Nothing. I'm really sad about the state of salsa casino in DC these days. I thought it might get worse and it did. The Cuban parties that we have had recently at The Salsa Room are great, but, they are only once every three-four months.
I really have no comment on this. I have tried, recently, to go to a couple of other places for salsa dancing. They are ok but they don't give me that high that dancing casino to a great timba song does. I get jealous of other cities with their dancing, their communities, and great classes. I really feel that the dancers in DC are missing out on great music and learning a new style. However they are set in their ways. Experienced dancers don't want to feel like they don't 'know' something. Workshops are never successful here either.
I miss dancing. I would gladly go to Habana Village but it seems I only go when no one else goes. I see, only afterwards, when a group of casineros has gone. It says a lot about my life and relationships these days.
So... the future of this blog site is up in the air. If there's no casino in DC what can I write about?
“If you love what you do, keep doin it. I lived in the bayarea from 1998-2005 and there was live music everywhere especially Cuban, (ANTHONY BLEA Y SU CHARANGA, JESUS DIAZ y su QBA
ReplyDeleteand Fito Reinoso & Ritmo Y Armonia just to name a few). Some time around 2003 it began to die down, but there was a group of dedicated dance community members who would no let it disappear. There were all girl groups who learn rueda so they could enjoy the music with or without male partners. There were three young cats who decided to start a dance event at Il Pirata Bar & Restaurant on the last Friday of the month 8 years ago that's still going strong. The all girls rueda group competed at the event in Miami and decided to push for an event in SF, thus the SF Rueda event was created. These same women would go in mass to other salsa events and dance rueda; they pushed and pushed until the music became more popular at non Cuban events. The point, communities don’t continue to exist without the dedicated work of individuals who are willing to work to maintain their existence. If there are teachers here they should be dragging their students out to events and just take over the floor and put their thing down at least for a couple of song. Rueda is not my thing, but I love Cuban music and dance as I love the music of Puerto Rico and it would be sad to see it disappear. “If you love what you do, keep doin it”.
lb3 - Thanks for your response. I really appreciate it. It does take a lot of work & there are a few who drag their students but there are at least 2-3 others who don't. I don't see a desire for the community to grow so there's only so much I can do with my super busy schedule. I will support what I can though.
ReplyDeleteSo sad to read about this, I hope things pick up. My husband and I are casineros, and we will be moving up to DC in the fall. While large ruedas are the most fun, with 3 couples we could pull it off!
ReplyDeleteDon't give up Jen! Just a thought: why don't you teach and influx the love of cuban salsa to others? It goes pretty quick to love this dance and I believe you could grow (again) the community this way?
ReplyDeletecasino-gratis.co.uk Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
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