Josie's tales of the Salsa Congress'
-
Bacardi
Salsa Congress 2002 in Puerto Rico
-
Bacardi World
Salsa Congress 2001
-
West Coast Salsa
Congress 2001
-
Bacardi World Salsa Congress '99
-
World Salsa Congress 1998
-
World Salsa Congress 1997
This
year at the annual salsa congress was a very special one for me
personally. I saw friends from around the world who lovingly greeted me
as I returned to this year's congress 5 months pregnant!
This was a special year for pregnancies.
There were at least 5 of us this year. Vanessa (of Vanessa & Tito) from
Puerto Rico is 4 months pregnant and looked beautifully peaceful. Two other
girls were almost 6 months pregnant and still performing on stage! It was
quite a sight.
The thing that made this year more special
than the rest was the fact that I shared it with my loving, supportive mom
(Rose) whom has been the springboard of my success in life. I wanted to take
her on a vacation and show her thanks for all that she has sacrificed and
helped me with throughout my life.
Although my stomach has grown a little (being
5 months pregnant), I still wore my sexy bikinis as we bathed in the sun at
the beautiful Caribe Hilton beach. We got dressed up every evening to watch
the magnificent shows, dined at wonderful restaurants and did some social
dancing with pros and students as the incredible live bands jammed. My
favorite band was Tommy Olivencia.
The shows this year were spectacular. The
technique of the professional dancers is becoming more evident that formal
training (ballet, jazz or ballroom dancing) is present.
The LA teams (Salsa Brava and Salsabor Y
Cache, Seaon Stylists and LA Salsa Kids) did magnificent performances.
In my opinion, the team from Italy (Tropical
Jam) which is made up of two girls from LA and two Hispanic guys, stole the
show. They had two amazing performances (one fast and sharp and clean partner
work breaking on "1" and one routine totally African with skimpy loin-cloth
type costumes and face make-up gyrating and "jamming" to the African drum
beats.
It was amazing, to my mother, who was born in
Sicily (Italy), to see a Sicilian dance team on stage. It was a group of 7
men ranging in ages from 8 to 30 who performed shines on "2" in sailor
outfits. It was very well choreographed and fun.
The children inspired everyone. The smallest
ones ranged in age from 5 to 10 and their dance skills, mature body movement,
and leading and following skills had us all spellbound with our jaws dropped.
A highlight of the trip was when team Canada
(44 dancers from Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa) invited us to a celebration
dinner at Elli Irizarry's gorgeous elegant restaurant in Old San Juan. The
concept of all the cities coming together to form a great performance that
represented Canada and received some government support for all their efforts,
was truly inspiring.
I taught a few private lessons to wonderful
warm students. One competitive couple from Italy were so beautiful and
talented that it was inspiring to give them tips. Another amateur couple from
Puerto Rico became friends instantly and took us out for a very special
dinner. We were picked up with a limo and taken to a posh Spanish restaurant
in Old San Juan where we dined liked royalty.
I was flattered to be given the Andy Vasquez
Award for my lifetime achievement in salsa, and have a filmed documentary
about my biography shown (called the Princess of Salsa- director Emmy Lam). I
was invited to judge at the first annual World Salsa Open Competition (an
historical event) and also invited to teach a partnering workshop with Louie
Angon as my partner.
On the beach, everyday, we met handsome
Italian male students from Rome (and surrounding cities) with whom we shared
many laughs and good times. We also relaxed in the sun with other pros from
Montreal (Sonia and Morris), Holland (Leo and Monique), Ohio (Barbie), and fun
people from LA, Toronto and Italy. When it got too hot under our sun
umbrellas, we laid in the shallow waves of the cool refreshing waves gently
rolling onto the beach over our relaxed bodies. We napped on the hammocks at
dusk and strolled in and out of the air-conditioned hotel as we pleased.
With over a week and a half to relax, dine,
take in the romantic sights of Puerto Rico, meeting special warm people (from
around the world), making new friendships, seeing spectacular performances and
hearing incredible live salsa bands, and sharing this experience with my mom
and my unborn baby made this year, definitely, the most magical of all years
at the Bacardi Congress in Puerto Rico.
I highly recommend it for all of you that are
planning to go next year. It is well worth the investment
The Salsa congress in Puerto Rico was a different feel this
year.
Many of the usual faces from years past, were replaced by new
ones. The absence of the New Yorkers and some Californians made it a
little quieter than usual, but we had fun dancing, swimming and site seeing.
 
Photos and comments to come...
This year was a very special Salsa Congress. I have traveled
with my new partner Alvaro Coronel very much since August of 2000 and we met up
with so many of our new international friends this past weekend.
 Josie
& Marlon Castillo from Holland
Albert Torres on stage
Josie & Joe Cassini
Tito Nieves & Josie
Alvaro & Andy Garcia
Roberto Roena & Alvaro
 |
Maya's Mom from Paris and George
Watabe from Japan
Photo by: Fernando LaMadrid (JustSalsa.com) |
Thursday night was a party at The Mayan Night club in downtown
Los Angeles, where the salsa enthusiasts packed the house and Johnny Polanco was
impressing the salsa dancers with his new energetic salsa music.
The show was a little difficult for all to see because of the
crowd and the poor videography, but what we did see was great local groups
performing their dance numbers.
Alvaro Coronel, Louie Angon and I (known as JLA), performed at
the early show Friday night. We had a great time doing our medley of Cha
Cha/hip hop/salsa routine to Music by La Palabra, Soundtrack to Mouline Rouge,
and Escucha Usted.
The dancing started late each night, after all the shows were
over, but people stayed till 4 and 5 am sweating on the salsa dance floor
without a care in the world.
There were many new faces and familiar faces at this
extravagant salsa weekend, and again it was a huge success for everyone
involved.
Josie at her booth
Hope to see you next year!
____________________________________
This year (1999), I performed with Ramon, Sheri and Joel. We danced a
number called "Mambo On 1" which was
choreographed by Joel De
Guzman and Ramon Morales.
We all dressed as men. Sheri and I dressed in baggy
pants, a vest and shirt & tie beside the men and we
danced solo footwork, at lightning speed to an incredible
Mambo by Tito Puente called "Machito
Forever". Practice before this event was
intense but I had a great time because they are wonderful
dancers to work with.
Joel, Josie, Ramon & Sheri
Photo:
J. Fernando Lamadrid
Sheri, Josie, Ramon & Joel
Photo: J. Fernando Lamadrid
We were suppose to perform a second number to another
great song by Tito Puente called "Salsa y
Sabor". It was a partnering number with fast
footwork, tricks and flips and turns that would have
shown the audience that Sheri & I also dance in a
feminine way, but Joel injured himself and we were not
able to perform the new number. It was devastating
to all of us after all the hard work and sweat we put
into our daily rehearsals for 2 months prior to the
Congress, but that is a possible hazard of the dance
business that we have to accept.
We will have the opportunity to perform that number in LA
soon. Probably at the Mayan and/or Sportsman's
Lodge.
The
entire weekend was a huge success again this year.
The performances by all the different cities and
countries were wonderful and we all agreed that the level
of ability has increased every year. It was evident
that some of the best were again from Los Angeles, as was
last year, but the other cities definitely showed off
their skills. The Los Angeles performers included
Rogelio Moreno's new group, "Sabor y Cache",
the Rumberos, Salsa Brava, Laura Cannelius and Jesus, LA
Salsa Kids and our group of 4 dancers (Sheri Dent, Ramon
Morales, Joel DeGuzman).
Dance
companies and groups performed from all over the US,
Vancouver Canada, Europe, Japan, Curacao, and South
America. We all danced with each other and were
drenched in sweat every night as we danced on the dance
floor and on the carpet in the hallways. We had
great bands every night including: Gran Combo, Sonora
Poncena, Roberto Roena, and Cheo Feliciano. Again, this
year, we had tons of people with cameras and videos
recorders trying desperately to catch all the action and
amazing social dancing that was happening in all the
different corners of the room.
Photo:J. Fernando Lamadrid
Albert
Torres did a great job MC'ing this year as he did last
year and again, I look forward to next year's Forth Annual
World Salsa Congress. I hope to see you there!
--Josie
Back to top
______________________________________
Great Big Salsa Party...
This year at the Salsa Congress was a little different from last year for several
reasons. Being in the beautiful San Juan Hotel, made the event seem more
"classy" than last year and everyone seemed to dress up more this year as well.
The most outstanding difference, to me, was the ease of tension and the more
"party" feeling that everyone seemed to have.
When we first arrived, it was great to see familiar faces and greet friends that we had
made last year. The two gentlemen from Curacao were so sweet. They thanked me
graciously for the valuable material that they learned from Dance Hot
Salsa Videos and expressed how they have played a very important part in their
teaching and dancing over the past year on the island. Being that there is little
interaction on the island of Curacao with the rest of the salsa world, the dance patterns
on the video were invaluable to them. As I watched their dance performance on the
stage, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I wished that Pedro was there to see how our
moves on our videos were being passed on to the rest of the world and I cried a few tears
of happiness.
The L.A. Dancers made a great impression this year. All the top instructors
of our city were there and we were all so proud of one another. The stage
performances were exciting, professional, and dynamic. Rogelio Moreno, Laura
Cannelius, Francisco & Johnny Vasquez and the Rumberos, SalsaBrava Company and Albert
Torres were all amazing on stage. Afterwards on the dance floor, when the bands were
jamming, I had some great dances with Joel DeGuzman, Harry & Jerry and of course
Rogelio.
There was much less competitiveness, and more sharing and having fun this year. I
danced with so many gentlemen with different styles and feel of salsa. The weirdest
for me was trying to dance with the guys from Curacao, because their basic step is
opposite ours. They break forward with the right foot and back with the left!!!
It was very hard to adjust.
Every night there was an after-party. The clubs were extremely small to
capacitate the huge number of salseros but it didn't stop many from going and dancing on
the sidewalks outside the clubs. The nights were humid and sticky and the days were
even hotter but it made it feel tropical which was perfect for the occasion.
Azita (Tosca Fashions) and I roomed together. We had so many laughs about all the
little situations and interesting people we met. She was so funny that I
laughed to tears and had sore stomach muscles from laughing so hard. Francisco
Vasquez is always funny, but he was extremely crazy and constantly entertained all of us
with his dance impressions of all the LA salseros.
Azita and I had the opportunity to stay a couple of extra days after the Congress to
enjoy the sun and relax. We got together with the couple from Holland and took the
ferry boat from the luxurious Hotel Conquestador to a paradise island. It was
breathtakingly beautiful.
I would like to say a special thank you to all that stopped by the booth to buy videos
or comment on the videos that they purchased last year. Also to Jose, the hotel
lobby manager who went out of his way to make my stay wonderful. I already started
missing Puerto Rico as I was getting on the plane to come back to L.A.. I am excited
about next year. I'm sure the Congress will grow in numbers every year and the
dancing will get better and better and Salsa will be hotter all over the world.
World Salsa Congress '99 will be in July. See you there next year!
-- Josie Neglia
Back to top
________________________________________
My wonderful experience...
Eli Irizary organized this grand event and invited me to be a speaker and instructor at
the 1st
annual Salsa Congress.
Some of the best salsa dancers in the world were there. It was incredible to feel the
energy &
see the different styles of all the dancers who took part.
The bands were amazing and the energy to dance soared through the entire room. Spectators
stood by in awe & desperately tried to absorb the astounding exhibition of dance and
music.
I felt the love & appreciation of all who participated. People from Japan, Germany,
Italy, Curacao, Venezuela, Canada & Holland approached us to praise our dancing and
excitedly expressed their mutual passion for salsa.
It was sad to see it all end. I am looking forward to this years Salsa Congress-July '98.
I hope to see you there too!
-- Josie Neglia
Back to top
|
Toll FREE 1-877-725-
JAN
