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Dancer Digs Hotlanta Salsa Congress
Report by: Earl Rush
The Hotlanta Salsa Congress, held Oct. 19-22, 2006, lived up to its name. That's exactly what it was. Hot!
Before I go any further, save the dates of Oct 18-Oct 20, 2007, for next year's Atlanta Salsa Congress. Now, let me tell you why.
Atlanta -- known for starting the sound called the Dirty South which is dominating airwaves and hip hop all over -- is now making waves with a vibrant salsa dance scene.
The second annual Hotlanta Salsa Congress - held this year at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel and Academy Ballroom - showcased many of those local performers and social dancers. The event -with performances, salsa workshops and hours of social dancing to some of the best DJs and a live band - was first class all the way.
From beginning to the end, you could feel the warm hospitality that Atlanta is also known for. It was like a reunion where old friends met up together and were happy to see each other. It was like a celebration to meet new friends, see young, new, up-and-coming talent, world class instructors and performers all in the same environment. The energy all weekend was incredible. The Atlanta salsa scene represented Atlanta very well with hot routines and great attendance from the local salsa community. Just like all salsa events, the congress brought out people from all races and all walks of life. The photo galleries will show you -- this was a United Nations salsa party.
Every one knows Sheila Sampath, the organizer of the Atlanta Salsa Congress, runs a mambo dance school in Atlanta, but she was smart enough to know she had to have several styles of salsa represented at the workshops and on the performance programs. Salsa, mambo, cha cha and bachata workshops were held simultaneously.
The workshops were fabulous, started on time, and there was something for everyone. Sheila had all levels - from beginning to advanced - and all styles of salsa and mambo, from Cuban to L.A. and New York style, plus spinning classes and body movement classes.
I met Sheila Sampath years ago when she was a mambo-holic with a very serious mambo addiction. She had, and still has, it real bad. Sheila was living in Atlanta during the week, but would visit Washington, D.C. (where I am from) on Fridays to dance, then she would head to Jimmy Anton's in New York on Sundays, returning to Atlanta on Monday. She was crazy. (Or some might say dedicated.)
Today, Sheila is an Atlanta salsa promoter and director of a dance company, recently renamed Mambo Masala. This year, she took on producing the Hotlanta Salsa Congress and put together a very proficient, warm and friendly staff to help her. She acknowledges there is no way she could have put something of this magnitude together by her self. Sheila also says there was no way she could have done it without the salsa community pulling together to help get the word out and to support the Congress in any way they could.
And everyone's efforts paid off. More than 800 attended workshops, evening performances or stayed to dance until 3 in the morning. But this salsa congress also had another interesting angle: Sheila coordinated with ballroom dance promoters Eddie Ares and Nancy Senner to host a total immersion dance weekend together. The two promoters simultaneously hosted the Atlanta Salsa Congress (with performances, workshops and social dancing) and the Hotlanta Ballroom Dance Competition, the second largest dance contest in the United States, which annually attracts some of ballroom's hottest stars.
For me, the social dancing was just off the salsa meat hook! With Atlanta DJ Tito and Philadelphia DJ Jose Rodriguez playing that salsa, mambo and Cha Cha (like you like it) all night long, the dance floor stayed busy. They were topped off by the electrifying Alfredo De La Fe live band which was simply incredible on Saturday night. The dance floor surface was a great hard wood floor that was not too slow or not too fast. It was just right. Both ballrooms were perfect for both nights. There were people of all levels just dancing the night away with each other. It was just one big crazy salsa party.
The performances from Student Performance groups to Atlanta's resident hot salsa dance companies to world class groups like Santo Rico Dancers, Ana and Joel, Victor and Burju, Sekou McMiller and Universal Mambo directed "Mr. Personality" Eric Baez, the performances were all very tight and entertaining. If you are salsa novice and these names don't mean anything to you just Google, Yahoo or Big Daddy search them and you will see these are artists that are known and respected all over the salsa world. There was definitely world class salsa talent present at the Hotlanta Salsa Congress.
This was certainly one of the better salsa congresses that I have attended this year and I will definitely save the dates for next year's Atlanta Salsa Congress. This year's Hotlanta Salsa Congress was that hot.
Author Earl GoGo Rush runs the StuckOnSalsa Web site: www.stuckonsalsa.com.
For more information on the Hotlanta Salsa Congress, visit: www.SheilasSalsa.com or www.atlantasalsacongress.com.