Becoming a Salsero

Last weekend I went to the Summer Salsa Congress in Brussels.

It was a beautiful weekend.
The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky and, there was no air conditioning in the rooms ! To say it was hot was an understatement (one of the instructors welcomed us to the 'Bachata Sauna').

Aside from that there was a bit of confusion as to where the rooms were (they were spread out in a huge sport center) but that only lasted a short while.

The classes themselves, at least the ones I took, were great.

Edie's timing/musicality workship was just as I remembered it but it was a lot of fun to see it again. And, as I still have trouble with my timing (although I now know it has improved a lot), it was very helpful.

Johnny Vasquez's workshop was high energy and slightly above my level. That said, I was able to come along. What I particularly liked was that he taught elements he also used in his show at night so we got to see what it looks like when he danced it.

Gerald Fraay (http://salsipuedes.nl/) is a very patient instructor as is Cissy Janssens who was helping him. His workshop was relaxed (it was the first one of the day) but still challenging enough for everybody in there. It was great to see how easily he adjusted to the level of the group.

Manuel Mascarel's Bachata Sexy & Hot Moves was hot alright.
As I mentioned before, he welcomed us to the 'Bachata Sauna'. Even sitting down we were sweating. I'm sure that everybody who attended this workshop lost weight last weekend.

Aside from the heat this class was a lot of fun. He's an entertaining instructor with an incredibly clear voice (apparently he's also an opera singer) and I like his philosophy of changing partners as often as possible. I find it helps me improve a lot quicker to have to adjust to different followers all the time.

Another downside of this workshop was that it was packed!

What is it with congress organizers?
Whenever I've been somewhere Bachata is always one of the most popular workshops. However, for some reason it is always scheduled in one of the smaller rooms. Hopefully this is something that will change going forward.

As I was helping Edie at her booth I also spent a lot of time talking to her.
We spoke about everything (and I mean everything. Diet, cars, politics, dancing, instructors, etc) and I think this was the most valuable part of the weekend for me.
It was great to hear her point of view, especially on dancing.

For instance, I'm still very much intimidated by social dancing. The level of the other dancers is often so high that I feel my partner will be disappointed after dancing with me.
Be that as it may, as Edie pointed out, she will be a lot more disappointed if she sits around all night and never even gets a chance to dance.

Something I'll have to keep in mind.