What I like about this website is that they have started creating documentaries that you can view online. Their first documentary is about couples competing in the World Salsa Championships. It is an interesting viewing of the lives of serious salsa competitors. I loved seeing Darlin Garcia featured in the documentary. He is a wonderful dancer from Philadelphia and co-founder of Art in Motion. Four or so years ago when I used to attend a lot of congresses he was one of my favourite people to dance with – full of energy and enthusiasm. Glad to see he is so doing so well.

To see a trailer of the documentary, click here. There seems to be many pieces of the video cut into small segments so that they could upload them onto the website. It is very interesting to hear the competitors discussing what it takes to compete. Hopefully any of our students who are interested in competing in our next competition can view it and get some ideas and pointers about the sport.

I will peruse the website in more detail and highlight some of the interviews I enjoyed most.

Enjoy!

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“I rented the movie Mad Hot Ballroom this past weekend and it’s definitely something I think all of you should see.

It’s a 2005 documentary about three New York City public schools learning how to ballroom dance. The film focuses mostly on the fifth graders at P.S. 115 in Washington Heights. The school has a 97% poverty rate. The ballroom dance program is free to the students and at the end of the school sessions, the kids get a chance to compete in the American Ballroom Theater Manhattan dance competition. It’s a huge deal to the kids and one even said “I like dance because everyone is nice regardless of what country they are from”.

The film starts eight weeks before the competition and shows the joys and struggles that the kids face as they make their way to the finals. The kids learn how to dance merengue, foxtrot, swing, tango and the rumba and I was amazed at how well they danced and how much drive and passion they had. It was nice to see under-privileged kids get the opportunity to participate in something as wonderful as dance. One kid said that dancing brought relationships and friendships closer. I think that’s true…I myself found that I’ve made some great friends in my class.

In the film, the male instructor was a positive influence on the students and he himself had said that he wanted the kids to see that men could be dancers too and there was nothing wrong with that. I liked that there were many positive messages in the film…hard work pays off, you can do anything you put your mind to and men and women can be good at the same things. But most of all, the film showcased that dance can be a great distraction…dance can make you happy. No matter what bad things are going on in your life, once you hit the dance floor, your worries tend to fade away. One teacher said that dance isn’t just about physical education, it’s about etiquette, other cultures and life. I couldn’t agree more.

I won’t tell you who won the competition in the end…but I will tell you that there were tears and cheers. Some of the kids who won silver in the quarterfinals didn’t make it to the semis and seeing the kids cry made me so sad. But seeing them persevere and believe in themselves made this movie worth watching. I really think you will all benefit from seeing Mad Hot Ballroom.”

Written by Reshma Ramjattan

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“Hello my Toronto Dance Salsa family!

I checked out the new movie, El Cantante, starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony on the weekend and all I can say is: wow! El Cantante is based on the life of salsa legend Hector Lavoe, played by Marc Anthony. It starts off with Puchi, played by Jennifer Lopez, being interviewed about her life with Lavoe. The story begins in 1963 when Lavoe leaves his native Puerto Rico against his dad’s wishes to pursue a singing career in New York City. Shortly after he arrives there, he meets Puchi, they become smitten with each other and end up getting married and having a child.

The movie is all about Lavoe’s life with Puchi and his rise and fall from stardom. It shows how he got signed with his first record deal and how he became a huge star, teaming up with Willie Colon, then branching off and going solo. It also shows Lavoe’s turbulent relationship behind the scenes with Puchi. Looking on the outside, many of us would think that being a world-renowned singer with lots of money would be a fantastic life to live. But this movie shows you both the wonderful times Lavoe had and the very,very dark times he experienced.

I won’t tell you too much because I really want all of you to go check it out for yourselves. But I don’t recommend that you take your kids to see this movie. There is some sexuality, profanity and many scenes that show drug use. Leon Ichaso directed the film and he did a terrific job, style-wise. He used black and white documentary-type imagery when Puchi was being interviewed about Lavoe’s life, and colour to show the scenes in real time. I liked how the movie progressed with a timeline, showing Lavoe’s life in years leading up to his death. The one thing I didn’t like about the film was that it ended somewhat abruptly. It skipped a block of time in the end and went from an accident that Lavoe survived to text on the screen stating that he died five years after at the age of 46. I would’ve liked to have seen more about the times closer to his death and how Puchi’s life was after Lavoe’s passing.

Overall, I really think you will love this movie. The music is so good, I found myself dancing in my seat and I wanted to go out dancing right after the movie finished! I even caught myself watching Jennifer Lopez’s footwork while she was dancing…can you say I’m a Toronto Dance Salsa student??!!

My fellow dancers, go check out El Cantante, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I’m sure you’ll all really like it. ”

Reshma Ramjattan

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I would love to see dancing become a regular part of the curriculum in our elementary schools. There is so much life lessons that can be learned on the dance floor that I feel kids could benefit from nowadays.

Dancing teaches men and women to communicate verbally and non verbally. It teaches chivalry and manners, things that are somehow missing in today’s world. It sharpens concentration, flexibility, coordination and it keeps kids and adults healthy and in shape.

I highly recommend renting this DVD and seeing all the benefits of dancing for kids and adults alike. Hopefully Canada will someday incorporate dancing into the school system!

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