Salsa in Washington DC

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC twice, one week this month and one week last month. Washington DC is a beautiful and diverse city, but one aspect of the city stuck out in my mind: DC has a GREAT Salsa Scene!

Last month, I attended the Sunday monthly social. The venue is a restaurant that is nicknamed the Salsa Room, and it has a nice size hardwood floor, good seating areas, and a bar. There were many amazing dancers in attendance, and the energy was high the entire night. ClaveKazi was there and the ladies group did a nice performance; Shaka Brown was there also(didn't get to dance with him though...). Earl, from Stuck on Salsa, was nice enough to bring my friend and I to the event and introduce us to everyone there. Thanks Earl!

This month, I attended a regular club night. It was on a Monday night to Clarendon Grill, and was apparently by far the best night to go out (or so I was told by many people). The venue had a large wood dance floor, and a smaller dance floor (not wood). There were a lot of amazing dancers there, as well. I danced with a semi-famous dancer, Psyon, met some really nice people, and I was lucky enough to have one dance with a guy, who although I forgot his name, was by far the best lead I have ever felt!

Anyone who has yet to experiance Salsa in another city should go to DC for a great experiance! The quality and level of dancing is equal to what you will find at a congress, and the dancers have minute differences between them so no matter what you prefer to focus on, you will probably find dancers to fit your style. The Salsa experiances that I had in DC will definitely be a motivational factor to return to DC's dancefloors as soon as my life permits!

Reflection

Since I moved to Indy last May, a lot has happened. On one hand the year seems to have passed quickly, and yet each week felt long in parallel. I am proud to be on my way to graduation May 3rd at Indiana University in Bloomington, majoring in Latin American and Caribbean Dance - History and Production through the Individualized Major Program. I figured as a conclusion to my current academic career, I would ponder not only on my college experience, but with my recent accomplishments in the "real world" as well.

First and foremost, inspired by my approach to my Final (thesis) Project for my degree (my first dance production), I decided to create my first business, Elegancia Productions and Promotions, LLC (commonly known as Elegancia Dance). When I moved to Indy, my plans and my dancing were interrupted with a severe case of Mono. But even in my slow recovery, I still managed to pair up with Marques for the local competition, do a bit of dance related travel, and became a business partner in SalsaIndy (now you might know why I am so busy all of the
time!)...

Alongside preparing for and finishing my first dance production (and all of the school work that went along with it - which I wanted to quickly mention that I have received two grants for the project as well as a nomination for a departmental award), and alongside managing, teaching and performing for SalsaIndy - Marques and I, along
with 7 other dancers in the community, decided to create a Non profit
in Indianapolis, Salseros Unidos, for the benefit of the salsa community, in which I was later elected Treasurer.

I can only hope that the year to come can continue on the same road to
achievement, with dedication, hard work, practice, and somehow trying to make
enough money to cover my bills as a full time dancer. I know it is a
tough decision, and everyone I know is begging me to get a "real
job"... but I really feel that this is the path I should continue on.
My heart would not take to any other job at this time in my life,
because for me...even though dancing, teaching, performing and
business IS hard work - I love it! And that makes all the
difference...

Etiquette on the Dance Floor...?

The following are just my opinions... I feel like simple etiquette is not followed as much as it should be in the salsa clubs. I know it is a mixture of dancers and a bar crowd, but there are certain points of interest that I have noticed a number of times that I feel like need to be mentioned.

First off, I like being escorted on and off the dance floor. It doesn't have to happen every time for every dance, especially with good friends or when you are rushing to get on the floor for a good song. On the extreme side, however, when a guy just asks you to dance and leaves you in the dust while he goes and stands on the floor and has to make a point of waiting for you to get there, well that just sets the mood for the rest of the dance.

Secondly, ladies really should make it a point to dance with guys they do not know at least once, and guys you should try to ask ladies you do not know to dance, at least once or twice. If a girl declines politely more than two times in one night, please don't keep asking her throughout the night. At first she might feel bad for saying no, but by the end of the night she will be going out of her way to avoid you... usually the first "no" really means that the girl is tired (after all, we can't dance every song of the night) but if you get more than two "no" responses in a night, you might want to re-evaluate why. Most of us in the salsa community are NOT snobs, we will dance with almost anyone. So if we really don't want to dance with you, there is probably a good reason... it might be something like you hurt the person you are dancing with in some way when you dance... (This does happen to me, as not everyone realizes how what they do can affect the person they are dancing with...) or it could be for one of the following reasons...

While dancing socially, at least try to pay attention to the person you are dancing with. This goes for both ladies and guys... it's no fun for your partner if you try to critique their dancing (unless you know them well and you know it is okay), or if you ask them to teach you for the entire song (or night)... or if you try to use them as a tool to just show off. Also, you shouldn't be holding your cell phone, or using it in any way (especially texting), or holding a beer (this is not only inconsiderate of the person you are dancing with, but also for all the dancers on the floor, because the beer most likely will spill and then the floor is sticky for the rest of the night and it gets stuck in dancers leather soled shoes)...

Anyway, I don't feel like this happens with the majority of salsa dancers here in Indianapolis, but it DOES happen regularly enough in the clubs for me to take notice...

New Blog Introduction!

Hi! I am sure most of you already know me already, as I am now a regular in the salsa scene here in Indianapolis. However, I am still relatively new to the Salsa community, and new to SalsaIndy, so I decided to write an introduction of myself for my first blog. My name is Jennifer, and I just moved to Indianapolis in May (from Bloomington, IN). I was coming up to Indianapolis 2-3 times per week to dance (sometimes more), so the move was very beneficial for me.

I have been a dancer pretty much my whole life. I have tried almost every type of dance that I have had the opportunity to learn, and until now have been so diversified that I was unable to truly focus on one style. The good side of this is that I know a lot about many different dance styles, and this helps me understand, appreciate, and relate to many different types of dancers.

Just before my move, Marques and I decided to try out as dance partners, and though we have had a somewhat rocky start (with me having mono, etc), we decided to continue. Now, just a little over 6 months later, we have begun teaching salsa classes together downtown at Riolo Dance Studio and I am helping run SalsaIndy.

Aside from teaching salsa, and performing with Marques, I still try to keep up with other styles of dance. I also am very interested in the history of the various dances, and interested in academic analysis of dance as well. I think practicing is very important for any teacher, performer, or social dancer (yes even social dancer – because practicing will help make your dancing more comfortable for your partner, and if it doesn't feel good, then what's the point?)… but I find that really understanding the dance through history also helps me in my dance education, and helps me in teaching others as well.

Anyway, I'm happy to be here!! Many more exciting things await in the near future, but I have to leave something to blog about next ;)