The band was an all-woman band called Cocomama and they were awesome! The played mostly salsa with some cha cha cha and it was sexy, jazzy and very nice to dance to in the middle of the afternoon. The courtyard was packed although I was surprised that we were one of the only couples dancing. If you are interested in checking out the band website click here.

If you are in New York make sure you get in some salsa/mambo. It is a fabulous experience!

The post My New York Birthday Weekend appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Instead of doing this myself I stumbled upon a great website that lists Latin dance movies by genre…it is an awesome list and spans from 1930 – 2005.

The website is LatinDancePro.com and here is their amazing list:

Tango Films

1972 – Last Tango in Paris
1983 – Tango
1987 – Tango: Our Dance
1988 – Tango Bar
1991 – Danzon
1991 – Naked Tango
1992 – Scent of a Woman
1992 – Tango Argentino
1997 – The Tango Lesson
1998 – Tango: The Obsession
1999 – Tango Passion
2002 – Assassination Tango
2002 – Tango Kabaree
2002 – Tangos Fly
2003 – Assassination Tango
2004 – Chicago
2005 – Shall We Dance

Cha cha cha Films
1934 – Caravan
1955 – Bailando Cha cha cha
1955 – Que lindo Cha cha cha
1956 – Cha-cha-cha-Boom
1957 – Bambalinas
1959 – Girls for the Mambo Bar
Lambada Films
1990 – Lambada
Pachanga Films
1981 – La Pachanga

Mambo/ Salsa Films
1941 – Al Son De La Macumba
1950 – Al Son Del Mambo
1950 – Mambo Madness
1951 – Una Gallega Baila Mambo
1951 – Que Rico El Mambo
1954 – Mambo (Robert Rossen)
1960 – La Dolce Vita
1987 – Dirty Dancing
1988 – Salsa
1992 – Mambo Kings
1998 – Dance With Me
1998 – Mad About Mambo
2000 – Mambo Cafe
2004 – Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Paso Doble Films
1984 – Paso Doble
1993 – Strictly Ballroom

Merengue Films
1995 – Manhattan Merengue

Bolero Films
1934 – Bolero
1949 – La Faraona
1952 – Bolero
1958 – Bolero Immortal
1970 – Bolero de Amor
2002 – Bolero

Samba Films

1933 – Flying Down to Rio
1941 – That Night in Rio
1942 – Springtime in The Rockies
1948 – Samba Mania
1948 – Samba Rhythm
1950 – Nancy Goes to Rio
1960 – Black Orpheus
1965 – Samba
1977 – Beat of The Heart: Samba of Brazil
1979 – Bye Bye Brazil
1980 – Brazil
1982 – Spirit of Samba
1999 – Samba Master
2001 – Samba Riachao
2004 – Samba in Mettmann

Rumba/ Son Films

1931 – The Cuban Love Song
1933 – When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba
1939 – Rumba Land
1941 – Cuban Rhythm
1942 – Harlem Rhumba
1945 – Rhythm of the Rumba
1946 – Let’s Rhumba
1952 – Rumba Caliente
1982 – Rumba
1987 – La Rumba
1989 – Last Rumba in Paris
1990 – Rumba

The post Dance Movies – Who Knew? appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

“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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