Music Video: Cachondea - Fruko y sus Tesos

While quality of this 'salsa music video' fell short in many areas such as actually salsa dancing, taste and artistic merit, somehow I was compelled to watch the entire video. Also this was the song that Chimere and myself used during our competition. If this does not get more men to checkout salsa dancing, then I do not know what will!

Cachondea - Fruko y sus Tesos

Update: I had the wrong salsa band listed. Thanks for the comments and phone calls correcting me. For some reason the video is listed as Sonora Carruseles. Honestly I should have caught this because I own music from both groups. This is what I get for blogging late at night after a glass of wine.

SalsaIndy Gets A New Look!

My Indianapolis salsa site has a new look! I would like to give credit to Kristy for the work she put in designing the new layout. Please navigate though the site and tell me what you think. You can either post a comment or just send me an email. I hope you all enjoy the new look and as always I will continue keeping everyone informed of what is going on in Indianapolis' salsa scene. I will also be hosting a website launch party earlier next year, I have not pick a date, but when I do it will be posted on SalsaIndy. Take care and keep dancing!

Saturday Night Salsa Melee!

Sometimes more is better, but when it comes to salsa nights in Indianapolis, more does not always mean better. Take two downtown nightclubs which are less than a 1/2 mile away from each other and host a Salsa night on the same night. This is a recipe for disaster! With winter upon us, the number of dancers coming out has dropped considerably. Wednesday night at the Red Room has been hit the hardest when it comes to dancer attendance.

The two clubs that I referring to are the Cozy hosted by DJ Taz and supported by SalsaIndy (hey, that’s me!) and the Vault hosted by the VIP Crew and IntoSalsa. For me as a dancer, this really sucks! Why? Simply because I would prefer to have all my favorite dancers at the same venue. More options of who we can dance with is better than having limited options. Both venues have a good dance floor, safe environment and good music selection. Because there is no hard deciding factor as to which venue is better, loyalty plays an important role. Followers of Taz go to the Cozy and followers of IntoSalsa go to the Vault. There is nothing wrong with loyalty being the deciding point, both Taz and IntoSalsa have worked very hard to develop such relationships in the community.

What happened to the good old days of IntoSalsa Night with Taz spinning everyone’s favorite salsa and international beats at a small Italian restaurant called Il Gargano? Back then going out to dance was about having fun, not having to be loyal or compelled to support someone. This and the drama that has been created have put a bitter taste in my month and have tainted my perception of salsa dancing in Indianapolis.

The solution is simple, someone should back down! We need to look past our self interests and do what is good for the Latin dance community. Competition is good, but the tactics that are being used have gotten out of hand and need to stop. What happened to unity that was the topic of Yang's (IntoSalsa) last article?

I will not post what I have heard and seen, because it is hard to separate fact from rumor. Feel free to post your thoughts on what has been going on and what should be done to bring peace back to our salsa community.

I wish for the good old days to be back again.

Update Cortisone Injections

Here is an update on the cortisone injections I was planning on getting for my knees. My doctor did not give me the option of getting the cortisone injections, but another treatment option with a product called Supartz.

Here is an some information I found about this product.

Hyalgan or Supartz are lubricating material originally used in the knee. They are used in other joints of the body today as they have shown promise in the knee joint. The primary goal is 5 injections given at weekly intervals for calming of the swelling and pain in the joint and added lubrication of the joint. The Foot and Ankle Institute doctors were and are among the first to use this treatment in the foot and ankle after promising results in the knee were noted. Refernce: Foot & Ankle Institute

My doctor was not able to do the injections during my office visit because they needed to see if my insurance will cover it. I was supposed to get a call back from my doctor last week on weather or not my insurance will cover it. It might be a good thing that I am force to wait because I am now having second thoughts.

I decided to give natural supplements another tried. I went to GNC and spent a small fortune on knee supplements. Even if my insurance covers the treatment, I might hold off on it for a few more weeks. There is no right or wrong answers when it comes to health and well being issues like this. In the end you have to do what you feel is right and hope for a good outcome.

Thanks to everyone who posted to my previous blog in regards to this and also to my friends over at Dance Forums who also provided some helpful advice and guidance.

4 Nights of Intense Dancing!

Two weeks ago, I told myself that I should take it easy for a couple of weeks to give my poor knees a rest. As always, I did the total opposite! This week was fanatic! I survived four (yes four) nights of intense, no holds barred dancing. What can I say, life is about simple obsessions and salsa is one of them.

Thursday Night @ the Jazz Kitchen
I will openly admit that I am not a big fan of the Jazz Kitchen. While the music selection is good, their floor gets way too crowded and serious salsa dancers tend to avoid this venue. But this night we managed to have a very good time. Sonja (my dancer partner) and I arrived at the Jazz Kitchen early. Cynthia was finishing up the free salsa lesson and the DJ started to play the music. When you get to JK early, there is more then enough room for you and your partner to give the spectators a good show. It only took an hour before the dancers began to flow in and crowd the dance floor. The floor was crowded at times, but it did not get overly crowed as it does during the summer months. For the first time, I was involved in salsa foursome! Two other Salseros and myself were dancing with Sonja during the same song. Overall a good night.

Friday Night @ Adobo Grill
This is where you will find me on most Friday nights. Either myself or Ryan teaches the free dance lesson before the start of the night. Salsa dancers love this venue with their hardwood floor and no reggaeton music in the rotation. We managed to pull off another salsa foursome, this time with Drea. I wonder which salsera will be next?

Saturday @ The Cozy
I was taking it easy at the Cozy because I had taught a private lesson an hour beforehand. It was a costume party, but I decided not to dress up. I did wear my 4 pocket Mexican shirt; if I'd had a Mexican hat, I could have pulled it off as a costume. Congratulations to Roberto in his dancing grammas costume for winning the costume contest!

Sunday @ Syndicate (Cincinnati)
Our friends at Midwestern Latino hosted a party at the Syndicate with Puerto Rican Power as the headliner band. Son del Caribe from Cincinnati was also there and gave an outstanding performance. I will not bore you with boring details about the night other then that the live music of both bands were fantastic. Here is a video clip of Diana (KamaSalsa Instructor) and myself doing some social dancing during that night. Not too bad for only dancing together one time before and on carpet.

Diana and Marques Salsa Dancing