Da Jia Hao!
A Salsa in Bangkok column by Dr. Roland
Da Jia Hao! (Hi Folks)!
Salsa Festival zai Beijing hao ba ? (How was the Salsa Festival in Beijing)?
Feijang hao! (It was outstanding).
That’s all I can write in chinese and I hope that one day I would be able to write my columns in local languages of Asian countries where salsa is expanding (of course, with simultaneous translation in english).
A big hand should be given to Jack Dunn (Mambo Jack) and his team for having organized successfully the first ever China Salsa Festival (1st - 6th november 2005). First events of all kinds (like our first social salsa dance) are always challenging…And this one was a big challenge and it was history ! We are proud to be part of it.
The Festival took place at “Latinos” (the most famous Salsa venue in Beijing)…Latinos owes its fame to the fact that the manager, Antonio, is an Italian salsa lover and that the restaurant inside the venue offers the best pizza and pasta between a few rounds of salsa dances …
Among the ingredients to make a successful event such as a Salsa Festival, two are very important. The first one is the attractiveness of the programme, the second one is the quality of the guests.
In Beijing, from day one to to day 6, the programme was very exciting and included a welcome party - performances - various workshops - a great salsa competion - social dance parties and a farewell party.
Among the guests were a living Salsa legend (Albert Torres, the famous Promoter of Salsa Congress), Top Deejays (including World Number one Henry Knowles from New-York) - As I was myself part of the Deejay crew, I can assure you that this guy is a great master who humbles anyone else - There were also some of the best dancers and performers in Asia (especially Korea - Shanghai - Hong Kong - Singapore) and in the world (USA). As a “cherry on the cake” (une cerise sur le gateau), the live band from Venezuela played at their best level an energizing salsa - merengue - bachata for the audience…
During the social dance parties, the most gorgeous salseras I’ve ever seen in Asia were just there, withing our reach, sometimes grabing your hand, to dance and to spin (oh la la la la)…At the end, during the last night of the festival, I asked one of my new friends why he looked so devastated…
“Every night during the festival I fell in love 20 times, ” he answered
‘What’s about you,” he asked me in return.
“I don’t count anymore. I enjoy falling in love, it inspires me while I’m dancing. You see, Dr. Salsa has his own secrets for surviving on Salsa dance floors.” (ah - ah - ah !)
As they said (Albert Torres and Jack Dunn), Salsa is a beautifiul music and dance that brings people together. We meet lovely people from around the world, we share our energy, we make friends and we feel good.
What’s next ? Let’s prepare for the upcoming Hong Kong Salsa Festival… Unless you have a very good reason, you cannot miss it (see www.hksalsafestival.com). Start saving money or finding your sponsors now, that all I can say.
I attended the HK Salsa festival last year and I just watched the DVD (thanks to Joseph the promoter). It is a must to have at home…If you are interested let’s see with Quick Step (the company) what they can do…Be careful though, unauthorized copying or detention of proprietary CDs and DVDs are considered as piracy and theft under tough laws around Asia (including Thailand…)..It is also our duty to promote the respect of intellectual property rights of creators and of the legitimate right of those who spend a lot of time and money to create their collection, that some unscrupulous abuse and take for granted.
Last but not least, this a message to Shanghai: When are we going to Shanghai???
I will be away for a couple of weeks for family duties (in Europe and in Africa). Back to Bangkok on 22 November.
La Salsa Nunca se Acaba.