Touted
as the "Greatest Salsa Event in Northern Europe",
I can honestly tell you that THEY WEREN'T KIDDING!
What
do you get when you put a bunch of Cuban style
dancers together with the Legendary Palladium Champion of yesteryear,
Cuban
Pete, and some awesome New York
and Los Angeles style dancers from all over
the world?
Imagine
this: NO ARGUMENTS, just an amazing amount of fun and energy!
OK, well, admittedly, there were afew dozen
heated conversations regarding dancing on one or dancing on
two, and even one daring person who suggested that we dance
on seven-and-a-half, but in the end,
we all had a phenomenally great time!
Our
flight from Miami to Oslo included an 8.5 hour layover in London,
so my son, Pablo and I hopped on the Underground
and went from Heathrow to Picadilly Circus to meet with our
Local SalsaPower Correspondent in London, Angela
Johnson and her nephew, Aaron. Let
me assure you that there is more salsa in London
than in Miami,
and if you want to know where it is happening, ask Angela!
We
did a quick mini-tour of the city, had lunch in a Victorian pub,
checked out a tourist souvenir shop (where Pablo tried on a Bobby
hat!), and then jumped on the Tube back out to Heathrow to catch
our flight to Oslo.
To
my surprise, upon our arrival in Oslo a week before the Congress,
the organizers, Reyza and Karina,
asked me if I would be Master of Ceremonies!
Having spent the last year as a member of Davie
Toastmasters, the local affiliate of Toastmasters
International, and having obtained my Advanced
Toastmaster Bronze and Competent Leader certifications
a few months ago, I felt honored to accept the challenge!
Pablo
and I arrived early to spend time with my good friend, Celsa,
her beautiful daughters, Francisca and Lucía,
and her wonderful son, Israel. They were fantastic
hosts! They took us to see the Olympic high-jump ski area, and
a Viking castle called Frognerseteren, with dragons on the roof
and a view of the city and bay below.
Then
they took us to Frognerparken, a beautiful city park with many
sculptures from the famous Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland.
The
next day Lucía took us on a boat ride to visit the ruins
of a monk cloister on an island called HovedØya.
These ruins date back to 1,100 A.D.!
Another
day Lucia took us to see the Viking museum! She was the best
tour guide! A special thank you for all the time she spent with
us showing us around Oslo!
We even got to see a huge military parade where the King and
Queen of Norway received the President and First Lady of Poland!
During
my week in Oslo, I got to visit the three main salsa clubs there.
It was during one of those visits that I had an extremely wonderful
surprise. I had just made an announcement reminding everyone
about the Congress that upcoming weekend when across the dance
floor walked a curly-haired man with a sly glint in his eye.
He looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I knew him
from until he said, "Jacira, it's me, Santo, your Correspondent
from Sicily!"
That
was the absolute best surprise I had
had in a very, very long time! I couldn't stop smiling!
Like many other SalsaPower correspondents,
we had developed a friendship via e-mail and he was one of my
first correspondents back when we started SalsaPower,
so it was very special indeed to finally get to meet him and
a true pleasure to share that evening (and the Saturday gala
evening) dancing with him! Un bacione per te, Santo!
Spero vedderte pronto!
Friday
afternoon was spent getting settled into the beautiful Arena
Hotel in Lillestrøm. All of the workshops, meals
and evening parties were held in this gorgeous venue. The morning
after we left, they were to receive the King of Norway! Wolfgang,
the Hotel Manager, runs a tight ship!
After
unpacking a bit and finding my music, I went downstairs to teach
the first of five workshops I gave during the Congress. We had
a lovely buffet dinner and then got ready for an evening of
great dancing.
The
DJs were fantastic, even playing some Cuban Rumba, and there
were a couple of Rumberos in Oslo who showed us the right way
to dance Rumba!
Later
that evening we had live music, thanks to Hanny, a Cuban living
in the UK. Last year Hanny's manager, Rose, sent me his latest
CD. I did not review it on SalsaPower, even
though the original material on the CD was excellent, because
someone had decided to save money by using synthesized rhythm
tracks. At the time I wrote back to Rose and told her I thought
Hanny had great potential, but that the synthesized rhythm tracks
were a big mistake. I still think so.
I
think they ought to remaster the CD with live musicians playing
percussion. At the concert Friday night during the congress,
the live band played very well and was well received by the
audience. The music they played was very danceable. Hanny is
definitely better in a live concert than on his recording, but
I still think he needs dance lessons (which, when I offered
to give him a few, he said, "No thank you." Rose,
however, was less than gracious at that suggestion, stating
that I should leave him alone, she likes him like he is - but
then their relationship isn't exclusively professional, so that
explains that comment). Needless to say, the man CAN sing, but
he cannot dance to save his life, and he looked positively discombobulated
bouncing around up there on stage like a monkey in a chinese-style
Paul Revere outfit. It was too bad that the visual detracted
so much from the music, because as long as you were dancing
and not looking at the stage, the music was great!
After
Hanny finished playing, we started the shows. We had three really
great performers that evening: Luis and Joby Vásquez
from Salsa Brava in Los Angeles, Tomás
Guerrero and his lovely partner from Santo
Rico in New York, and Henry Herrera and Zumel
Michel from Salsa Racing in Miami.
As an added surprise, Karina and Reyza filled
in with an impromptu performance while one of the performers
ran back up to their room for the music they had forgotten.
Luis
& Joby Vásquez - Salsa Brava
Tomás
Guerrero & Yahaira Casanova
- Santo Rico
Henry
Herrera & Zumel Michel - Salsa Racing
Reyza
Qullassi Hoepers & Karina Yami Hoepers - Salsa Site
Internationally
renowned artist, Erich
Padilla, came to show some of his artwork of such
salsa greats like Tito Puente and Ray
Barreto, and did some commissioned pieces for the Congress
stage, as well as the event where Cuban Pete
and Barbara Craddock dance-painted their steps
on Padilla's canvas.
The party Friday night went until late, and we all danced to
the point of exhaustion! Some never even made it down to the
party on Friday! Robert
Charlemagne, one of my favorite dance partners, fell
asleep before it even started and we didn't see him until Saturday
morning!
The
late night party made it a bit more difficult to pull ourselves
out of bed the next day! Pablo and I had two more workshops
on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night was the big gala
dinner and awards event, followed by a gala evening of dancing.
Everyone was dressed to the nines and the buffet spread was
scrumptuous!
I
was honored to be chosen as the Master of Ceremonies for this
event and be able to present some of the hottest dancers in the
entire Salsa World!
A special thanks to Reyza "El Rey"
and Karina for organizing this event!
Saturday
night Cuban Pete and Barbara Craddock performed an impromptu
number in Clave to show that anyone and everyone could dance
mambo without all the flips and dips that have become so popularized
by Hollywood.
One
of the shows was a Brazilian Samba number with Karina
Thomas
Guerrero and Yahaira Casanova of Santo Rico from New York wowed
the audience with their Spin Mania routine!
Henry
Herrera and Zumel Michel from Salsa Racing Dance Studios in Miami
were awesome in their Mask routine!
Leon
Rose, Patrick Mussendijk, Luis Vázquez, Jazzy
Some
of the instructors got up on stage and got the entire audience
dancing, following their steps. It was a lot of fun!
And
I finally got my chance to dance with my friend, Robert Charlemagne
from London!
Sunday we had the last two workshops and then the last evening
of festivities. This night was the most fun, with almost all of
the instructors getting up on stage and giving impromptu shows.
Patrick
Mussendijk from Holland checks out Nancy Ortiz's moves from New
York!
Lázaro
Izquierdo Gómez and his lovely partner, Anne, show Robert
Charlemagne, Zumel Michel and David Meléndez how to dance
Afro-Cuban Rumba!
All
of the instructors jumped into the first couple of rows to try
and follow Lázaro's moves... it shows we aren't afraid
to learn new things!
Linda
Burns from Norway had a great hip-hop number.
Jazzy
and Benedicte from Norway showed off their amateur student group....
and there was nothing amateur about them... they were tops! This
is the future of salsa... students need to be encouraged to challenge
themselves and perform! These students did a top-rate job!
Luis
and Joby Vázquez from Salsa Brava Dance Studios in Los
Angeles swept the floor!
...and
Henry Herrera and Zumel Michel showed their flexibility!
We
did a quick mini-tour of the city, had lunch in a Victorian pub,
checked out a tourist souvenir shop (where Pablo tried on a Bobby
hat!), and then jumped on the Tube back out to Heathrow to catch
our flight to Oslo.
The
next day Lucía took us on a boat ride to visit the ruins
of a monk cloister on an island called HovedØya.
These ruins date back to 1,100 A.D.!
During
my week in Oslo, I got to visit the three main salsa clubs there.
It was during one of those visits that I had an extremely wonderful
surprise. I had just made an announcement reminding everyone
about the Congress that upcoming weekend when across the dance
floor walked a curly-haired man with a sly glint in his eye.
He looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I knew him
from until he said, "Jacira, it's me, Santo, your Correspondent
from 
I
think they ought to remaster the CD with live musicians playing
percussion. At the concert Friday night during the congress,
the live band played very well and was well received by the
audience. The music they played was very danceable. Hanny is
definitely better in a live concert than on his recording, but
I still think he needs dance lessons (which, when I offered
to give him a few, he said, "No thank you." Rose,
however, was less than gracious at that suggestion, stating
that I should leave him alone, she likes him like he is - but
then their relationship isn't exclusively professional, so that
explains that comment). Needless to say, the man CAN sing, but
he cannot dance to save his life, and he looked positively discombobulated
bouncing around up there on stage like a monkey in a chinese-style
Paul Revere outfit. It was too bad that the visual detracted
so much from the music, because as long as you were dancing
and not looking at the stage, the music was great!
