Whew...just went to my first Salsa Congress and it was some serious WORK! Eight dance floors packed with people from all around the globe getting their salsa groove on; man, what a site! I had never seen so many beautiful women in one place before. Oops, need to clarify......I had never seen so many beautiful women in one place dancing before (almost forgot my trip to Rio).

For someone just wanting to dance, this was definitely a cool event. Of course, some things about the event didn't sit that well with me; 1. the costs 2. the times for dancing 3. length of performances 4. the style of music played by the DJ's 5. the style of dancing; The L.A. Congress is no joke. I think the "full event pass" was @ $380 which included all morning and afternoon workshops and evening performances and dances. I bought my full event pass in August-September for a discounted price of $200 and you can bet that I was there everyday for everything (smile). 

Not sure how usual this was for Congresses held in other cities, but "dancing time" didn't start until late. If i can recall, the first band would play at @ 9:30 - 10:30 and the second band would play from @ 12:30 - 1:30. There would be DJ's playing after the bands, however it was difficult hearing the music after the first show because it was being drowned out by music coming the 10:30 performances. This event definitely required you to get your rest and to prepare yourself for a long, long evening. 

I guess that it is important to not forget that this event is designed to give local and international performers a chance to compete for a myriad of honors. For people like me "who only wanted to dance", the performances were annoying. Though the organizers tried to time things out, there were still too many "acts" and performances drug on and on and on. Now, folks who enjoyed WATCHING other folks dance wouldn't have this complaint.....but you know me. I'm old school and think that dancing is participatory; it is not something you observe, it is something you do (smile). Because of the number of performers and performances (all good in their own right), the dancing that I was looking forward to doing began later and later and later. In fact, on the last night, I chose to go to a local R&B joint until midnight before returning to the Congress to catch the second set (Puerto Rican Masters) for salsa. 

As I get older and older and more into salsa, I'm becoming very picky about the music that I elect to groove to. A number of the East Coast and International DJ's constantly played what I call "aerobic salsa music". Its that salsa music with the exceptionally fast beat. I mean, it sounds good; its probably a great cardio workout; but, its hard to really groove on. Maybe its my age showing, but give me a cool, mellow, afro-cuban rhythm and I can groove all day. One afternoon while resting at the Congress, I closed my eyes and when I re-opened them, it hit me. This was like being on the set of "FAME" amidst all of the aspiring dance students trying to "professionalize" their craft; they were doing poised, polished, graceful, flowing, syncronized, orchestrated, technically correct salsa. While this form of dance has its own merits, it wasn't the kind of salsa that I had been exposed to by people like Tony "El' Pana", Muneco, Maria Costa, Carey, etc. This was not the kind of salsa (rumba or mambo) that I had seen in the villages outside of Accra and Kumasi in Ghana, West Africa. Where was the rawness, the passion, that animal-like sensuality, and that sexual interplay between man and woman. Where were the movements of the arms, shoulders and waist that were not learned from rehearsals, but were responses and reactions to some spiritual in the music, in the beat of the congas, that struck a cord in your essence.

These are the kinds of things that you really can't learn from a class; sure, they can probably be choreographed, but you can truly tell when they come from the soul. You can tell when someone has spent time REALLY listening to every cord, every rhythm in the music. You can tell when the music taps into and connects with one's life experiences and one's spirituality or relationship with the Higher Being; it is reflected in their every movement. That, to me, is what real salsa is about and unfortunately, it will probably not be found in the "salsa congress scene".

With all this said, the Congress was still quite an experience and I'll probably attend another Congress in another city or international destination. While it may not have been all that I was expecting and it may not have satisfied my spiritual and sexual salsa needs (smile), it was still an awesome and affirming experience. And, the women, WHEW, totally awesome and well worth the price of admission (at least, well worth the discounted price of admission).