Berlin Salsa Congress Review, 2008

Berlin Salsa Congress 2008

Review by Sydney Hutchinson

If you needed any more proof of the salsa explosion that has been going on around the world for the past few years, you only needed to look as far as the flyer table at the Berlin Salsa Congress this year.

In just that one square meter of tabletop, I picked up flyers for salsa congresses and festivals in Poland, Switzerland, Morocco, Estonia, the UK, Slovenia, Greece, Turkey, Monaco, two cities in the Netherlands, and three cities in Germany. When I started performing in New York in 2000, salsa hadn’t yet been heard of in most of these places. Or maybe it was just that New York can still be so insular and cliquish as a scene. Whatever the case, this is one of the great attractions of being a salsera/o today: you never know who you’ll meet next, or where you’ll end up.

This year’s Berlin Salsa Congress was the eighth held in Germany’s capital under the leadership of Franco, from the Berlin dance company Pura Salsa. The international theme of this Congress was maintained throughout the weekend. The twenty-nine instructors hailed from a variety of countries, reflecting both the new realities of the EU as well as the organizers’ efforts to include greater diversity. The US, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Italy, Switzerland, and even India were all represented in the classroom.

This year, organizers aimed to capitalize on the growing interest in both men’s and ladies’ styling classes. Tamambo and Neeraj both taught men’s movement to full houses. The concept of men’s styling hadn’t yet appeared on the scene back when I was teaching with Razz M’Tazz, and I found it inspiring to see a roomful of fearless men working together to learn how to better use their bodies. Surely this represents a step forward for both genders! (We ladies love to see a man who can really do a body roll.)

In a new twist this year, women had the option of purchasing a “Ladies’ Experience” pass instead of a traditional weekend pass. The idea was that this pass would allow women who wanted to work on improving their dancing without worrying about a partner to enjoy smaller class sizes taught by women, for women. From what I heard in the ladies’ styling classes I attended, students were bothered by the fact that passes weren’t controlled at the door, or the courses clearly marked, so that many women with regular passes were able to attend the “Ladies’ Experience” too. This small problem did not detract from my enjoyment of the classes taught by Susana Montero, Magna Gopal, Karima (Majusee, Paris), and Karel (Yamulee). Each woman had a different take on the concept of ladies’ styling. Together, Karima’s zest, Magna’s precise counts, Susana’s attention to detail, and Karel’s focus on body movement made for a well-rounded experience.

Dancers Prithviraj and Ree from Bangalore, India brought one of the most unusual choreographies to the conference, performing and teaching a number they called “Salsa Bollywood” that included sections in both of the named dance styles. Prithviraj has extensive experience choreographing popular dances for South Indian films, so it seemed natural for him to go on to salsa. He and partner Ree now teach the style in their Bangalore dance studio, “Rock Around the Clock.” Whenever salsa successfully moves to a new location, there is a temptation to try to create a local or national style of salsa by combining it with local dances. One successful example of such an effort can be found in Mexico City dancers Victor and Gaby’s creation of “salsa con quebradita.” The difficulty is in finding out how to combine the two types of movement into a unified whole. The next challenge for these two will be to find a single kind of music and movement that expresses a combined sensibility. Instead of separating the two styles into different sections, can one combine Bollywood moves with partner work and do them to salsa? What about vice versa? Ree and Prithviraj have taken a first step and seem to be well on their way to answering these questions in the future.

The evening shows at the Berlin Salsa Congress were well run and professional, although there was a bit too much talking between numbers for some tastes. On Saturday night, the roaring twenties theme went well with the neighborhood’s sense of history, as the event was held in Columbiahalle next to the old Tempelhof airport. The audience responded enthusiastically to all the acts, but there were several standout performances. For instance, the classic New York style on-2 mambo by Yamulee Dancers was technically flawless with impressive spins and footwork. Iris de Brito’s creative choreography used modern dance technique to fuse Cuban movement with the music and dancing of her native Angola. And Italy’s Marco B and his Flamboyán Dancers impressed twice with two equally innovative numbers. In one, the dancers evoked the experience of spirit possession, helped by tunics that were used to alternately cover or reveal their faces. The other combined the suggestion of mimes and puppetry with movements depicting the range of emotions all dancers experience through the processes of choreography and rehearsal, from frustration and anxiety to ultimate joy. The latter was surely the feeling most of the audience experienced upon watching Marco B’s exceptional performance.

Tired but happy, I left the congress on Sunday with the impression that, while salsa is still growing, it is far from having peaked. The number and quality of dancers from all over the world at this event reminded me of why salsa is so popular and so important in many of our lives. It brings together people who would never have the opportunity to meet and converse if it weren’t for the dance. It demonstrates that you don’t have to look a certain way or have a certain body type to be beautiful. Most of all, it lets you step outside of your day job and your everyday self, to just feel, just enjoy, just dance.

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