On Stars of Salsa 2011

So here are my thoughts on Stars of Salsa:

 

Overall

Didn't quite live up to expectations based on previous years. Good level of social dancing and strong organisation, but only three memorable shows. Fantastic location - all the parties were situated on my Central London doorstep. Rather felt like a big SOS with lots of French people and some extra starlets on the side. Someone said "It's like a usual SOS but with lots of foreign women stealing our guys" which was a pretty fair description of Sunday night. Still, it was a great weekend, if more for the social aspects than the dancing quality.

When reading this review, please bear in mind that while I've used the criteria I use for congresses, this event is not a congress, but an extended social or mini-festival. It's designed to be small, informal and friendly. It therefore isn't fair to compare it to the big events that are financed by sponsors and advertised around the world. Having said that, it's pretty large for an extended social and as an event that people might travel to from outside of the UK, is being compared based on the same metrics.

Please also note that I am a full-on SOS fan. While some of the usual SOS vibe came through (for example in Friday night's party), I didn't get the ecstatic sense of being "home" that I get from my usual Sunday nights dancing and therefore found that the event was a little soul-less. It was solidly organised, but was somehow missing some of the heartful joy that pervaded the occasion in previous years.

Will I be attending next year? Of course - I'm an SOS junkie and it's on my doorstep. Despite all the moaning, who can turn down three high quality mambo nights in such a convenient location?

Let's break it down:

1.  Prices

1. Flights - None required. For any readers from out of town, the parties and workshops are held 5-15mins walk away from the St Pancras Eurostar terminal and 50mins on the Piccadilly line from Heathrow airport. London being the transport hub that it is, it's pretty accessible...
2. Pass prices - £35 for the party pass if you book early. About £55 if you book closer to the event. Workshops are maybe £20 on top of that. Check the website for any updates for next year though, inflation and VAT are rising!
3. Hotels - Loads of hotels and hostels in the area, the ones on the website are good recommendations and well situated. The best option though is to find a Londoner and shack up with them!
4. Bottled water - For normal SOS nights in the Royal National Hotel, they usually give tap water out at the bar, and you can bring your own if you like as well. For the party night on Saturday, I'm pretty sure drinks were sold at cost, so you can only complain about London prices. Annoyingly, on Saturday night, they like to run a "ticket scheme". You buy a ticket or series of them and then buy your drink 3 minutes later with your ticket. I don't understand why people enjoy complicating matters in this way, but at least in this case, you were allowed to buy tickets in the exact quantum you needed, so you weren't left with tickets in your pockets (or shoes, or cleavage) at the end of the night.

2.  Venue

1. Floor - Normal SOS floors on Friday, good wood floor on Saturday and normal SOS floors with an extra floor space added on Sunday. For those readers who are not SOS regulars, the main SOS floor is perfect to dance on, the carpet is just fine too so long as you don't have new shoes and the second floor is decent as well.  Regarding the second dance floor - spinning on it is fine, the issue is that the panels are manually put together and you can lose your equilibrium or even ruin your shoes when dancing on it. There are a couple of new panels too which have twice the stickiness of the others, making dancing across panels (you typically cover two or three) a pain if not slightly challenging at times. Personally, I'd rather dance on carpet.
2. Number of dance floors - One only - by which I mean, all the dance floors described above were in one room and everyone was dancing to the same music. Oh wait! They had a kizomba floor on Sunday in the South End of the hotel…A few good dancers were lost to that one, but there were enough people there for the salsa that the difference was barely noticeable. Not that I can comment as I never made it to the kizomba room…Simply not interested!
3. Workshops vs. parties - Workshops in the SOS venue, i.e. in the Royal National Hotel, so really conveniently located. I didn't do the workshops this year, but instead convinced a friend to come and stay with me for the weekend so we hung out and had brunch in the middle of the afternoon instead. Workshops at Stars of Salsa are on Sundays only. The idea is to let the salsa-tourists spend some time discovering London. All good, but having the workshops on Sunday rather than Saturday seems a little strange. I suspect that the organisers could not convince the hotel to let them use the ballroom on the Saturday, which is a shame since any normal person would want to do the workshops on Saturday, after a party that ends at 1am, and then sleep on Sunday after the party ending at 4am…The social dancing is what Stars of Salsa is all about though - the workshops are merely extras to convince more people to come...
4. Show seats - Large room with seats for the Saturday night shows. Sitting on the floor or standing for the other nights.
5. Show visibility - Fine if you're a regular and know where to sit! Three sided dance floors in the Royal National Hotel mean that people can spread out so I believe most people could see the shows without a problem.
6. Workshop visibility - I'm assuming this was fine. They do not appear to have been that crowded.
7. Workshop organisation - Presumably not needed given the size of the classes, with personal attention a possibility too.

3.  Crowd

1. Workshops - I wasn't there, but was disappointed last year with most of the partnerwork sessions I attended as too little material was covered and I was essentially bored. No Santo Rico spin drills here!
2. Parties - Good level of dancing at the usual London standard. There were very few foreigners who stood out to me, with only a couple for whom I felt the need to go back for another dance. Had rather felt that the level in previous years was higher, which is probably the source of my general disappointment. While my progress on the dance floor has probably led to my expecting more from every event, I felt it was a shame that I didn't get a congress buzz. The "buzz" is the feeling created when you feel like your congress dance partners are making you dance beyond your current level, such that you can see yourself improving with each social dance. I didn’t feel that this year. I also blame the music and the DJs, but I'll explain that later. Parties ended at 1am on Friday/Sunday and 4am on Saturday. 1am on Sunday is fine for the London contingent, but for a Friday night party, when there are no workshops the day after, 1am is a little early…It's probably why the place was fairly empty on Friday as well: when I fly out to congresses on Friday nights, I usually waltz in after 12. Promise me a mere hour on the dance floor and I would start thinking about taking the cheaper Saturday morning flight.
3. Size - Small. And yet somehow there were so many women that it was difficult to get hold of regulars in the usual relaxed SOS fashion. Large enough to dance with new people every night, small enough to dance with your favourites three nights in a row. Felt smaller because of the London contingent - knowing everyone and knowing everyone's level from the outset doesn't exactly help a party feel like it's sprawling...
4. After parties - No such thing - but we had an impromptu tea and biscuits session at my house at 4am on Saturday. Good times!

 4.  Line-up

1. Quality of teaching - Good. Juan Matos, Tamambo and Ania, Leon Rose, Majusee and a bunch of others with less caché. Unfortunately Anmeris couldn't make it.
2. Choice of workshops - Small since there were only a couple of hours on Friday and a full day on Sunday. I did the workshops during the previous years' events. In 2009, I found a couple to be reasonably useful; in 2010 I only really connected with Juan Matos' footwork class at the end (epic!). Last year, I generally found the level in the partnerwork classes to be pitched too low (for me anyway), which is why I decided not to do the workshops this year.
3. Number of shows - Not too many. Three on Friday and Sunday and a full set on Saturday. Only Leon's new show, Majusee's show and a show by Gigi & Gigi, these two amazing Italian dancers got my attention. For the rest of them, I spent most of my time wondering if the DJ might be playing the music too fast because all the artists looked like they were struggling to keep up. I'm not generally a fan of shows, and am not often impressed, and was thus pretty non-plussed by these. Leon's new show is worth travelling for though!
4. Artists on dance floor - Yup. But they were mostly what I refer to as B-artists. So no fear factor in asking them to dance, no real queues obstructing you from doing so and high quality social dancing from the fact that they haven't yet burnt out!
5. DJs (new category) - Hmm…Won't quote their names as was frankly disappointed. Never felt: "OMG, I have to dance" and was shocked every time they "mixed" songs - who does that? Apparently, this was the same guy I was moaning about in Salsorro…Just when the music started getting good, he would play a bachata or kizomba, thereby breaking the vibe. He also played a fair amount of Cuban tracks, which is incredibly strange to hear on an SOS dance floor. Trying to please everyone is fine, but didn't he get the brief about SOS being 100% cross-body dancers? Note that I've added the DJ category in this review. When happy with the music, I don't feel the need to comment on it!
6. Bands (new category) - None. But then SOS is a social and a cost effective one at that, so fully understandable.

5.  Location

1. Centralised - Zone 1 - need I say more?
2. Distance from airport - 50 minutes on the tube.
3. Time from London - It's in London - Joy!
4. Number of days off work - None necessary. None necessary for anyone from Paris either.

For more information check out the website: SOS website

On the "salsa-lens"

The Salsa Community, just like any microcosm of society, has its fair share of interesting personalities. However, those characteristics that make people stand out in the world at large, are not always the same as those which would make you notice or remember someone outside of the Salsa Community. Let's use the term "salsa-lens" to describe the coloured glasses that taint our vision on the dance floor. Note that the "salsa-lens" opinion of people is not necessarily a negative opinion, simply a slightly warped opinion formed following interactions that are primarily non-verbal or indirect.

What you first learn about most people on the dance floor relates to how they dress, how they move, the attitudes they appear to have and of course, what other people say about them. Indeed, before dancing with someone, you're unlikely to sit them down for a drink, ask their name, age, address, occupation and marital status. Instead, you might watch them for a dance, or even just a few bars, make a snap decision or ask a friend what they think. Then you'll take the plunge and ask them to dance. Your first encounter, other than a few seldom spoken introductions, will be played out on the dance floor, while your partner tests to see whether you can execute a cross-body, single right hand turn and while you attempt to adjust to his lead and follow gracefully. It's a dance, in more ways than one: these first bars are the ones where you start building a connection with your partner. They will be crucial to your joint enjoyment of the dance and in determining too whether there will be any more such occasions.

So how does the "salsa-lens" provide a distorted vision of reality?

Clothes

I know women for whom salsa is not just a dance, but an occasion. More importantly, it's an occasion to dress up. Forgetting for a moment the modern day fashions for short and glitzy dresses, if you're going out dancing, you're going out to a party and will be forgiven for thinking that you should dress the part. What is the part exactly? That's up to you. I have girlfriends who have whole wardrobes of "salsa outfits". These might be short dresses and skirts, tops that display their middrifts, or materials with colourful patterns that look mildly tropical. Or they might simply be t-shirts that don't fall off, colours that don't display sweat marks, skirts that don't spin upwards, clothes that are essentially at the height of the comfort scale. Whatever the person's choice of dance floor attire, this may not be any indication of habits in the outside world and may simply be part of their chosen "salsa style".

How many salsa men make a habit of attending non-salsa parties with waistcoats and (bow) ties? And yet, somehow, this has become the mark of a confident and (usually) able male congress dancer. The same goes for those who chose to wear hats.

The "salsa-lens" thus provides a distorted view. Not only might the person take on a whole new persona on the dance floor, as portrayed by their clothing, but you might find that you buy-in to it - men may gladly dance with women in short skirts, merely for the sake of the skirt and women may find themselves drawn to men in hats (ok, so maybe that's just me?!). Clearly what you wear has some influence on who you dance with, so surely it influences our wider opinions of people on top of our readiness to accept a pending dance proposal?

　

Movement

Most people will acknowledge that your clothes only really contribute to the first impression you give to others. Talk to experienced dancers and you will find that they do not feel the need to dress up at their local social - everyone knows how they dance so their clothes will have very little to do with the partners they dance with. However, move them to a congress environment or a foreign salsa scene, where they know fewer people and they will explain that they feel the importance of wearing something a little more formal in order to get noticed, asked to dance or simply to decrease the risk of being turned down.

How you move on the dance floor is much more important to members of the Salsa Community. Your sense of timing, your dance style, your musicality, your ability to follow or lead smoothly will all be things a potential partner will be looking out for before and after they have asked you dance.

Moreover, you will be perceived as a function of these qualities. If all you know about a person is that they are a stubborn follower with excessive arm tension, the odds are that you will assume that they are pretty stubborn and independent-minded in real life! Luckily, more information that this can be gleaned when looking through the "salsa-lens", but the point remains - personalities can easily be extrapolated from relatively limited information garnered on the dance floor.

　

Attitudes

The same goes for attitudes. Confidence is key to how others perceive you. How focused are you when you dance? Do your eyes light up, or do you accidentally scowl when you concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other? As a newbie, I think I used to concentrate so hard that I forgot to smile - people often had to remind me to do so! Looking overly concentrated or even bored while dancing is not something you want your partner to notice!

Other attitudes are important too. How does he turn you down when you ask him for a dance? How graciously does he accept your request to dance with him? Does he follow you around the floor like a puppy/stalker? Does he invade your personal space, despite the fact that you are turning your body away in a clear non-verbal expression of disinterest? Does he interrupt your conversations? Does he ask you to dance again once he's turned you down? Does he accept someone else's request to dance after having turned you down? Does he dance with you and for you, or does he dance for a real or imaginary crowd?

Take this last question. I love dancing with natural born performers. These are people who want to show off, who strive to be good enough to be able to perform on the dance floor, even if it's solely for the benefit of themselves and their partner. These natural born exhibitionists are confident in their abilities and unafraid to take risks with the music when the fancy takes them. However, whether or not they have actual stage experience, this can be taken too far. I cannot bear dancing with the most amazing dancer and being forced to acknowledge that I am little more than an ornament on his arm. Even worse are those dances, when you're dancing with said amazing dancer, where there's no crowd to be seen and yet where you can feel that he's looking over your shoulder for sources of attention. If there's no one there, why isn't he looking at me?

Key attitudes observed via the "salsa-lens" appear to be linked to manners, confidence and of course general dodginess. I would hasard to suggest that these attitudes are amplified on the dance floor, even if this is only because of how easy they are to perceive in this environment. But is a creepy man any less so when removed from the salsa environment? Do salsa divas become shy when they take their dance shoes off?

Recommendations

What we know about people in the salsa community also depends on what our friends or other addicts have told us. I've already written a post on the importance of networking on the dance floor, which tells of the positive effects of spreading knowledge of good leaders. Note also that any negative opinions are likely to be shared as well. Comments like "be warned, he might break your back" are unfortunately common. Comments about B.O., leading technique, timing are also welcome when considering a potential partner. Comments shared about extra-salsa activities may also influence your opinions of other Salsa Community dwellers. I'd encourage you to keep an open mind though, sometimes jewels get dismissed and a whole community fails to experience the joys of dancing with a visiting salsa dancer.

Sometimes of course, you should listen to your friends. I neglected to do so last Sunday at my own peril. I was having a bad night and accepted a dance from someone I had repeatedly been warned off. It was actually quite laughable how many things he had going against him. In fact, I'm struggling to find anything good to say about the guy. To list a few: he almost broke my arm, several times; he couldn't do a basic step; he had no sense of timing; he strung along moves that he could not lead and tried repeatedly telling me where I should put my arm or hand in order to help him complete the move he had in mind; he didn't appear to have any leading technique at all; he didn't appear to even remotely be listening to the music; he never even bothered to look at me, smile at me or even look remotely like he was enjoying the dance! I've never used all of these points to characterise a single dancer and halfway through the song, when I'd figured out that trying to follow didn't make sense if he wasn't trying to lead, I rather wanted to burst out laughing.

This guy seemed so uninterested in me as his dance partner or in building any form of temporary connection with me or the music, that I was left baffled! Suffice to say, I think I may listen to the recommendations of my friends next time and accept that however much the "salsa-lens" twists reality between the real world and the dance floor, friendly recommendations from under the microscope apply to the environment being studied!

　

So how does the "salsa-lens" provide a different view than that gleaned off the dance floor? I've found that in most other environments, the first question people ask you when you meet relates to your job. On the dance floor instead, fellow community dwellers want to know how long you've been dancing, not what you do with the rest of your time. How much you earn is of little importance, but your passion, style and musicality are key. Earning power is supplanted by dancing ability. Personally, I like to hide behind the "salsa-lens". Dancing is a hobby for me and as such, I like to keep it separate from my working life. Not talking about work while out dancing is in large part responsible for the fact that I love my hobby so much - it's escapism at its best!

So sure, you might get misjudged under the "salsa-lens", but this might happen off the dance floor as well. The point is that you get the chance in the Salsa Community to prove yourself on a different basis and build your network based on the image you chose to project (or accidentally project) while on or near the dance floor. If you work at it, you will improve - it's like a mini version of the American Dream!

On social dancing in Paris - The parties

In my last post I explained the attraction of the Paris salsa scene, but I didn't comment on it. Here I will try to provide a short review of the salsa events I went to while there, such that anyone who is going to Paris might get a better idea of what to expect while there.

Phil & Madj

This party happens about once a month, on Fridays, in the 15th arrondissement. For those who don't know Paris too well, the location is central enough to be within easy reach of cars and motorbikes, with access to night buses when the party's over. However, note that while within Paris, it is not the most central or accessible of locations either. Getting there is fine, getting back might take a little while longer! We took three different night buses, with the crowds becoming positively rowdy towards the end of our journey. In total, the journey home took about an hour and was enjoyable because of the company, but as a regular Paris dancer, you might be excused for springing for a cab!

The music was excellent. Because of the residential nature of the area, it is not played too loudly. Some have complained that the sound is too low, but personally, I found it refreshing to be able to converse without shouting or leaning into someone's ear. Moreover, the music is loud enough to mute out the sound of feet and heavy breathing so it was fine. The music choice was fantastic, there's really nothing to say, it was an on2 dancer's sound paradise.

The dancers were excellent. Known for being the lair of Paris' on2 snobs, I felt right at home from the moment I walked in! The dancers obviously weren't snobby at all vis a vis yours truly, but then I did know a good few dancers there and was introduced to a few more by my friends. I was actually trying not to dance too much at the beginning because I was freakishly tired from the Eurostar journey and a couple of intense days at work. I was not allowed that much respite though and had all the stress of the week danced out of me instead!

The smell was slightly troubling. The room smelled of damp clothes - you know when you wash clothes and they don't dry properly? That's what the whole place smelled of.

The floor was perfect - rather like a gym linoleum floor but less sticky. Not the prettiest of sights and not the perfect wooden floor of your dreams, but highly satisfactory.

Free water at the bar and one drink included within the entry price as well.

Overall, I would highly recommend Phil & Madj to any on2 dancer visiting Paris. If you don't dance on2, unless you really want to stand and watch others dance all night and be inspired, I wouldn't bother going. I can't recall anyone dancing on1 and I didn't see any beginners around. All the dancers were top notch. In fact, I think it was the largest group of great dancers that I've ever seen outside of a congress. Seriously nothing to complain about, other than the fact that I was completely exhausted when I got there, that it took me over an hour to wake up (dancing heals, but sometimes it's not as fast as you'd like) and that it ended at 2am! Such a party should really last a couple of hours longer!

Festival de Palaiseau

In Paris, just like in London, there is no regular (read: brilliant) night on Saturdays. This is because venues are more expensive to book on weekends and there is a more lucrative pool of heavy drinkers for clubs to tap. The answer is to leave the city center or find something else to do.

On the weekend we were in Paris, there were a few things on in the 'burbs - the Festival de Palaiseau, a one-day festival with workshops, shows and party and Le Moving de Thiais, a regular Saturday night party at approximately the same distance. Having canvassed the social scene, we opted for the former on the basis that it might have more of the Parisian talent we were seeking.

While we obviously had an amazing time (highlights include me driving a car for the first time in 6 years and driving round a roundabout 3 times in a row for kicks), the party really wasn't up to much. The floor was an ice rink, the crowd was mostly Cuban and the music, albeit chosen by a well recognised Parisian DJ, was mixed to please everyone and thereby please only a few. There was way too much bachata, kizomba and Cuban to my taste and there was also a couple of instances of "crowd motivation" that I could have done without (i.e. when the organisers intervene and make everyone line dance in order to be inclusive or democratic). Moreover, the party ended at 3am, after the DJ had promised us one final cha-cha. Suffice to say, we had to dance our cha-cha without music because of noise restrictions.

Luckily there was a handful of lovely dancers from the Parisian on2 scene to keep me happy. Feeling surrounded by friends as I was, I barely noticed anybody else and had a great time. Had I gone alone and not known these people, my opinion of the party would have probably differed quite a bit.

Barrio Latino

Sunday afternoons at Barrio Latino are well-recognised across borders. Any salsa dancer who has been to Paris, has been to this event. If they didn't make it, it was probably not for want of trying. If you're going, make this an obligatory pit stop.

The concept of dancing in the afternoon, without having to dress up or deal with pseudo-alcoholics is brilliant.

The venue is gorgeous - beautiful couches, a central staircase and colour everywhere. Lots of nooks and crannies to make it interesting. The only issue is that there really isn't enough space for all the dancers. To be honest though, if you pick the right people, space will never really be a problem as I found that my dance partners did a great job of protecting me from stray heels…Potential danger everywhere though, so beware if you're skittish!

The music was amazing. DJ Willy ("the Viper") probably even out-DJ'd Phil & Madj from Friday night. Give this guy some decent dancers and he really does pull out all the stops.

The crowd - Well everyone in the Paris cross-body scene goes to Barrio Latino. This is one place where you really do need to understand the geography of the dance floor as the quality of your afternoon will depend on where you choose to stand and which dance partners you elect to dance with. I last went to Barrio Latino two years ago and spent an hour mapping the place - suffice to say, there was an hour of some dodginess before things improved! This time though, I had a wonderful regular as a side kick and my past experience on my side. Not to mention the countless French dancers I have got to know since then. So for me at least, the dancing at Barrio Latino was amazing - such joy and happiness, it was really a wonderful way to spend an early Sunday evening and I definitely regretted that the music came to an end, despite being in serious need of a caffeinated beverage!

The location is perfect - really central, very easy of access via metro.

Water? Who knows, I didn't stop dancing for long enough to grab a drink!

Floor - You know the wood sprung floor of your dreams? Yup, that's what they have here…The floor on the side lines isn't so bad either.

All I can say is I walked in excited and I walked out happy. What more can you ask for?

O'Sullivans

After Barrio Latino we headed for a lovely dinner in the Bastille district, joined by a whole host of dancers, including some who were going to be heading off to kizomba afterwards and others who were too tired to dance anymore. I should have been included in the latter category, but I'd elected to stay till Monday morning precisely because I wanted to go to Sully's so giving up and going to bed was simply not an option.

Dinner was lovely - typical French restaurant - it didn't look like anything special but the food was amazing. Just what I needed. Any table of 20+ salsaholics always makes for good company, so it was pretty lively. As with most of the weekend, those present were mostly international or French Morrocans - it seems that these guys have taken the Paris salsa scene by storm and made it theirs…We should definitely encourage more of them to set up shop in London!

The trip on the metro to Sully's took about half an hour. Sully's is in Pigalle, in the North of Paris, so conveniently located for us, given where my friend was housing us, but slightly dodgy by Paris standards. We were fine with the 20 minute walk home though, so nothing to worry about.

O'Sullivans is your typical Irish pub. So typical that they have them everywhere. This one is special though: a student bar at the front and a special hidden room at the back for dancing. The bar in the salsa room wasn't open but they generously served water in the main bar and you got a free drink with your entry ticket as well. None of the drunk bar people were allowed to enter the salsa room because the ticket payment desk acted as a barrier. The worst they could do was stand at the door and look in.

The floor was good - nothing special, but nothing bad either.

The space was large - at least, it felt really spacious compared to Barrio Latino and there was room enough to dance big if you wanted to.

The music was fantastic - not too commercial, not too much bachata and generally a great mix. I personally preferred the music at Barrio, but there was still nothing to complain about.

They had a show - nothing really impressive, but a good break in the dancing!

The crowd was great, but it felt a little quiet to me. Somehow, at SOS I get to the end of the three hours of dancing and am disappointed to find there is still a long list of people that I have not managed to dance with. Sully's has the benefit of going past 1am so you can happily dance past 2 in the morning to get your fill. I also blame the fact that I'd been dancing all weekend - I'd already danced with most people more than once and so felt that the crowd was a little thin because I recognised everyone. But that's just tiredness talking. The dancers were great, the mood was wonderful and while I didn't make many major dancer-discoveries, I had some amazing dances with all of those present. And it didn't occur to me to even think about leaving before 1:30am so it must have been good!