The year in congresses (2014)

Here’s a quick summary of the festivals/congresses/salsa weekends I’ve done this year.

1. January – Weekend in Paris

Two glorious nights of glorious dancing at Sal’sounds and O’Sullivans.

2. January - Stars of Salsa in London, UK

This one’s on my doorstep so it’s a tough one not to attend. Not many internationals, but generally good dancing and incredibly tiring! Was disappointed because I was promised Karel Flores, as a teacher but she only attended one party to social dance…Promises, promises…

3. February – Valentine’s Salsa Festival in Zagreb, Croatia

Small, friendly and perfect for getting to know people. Spent a lot of time dancing with Grupo Alafia and a couple of frenchies, which suited me fine. Unfortunately, the festival is being cut down this year for budgetary reasons so will now be more akin to a workshop weekend with a couple of parties.

4. March – Salsa Addicted Festival, Timisoara, Romania

One of my favourites in 2013, SAF disappointed in 2014 by virtue of a last minute issue with the venue. Having a main salsa room split into two, a hardcore mambo and a romantica/bachata room didn’t quite do it for me. Going back this year though to give it another chance as the dancing never disappoints!

5. April – NYC for Easter

Dancing at Noche de Descarga, Nelson Flores’ social was particularly memorable, but otherwise unimpressive wekend in terms of dancing but awesome in terms of food and shopping!

6. May – MamboCity 5 star congress, London, UK

One of my favourites of the year. There was something wonderfully magical about this one this year. Non-snobby, family, happy vibe all over. Great music. Great dancing. I’ve never felt this way about MamboCity before, but I’m very hopeful that I might get the same feeling again in 2015. Notable mention goes to a fantastic 2-hour Juan Matos workshop and to the pancakes at breakfast in the morning!

7. May – Milan on2 festival, Italy

I spent too much of this weekend working. However, the dancing level was good, the snob level was high. The music wasn’t fantastic to be honest, nor was the sound quality, dance floor organisation (three, rather randomly pieced together floors in one room, with the DJ in the middle). Good show program given large pool of Italian talen. Fantastic camaraderie and pre/post party hangouts though!

8. May - Weekend in Paris

Some really good dancing as usual at Sal’sounds and O’Sullivans.

9. June – Croatia Summer Salsa Festival, Rovinj, Croatia

The dancing in 2013 had been simply epic. In 2014, the dancing level fell off a bit, as did the DJs' music selection. This festival is now a little too large and too crazy for me. It’s actually difficult to find a quiet beach spot! Rovinj is still magical, but after 5 visits, I think it may be time to move on. 

10. July – Salsa Beach Splash, Sibenik, Croatia

This one also hits the top spots for my favourite this year (and in all its editions!). In 2012, I attended for 3 nights, in 2013 for 4 nights and in 2014 for 5 nights. I’m actually thinking of making it 6 next year! Holiday perfection, with DJ sets and dancers that are perfect for social dancing all night, every night. The tent makes the temperature perfect, even in the middle of summer. The resort makes everything painless. 

This year, I was fortunate enough to attend the Karel Flores choreography bootcamp and trained hard for two days before going on to do two days of workshops. I was worried beforehand that dancing all day and night would make me tired and break me, but it simply gave me more energy! I wasn't exactly committed to going to the workshops, it just worked out that way because of the quality of the classes on offer! The only shame of spending so much time inside is that I missed out on tanning time!

My one complaint was that the pool party didn’t play much salsa, but then, in the scheme of 5 days and nights, I can hardly complain about 4 short hours that were highly entertaining regardless. 

11. September – Marrakesh Salsa Festival, Morocco

I loved this one too. Not for the festival itself, but for the holiday experience. It’s difficult for me to accept the idea of a full pool-side holiday. Throw in nightly salsa dancing though and it’s right up my street! 

The blue sky in Marrakesh and perfectly secluded apartment compound we stayed in was heavenly, especially in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the streets and souks of the city.

The cream of Moroccan dancers made this festival worthwhile for me and I found the music to be generally good. The white party at Nikki Beach (outside) on Sunday was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, the level of dancing is generally low, with lots of on1 dancers, so if you want only good dances, you need to be quite selective. 

Probably the only festival I’ve ever come back from feeling rested, relaxed and happy. Definitely one worth doing to charge up your sunshine batteries pre-winter!

12. October – Berlin Salsa Festival, Germany

One of the biggest out there. One central venue, easy access, cheap accommodation, dancing till 9am. This one has it all and is incredibly well attended by dancers far and wide. 

I had some great dances with friends, no new discoveries and completely killed my feet. An emergency stretching session was required on Sunday and the pain in my feet lasted long after my return! Warning: Sometimes this one feels more like a networking event than a salsa festival though because you spend so much time saying hello to people!

13. November – Warsaw Salsa Festival, Poland

Probably the cheapest congress in Europe right now courtesy of the Zloty, cheap hotel prices and cheap flights. Very well attended by Londoners and usually by frenchies, though this year, the French contingent was slightly disappointing. Generally high level of dancing on the social floor, but also quite a strong presence from the fashionistas (same as Berlin, but less diluted). 

Fantastic live music by Jimmy Bosch and los Dislocados from the Ukraine. In comparison, the DJ sets felt a bit flat to me, only having me properly flying on Saturday night. 

In my mind, Warsaw has passed the sweet spot in size and is getting close to losing its “one big family on the dance floor” vibe. It will most likely grow again next year, so it will be interesting to see how things evolve.

14. November – Mzansi Cape Town Salsa Festival, South Africa

Simply a dream. The festival in itself was well organised, but the level generally unimpressive (still better than Marrakesh though!). There was an international crew of social dancers, a selection of artists and a strong local teaching contingent that were quite sufficient to keep me dancing through the weekend.

The festival was enhanced by dancing outside, under the sun, by an impromptu after party organised at a moment’s notice and by a sunset boat cruise with free and unlimited champagne as well as a varied music set and a whole lot of dancing. Throw in some tourist attractions – climbing up Lion’s Head, a open top bus tour, going up Table Mountain – and you’ve got a winner for a once in a lifetime salsa holiday experience!

On the Zurich Salsa Congress (June 2013)

Overall – Fantastic first edition. Great parties, social dancing and overall ambiance.

This congress was run on the same weekend as the Candela 10 year anniversary and performed well given the steep competition. Throw in the general confusion among the congress set between the February and June congresses and the resulting crowd wasn't quite your usual travelling crowd, but a smaller, more Italian sub-set of it.  To my mind, keeping a whole host of dancers away made this festival into the intimate party that it was.

 I would definitely want to go again, not least because of the awesome afternoons and evenings spent on the festival venue’s rooftop, with food, drinks, friends and sunshine. Fantastic way to finally welcome the summer. Despite dancing non-stop, I found this festival to be really quite relaxing!

Priceless moments:

- Seeing the “table dancing” and “bar dancing” spotlights upon arrival at the after party and grasping the venue’s real purpose

- Debating the meaning of tattoos for hours on end

- My first and only ever dance with Tito! I still can’t get over the fact that I had the courage to ask him.

- A number of dances which will not readily be forgotten

Prices

1. Flights – Flights to Zurich typically range in the £100-£150, depending on when you fly and how badly inflation has impacted flight prices by the time you read this. And that’s assuming you fly after work on Friday night as well. Upon arrival, trains into the city are cheap and easy to navigate. I took a train, a bus and a tram (could have probably walked some of that) to my hotel and while it was a bit of a pain, I certainly never risked getting lost thanks to the meticulously detailed display screens that can be found inside and outside every public moving vehicle.

2. Pass prices – Party passes were about €90 with a 10% discount. Zurich is typically expensive so much of that is down to the cost of living in Switzerland.

3. Hotels – The congress hotel was the Crowne Plaza, a 5 star hotel housing the artists for which the organisers had secured an event discount. However, we opted to stay in the Ramada City Hotel which was far cheaper (£20 a night for 3 in a room) and ten minutes closer to the venue on foot. In fact, our hotel was a 10 minute walk to the venue, while those staying at the Crowne Plaza either had to walk further or wait for the organised buses.

4. Water – I can’t remember, but I think it was 2SFR per bottle…and then I discovered that they provided tap water upon request. Limited queues at the bar as well which meant that drinking didn’t take you away from the dance floor for too long!  

Venue

The venue was a gutted warehouse in the north-west of Zurich (surrounded by car dealerships). On top of the warehouse there was a rooftop with couches, chairs and tables and a buffet that served lunch, dinner and a small array of drinks. This was THE most perfect hang out place, especially since it was sunny! Moreover the food was cheap (15SFR for a hot meal, salad and soft drink) and easy. There was a shopping centre nearby with a MacDonald’s and alternative food options as well.

1. Floor – The dance floor was perfect wooden floor, laid down for the occasion. It wasn’t particularly big, but it was perfect for the number of people there. There was lots of space around the floor for standing and chatting, so the dance floor was very much for dancing. It did actually get quite hot. But I think that was because I was dancing a lot…

2. Number of dance floors – Two dance floors – On the main floor, the music mixed Cuban, Mambo, Romantica, Cha Cha Cha. The second floor, which was in the after party room downstairs played Romantica, Bachata, Kizomba.

3. Workshops vs. parties – The workshops were all in the same venue as the parties.

4. Show seats. There were chairs if you arrived early for the shows. We sat at the front on the floor on Saturday and on chairs to the side (also at the front) on Sunday.  

5. Show visibility. Very good from where I was sitting. There was an upstairs balcony too for those who wanted to see more from higher up.

6. Workshop visibility. Very good. The workshops were generally pretty poorly attended for the quality of the artist line up. By which I mean, those in the class got a lot of attention and were able to cover a larger amount of material as well. I walked past the last 15 minutes of the final Adolfo class of the weekend, which turned into a crazy masterclass as the 20 or so students were almost all professional dancers (all of Yamulee, all of Adolfo’s dancers, Mitchell Provence, Gosia, etc). Needless to say Adolfo taught two difficult and long shines and a piece of partnerwork. It was incredible to watch!

7. Workshop organisation. Few people were attending the workshops so there was loads of space. Definitely recommend this as a great learning environment.

Crowd

1. Workshops. From what I could tell, having few people and more room for personal attention was great. I will confess to spending all my time in the sun on the rooftop though! The Candela party had a simple line-up including Frankie Martinez, Fernando Sosa and one of the Vasquez brothers. From what I heard, those workshops were pretty empty too.

2. Parties There was a very high % of Italians at this festival. I enjoyed it so much that it has made me think that I would really enjoy the Milan festivals…! Given the limited attendance by the locals who were divided between this congress and the Candela party, there was quite a high percentage of performers as well, many of whom were social dancing. There was no “us and them” feeling either, which made the parties feel more inclusive.

There was a charity gala performed by kids with Down Syndrome on Saturday lunchtime. Very emotional but beautiful experience.

3. Size – I would say this was on the small side of medium. Pretty perfect though – big enough to have new people to dance with every night, small enough to be able to have repeat dances with your favourites.

4. After parties – At 4am the parties ended and we moved into the “strip club” downstairs until 6am – or was it 7am? (it had spotlights shining down on tables, bar tops etc). They played a little bit of everything down there, but always ended with salsa, which made it worth my while to stay past the latin-house and kizomba sections. On the Friday night, the DJs tried playing one song each and following each other. To my mind this was a disaster as the amalgamation of tunes didn’t really work, but it was still good fun! Also convenient: you couldn’t see that it was daylight until you left the building!

Line-up

1. Quality of teaching – Great. Usual Malo Entertainment line-up including the Milan posse, Tito & Tamara, Terry & Cecile…

2. Choice of workshops – 4 workshops per hour, 5 hours of class per day. Classes only on Saturday and Sunday.

3. Number of shows – Maybe 10-15 shows a night, not more. The shows I saw (Sat/Sun) were all of high quality and great to watch. I also snuck into the dress rehearsal on Sunday and it was amazing to see the transformation when it came to the final performance! This being Switzerland, I don’t need to mention that it ran like clockwork…

They also got the touring Cubans from some dance show to come and do a 5 minute rumba performance instead of the Sunday night Descarga. They were stunning to watch!

4. Artists on the dance floor. As I mentioned previously, there were many artists present and many on the dance floor right through to the end of the night – Grupo Alafia are always great at this, Gosia, Cecile, Amauri (from Yamulee) are also proper party animals. Slightly more “drinking and watching” than in say Puerto Rico, but it was generally understated compared to what I’ve seen elsewhere. The fact that I successfully managed to walk up to Tito and ask him to dance says a lot about how many of the world’s great dancers were standing around, on the dance floor and genuinely happy to dance with randoms (i.e. me!)…

5. DJs. Willy (Viper), Mauri, Fabrizio, Zorro, El Malo ran the show and did a fantastic job. Once I got over my initial surprise at the music mix, I loved the really chilled vibe they had going on. They had a couple of others do sets (Oz from London, a couple of local DJs), all of whom were great also.

6. Bands. No bands, no live music.  Normal given the size of the festival.

Location

1. Central location? The venue was about 20 minutes from the Zurich Hauptbahnof using a bus/tram combo.

2. Distance from the airport – About 15 minutes by taxi from the airport (cost of £50 I think!) or an hour on public transport, changing three times (c£5). Obviously your choice will depend on how you value your time/sleep.

3. Time to London – 1.5 hours on a plane approx. Easy. Except I went to St Petersburg for work from Zurich, which took me three hours and made me get up stupidly early…

4. Number of days off work. You only need one, or none at all if you decide to take it easy on Sunday night and work on Monday…Hmm…perhaps not for you if you plan on going to bed after 6am every day…

For more information, check out the website here: http://www.zurichsalsacongress.com/de/

On Budafest, Hungary, 2013

In January this year, seduced by cheap flights and a will to travel to pastures new, I took a flight to Hungary to attend a West Coast Swing (WCS) festival.

This is a dance I have been following on youtube for some time, but faced with relatively few classes at my central London finger tips, I decided to bite the bullet and attend a congress in the hopes that I may jump up the learning curve a little faster. Unfortunately, I booked somewhat last minute and in my enthusiasm to secure a cheap flight, did not realise that the Full Passes had sold out. Not to be deterred, since I’d already bought the flight, I acquired a party pass and booked myself into the congress hotel.

Less than 3 weeks before departure, having failed to convince all my usual salsa-travel-buddies to come with me, I discovered two further London salsa dancers who were WCS enthusiasts. And overnight, there were three of us heading to Budapest!

As a travelling salsa dancer it proved impossible not to visit a salsa club, so upon arrival we went straight to a Budapest salsa party. We got there quite late but were warmly welcomed by all present. From what I could see, the on2 scene is very small, but the men, used to dancing with talented female dancers like Dotty and Lolita, are open to “shaping” (WCS term for hijacking a lead, when the leader creates the space and opportunity for the follower to do something unexpected). Here’s hoping that I get to meet more Hungarian dancers in the future.

We spent the rest of our time at the WCS event. Having only ever been to one, I cannot really compare it to any other such events, but I’d like to make a few points regarding the differences that stood out to me as a salsa dancer.

1. There is a whole lot more joy at WCS events, or at least there was at this one! Upon walking into the dance hall, three nights in a row, I was struck by how many more people were smiling! It’s not that people don’t smile in Salsa, they just seemed to smile a whole lot more in West Coast. This clearly needs further investigation, but being smiled at all weekend and smiling back during every dance was a definite endorphin boost

2. Westie festivals appear to focus on competitions, primarily Jack & Jills rather than on shows. We saw only three standalone shows during the weekend, two of which were freestyle demonstrations with no costumes. The “showcase” division enables candidates to present their shows, but this is also a competition from which one couple emerges a winner. The interesting thing about J&Js, is that they promote dancing with everyone, as participants have their partners selected at random and need to be able to perform at their highest level with anyone else in their band of ability.

3. Ability in the WCS world is determined by points won during these J&J competitions.There is even a test dance in which the judges watch you social dance to determine your level for the workshops! At first look, the scene appears to be fully meritocratic. Whereas in salsa someone may be able to gain some level of recognition through dressing up, hanging with the right people, having a rather sizable ego and acting like they are the sh1t; in West Coast, there is a points system, governed by the Swing Dance Council, which clearly determines who should be ranked a Novice, Intermediate or Advanced dancer. Everyone is encouraged to compete it seems, so to be recognised as Advanced, you essentially need to earn it. Considering the number of hoops the Pros have clearly jumped through to get to where they are today gives you a lot more faith in the experience of those teaching you how to dance!

4. Unfortunately an insider’s view of how this scene works isn’t quite so innocent. It turns out that getting picked out of the crowd and moving up from the lower levels of J&Js is as much about technique as about knowing the judges. Should they recognise you from previously provided privates or constant badgering for social dances, you are far more likely (if technically able) to be pushed forward. Ultimately judging competitions is fairly subjective, so once you have reached a certain level of aptitude, all you need is to be noticed. Repeatedly paying for privates thus becomes as much about getting up the learning curve as putting your face on the map.

5. Dresscodes are more relaxed. I don’t think I saw a single person in a dress or skirt all weekend. People were wearing jeans/pants and tops that varied from simple t-shirts to slightly more dressy numbers. Because the songs tend to be slower than the average Salsa track and the dance itself emphasises pauses, you could also dance many more songs in a row before needing to take a “cool down” break. It was definitely refreshing not to get so sweaty!

6. Like in salsa, knowing the music really helps. After years of listening to Latin music and skiving public radio stations, it was surprising how few tracks I knew. Although I’ll admit that walking through shopping centres and public places with blaring music definitely did help me recognise some of the songs!

All in all, it was a highly positive experience and I can’t wait to attend another such festival. Being anonymous at a dance event and feeling free to ask anyone to dance thanks to my lack of knowledge as to who might be a big shot or artist was strangely liberating. And the dance keeps growing on me as well. I’m not abandoning Salsa, but I’m excited about the opportunity to improve my westie abilities!

On Ubuntu Salsa Festival - Paris, June 2012

On the topic of Ubuntu, I don’t think it’s worth me using my usual categories as the congress was so “special” in so many ways that a post with paragraphs entitled “what went wrong with Ubuntu?” seems more appropriate. So let me try instead to provide a number of anecdotes which should hopefully paint a better picture than my usual method.

Expectations?

Ubuntu was highly marketed and widely promoted thanks to its stellar line-up, fantastic location in central Paris, only “200m from the Eiffel tower” and the presence of the multitude of awesome French dancers. The promotion was made even easier for the UK crowd thanks to the Jubilee bank holiday weekend and ease of the Eurostar. Throw in the prospect of walks along the Seine, picnics in the Spring sunshine and great coffees/croissants and it was an easy sell. Expectations were high, thousands of experienced dancers headed to Paris.

First impressions?

The festival started late. By this I mean that when yours truly rocked up on Friday night at 11h45, hoping to waltz in, catch a couple of the final shows and start dancing, she discovered a line of salsa dancers that went round the block. It turns out that most of them had been waiting outside since before 9pm, when the doors were due to open, but had not yet been let in, issued a pass or seen a single show! Further investigation led to the discovery of some interesting facts. Namely that volunteers to man the bar for the event had been sought out as late as 6pm on the very day of the festival and that the volunteers manning the cloakroom had nowhere to store the cash they were collecting. Small things were wrong with many a piece of the organisation puzzle. No matter, things started moving 3 hours after the official start time and people started piling into the venue.

Not-so-perfect venue

Soon after piling in, we realised that while in a super central location within the walls of the city, and while it looked great from the foyer, the venue was not typical of a usual festival. Namely that the main festival hall was in fact a long rectangular room. Imagine a room where you can put 20 chairs side by side before you run out of space. Now imagine being able to put rows of chairs until you have so many that those at the back can barely see anything. That’s roughly what it was like. The room split into a kizomba and salsa room (split lengthwise, thankfully) and a corridor ran outside the two rooms.

Not enough space

A victim of their marketing success, the festival organisers quickly discovered that the room provided wasn’t big enough for the number of people who showed up. On Friday night, given the late start and multitude of shows, it was 2am before the social dancing started. People stood around waiting for others to head home so they could get some space for a dance. For those who tried movements had to be restricted in order to avoid bruises. Before the crowd could shrink, the party came to an abrupt end, leaving many frustrated from having danced but 2 or 3 songs. 

On Saturday, the party carried on past 4am to the relief of many (as the social dancing had also started way past 2am). However, as the salsa room started to empty and many a dancer started enjoying the new found space at the back of the room, the venue staff started re-sizing the room. They were shifting the fake wall partition forward – with no regard to the songs or dancers. Imagine: you’re dancing, having a wonderful time because you finally feel able to express yourself without worrying about a stray arm, heel, foot or elbow. Then, some random guy starts moving a wall into your dance space in the rudest, most indelicate of manners and pushing you into other dancers’ space. They did this consistently over half an hour or so, admonishing and pushing the dancers as they went.

No music

The main anecdote that defines this congress though was having the DJ run off with the musical equipment. There was no music for over 2 hours on the Saturday night of the congress and once restored they had teething problems for another hour within which the music kept stopping mid-song.

To the innocent bystander, it looked like this – You’re halfway through a 2 hour show slot and your attention is flagging. They start announcing shows without the microphone. Magna’s music doesn’t start on time. Then someone announces that there will be no shows and no further party as there is no longer a music system. Except you didn’t quite hear that through the uproar since they unplugged the microphone a few shows prior to that happening…An hour of sitting around and wondering what was happening ensued. Many moved outside into the street, attracting passing police who came to investigate why so many people were standing outside. Then the artists started doing their shows without music. When the music finally started up again, most of the artists did their shows again! It's only after that that the social dancing began and lasted for a grand maximum of 3 hours. Now consider that the one-night-only entrance price for this party was €45. No refunds were provided.

What was happening behind the scenes – The organiser hired a sound and light company but couldn’t offer them access to the venue 24 hours prior to the event to set up. The company claimed breach of contract and pulled out. At the last minute, the organiser called around and found a DJ who was happy to rent and provide the necessary sound equipment, but had to pull a few strings to do so and required payment upfront. The offer was accepted but no payment was provided. The equipment was installed and the event kicked off (after the delays mentioned above) but still no payment was provided. Having chased a couple of times and been provided no positive response, the DJ in question started unplugging his equipment (starting with the microphone) and eventually walked off with it. Having failed to convince the organiser to stump up the cash, the other (Parisian) DJs pulled together the cash necessary to pay for the equipment and “save the congress”. Ultimately, they saw this as a source of embarrassment for their city's event and wanted to ensure that their reputations were not ruined by the affiliation with a congress which sent participants home on a Saturday night. To this day, as far as I am aware, none of them have been refunded.

The rainbows in the storm – While undoubtedly problematic, these events brought a number of positive elements to light:

-  Very few people left the party – despite the issues and the lack of communication as to what was happening, people stuck around, kept smiles on their faces and found ways to grit their teeth and enjoy the moment

 - The DJs should be applauded for their role in wanting the opportunity to showcase the best that Paris has to offer
- The artists really came together on stage to do their shows without music or create rumba shows to the audience clapping to the clave. This brought a whole new dimension to the Shakespearian mantra “the show must go on”
-  We all discovered the most amazing coconut ice cream sold within the venue by an artisan producer
- We got to have unprecedented pictures of ourselves at a congress with hair and make-up in the right place and no sweat marks to be seen! (ok, now I’m starting to clutch at straws)

Organisational flaws

I’m told most of the other issues were linked to the fact that one man was in charge but did not adequately delegate to wider group of assistants or volunteers. Instead of letting everyone know what was going on and giving them the power to make even small decisions on their own, one person had to be relied upon for everything. This created both bottlenecks and oversights. Artists were left at their hotel and not brought to workshops on time, issues escalated because they weren't dealt with fast enough.

Apparently only selected artists were paid, none of the local French artists received compensation. Magna posted a stark note on her Facebook page in August 2012 saying that she would not be attending the 2013 event on the basis that she had not been paid for her services in 2012. I’m told the plan was to pay the artists as tickets were sold for next year’s event – I’m unsure how well that’s going. Yes. They actually thought it would be a good idea to have another go. It can go only get better, right?

Conclusions

For some, the party picked up on Sunday night when things finally started to run reasonably well. After the previous two days’ experiences, partygoers were well-invested in getting a good dose of fun out of the evening. The Sunday night party stood out as a brilliant night for many, but alas, this was only when positioned relatively to the other two parties from the Ubuntu festival. Some partygoers still returned home deeply disappointed.

Ultimately my decision not to return to Paris for this festival in 2013 has little to do with the organisational mishaps and lot to do with the fact that the odd Sunday night at O’Sullivans often provides better access to Parisian dancers than a congress attended by throngs of beautiful foreign females. However it remains true that the competitive nature of the congress market in which salsa dancers are able to attend one of 4+ events per weekend leaves little room for highly priced, poorly organised events; even ones with astounding dancers, phenomenal DJs and dream line-ups.

On Salsa Addicted Festival, Timisoara | Romania - March 2013

Overall – Best festival I have been to in a while. It’s been two weeks and I’m still on a dance high. I have such bad PCD (post congress depression) that I couldn’t bring myself to dance at SOS this past Sunday – the music just wouldn’t speak to me after a string of amazing DJ sets backed up by amazing dances. More than twice over the weekend in Timisoara, I felt a distinct internal smile while dancing. Not from the dance itself which was wonderful, but as the thought “it doesn’t get much better than this whole weekend” passed through my mind. Fantastic DJ sets and unbelievable social dancing all night long. Really chilled atmosphere. Really great time. I’m battling the idea of spreading the word vs. keeping the secret of this awesome festival to myself to preserve it from change. I can’t wait to go back.

Priceless moments:

-       Dancing with Terry to one of my favourite songs (and randomly being asked afterwards if I was a bachata teacher?!)

-       Feeling like a princess from a dance with Nuno (he has that effect on people)

-       Having more “wow” dances than I would have timidly asked for with Brian Lieber

-       Dancing the most amazing cha cha with a Romanian DJ and being asked whether I was a west coast dancer (not yet, but I want to be!)

-       Multiple westie dances to zouk and mini westie tuition moments

 

Prices

1. Flights – Cheap flights to Timisoara via Luton on Wizzair, but only if you fly out on Thursday and back on Tuesday. Otherwise it’s double the price via Munich.  

2. Pass prices – I think I got my full pass for about €90 doing a double pass combo deal. Very reasonable I think given that that’s how much some party passes cost these days.

3. Hotels – I stayed in the official congress hotel, the Boavista. It is a 5 minute walk from the party venue and the closest hotel. The hotel costs c.€40 per night per room but I think you can get 50% off by booking via the SAF website.

4. Water – It was 6 lei per water/soft drink, that’s about £1.10 for a water bottle or Pepsi. You could bring in water during the day or night, but they clamped down a little on this practice at the Sunday night party.

Venue

1. Floor – Perfect wooden floor (large) put down for the occasion. No reason to dance anywhere else. The conditions were perfect in my humble opinion.

2. Number of dance floors – The main floor was salsa which was mainly LA/NY style. The odd Cuban, bachata were thrown in. There was a separate kizomba/bachata room but having not bothered to peek inside, I’m not sure how large it was. Apparently they played sets of 5 kizomba then 5 bachatas – I understood from feedback that it would have been better if these had been mixed up a bit more. On Sunday night, there was no kizomba/bachata room so they played a lot more in the main room to keep everyone happy. This actually worked quite well.

3. Workshops vs. parties - Same venue for everything. Bit of crowding in some of the more popular workshops (e.g. Alafia) which should have been afforded a bigger room.

4. Show seats. If you arrived early, you got a seat. They were open to everyone. The others could stand or perch on tables on the side.

5. Show visibility. Very good from where I was sitting!

6. Workshop visibility. Great in the main room and less crowded workshops. I gave up on the Alafia workshop because I couldn’t see any of them. 

7. Workshop organisation. Depends on the teachers I guess but no real crowding issues at the front.

Only issue with the venue – People are allowed to smoke inside in Romania! Not great for asthmatic friends of mine. But ultimately if you stayed away from the bar, it was ok.

Crowd

1. Workshops. Good level, busy classes.

2. Parties – Massive French contingent, busload of Croatians and a whole lot of Romanians. Quite a lot of dancing artists also taking up the floor. High level of social dancing, lots of musicality brimming around!

3. Size – Medium to large – You could pretty much always see where people were and grab them for dances when you wanted them. The boy/girl balance was such that I never had to run after anyone for a dance and at times even felt like I was being sought out. When Mauri played one of my favourite songs I turned around and found Terry happily ready to dance with me. This sort of thing would never happen in Berlin/Amsterdam/Rovinj/Zurich. But in Timi, we locked eyes, he put his hand out and I got to have a awesome dance with one of the most musical men out there. Bliss. And I have multiple such stories from the whole weekend!

4. After parties – The parties ended at 7am. Breakfast opened at 7am. Call it perfect. The Boavista breakfast had yummy fried eggs, breads and then cereals, cheese and meets and spreads as well…Lots to choose from but the friend eggs were the best!

Line-up

1. Quality of teaching – Great list of artists, not too much riff raff. Great classes all around.

2. Choice of workshops – 4 workshops per hour, usually at least one or two were bachata/kizomba/semba etc.

3. Number of shows – Enough. Not too many, but enough. I actually saw them all (for once!). No shows on Thursday, only 4 on Sunday (no chairs) but about an hour of shows on the other two nights. There were some quality performances and some premieres in the mix as well. Some stage accidents unfortunately (boob issues, falling over, choreo problems) but good recoveries from all.

4. Artists on the dance floor. The congress generally had a really friendly vibe with few snobs and show offs. The artists were surprisingly present on the dance floor and I think only Adolfo and Tania put in a very limited showing by coming out with sneakers on and practically only dancing with each other before disappearing again. Didn’t even see much of them at the bar!

5. DJs. Great lineup with little drinking on the job. Willy (AMS), Willy (FR), Mauri, Romy and Marten (Cluj). Honestly could not have asked for better music. Generally medium speed, not overly fast, not quite enough cha cha (but realise that is crowd dependent). There were times when I had to stop dancing to wipe my brow but had the sweat not stopped me, my feet would have likely started sending me messages!

6. Bands. No live music.

Location

1. Central location? The venue was c.5 minutes walk from the hotel. From the hotel to the centre of town it was a 20 minute walk, 15 minutes in a cab and a cost of £2 to the sole shopping mall (Lulius Mall) on the other side of town – free wifi, foodhall and shopping!

2. Distance from the airport – 20-30minutes by car depending on the time of travel. Roughly 40 lei, so £8 in total to be divided amongst passengers 

3. Time to London - Approximately 2.5 hours on a direct flight.

4. Number of days off work. Three to four days required, depending on whether you want to go to work after landing at 8:30am at Luton on the day after a congress. I took the day off, had a 2 hour nap, went to bed early and finished recovering. Overall taking a little bit more time off just helped the whole experience be more relaxing and enjoyable!

For more information, check out the website here: http://www.salsaaddictedfestival.com 

On Rovinj vs. Sibenik - CSSF vs. SBS

For those in the salsa scene, the biggest question for 2012 was Rovinj or Sibenik? These two festivals took place on the Croatian seaside, but a month apart. For about 6 months last year, the debate was hot on everyone’s lips. Those who had to choose made their choice, some of us were lucky to do both and afterwards – well everyone wanted to know which was better!

Well folks, the quick and easy answer is that they are different. While based around a similar recipe for success, the heady mixture of sunshine and pool parties, with similar options to stay longer and create a holiday experience rather than a quick dash salsa festival, the essence of these festivals and the experience at each diverged significantly. They were both fantastic and I will be stretching my budget and holiday days to attend both again this year.

As that cookie-cutter answer isn't particularly helpful, I've tried to lay out the differences and benefits of each below to help others decide.

Rovinj – “Party people looking for a salsa holiday”

+ It’s a massive congress and you just know that everyone will be there.

+ Rovinj is the most charming little place with a whole lot of magic in the air. I have been 3 times to date and each time I have put my suitcase down, taken out my flip flops on and breathed in pure unadulterated happiness. And then I kept on breathing in that happiness until the day I left. Just thinking about Rovinj makes me happy. It’s quite impressive!

+ The Festival is in its 9th year. The organisers have learnt a lot along the way and it is very well organised. There’s so much going on, you basically get to pick and choose what you want to do. Remember to sleep a little, but otherwise, do try to join in as much as possible as the experience will be worth it!

+ Every year they add in an extra party or two. Last year they formalised the daily beach parties, the year before they created the Monday boat trips (every year they sell tickets to a whole extra boat vs. expectations), they’ve also added a Monday party for all those who stick around an extra day…

+ Most people stay in cosy little flats in the old town for €20-€30 per night. It’s a bargain and it’s lovely not to stay in a hotel!

+ You can dance any style you want – Cuban, LA/mambo, kizomba/bachata

+ Good DJs – Mauri, Willy (AMS) and Oz….This year they have Romy on the lineup too…

+ Concerts – always at least one, if not two

+ Pool party – the EVENT of the year for many in the salsa world. Videos all over youtube, pictures all over facebook… Everyone gets involved. It gets a little crazy, but that’s all part of the fun!

- There are almost too many people. Even over 6 days it’s impossible to hang out with everyone you know, or even see everyone. You have to make choices and prioritise some people over others.

- You’re paying for a massive artists line-up but probably won’t make it to the workshops as the beach is quite simply too appealing

- The artists don’t generally social dance unless they are asked to do so for charity. They do however participate strongly in the pool party entertainment. The absence of most artists on the social dance floor doesn’t really hurt the parties as people are simply too relaxed to care!

- Parties last till 6am but every night you will feel like you’ve been robbed of time and deserve a few more hours of dancing!

- Dance level – You’ll find everything at this festival – the drunks, the party people, the women chasers, the dancers, the sun lovers…it caters to everyone!

- It gets unbelievably hot on the dance floor and you will need to take breaks to avoid letting your partner slip through your fingers at every spin

- Rocky beaches – no sand! They are still awesome though, don't get me wrong!

- Flights getting more expensive every year – no longer possible to fly to Pula for reasonable prices, Trieste, Venice and Zagreb are the only real options for flying in. It’s still worth the extra trek though!

Sibenik – “Dancing people looking for a summer salsa festival”

+ Fewer people than Rovinj – pretty much all on2 dancers

+ It’s only in its second year and the organisation was already pretty seamless in the first edition. They've clearly watched and learnt from other congresses

+ The dance floor was under a tent that was open around the sides – you could dance all night long without feeling like you were in desperate need of a shower (or just walked out of one)

+ The salsa room was full of great on2 dancers – a bachata/kizomba room provided a break if you wanted it – live band on Friday. I personally didn’t mind the absence of the Cuban room, or of a whole host of dancers that I don’t often dance with either…

+ Great DJs – Haihan, Shaan, Dani K, Willy (FR) – All their sets were pure gold last year. In comparison the music in Rovinj was average/ok until 3pm and then got good when Willy/Oz came on for the final set…All Rovinj needs to improve is stricter controls on how much some of its DJs drink before their set…

+ Great dancers – The festival attracted the “dancing people” instead of the “party people”…The result was amazing dancing all night long, night after night

+ Shorter artist line-up, but the organisers clearly tried to bring artists who were “triple threats”, i.e. those who are great teachers, produce great shows and are keen and brilliant social dancers as well. The atmosphere was chilled despite the artists’ social dancing. Frankie was around all night, social dancing non-stop but there was never a circle of onlookers with cameras crowding around him.

+ Parties lasted until at least 7am. We had to start begging the DJs to play bad songs so we could tear ourselves away from the dance floor!

+ Pool party – Slightly less animated and clearly a smaller effort than in Rovinj. Having said that I had a lot more fun at the Sibenik pool party, even though I fell asleep under a speaker for a couple of hours! There was more actual dancing (of all styles), less of a sense that you were part of a mob and more of a feeling that each and every one of us was participating in creating something new.

+ Free Nivea travel-size hygiene products!

- Based in a holiday resort – Flats for rent 10 minutes’ walk away at prices similar to Rovinj. You can stay in the resort for higher prices. Everything is available at the resort, but it lacks charm…

- Rather than residing in the old town you need a 10 minute taxi ride to get there…          

- People were housed across the resort and outside the resort as well. Normal people were also staying in the hotels and weren’t always too happy with the salsa dancers…While people weren’t housed any closer together in Rovinj, in Sibenik there was a sense that we were all close enough but slightly far apart at times…

- 80% of attendees did workshops – the beach-y areas were somewhat quiet during the afternoons

- Less food choice – resort restaurants and a couple along the road we were staying that closed early…

- Also no sand – you could argue there were better rocks, but I think that’s pushing it a bit…

- They had a problem with the floor due to poorly timed rainfall before the congress. The perfectly new wooden floor became a little uneven as a result and you tended to gravitate from one side to the other when dancing. Forgot about this by Sunday though and I’m sure this will be one thing that they definitely won’t let happen again….

- More expensive flights – transfers needed from Zadar or Split.

If you still don’t know – try them both out! Or hijack them and spend your money on the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress in July…You can’t really go wrong with summer festivals!