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Best of Salsa: Cuban Salsa Congress Review

A Wales of a Time in Salsa FantasyLand: Photographs by Miguel del Foto, www.londonsalsascene.info

All Knight Partying at Castle Cuba

If the UK's first Cuban Salsa Congress were a sauce, it would be a sauce con un nuevo sabor picante, with the main ingredients - Cuban dance workshops, live music and late night parties - are served up in a fairy-tale Victorian folly castle in the midst of a rural landscape in the depths of North Wales, says LondonSalsaScene on Friday 17 November 2006.
     It only dawned on us as me and my mate drove up from London just how far North Wales is - it's a looooonnng, looooooong way. It would have been quicker to fly to blooming Cuba. By the time we got there, it felt like we'd got to be somewhere foreign (we couldn't understand the road signs, so that's got to be foreign).....
     First sight of Castle Bodelwyddan - just a glimpse, through the trees, in the moonlight - was magical. This was a setting for a Hollywood film or a Walt Disney cartoon. Any minute, you expect a toon Snow White to dart out from behind a bush and burst into song or Errol Flynn's Robin Hood to show up with a stuffed deer slung over his back. Fellow guests were sheepish about coming up on the train - apparently, the journey took 3hrs 30mins and they all got huge discounts on their tickets for being much cleverer than us and travelling by rail. 

Next time, we’re going to leave early and avoid the traffic!
     From the outset, organisation was so smooth you didn't even notice it. Friendly staff were on hand to welcome, supply keys and wristbands, offer directions, all with no hassle.
   Then there was the accommodation; a humungus, nicely decorated room with a huge, comfy bed. Just what you want after a long journey. Already, we were unwinding.
   This is an indulgent salsa fantasy break (steady on, we’re British and sharing the place with 350 other people – let’s not get carried away).

Right: Kerry Ribchester’s front room. She explains what to do if someone is overcome with an urge to knock over a priceless antique.

       There was a juicy line-up of instructors and performers, including multiple salsa and rueda world champions Iris de Brito, Osbanis Tejeda, Janet Fuentes Torres, Rafael del Busto (left) as well as Damarys, Moe Flex, Rohan Brown and more. There were opportunities to work with Kerry Ribchester too, the UK’s most influential home grown instructor on Cuban-style salsa.
     Being an LA-style dancer at a Cuban salsa Congress is like a Brit in Wales. You feel you’re in your own country, so you should be able to speak the lingo, only you aren’t and you can't.

Left: Wheel fun: photograph courtesy of Cuba-UK

Right: Rohan Brown reacts quickly when two women ask him for a dance at the same time.

   First thing on Saturday morning Rohan Brown (right) led a workshop introducing Cuban-style to Cross Body/LA dancers.
But the two styles feel different and translating isn’t that easy – what looks cool in one style, doesn’t necessarily work so well in the other. (At least not if you’re a beginner Cuban leader; if you’re a follower, just keep going round and round, you’ll do fine.)
  As a cross body style leader, turning a woman on the 1-2-3 is tantamount to a perversion and I found this a real struggle.
I came to the conclusion that Cross Body and Cuban dancers are two people divided by a single dance and that it was going to take more than one taster session to morph me into a Cuban-style salsa dancer.
If you’re looking for one, single event that’s going to take your Cuban-style dancing to the next level, this has got to it be it.

1“ If you’re looking for one, single event that’s going to take
your Cuban
style salsa
to the next level, this
has got
to it be it.”

   Maybe a few years ago it was good enough to dance only LA-style Salsa, but things are changing.
We're getting the bug back for Cuban-style and dancers need to be bi-lingual on the dance floor, especially when this suits the music. Earthy, traditional Cuban music needs earthy, traditional Cuban-style, not big, linear, ball-roomy, LA style Salsa turn patterns.
There was a modern dance hall the size of an aircraft hangar for partying.
Maybe less atmospheric than the rest of the place, but it had what all dancers crave - a huge sprung wooden dance floor with plenty of space to strut your stuff.
Not to mention less chance of getting skewered by a stilletto or hit in the face by a styishly lobbed out arm!
A nice touch during parties were a host of taxi dancers - great for damsels usually left in distress waiting for a dance.

Pretties in pink. Tony Rose looks for his keys or something mid-dance.

Left: hot Latin grooves from Orchestra Cachet.

Above: Iris freestyling while eerily, ectoplasm
issues from her partner. Photograph courtesy Cuba-UK.

For me, highlights were workshops on the Orishas – the Cuban Gods and Goddesses - with the likes of Damarys and Rafael.This is rarely touched on and it was a unique opportunity to learn more. This is the first time I’ve experienced the Orishas incorporated in Rueda and it was amazing - Rafael made this very accessible.!
   Next year, I’d like to see more instruction on the Orishas, perhaps an intensive course over the weekend, opening this up for more dancers.
     As a hotel, catering at Castle Bodelwydden (one of Warner’s flagship venues – what’s happened to Warners? when did they go so up market?) is of a reliably good standard.
   At meal-times, there is waiter service (friendly and attentive) as well as a hot and cold buffet. Full board is included in the price and this made a big difference – I hate scratching around between workjshops for something to eat. Wine and drinks aren’t cheap, but what you’d expect.
   Workshop spaces are comfortable and plush. One room was chocka with priceless antiques - we were all scared to death of falling over and trashing the place!

  This year’s event pulled in 350 dancers from across the UK and the globe – including Taiwan, the US, Dubai and Greece. The salsa grapevine being what it is, next year's event - scheduled for 2nd-5th November 2007 - will be bigger and better.It’s got all the right ingredients; venue, facilities and accommodation are attractive and practical; instructors are the best the UK has to offer, the vibe is friendly, laid back, fun and chilled.
     While freestyling, I found myself spookily drawn to dance in a circle. There’s something compelling about going round and round and round... will I ever be able to go in a straight line again? Maybe Cuban and LA-style aren’t so far apart after all….
       But more than that – this is a formula that has the capacity to raise the level of Cuban style dancing in the UK and more power to UK Cuban Congress organisers Kerry Ribchester and Miguel for taking up the errrrr....gauntlet. Editor
       Next year’s UK Cuban Congress is 2-5 November, Castle Bodelwydden, N Wales. To book and for more photos of 2006 Congress: www.havananights.co.uk
Words By: Lee Knights, Editor
Photographs and films: Miguel de Foto, copyright www.londonsalsascene.info to hire Miguel for your event, call 07734 72 1983. To have us cover your event, Call: 020 8778 2215.

Most popular Cuban Salsa Teacher Moe Flex.

UK Cuban Congress Awards
for the Best of Cuban Salsa
- Who Got Your Vote:
Most Popular Cuban Salsa Teacher: Moe Flex (above)
Best Female Cuban Salsa Dancer: Janet Fuentes Torres 
Best Male Cuban Salsa Dancer: Rafael del Busto 
Best Cuban Salsa Promoter: Enrique, SalsaExplosion
Best Cuban Salsa DJ: Javier

I hope nobody asks me to dance...I’m only a beginner....

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©London Salsa Scene is an online, independent magazine guide covering salsa and the Latin lifestyle in London and beyond. The views published  are not necessarily those of the Editor. All rights reserved. London Salsa Scene retains Copyright over all the articles and photographs published on this website - it is an infringement of that right to use this material elsewhere without our written permission. Disclaimer: London Salsa Scene publishes information on behalf of promoters, organisers, dancers and others in good faith but is not responsible if these events are cancelled, altered or if performers and instructors billed not not appear; this is exclusive liability and responsibility of the event organiser.

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