meetup group to share events that they host or know about going on locally.
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.
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!
For everyone that attended the San Diego Salsa Festival last year you’ll remember that a major focus of the Festival was the salsa competition. Indeed, the majority of salsa festivals or congresses are great opportunities for salsa dance teams, both local and from afar, to showcase the hard work they put into their dancing.
The San Diego Salsa Festival has the added benefit of being an official qualifying location for the World Salsa Championships . This major salsa dance competition is being held on December 3-6, 2008 in Florida and brings together the best in what salsa dancers have to offer.
The objective of the World Salsa Championships is to see which couple or teams in each division can best interpret salsa music and dance regardless of the repertoire of tricks that are employed. What this means is that the competitions are looking for those who truly feel the music and can express what they feel in the dance for the benefit of the salsa community.
The World Salsa Championships is a collaboration of salsa dancers around the world united under Albert Torres and The Salsa Seven, Inc , the producer of the event and pictured below. The hope of this major event is to bring more visibility to salsa dancing as a whole to the general public and to create what he describes as “unity through salsa.”
So what can we expect at the San Diego Salsa Festival for competitions? There will be 4 categories of competition with only 1 couple and only 1 team moving on to the competitions in Florida . The areas of competition include On1 salsa couple dancing, On2 salsa couple dancing, Team dancing, and a Cabaret couple division. An example of Cabaret style might look something like what is seen in this video included in this post below. (A Time to Dance Studio, the major supporters of the San Diego Salsa Festival, appear here during a recent performance at Aubergine.)
The judges will determine who moves on to the World Salsa Championships based on timing, overall technique, difficulty, connection/partnering skills, choreography/originality, appearance, and showmanship.
The winning couple and teams not only secure a spot at the World Salsa Championships, but they also get compensated for their hard work. This compensation comes in the form of paid flights to Florida courtesy of the San Diego Salsa Festival along with all meals and hotel accommodations provided by Salsa Seven, Inc. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
As it gets closer to the 2nd Annual San Diego Salsa Festival here in San Diego this September, there may be many of you wondering what happens at a event like this. Indeed, before I attended my first festival (aka salsa congress) for salsa years ago I really had no concept of what went on during an event like this.
If you are a beginner and just learning to dance salsa, the festival will present to you a massive assortment of options to dance, watch performances, and most importantly learn a great deal about salsa dancing. One aspect of the San Diego Salsa Festival that will be of particular help to new dancers are the numerous workshops scheduled throughout the weekend.
A salsa workshop is a little different from a traditional salsa dance lesson in that salsa workshops allow the instructor to really concentrate on certain aspects of the dance. This is helpful because let’s say you already know how to salsa dance but want to learn some new styling moves without going through the basics once again. A specific salsa workshop like the one Iran Castillo is hosting at the San Diego Salsa Festival might interest you as it will focus on “cool moves” and “On2” dancing.
The workshops during the San Diego Salsa Festival start on Friday night with a beginner’s boot camp workshop that will consist of 3 hours of focused dance instruction for those new to the dance. The rest of the weekend will have workshops hosted by local dance studios like A Time to Dance, Salsa Inferno, and Majesty in Motion. There are also workshops hosted by visiting studios and instructors from as far as Cali, Colombia.
Grupo Niche , for those unfamiliar with the group, is a Colombian salsa band that has been around since the 1970’s. Based out of Cali, Colombia the group has produced some of the most memorable salsa songs of all time including "Una Aventura" and "Cali Pachanguero". The latter song is highlighted in the video that accompanies this post.
Ever wish you learned to dance as a kid? I recently saw a documentary about dancing in Argentina and noticed that very early on kids there are taught Argentine Tango along with their regular studies. Although I’m not sure how prevalent this really is in Argentine society, it’s safe to say Argentina has produced some very good Argentine Tango dancers as a result.
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.
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.
Here in San Diego, California many people are unfamiliar with the Brazilian dance known as samba. Indeed, I have to admit that I too share in this unfamiliarity with the high energy dance from Brazil. Although there may be places to visit for samba dancing here in San Diego, those venues typically don’t get the same exposure as salsa and tango dancing venues.
We all recognize, though, the distinctive sounds and dress typical of Brazil’s Carnaval celebrations (it’s hard not to notice the headdresses and seductive movements associated with the dance). I also think we can all appreciate the high spirited and exuberant happiness that the dance can bring to people.
One individual here in San Diego is doing her part to promote samba dance and to bring the joy of the dance to everyone. I recently spoke with Jazz Baptiste, Master Brazilian Dance Instructor, about what is happening in samba today here in San Diego.
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Ritmo Bello : Thanks for taking some time to talk to the Ritmo Bello audience about what’s new in samba dancing for San Diego. Samba seems like an up and coming dance here locally in "America’s Finest City". What do you offer to people in San Diego that want to learn more about samba dancing?
Jazz Baptiste: We offer samba dance classes throughout the week plus dance workshops with master instructors. We also do dance presentations and events.
Ritmo Bello: Tell me a little about how you started your organization. Did you grow up dancing samba?
Jazz Baptiste : I started dancing samba in 2003 when introduced to it at a local nightclub. The drums were intoxicating, the music was lively and joyful, the samba dance was energetic and sexy and I wanted to learn more. I was hooked from the first night. I began learning about the dance, the music and culture. In the fall of 2003 I started dancing samba professionally. A year later I was teaching samba around town and started my own samba dance performing group, Alegria Samba School . Since 2004 it has been my mission to share my joy of samba dance with San Diego and beyond.
Ritmo Bello: I know that Samba has roots in Brasil. Where exactly does samba dancing come from though?
Jazz Baptiste: The samba (or Mesemba) which means "to pray" is an Afro-Brazilian dance from Bahia, Brazil. It is derived from a dance called the Lundu, The West African slaves, Portuguese songs and Indian rituals. When different body motions and carnival steps were added to the dance, it was called the "Zemba Queca", described as a graceful Brazilian dance. In the early 1900’s the Mesemba was mixed with the Maxixe (Brazilian tango) to become known as the Samba.
Ritmo Bello : I understand that there are different types of samba dancing. What is the difference between samba no pe, samba de gafieira, samba pagode, and other types of samba?
Jazz Baptiste: Samba no pe is the faster Carnaval type samba usually danced to the fast batucada drum beats of samba de enredo or Carnaval samba. Samba de gafieira is the Brazilian ballroom samba which mixes Brazilian tango or Maxixe with samba music. Samba pagode is a slower samba sometimes danced with partners and sometimes solo that moves to a slower tempo samba beat. Samba rock is combines samba and rock music making for a very modern music and dance style. Samba de roda is samba danced in a circle. A group forms and individuals go into the center of the circle and do solo samba dances and then select someone else to take their place in the middle.
Ritmo Bello: How difficult is it to learn samba dancing? What types of steps are involved in the dance?
Jazz Baptiste: Samba is a more challenging dance to learn than others such as salsa, but not impossible. Your footwork moves to a 1 and a 2 beat while your hips are on a 1/2 beat hitting every other two matching the surdo drum of the batucada. For people who have a dance background it is a little easier to pick up samba because they are already used to rhythm dancing. For pure beginners I recommend patience and consistency in order to get a comfortable handle on the samba dance, which is normally reached after about 3 months.
Ritmo Bello : Apart from Samba dancing what other types of dancing are you proficient in?
Jazz Baptiste: I am a professional dancer and instructor of Belly dance, Latin dance including: Salsa, Merengue, Cha Cha, Bachata and Rumba, Ballroom dance, Afro-Brazilian dance and ballet. I have been dancing and training for over 20 years.
Ritmo Bello : Anything else you’d like to share with general public?
Jazz Baptiste: Samba is not just a beautiful dance and cultural experience but it also an amazing workout. Samba keeps people in shape and also brings out a great joy from within. Everyone should give samba a try at least once in their lives.
Ritmo Bello: How can the Ritmo Bello audience reach you if they want to find out more information about your organization?
What would the world be like without salsa, tango, merengue or other types of Latin dancing? Indeed, what kind of world would this be without the arts and young people interested in them? Those concerns are the main focus of a local San Diego group that needs our help, Young Audiences of San Diego. Young Audiences of San Diego believes the world desperately needs workers and leaders who are creative, disciplined and visionary. The arts—music, dance, theater and the visual arts—foster those qualities in today’s students and tomorrow’s workforce.
For 45 years, Young Audiences of San Diego (YASD) has dedicated itself to integrating the arts into the education and lives of all children of our region through an extraordinary range of high quality performances, residencies and workshops to help our young people identify their cultural roots and discover their creative wings.
In celebration of its 45th season, Young Audiences of San Diego is hosting its fourth annual Summer Salsa fundraiser Aug 23, from 7 to 10 pm at NTC Promenade’s McMillin Event Center at Liberty Station in Point Loma.
The evening includes a 13-piece band, an expansive wood dance floor, and performances by Alma Latina and Mamboleo Pro of “A Time To Dance” Studio.
The price of admission also includes a catered dinner buffet, a no-host bar and unlimited water… Not to mention the satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting a great local non-profit!
This fundraiser typically sells tickets for $40, but they’ve agreed to a special price to encourage the salsa community to participate: ONLY $20.00 WITH AN RSVP IN ADVANCE!!!
Please visit The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group page for the event and follow the instructions to obtain the special pricing (ie you’ll need to email or call and mention “Ritmo Bello/Meetup” when you purchase.)
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 22nd , 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.
The basic idea of the event is to have people from both sides of the San Diego & Tijuana border meet through the border fence on the beach or at Friendship Park at the San Diego & Tijuana border.
The goal of the group is to bring people together by finding a theme that has no borders, often has a direct effect on improving the region, and always results in friendships across cultural boundaries. Salsa dancing seems like an excellent fit for such a lofty endeavor.
The philosophy behind the group is simple. The Border Meetup Group believes that one of the root causes of strife in the world today is a lack of understanding between peoples of different cultures. You can remove this lack of understanding by having people engage each other in something that helps build good will. Again salsa dancing to the rescue.
The group’s website has this to say about their events and why they choose to meet at the international border:
"In The Border Meetup Group, we believe by actively creating events that allow people from different cultures and sub-cultures the space to get to know one another under a peaceful guise and theme that is of interest to all involved, we will contribute to the promotion of this vital understanding. The border is an ideal venue as it serve as a literal and symbolic unification of people across cultural and physical boundaries."
Indeed, the world could use some more of these types of events.
Okay, so I finally got around to updating the links section on RitmoBello to include a special section regarding Salsa and Latin Dancing meetup groups around the world . If you look at the list you’ll notice there are meetups from various locations in the United States and some that are international as well.
What’s interesting about each of these groups is the way each Meetup group is a reflection of the local salsa and dance community that it serves. You’ll notice, for example, that certain regions have more than one Salsa Meetup group as they focus on specific areas within a geographic location. This is true for larger metro market areas like Washington DC that has 2 salsa meetups . Some meetup groups listed are relatively small, while others are very established and tout memberships of thousands of people .
Check out the list of links on RitmoBello and find out information about places you may be visiting soon. Enjoy!
It was nice meeting people last night for Salsa at Cafe Sevilla. As usual I ran into many of the "regulars" at Cafe Sevilla. For those not familiar with this term, a "regular" is somebody who has been dancing for a while and is pretty much a familiar face at many of the Salsa venues here in San Diego.
The transition from new dancer to a "regular" is an interesting topic that I’ll be writing about more in the future. For now, Thanks to all the Meetup members that did attend.
Whew its been a busy week but thank God for Fridays! There are a whole range of new events posted on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup for you all to attend. Also, there are LOTS of new members that have just joined up to the group so please check out their profiles and make some new dancing connections.
Hope you are all doing well. I often get questions related to my connection with the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group here in San Diego, CA.
Meetup is a vehicle to help people meet other people who share the same interests, whatever that interest may be. I’ve seen meetups ranging from political groups to learning how to knit . The one I help organize deals specifically with Salsa, Merengue, Cha Cha, Tango and other types of Latin dancing that might interest people here locally in the San Diego area.
As the main Meetup organizer of the Salsa group, I act as the main contact for all of the Meetup’s activities and events. Along with Assistant Organizers , I help set the time and place for the Meetup to hold our events. In addition to that, Organizers like myself:
Email Meetup members through the Meetup
Poll members about anything, from what to name the Meetup to where to have their meetings
Tell people what the Meetup’s about by managing the name, description, photos and agenda
Spread the word using custom Meetup signs, flyers, business cards and email
Select additional Assistant Organizers to help in the running of the Meetup
Control membership by approving and removing members
Pay for the meetup and collect donations to cover costs.
If you have a passion for dancing and want to help feel free to email me at bello_jf@ritmobello.com and I can arrange for you to become an Assistant Organizer.
Since I’ve taken over management of the site as the Main Organizer , I’ve learned a great deal about many new people to the Salsa and Latin Dance scene here in San Diego, California.
Although people hail from all over the world to come dance here, one thing that is universal is the love of the dance and the enthusiasm to continue that dancing here in San Diego.
Majesty in Motion is doing it again! They are hosting another salsa social this Saturday January 5th.
Through their new innovative routines, Majesty in Motion incorporates many styles of dance such as Jazz, Ballroom, and Hip Hop into their Salsa routines. The video here showcases their Ladies Pro Team.
If you want to find out more information visit the Meetup Group Site .
It’s good to be back in sunny San Diego after a nice break to the Pacific Northwest. (Yes, we had a white Christmas!!) We had the opportunity to go Salsa dancing at the Century Ballroom and actually saw some familiar faces. Biz recognized a dancer named George who we met at the San Diego Salsa congress some months ago. We also met with Jim , main organizer for the Seattle Salsa Meetup Group , who was kind enough to give us a rundown of the Seattle Salsa scene. According to Jim, Century Ballroom is a great venue for those looking for a Saturday night spot. I would have to agree. Century Ballroom reminds me of those old style theatres deep with red and yellow lighted hues that is a perfect invitation to the dance floor. We stayed long enough to satisfy our salsa dance cravings. Overall it was a great time.
PS: Biz and I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with representatives of the Hedges Family Estate VineyardSarah Hedges Goedhart , Assistant Winemaker for the organization. We were treated to some choice wines and enjoyed some pre Salsa dancing fun before heading off. The wines we sampled were absolutely delightful and are highly recommended. including
Just wanted to let you know that there will be a Salsa Meetup this Wednesday at Cafe Sevilla. One thing that I’ve found from hosting multiple meetups in the past is that many people go to them but its hard to really meet those that are part of the group.
To remedy this, I’m going to have a special meetup button I’ll wear to identify myself and I’ll be downstairs by the large bar area for anyone that has any questions about the group. I’m looking to be there a little after 9pm.
Looking forward to not shopping and going to the Salsa Meetup!
Giovanni, a personal friend of mine that I know from Salsa dancing at Cafe Sevilla, asked me to spread the word regarding a concert he is headlining at Anthology downtown this Sunday. His group is called Nadro John
A fusion of Flamenco Jazz and Rumba, Nadro John combines the spirit and energy that spans from California to Italy, Montreal to Madrid. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to him before in concert and the music is great.
The actual concert begins at 7:30 pm but I’ll be there early at 7pm with Biz to connect with Salsa Meetup members.
Hello everyone. Jenn, the main organizer for the San Diego International/ English as a Second Language Meetup Group is hosting a salsa dancing night at Cafe Sevilla this Wednesday, November 28th. The ESL Meetup group is an interesting crowd that is primarily interested in cultural and language exchanges (as well as salsa dancing of course).
Wednesday night you should be able to meet both native English speakers as well as many English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speakers. I’ve been to Salsa Meetup Events where the ESL group is present and it always makes for an interesting and memorable time.
Hey everyone. We had a great time at Cafe Sevilla last night, albeit I arrived a little later in the night. I arrived, though, right before the band started (which is the best time to arrive I might say) and had some pretty good dances.
Biz had a great time, although, I need to brush up on my bachata moves!
Anyway, make sure to check out the Salsa Meetup reviews at: http://salsa.meetup.com/150/calendar/6723500/
