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.