On the Berlin Salsa Congress 2010

So here are my thoughts on Berlin:

Overall - Amazing. Thoughts on entering were "it's a mini Athens!", which is possibly the highest compliment I've ever given to a congress in the Post Athens congress world. Everyone was there - dancers, artists. Everything was centrally located. It was cheap. One of the best weekends in a while and a definite on any serious salsa dancer's European calendar (with Zurich and of course, Athens).

Let's break it down:

1. Prices
1. Flights - Flights to Berlin are cheap and plentiful. Both Berlin airports are within easy distance and if you fly with other dancers, you can get a taxi into the centre for something akin to €5 or less. Do it on your own late at night and it's possible too - after all you won't have spent much on the flights. The trains to and from the airport are easy to find your way on even though they take a little longer. If you're cash poor and time rich (or richer), this is definitely your best option.
2. Pass prices - The pass structure in Berlin is one of the friendliest out there. There are very many options to choose from shows/no-shows, Saturday workshops, Sunday workshops, seating, extra shows etc. By the time you have sifted through them all and picked one, you're guaranteed to feel like you've got value for money because you will only be paying for what you wanted and not for the bits that you didn't need or want. Countless reductions and offers also make you feel as though you got a good deal on your pass price. Even if it ultimately all adds up, you'll walk away feeling like you got it for a steal. The positive impact is energising!
3. Hotels - Berlin, despite being in the Euro-zone (which at the moment is hitting pound earners where it hurts), is really pretty cheap. Hostels are dirt cheap, good quality and plentiful - probably because Berlin is the logical starting point for any tour of Eastern Europe and a pretty logical place of passage for anyone touring Western Europe too. Fantastic competition and voilà - low prices! Find a hostel near to the venue and you can either pack it with your own friends or make new ones out of all the other dancers in your room... 
4. Bottled water - Key to any congress is the price and accessibility of water. Being able to rehydrate when you're dancing all night is key to stamina. Thus far, no one has beaten Athens prices of €0.50 per bottle. Berlin doesn't rank well on this front - water was at least €2.00 with an extra Euro thrown in for the "plastic bottle recycling guarantee" - bring the bottle back and your coin will be returned to you. All great, for the environment, but not being able to bring your own large water bottle to workshops (and throwing them out into massive bins outside the venue for someone else's "plastic bottling recycling guarantee" benefit) rather fosters resentment. Selling ice-cream on site in lieu of water and soft drinks was a good idea. However, ice-cream typically makes you thirsty and thus only encourages you to drink more! Needless to say Coke or Fanta are a better source of energy and have the added benefit of containing caffeine as well! On the subject of water though - note that this particular complaint has been taken into account and the water policy has been changed for next year. I believe the water will be cheaper and people will be able to bring their own drinks to workshops. Check the website for details. 
2. Venue



1. Floor - Fine. Not bad, not perfect hardwood, not sticky either. Some patches got sticky on the last night but otherwise it was great. No complaints.
2. Number of dance floors - Two. One was larger and supposedly the mambo floor and the other was smaller and played a wider mix of bachata, romantica and cuban....On the first night they both played a huge amount of bachata to the point where the hardcore were moving from room to room trying to escape the onslaught....But on Saturday is was fairly classic mambo in the main room and pretty standard stuff outside. On Sunday night, it was all in one room, with very poor sound, very little space - Not too worry though, this is being remedied for next year, so I shan't waste my breath complaining about how disappointed we all were. 
3. Workshops vs. parties - All in same venue so all great. Some workshops were in a different venue. I never made it out there so have no idea where said other rooms were located. Apparently more other rooms are being used next year. On principle, I don't like having to go outside or change out of dance shoes in between workshops. We'll see how that goes...
4. Show seats - You could sit for the shows, but you couldn't see much. There was a large screen but this wasn't used to amplify those on stage but only for titles and names and background pictures. To really get close to the shows you had to stand. Next year, there's a "if you pay, you can sit in the good seats policy". I'm not a huge show watcher (would rather sleep), but if you are, still not sure whether it's worth it (some are still very far back and it's on a first come first served basis). Personally think you should be able to sit with your friends to make more noise and chit chat, rather than sit next the people who bought their tickets at the same time your did.
5. Show visibility - Depends highly on where you sit (see above)
6. Workshop visibility - Decent, artists were elevated for the most part. Very popular congress so crowded, but generally good. 
7. Workshop organisation - See above. Really depends on the teachers how they want to try and space their students out.
3. Crowd
1. Workshops - High level within workshops means that artists are able to teach according to plan
2. Parties - Very high level of dancing - no complaints. Only had one average cha cha all weekend and one gratuitous "progressing friend" dance. All else wonderful.
3. Size - Huge. Not good with numbers, but this is one of the biggest European congresses. If you're serious about dancing, you need to be there.
4. After parties - None to speak of. Serious shame. Luckily they are changing this next year. A congress of this size needs to enable the crazies to dance until 7am. 
4. Line-up
1. Quality of teaching - Very high. Number of high quality teachers - more than you'll find anywhere else.
2. Choice of workshops - Large. Five per hour. 6 slots a day.
3. Number of shows - Loads. It's almost a requirement to skip all of them! In two show sections per night with the second being shorter. You can choose to dance or sleep through one of them without a problem. 
4. Artists on dance floor - Yup. Though there is a grouping factor of so many of them being in the same place and a slight incentive for them to hang out, drink and take pictures together. But there are enough great dancers that this is immaterial.
5. Location
1. Centralised - While not in one single hotel, everything was within 5 minutes walk. Very straightforward.
2. Distance from airport - 20mins by cab, 1 hour by train
3. Time from London - 2 hours by plane
4. Number of days off work - Only one necessary - late night flights mean that you can still work Friday. Bear in mind though that working on the Monday after this one is impossible - Extreme exhaustion awaits you after some of the best congress parties in Europe. 

For more information check out the website to come next year:

http://www.mas-salsa.de/Mainframe2011_eng.htm

On Reviews

How to choose a congress? Criteria that I consider are as follows (not in any specific order):

1. The line-up
2. The location
3. The price
4. The date
5. The venue
6. The crowd

The only problem is that short of asking a serious congress-a-holic, you're unlikely to be receiving consistent reviews. In addition, everyone looks for something different in their congress experience so the reviews you get tend to be rather slanted. Finally, the best location for finding out about congresses is close to a dance floor teaming with salsaholics. Therefore, while you may find the time in between dances to get one or two questions answered, it will be a rare occasion if you ever get a comprehensive review.

So what I propose is this - I will put together a list of comprehensive criteria and provide a review of each of the congresses I've been to. The aim is to provide consistent criteria and a comprehensive review. However, I can't promise to be impartial - it will be fully opinionated!

Still designing the concept, but be warned, soon this blog will hopefully become slightly more useful!

On Post Congress Depression

I think I've been to enough congresses now to fully recognise the symptoms that afflict my person each time I return from such an event. Given the complexity of having to explain these symptoms to people, of listing them each time, I thought it more convenient to define the condition and to refer back to this post forever after. Not that I fancy myself as the founder of the wiki-salsa-pedia, but now that I think of it, it's not such a bad idea.

Post Congress Depression  (PCD) then. How does it occur, what are the symptoms? What's the cure?

The most notable symptom of PCD is the disappointment one feels upon returning home to one's local social after a triumphant few nights of congress dancing bliss. Any drug user will suffer from similar symptoms when their drug of choice wears off: they come down from Cloud Nine and reality doesn't shine nearly as bright as last time they saw it. Note, that this will be true regardless of your experience of the latest congress. If you are a critical soul, as I am, you will no doubt find something negative to say about each experience even though you enjoy most of it thoroughly. However, the return home always puts this brutally into context: congress dance partners are remembered as better and friendlier than others, the music is remembered as more enticing.

You essentially get a serious case of "the grass is greener on the other side". This is possibly because you are too tired after the whole experience to see colour anymore, but invariably you also feel out of sync with the rest of your local community as well. Severe cases of PCD may have you stop listening to salsa music altogether - shock horror! Note that we are referring to proper addicts here, people who live and breathe this music so not listening to music is a symptom to be taken in all seriousness.

A wholly unsatisfying solution is is to put off the next local social you go to. Some of my friends like to go out as soon as they get back. It's a way of boasting, returning victorious from the front and showing off their new skills. For my part, I want to go home and and sleep (surprise, surprise). But after that, I want time to let the whole experience sink in, enjoy the memories for a while and appreciate the silence. This is all relative of course because the satisfaction  wears off all too quickly and then you just feel lonely, empty, in need of the next hit. As the loneliness amplifies, you start to miss your friends from abroad. It hardly seems worth going out if you're not going to be able to see them.

Ultimately, only dancing will solve the problem. Dancing makes the addict happy after all. It may take a while if you have a severe case of PCD, but dancing heals. Not just local dancing though, I tend to find that booking a new congress is necessary to get me over the hill. Planning the next event will help you look forward and stop focusing on the good times past because you'll be dreaming of the next special event. Ultimately, for the true addict, there's only one way to get out of the funk: shoot up again!

I realise that I'm an addict recommending a further hit as a solution. But consider other addictions: smoking cigarettes and taking drugs are bad for your health. Salsa is a healthy, sociable habit. Why would anyone want to quit?