Friday, December 4th – OUTING TO PLAZA FLAMINGO – (423 College St) – OPEN TO EVERYONE! Beginner and intermediate lesson available from 9:30 – 10:30pm. Cover is $10 and includes lessons. 200 people expected.

Saturday, December 19th – OUTING TO ACROBAT LOUNGE- (2464 Yonge St just North of Eglinton) – OPEN TO EVERYONE! Beginner and intermediate lesson available from 9:00 to 10:00pm. Cover is $10 and includes lessons. 250ppl expected.

Thursday, December 31st – NEW YEAR’s EVE BLACK & WHITE PARTY AT ACROBAT LOUNGE- (2464 Yonge St just North of Eglinton) – OPEN TO EVERYONE! Special evening filled with lessons, performances, give-away and more. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased through Acrobat on Friday evenings or buy calling Acrobat at 416-489-1105. Only 230 tickets available!

Socials for December: Sunday Dec 6th, 13th, 20th from 6-9pm at Empress

The post Upcoming Outings and Socials for December appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

The outings that are coming up are no exception. Here they are for the next two months:

1) Saturday April 18th at 9pm – Acrobat Lounge at 2464 Yonge Street (N of Eglinton)
2) Sunday April 19th from 6-9pm – Sunday Social at Empress (only social in April)
3) Sunday April 26th at 7pm – TDS Amateur Competition Preliminaries at Six Degrees
4) Saturday May 9th at 9:45pm – Peridot Lounge at 81 Bloor St E (at Yonge)
5) Sunday May 31st at 7pm – TDS Amateur Competition Finals at Six Degrees

We will keep you informed of any other events we hold. Please note there are no socials on long weekends (Easter Sunday April 12th) and no socials on the competition evenings.

There are also no classes on Easter Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. There are classes on as usual on Saturday April 11th.

See you at the next outing!

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It was an awesome evening with almost 50 people participating in the festivities. We began at 5:30pm with a big potluck. The tables were overflowing with amazing food from around the world and the group was able to catch up after the summer and meet new members of the group.

At 6:30pm we began the training and brainstorming portion of the evening to discuss helper duties, responsibilities, feedback and ideas. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and participation.

It was at this point that I announced our new initiative: Helper of the Semester. We will be choosing a Helper of the Semester quarterly to recognize their contributions. Our first Helper of the Semester for the summer quarter is David Charing! Tomorrow I will write about David’s contributions so you will all know why we chose him but don’t forget to congratulate Dave when you see him in class or at the socials/outings.

At 7:30pm we began our 2 hour Casino Rueda workshop with Bong Gonzalez. This was a blast. We formed a giant casino wheel and traded partners with ease after a brief introduction to the mechanics of the dance. The mistakes were hilarious and it was really a memorable workshop.

We finished the evening off with desserts and dancing until almost midnight. Overall a great evenings. It was great to see everyone after the summer and I can’t wait to hold the recognition evening for the summer helpers at the end of the month!

The post Helper Get Together appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

The first is the amount of people. We need a venue where at least 250 people can dance comfortably. That is no small feat. Most clubs can fit 250 people but not for salsa dancing. Much more space is needed for dancing and the floors have to allow for our type of dancing (hardwood is the best for this).

Second of all, we need it to be TTC accessible. Preferably on the subway or street car with street parking in the area. We want to keep it in Toronto or North York for this reason as it is much more central and more people can attend.

Third of all, we need a place that can offer us a Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening. Most places don’t want to do this as salsa dancers don’t spend a lot of money at the bar and so they make more money on regular club nights then salsa evenings. We need a club or restaurant or community centre/church with reasonable expectations that can offer us space on one of these evenings.

If you know of a place, please let us know. We would love to expand to a few more areas especially in mid town.

Happy dancing!

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Emely and Michel taught the absolute beginners lesson. Rob and Velina taught the level 1 class and Evan and I taught the intermediate class. As usual everyone rose to the occasion regardless of the difficulty of the turn pattern.

The highlight of the evening was the Helper Performance Group’s choreographed routine. Caryl held a class in the fall for helpers only which focused on learning an intricate choreographed routine with the end goal of performing the routine. 5 couples debuted the performance in the iFreestyle Holiday Party on Dec 9th with great success. The other couples (6 in total) performed at Plaza at 11pm during the outing and it was a great performance. The choreography was excellent (gooooo Caryl!) and you can see the work put in by the performers. Here is a list of the couples that performed on both evenings:

iFreestyle Holiday Party
Nina and Tyrone
Velina and Alfred
Anna-Marie and John
Ildi and Manuel
Stella and Barry

Plaza Flamingo Holiday Party
Carolina and Mark
Kelly and Khemara
Stella and George
Pansy and Alex
Karina and Barry
David and Katie

We were very lucky to have plenty of photographers in the house. Shawn Jamali is a professional photographer and was interested in capturing dancers in motion. Avijit Bandyopadhyay who is a former TDS student, also wanted to capture the event. Caryl video-taped the performance and took plenty of photos. As soon as we get them all we will post them for you all to view.

Evan and I wanted to thank Caryl and everyone who participated in our Wedding Dance. Evan and I were married in St. Thomas 3 weeks ago and Caryl surprised us with a wedding dance after the performance…very similar to a birthday dance except both of us got a chance to dance with other partners. It was a lot of fun so thank you again for thinking of us and participating!

All the couples will be performing again at our first Montana’s outing at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. We will announce the date soon!

The post Dec 28th Outing To Plaza Flamingo appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

They have added cover for men on Wednesdays now. It is $5 and includes coat check which is still a great price but it is good for everyone to know. We didn’t have cash on us and had to go back to the car in the sleet to grab some. Not sure if this is a permanent change but bring extra cash on Wednesdays gentlemen!

I danced for about 1 and a half hours. I am usually busy dancing with friends and very rarely now get asked to dance by people I don’t know but last night I had two new dances as well as a dance with one of my level 4 students and helper, Ozzy. I was just passing by when I heard him say to Sara, one of my instructors, that he was definitely not going to dance with me – one instructor was enough for the evening. So of course we had to dance after that comment 😉 Great job, Ozzy!

I also danced with Evan, Rob, Tawfiq and Angus…all great dancers. I can’t believe how good everyone is getting. Evan has a great trick he does before he goes out on Wednesdays. He looks through our videos of salsa moves or even YouTube for new moves and memorizes one new move and tries to practice it that night so it will be incorporated into his regular repertoire. Works very well!

We saw tons of Toronto Dance Salsa students around so come out on Wednesdays and practice your salsa!

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Below is an excerpt that is useful on any dance floor that may help you get more dances!

“THE GEOGRAPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY OF THE DANCE FLOOR

Let’s face it, all people are not the same. Different people are different. And different people dance differently. Furthermore, these different dancers often dance in different areas of the dance floor. It’s just human nature. Generally, there are areas with beginners, other areas with intermediate dancers, and still other areas with the hot shots. There are even little sub-areas within these main areas. It’s not a rule, but it just sort of happens that way, naturally. It’s like a cafeteria: you eat what you want, when you want, and you sit where you want, with who you want. On the dance floor, everyone can make their own choice of how good they want to get, who they want to dance with, and where they want to dance on the dance floor, and often it breaks down according to ability level and friends.

Now, sometimes I’ve noticed beginner and intermediate dancers spending hours standing or sitting in the area where all the top dancers are dancing, and they’re complaining that no one will dance with them, and that the good dancers are stuck-up. This is not a constructive or helpful approach. Here’s a better strategy: As I mentioned above, most people usually want to dance at their own level. While it’s great, as we’re working up, to spend a little time watching excellent dancers in order to admire them, or be inspired, or to learn new moves and style, it’s not realistic to be expecting more than a very occasional dance over in that section of the dance floor, until you dance very well.

If we really want to get lots of dancing practice, our best strategy is to spend most of our time in the areas where dancers at our own level are dancing. Complaining doesn’t help; taking action does help. Eddie Torres used to tell us: “When you go to a club or social, don’t dance right away. First, walk around and see who can dance ON 2, and who dances at your level, or maybe a little bit above your level, and where they’re hanging out. Then spend most of your time dancing mostly with them. That way, you get the most dancing practice, meet new partners, and have the most fun.” It’s the geography and psychology of the dance floor, and the sooner you learn it the sooner you’ll have great evenings dancing.”

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I wish the Mambo routines were more authentic but they usually don’t even use Latin music. Below are two routines.

The first is Marie Osmond dancing Mambo. Obviously the technique is not there and her dancing is not as strong as some of the others but I preferred this routine simply because they used a Latin song

Now check out Mark Cuban who had a stronger routine but they did it to Nelly’s Rap Song…the feeling is completely changed and it doesn’t even look like Mambo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT99I6pufe8

I wish the music was more authentic because there is so much more energy to it. Anyone have any opinions about this or has any opinions as to who will win??

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Press Release

For Immediate Publication
Contact: Blanca Lasalle
Creative Link Inc.
212.684.6001 ext. 101
blanca@creativelinkny.com

World Salsa Athletes Compete at Disney
Dancers from 40 countries will dance-off for the title of World Salsa Championship

New York, NY – September 27, 2007 – This December, athletes from over 40 countries will convene at Walt Disney World to dance-off for the title of World Salsa Champion. Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, located at Walt Disney World Resort©, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., will be the host site for the Third World Salsa Championships from December 12 through 16. The competition will be broadcast by ESPN International and Transworld International, under the direction of noted producer Rob Beiner, winner of 12 EMMY awards.

“We are thrilled to be hosting an international event of this magnitude that also delivers world-class entertainment,” said Nancy Gidusko, director of Walt Disney World Minority Business Development. “Not to mention, our alliances with international organizations allow us to showcase Central Florida to multicultural businesses that will impact the region’s economy.”

Hailed as the Olympics of Salsa dancing, the World Salsa Championship gathers the winning couples and groups from different salsa competitions from Australia, Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Holland, Hong-Kong, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Peru, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, UAE, United States, Puerto Rico and Venezuela to defend their titles in their respective divisions.

The four main divisions dominating this enclave of professional athletic-dancers are those of the LA style “On 1” emphasizing the first beat of the music; the NY style “On 2” emphasizing the second beat of the music; “Cabaret” which combines Salsa dancing with tricks, cartwheels, and flips; and “Team” where 6 or more dancers, up to 20 at once, perform at the same time.

Cultivating this worldwide Salsa dance movement is Salsa connoisseur Albert Torres who has managed to create a world dance championship with a culminating event for professional and amateurs alike.

The Third Annual World Salsa Championship will pay tribute to the legendary Palladium Days including rhythms and music of The Big Three Orchestras in three consecutive evenings (playing Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito) and culminating with a tribute to the FANIA All Star. The Grand Opening will feature music by the legendary group El Gran Combo, nominated to the 2007 Latin Grammy edition.

About the World Salsa Championship and Salsa Seven Salsa Championship was organized by a group of salsa lovers under the leadership of salsa celebrity Albert Torres. The “Salsa Seven” group is committed to producing the most memorable music and dance event in the history of salsa. Salsa Seven is deeply committed to educating the public about this wonderful Latin rhythm we call salsa. Other members of the Salsa Seven Inc. include salsa promoters Leo Tizol and Willie Torres.

About Rob Beiner.
Beiner has produced or directed more than 2,000 live, cable or pay-per-view sports and entertainment broadcasts in leading television networks, such as ABC Sports, CBS, NBC Sports, USA Network and ESPN. His successful career as producer and director includes broadcasts of seven Olympic Games, important boxing championships such as the Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield match, NCAA basketball and football games, Comedy Central and the Kentucky Derby.

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Many students want to get some extra practice so here are so places to go salsa dancing:

1) Toronto Dance Salsa Practice Session – every Monday beginning October 29th there will be an hour practice session at the Adelaide Club (Bay & Adelaide) where an instructor and several helpers will be around to dance, ask questions, catch up on a missed class, etc. Only $4 for the hour!

2) Toronto Dance Salsa Outings – every two weeks on different weekend evenings we take all our students out to local salsa clubs. We have a workshop for an hour where we teach you cool new turnpatterns and then everyone social dances. What is great is that the crowd is all students so you feel comfortable and not intimidated. Our first outing is this Sunday, Sept 30th at 7pm at Montana Lounge.

3) Toronto Salsa Practice Session – this is not a Toronto Dance Salsa event but we highly recommend it. On Saturdays at Trinity Church downtown there is a big practice session – it is cheap and fun and purely for practice and enjoyment: torontosalsapractice.com

4) At any of our great salsa clubs – my favourite club is Babaluus in Yorkville but don’t go on Friday or Saturday as it is too packed. Sunday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are a better option. Check out the list of clubs available by clicking here.

5) At home! You can grab one of our level 1 DVDs and practice at home on your own or with a friend.

Hope this helps…get out and dance!

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