| Vancouver Salsa Festival- 2010 | ||||
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 Vancouver Salsa Festival- hosted by MadAboutMambo, this was the 1st major event for them, and they pulled no punches, with talent brought from Italy, the UK, France, New York, Chicago, LA, Miami, Canada, Philadelphiaand more. This was one of the most organized events we’ve ever been to, and I congratulate them for bringing to Vancouver a special treat. It was good to see Adolfo & Carla, Sekou, Shani,Maria Ramos, Eduardo, Noemie, Leon Rose, SaltiMambo, Micah & Kathy,Charlene Rose and others. Vancouver was just coming off the high of the Olympic games, especially where the Canadians beat the USA in a hockey match that had people on the edge of their seats. The event was actually held at the same hotel that the Olympic committee was staying, though I don’t know if the hotel was expecting the types of athletes that MadAboutMambo brought. One of the highlights of the weekend was the professional Jack & Jill competition,where I somehow found myself in the finals dancing a topless bachata with Adolfo. I would deny that it ever happened, but the facebook pictures are a cruel reminder of the competitive nature of man. Luckily I was able to get back to my finalist partner, the lovely Maria Ramos who is not only a great Mambodancer and performer, but a WICKED Hip-Hop dancer! She did a solo hip hopfreestyle at the event that wanted me to have her on my team if I ever got caught up in a back alley freestyle battle. Especially since I’m still milking the “running man” and “roger rabbit” for all they’re worth. I’m looking forward to dancing with her again, she’s a much better follower than Adolfo. Vianette and I performed the classic“Breakdown” routine by Orquesta Dicupe, and I also performed the solo, this time with some additional changes that helped me to make the most of the stage space. After Vancouver I got back to Miami, played some volleyball tournaments (where we didn’t come in dead last place) and then decided to head east. WAY east. I’m talking about none other than Japan for the… |
Nina - Joe Cuba (Cheo Feliciano) - Boston Congress. This performance came about as a suggestion from Troy Anthony that Gordon Neil, Psyon Mauricio, Leon Rose, and Shaka Brown "put something together since all of you are here without partners". Luckily we were able to convince Maricza Valentin (Chicago) and Cristel Beijkirch (Holland), to work with us. We chose to split the song into sections and each person would be responsible for a part that the others would learn. Gordon and Psyon took the first part, with Leon and Shaka Brown on the second. We closed with everyone performing a shine section and set out to perform that night.
