1998 Congresso Commentary
by Edie Lewis, The Salsa FREAK
"Look, I don't want to marry you, I just want to DANCE with you, OK???? "
- Frustrated Salseras waiting to get asked to Dance
When KTLA Channel 5 found out we had 87 Los Angeles Salseros booked on the same flight to Puerto Rico (over 130 made it to Puerto Rico), they sent in their camera crew. Diane Fredrick from KTLA interviewed a few of us and asked us to perform our routine.
LAX's United Terminal will never be the same. United will never be the same. From the minute we got out of the car, we had the boom box blasting Salsa music. We even kept it on while it went through the Security scanner. I asked the security guard if this was the first time music was played through that electronic scanner, and he said, "Yup, first time." sporting this HUGE smile (it was Tito Puente's Dance CD that caused THAT big of a smile!)
The security scanner will never be the same !!!
We left on a RED EYE FLIGHT (left at midnight...got into Chicago O'Hare at 5:30am)
Imagine the pent up frustration of a couple dozen hard-core Salseros in one spot, listening to a boom box blasting Salsa music, and then force them to sit down in an airplane, and strap them in with a seat belt... similar to animals in a straight jacket? ... almost.
I just want to say, to all the people in the plane who didn't know who we were, or what was going on, and who COULDN'T SLEEP.... "We're SORRY...but we just couldn't help it!!!"
Laughing, giggling, singing, clapping, THE WHOLE WAY... I thought the flight attendants were going to have a nervous breakdown... "SSSSssshhhhhh!!!! People are trying to sleep!!!" I was hiding my face, and had no choice than to just "flow" with this... I realized any sort of "quiet" was a physical impossibility at this point, a new "law of nature". You can't stop a group of Salseros from moving when you turn on the music.
ANYWAY, we got to Chicago in one piece with very little complaints (surprisingly). The boom box started booming Mambo again (Now 6:00am) and the Vazquez brothers started doing what they do best (perform) in the airport terminal while waiting. Businessmen with briefcases, coffee, and newspapers, staring with astonishment at these fanatics from LA dancing mambo to Tito Puente right next to them at 6:00 in the morning... As the airport crowds drew, they watched and cheered the LA teams on, The LA Salsa Kids, Salsa Brava, and Los Rumberos, a typical Vazquez gathering... instant party ANYWHERE, just add the clave...
When we got to the Embassy Suites, the team rejoiced when they found out there was Happy Hour between 5 and 7 and the drinks were free. We decided to have a meeting at 5:30. When I got to the hotel room, there was a message from Eli Irazzary, the President of the Congress. I called and invited him to our meeting. He wanted to show us the final program of the performers and bands that would be at the Congress in the upcoming week. All of us were so excited about the bands and seeing old friends from last year. Some of the first people we saw were Muriel, Stephen, and Gigi from the island of Curacao. Seeing Muriel was seeing a sister again. I gave her a Salsa Freak bear hug that almost smothered her to death! I just love that woman. She helps out so much with updates to the site, and we correspond so much with each other that I feel like she lives right next door. It was really great seeing her again. And Stephen... I've just got to tell you, when we dance, he does this quick little "thing", that is so cool.... ok, it's like he grabs you then thrusts your whole body quickly against his for a split second... it's the coolest move, and the biggest turn on, I swear... (OK Edie, get this SMILE off your FACE!!!)
Hold on... while I PULL MYSELF TOGETHER....
Anyway, OK (whew!). Let's just say it was great seeing Stephen again... my body-slam buddy from the island of Curacao.
WHERE'S THE PARTY TONIGHT???
The question on EVERYONE'S mind...
Before going out a few of us went out to get some "authentic" Puerto Rican food. We searched all the local places, but they were packed with people. We didn't want to wait, so we saw a restaurant that had no patrons. We seized the opportunity and sat down right away to order. We went to a restaurant that served "Mofungo" - a typical Puerto Rican dish.
It took 45 minutes to get served, and when we did, the "Mofungo" tasted like mushy cardboard. Maybe it was because I asked for "No Garlic" on it (for good reason, I was going to be dancing later on...), maybe that was the reason it tasted like ... nothing really. Just texture in your mouth. What a disappointment! After NO SLEEP on the plane, nor for the past 24 hours, hungry, and tired,I wasn't in the mood to wait for food... then to have it come and taste like mushy cardboard, I'm sorry, this can't be happening! Then, I realized why no one else was at that particular restaurant, while the others were packed.
We later discovered another restaurant called the Metropol located just blocks away from the Hotel San Juan, where the food is EXCELLENT. Very tasty, and wonderful. That was my hangout for most of the trip.
The first and second nights we went to the Millennium club at the Condado Plaza. I didn't realize there was another side to the club - a larger area - till the second night. The minute I walked in the place, I concentrated on the dance floor. I was sweating so much, I didn't even have to go to the bathroom the entire night! Now THAT was surprising!
I want to thank Eli Irazarri, the President for providing this fund raiser at the Millennium club for Salsaweb on Thursday. The turnout was massive. There was no more room to dance on the dancefloor, so a lot of us just danced on the carpet! We had the Salsaweb banner up, and it really felt like home.
I made it a point to dance with everyone I didn't know, as much as humanly possible. I wanted to meet and dance with as many different people as I could, "Dance with the World" as Angel Ortiz puts it. And that, it truly is. A dance with the World. I danced with Roy, from Holland, who has a fabulous Cuban style, mixed in with a little Cumbia. Then Paco, our Cityguides Administrator from Israel, who has a wonderfully loose and fun style. His steps have a lot of swing and flexibility to them. I danced with an LA Salsa Kid, who is a phenomenal lead, a tall Two-Dancer from Italy, with a very elegant erect style, which was tough for me, because I'm so small... but it was a ton of fun. I danced with Manny from New York, and marveled at his martial-arts kicks and rapid turns on a single foot in between steps. I then danced with a gentleman from Louisiana, who was dancing great until he asked my name, then realized who he was dancing with, and lost all sense of rhythm and timing for about ten seconds...
We got up the next morning, TRASHED. I only got about 4 hours of sleep, only to wake up to computer problem mania. The rest of the team from LA went to the beach, snorkeling, diving, all that, while I waited for my computer contact to contact me, which we made no contact. Enter, plan "B" (I ALWAYS have a plan "B"). I called another computer guy who met me at 6:00pm, and we went to the San Juan Hotel, only to find out there was a single phone line in the ballroom that wasn't connected to the outside world, and there is an astronomical fee to get it connected... so I took a long shower - the only reason was because it was a single stream of water coming out of the faucet, and I had to jog and twist my body around to catch the water droplets and cover my body... needless to say, the showerhead was probably broken, but I was so tired (and nice), I didn't care to complain. I downloaded email, and attempted to upload info to the site, but my modem was on the blink, and it was taking forever... $140 dollars later, (phone charges) I figured this was not a very good idea, until I had a local phone connection (duh Edie! Geez!)
What were you thinking about? I guess you don't realize how much time you spend on the Internet when you're working. At least I don't.
Janette and I hung out at the pool a bit. She swam in her bikini, while I typed in mine. It was great finally relaxing in tropical weather for a change. We ordered two virgin Pina Coladas, and for a few brief minutes, I actually felt like I was on vacation... till we had to go and get ready for her interview with the local television station. Janette has a key role in the movie "Dance with Me" with Vanessa Williams and Cheyanne. When the local television stations found out she was in Puerto Rico, they asked to interview her. I'm so proud of her accomplishments. She's a strong woman that knows what she wants in life, and is getting it. I really admire and respect her hard work to get there. You go girlfriend!
That night Janette and I met up with Manny Siverio, Salsaweb's New York World Correspondent, and Jimmy Anton, New York Mambo instructor, extraordinaire. Manny is so intense, and so am I, that we find it hard to relax around each other. I just now realized we're nonstop "gab" about everything. It's hilarious. It took about two hours of talking to catch up, and we STILL didn't cover everything we needed to cover!
The four of us went to dinner at Burger King, ate it on the way (walking) to the club, hung up the Salsaweb banner, while the DJ played Salsa in the background. Put four hard core Salseros in a nightclub, with an empty dancefloor, add the clave, and KABOOM! Instant dance party. I'm telling you, we danced and danced, until people starting arriving at the club! We knew it would be packed that night so we wanted to get our "fix" before the evening started (we cheated). Besides, I needed to get some practice on the New York "Two" which I miss so much. In LA, there's a group of us that dance on the two on occasion, but the typical New York styling and lead on the "two" is what is missing on the West Coast.
We danced till 4:30-5:00 in the morning. We had to get up at 9:30 to check out of the Embassy Suites and check in to the Hotel San Juan. Again, only 4 hours of sleep. So now, I had a total of 8 hours of sleep over a three day period... and we were only just beginning...
They tell me the San Juan Hotel is one of the most beautiful and elegant hotels on the island of Puerto Rico. This is one of the nicest and classiest that I've seen in San Juan. The inside is a deep rustic wood, trimmed with brass, marble floors, enormous chandeliers. The lobby has an older European richness about it. The ambiance reeks of elegance and expense from the doormen greeting you, to the lobby receptionist. The rooms are beautiful as well. Each one has two beds, and a wonderful lounge chair with desk for a laptop computer (at least that's what I used it for).
"Rehearsal at 4:30!" Yelled Luis. We checked in, and check out the rest of the hotel. I started setting up shop out at the vendor booth area. Janette and Albert Torres were right next to me setting up their booths as well. The rest of the Salseros checked out every inch of the place, and others took naps. We were a little nervous practicing our routine in front of some of the other dance troops - we still needed to clean it up a bit, and get used to the environment and climate. They didn't have the air conditioner turned on yet in the ballroom, and I thought we were all going to pass out from the humidity and heat. I was completely wet after the rehearsal - like I had just come out of a swimming pool or something. Don't you hate that? Even my legs were wet and dripping.
Then, the dance floor wasn't up to par, and there was nothing I could do about that either.
I figured I'd have to live with the heat, the dance floor - and not fight it. At that moment, (and due to lack of sleep) I didn't really care. I guess this realization comes with age, or not having the time to worry about things like this. After a while, you just "flow" with things, accept them the way they are, because you realize you can't change certain things, people, or circumstances. I'm a lot better at acceptance now, ever since I learned how to partner dance. Being the "follower" for so long, I've had to accept certain moves and leads not having the choice or ability to change them, because they weren't my decision. Does this make me a weaker vessel? No, just a smarter one. Just like you can't fight city hall, you can't fight your partner's lead. This "training" has helped me keep in perspective certain laws of nature that you should just leave alone. Following and accepting your partner's moves is one of those laws. Things will eventually iron out on their own, and usually, for the better.
After that philosophical thought, I went up to one of the workers and asked politely, "Hey, you guys are going to turn on the air conditioning during the Congress, right? We're DYING in here!" Then I went up to Eli and said, "The floor is not good for dancing. What can we do here?"
Talk about asking for change, and not accepting a law of nature - of which neither was the case, in this case (I decided, thank you). We got the air turned "on" and the dance floor "fixed". Viva la Difference! Thank God we don't have to "just accept" everything in life!
My Favorite Quote: "People blame circumstances for where they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who succeed in this life are the people who go out and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them. "
- George Bernard Shaw
You could feel the electricity in the air the first night of the Congress Thursday night. The bands started playing, the people were decked in their best outfits, the men in suits and ties - some with vests, and shirt, and undershirt, and coat... my God. You would think they were in ALASKA with the amount of layers of clothing these men had on! They turned on the air conditioning but GEEZ guys! Weren't you hot? I was getting hot just looking at them!
The women didn't have the same clothing situation. Excellent taste, sexy, and elegant... they were all just beautiful. I heard more than one time, in various conversations throughout the Congress, "Edie, have you noticed that ALL the women are absolutely beautiful here? They're all glowing. There's not a single one that is ugly."
I'm not kidding. Those words were actually said to me about a half a dozen times, by both women, AND men. I was trying to rationalize it for them (playing "Dear Edie", answer woman - miss know-it-all, yea right, I've fooled everyone)
While we were all trying to rationalize this,
I knew the REAL answer...
Aaaaahhhh. The healing power of human touch.
There's nothing, absolutely NOTHING like it.
The bands were amazing. They played hard-core dance-able SLAMMING Salsa. No questions asked. The DJ played incredible Salsa mixes (NO Salsa Romantica - THANK YOU!!!), and amazingly enough, there was absolutely NO MERENGUE PLAYED at ALL during the entire week of the Congress - not even at the clubs we went to afterward! I could not believe it. I wanted to dance EVERY SINGLE SONG - if I would have stayed one more week, I think I would have killed myself. I would have died from too much Salsa - absolute exhaustion, no question.
Bands that played for the 1998 World Congress:
Thursday
La Criolla
Sonora Poncena
La Mulenze
Friday
Son By Four
Roberto Roena
Willie Rosario
Saturday
The Music Club
Justo Betancourt
Andy Montanez
Sunday
World Congress All Star Band
Tito Rojas
Cano Estremera
I could see the headlines now, "Salsa FREAK dies on dance floor". I was wondering if this is what heaven would be like. Pretty damn close. Accept you can't die in heaven, because you're basically already dead, so all you can do is dance, till you .... drop?
"I wonder if they'll play Salsa in heaven." We asked at breakfast. A gentleman from Holland responded, "Of course they'll play Salsa in heaven. Salsa was MADE in heaven!"
Each night there were performances by different dance troops from all over the world. On one end of the room was a stage set up for the band, and on the other end of the room, was a stage set up for the dance team performances. The dance stage was raised about 4 feet off the ground so the crowd would have an excellent view of the footwork. There was a Puerto Rican Mambo team that had AMAZING footwork, that no one wanted to miss. Not only did they dance to the beat, but they choreographed their entire routine to the individual NOTES of each measure of the music. We all raised our heads and focused completely on their intricate and detailed footwork and choreography. The same thing happened with Los Rumberos from Los Angeles, the Angel Ortiz Team, and the Stacey Lopez teams. The footwork and shines were incredible.
Imagine for a moment, doing a dance performance for over 1,000 people. Now imagine doing your dance performance to a room full of DANCERS and choreographers, who not only KNOW what they're doing, but know exactly what YOU'RE doing, and can catch the slightest errors in timing and rhythm. Talk about NERVE RACKING. Geez! There you are, dancing, in front of DANCERS.
Being a performer for the Salsa Brava Dance Team was a completely different experience in itself. I kept worrying about my costume. "Did I bring everything? Let's see, earrings, underwear, hose, skirt, top, shoes, shawl... what else?" I must have check three times to make sure I had everything intact in my suitcase. We were so inspired by all the other teams that by the time Saturday rolled around, we were completely pumped.
The entire team did a meditation / visualization in the hotel room before we got onstage, and as a result, gave the performance of our lives. I never put so much energy and effort into any rehearsal prior. What was nice is that we visualized the entire show in our minds as one group just minutes prior to performing on stage. So when we did the actual performance, it was like performing it for a second time. Visualization really helps when you're a group that must perform to a choreographed routing as one unit.
The months and months of practice, sore muscles, sacrifices, late nights, late fees (of which totaled almost $700 by-the-way. Try getting a group of LATINOS to be on time ANYWHERE is practically unheard of...) all came together for us on the Saturday night The Salsa Brava team performed. We gave it our all, and gave our best performance. It was such a thrill hearing the cheers from the crowd afterward. We cheered for all the other performers, but this time, they were cheering for us. It was such a high feeling. I could see it in Joby and Luis eyes. I realized just how much exuberance, satisfaction, and elation they felt when I saw Janette and Joby break out into tears when it was all over. They worked so incredibly hard these past few months. Hours, and hours, weeks, and weeks, month after month of sheer gut wrenching, practice, practice, practice to perform nine minutes of absolute perfection. Months of forgetting to eat, forgetting moves, creating moves, forgetting the routines, creating routines, dealing with tardiness, dealing with different personalities, conflicts, problems, sickness... I don't know how they did it. I don't know how ANY choreographer does it. There is such a tremendous amount of energy and effort required to put a team and performance like this together. It takes super human efforts, strength, stamina, sheer willpower, and a little bit of mental craziness to get the job done right. I highly commend them for what they've done. There is no way in hell, I could do what they did as choreographers. Great job Joby, Luis, and Janette. You have my complete respect and admiration.
Albert Torres was the MC for the entire event. They couldn't have picked a better guy. He's a bilingual from Puerto Rico, raised in New York, promoting Salsa in Los Angeles. He announced in both Spanish and English, gave little anecdotes on various countries, performances, and people, and had us entertained the entire evening. His knowledge and depth of experience with the music, the bands, and the history of Salsa and Mambo added so much richness and flavor to each evening of the event. Not only is he a great promoter and MC, but a great dancer as well. He performed a beautiful cha cha and another Mambo on "two" with Laura Canellius, Los Angeles Salsa/Mambo instructor and choreographer. Everyone remembers Laura's famous routine last year where she played the role of a man (mustache, sideburns and all) and fooled everyone with her "male style" dancing with one woman, then two, until the end of the performance with she ripped her mustache off and revealed her true identity as a woman! When you watch her dance, her style and flairs don't give you ANY doubt whatsoever that this dancer is DEFINITELY female!!!
Each dance team brought their own style to Puerto Rico. It was great seeing each one, the colorful costumes, the gorgeous long ponytail hair, (I found out later on at the pool that some of that "hair" was not actually "real") "Oh yea, you're with the _____ team? What....Where'd your hair go?"
Watching each team perform was like seeing a Las Vegas show. That's the closest I can describe it. There were no competitions, just showmanship and performances. The bar and the vendor booths were outside of the ballroom, but still open and just a few feet from the ballroom. From the top of the vendor booth area, you could get an excellent view of the ballroom, the dance floor, and the bands.
The bar had a unique system of taking orders. You tell the guy in a tuxedo and bow tie what you want to drink, pay him, and he gives you ticket to give to the bar tender.
I always asked for my usual thirst-quencher: Cranberry/OJ/7-Up mix with LOTS of lemon/lime squeezed in there (no alcohol). It's my favorite thirst-quenching drink.
I had an interesting experience with Angel Ortiz from New York. We were jamming to a slamming song, and he put me into shine solo moves during 60% of the song. At the end of the song, I felt bad and was thinking to myself, "He must have thought I couldn't follow him very well." In LA, if a guy puts a gal into solo shines for more than 40% of the song, it's almost considered an insult, because it signifies that she can't dance that well, and can't follow if her life depended on it.
When I later spoke to him about it, and asked if I was OK at following, he said, "Of course you were! I loved dancing with you Edie!" When I asked then why did he place me so long in shine moves, he said that he does that with everyone he dances with. I realized we may have had a virtual language barrier here, because in LA it's almost considered an insult to do that to a woman, but apparently in New York, it's natural. They spend more time doing more shines in New York than they do in LA, or anywhere else for that matter.
Each night, I danced 95% of the evening on "Two". Italy, Germany, New York, Puerto Rico... they all dance on the "two". Israel, and LA, on the "one", and Holland and Curacao, on the "three".
Stacey Lopez and I did a song on the "Four"! The only person that I've been able to do that with is Eric Freeman, the Diamond in the Rough I found in Boulder, Colorado. You must take exception to Eric however, he is a Salsa dance historian and absolute fanatic about timing and styling.
Stacey Lopez is basically the same, in his own right. His sense of timing is unbelievable. When I got a little off after a multiple spin, he picked me right back up beautifully into the "four" rhythm. Like a dove landing on a feather pillow. That's the only way I can describe his phenomenal lead.
"one two three FOUR five six seven EIGHT"... counting instead of enjoying the music - I had no choice! Break on FOUR, catch the eight. My lips were moving to the counts during the entire song. I just need to practice! Can you imagine trying to ask a complete stranger to dance on the four at a loud nightclub? (at some LA clubs, you have to almost scream in their ear, the music is so loud)
"Hey, want to dance on the Four?"
"Sure, we'll go dance on the floor."
"No, not the 'Floor', on the 'FOUR'!!"
"WHAT?"
"The FOUR".
"For... WHAT?"
"Nevermind. Let's just dance".
"Where?"
"On the FLOOR."
"What's wrong with the floor?"
Oh brother.
Each night we would close the hotel ballroom down at around 3:30am. Stacey Lopez lead the entire group that was dancing on the dance floor into dueling shines with the women in a huge line facing the men in their own huge line. A couple of nights, Francisco Vazquez would line everyone up, and each of us would grab our partner facing us (whoever it ended up to be), and dance down the middle of the two human lines. This was a blast! We all danced our shines together as one huge group, following Stacey. I just loved it.
Afterward, we would go to the local nightclubs, and dance till the sun came up (way past "up" - like 8:30 or 9:30 in the morning). We then ate breakfast, and got maybe two hours of sleep until the workshops started at noon. Some of us couldn't handle it, and skipped the workshops, but those of us who had obligations to a booth or workshops, had to GET UP out of BED and just GO.
You knew who were the party animals by those who appeared to be ZOMBIES the next day. When you looked at them straight in the eye, and asked a question, "SLEEP DEPRIVATION" was on everyone's lips during the Congress. What do you expect? You don't want to miss anything, dance all night long with some of the best Salsa dancers in the world, AND take workshops to learn more... two-three hours of sleep per night - that was it. That was why I was SO TIRED when I got back home. It took me a full two days to recuperate. I felt like I was walking inside a water tank. I must have lost ten pounds on that trip. Too bad it didn't stay off, as I went on a little eating binge the second day I was back. So it was sleep and FOOD deprivation for me! There were some days I just plain forgot to eat I was having to much fun!
Overall, the World Salsa Congress was spectacular. It was a major success, very well organized, and very professionally put together. It helps to have a full year of planning ahead of time. The numbers were close or over 1,000 people per night. Many people found out about it on the island via newspapers and radio. Some people came to the hotel on vacation that weekend, wanting to find Salsa clubs and dancing, and didn't even realize that in their very hotel, were dancing the best of the best in the world. What a treat.
The event, the people, the music, the dancers, everything was a treat. I felt like a little kid in a candy store with all these phenomenal dancers surrounding me. Every guy I asked to dance was a fantastic lead. The best of the best showed up there. Instructors, fanatics, Salsa-Holics, everyone and anyone that's serious about Salsa, and takes it to the extreme.
I guess we all take this to an extreme in one sense or another. Here's a test to see if you're addicted, and an extremist with this whole "Salsa thing". If you've read this article to this point, it is a very high probability you're a pretty severe Salsa-Holic.
Take care Salseros! Keep dancing, and we'll see YOU on that dance floor, and possibly performing onstage next year at the 3rd Annual World Salsa Congress!
1999 Congresso
Place: Hotel San Juan, San Juan Puerto Rico
Date: July 1999 - We'll let you know when WE know!!