2011 -
Chicago International Salsa Congress - 10 Year Celebration
February
17 - 20, 2011
Hard to believe we are at year TEN already as the genre of salsa congress only began in 1997 with the inaugural congress held in San Juan. Of course, Chicago did not waste any time getting into the picture by 2002 and here we are with Congresses in every corner of the world! Kudos once again to the Chicago Intercultural Alliance and Executive Producers Rosita Ragan-Alamin (who even celebrated her birthday on the last day) and Saladeen Alamin for keeping the ball rolling!
WORKSHOPS
We had the usual, wonderful cast of instructors as well as a few new faces to choose from although it is difficult to take more than three workshops in a day and retain the information much less make it through the rest of the intense daily congress schedule. There are as many as five classes at a time which makes it difficult to choose especially when there are several favorites in the same slot. There was something to learn from everyone. The exposure to the divergent formats such as Luz Ayde's "salsa Cali style on one" and (crowd pleasers) Victor Burgos and Gaby Bernal's "salsa quebradita" is always of interest. Whether you wanted to brush up on ladies styling with Elaine Marrero and her 30 years of teaching experience (you can tell) or work on your spinning techniques with Zeke Ruvalcaba, it was all there for you.
PERFORMANCE SHOWCASES
Miguel Mendez once again entertained as MC also drafting B-96 radio morning drive personality J Niice to share duties with him on Friday afternoon. Niice is also a dance student of Mendez and was attending his first Salsa Congress which he appeared to be enjoying when I later encountered him in a workshop or two. Michael Santiago was master of ceremonies for the evening performances.
Andy Cruz and Zeke Ruvalcaba shared the production role this year for the afternoon showcases, with Ruvalcaba even creating many of the costumes. Maricza Valentin did a remarkable job running the evening performances once again. Rocky Quinones, who appeared with Samantha Montes, also worked on the choreography of many of the young performers. Even Gloria Farr, artistic director of the congress for the first six years and a proud 76, was present and got out and shimmied with Saladeen Alamin who was her dance partner for many years.
Sondeluz, the perennial favorites from Colombia tend to bring down the house with their specific style of breakneck speed salsa with additional steps incorporated although the footwork still enters and exits "on the one." The Sondeluz (Cali) Kids brought the most applause and were truly amazing to watch. When I took directrice Luz Ayde's workshop it was difficult to keep up with this completely different style of salsa which some referred to as a mixture of cha cha and boogaloo. I asked one member of their large group "Who does the choreography?" and he responded "I do." As I suspected, he stated that "you become skinny right away and lose ten pounds" because the foot work is so intense.
We also have practically watched dance champions Brandon Segovia and Serena Pav, now 18 and 17 respectively, grow up. They are really exciting dancers and wunderkind Segovia is not only extremely talented in other arenas such as guitar as he demonstrated, but when I spoke with Segovia after one of their performances, he told me that he is now also doing some of their choreography.
CHICAGO-MIDWEST SALSA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
The first round of the competition on Friday night was cancelled due to insufficient entrants (as well as Saturday). As some contestants had traveled quite a distance to enter, by Sunday night a few more contestants had been rounded up and consequently the competition proceeded with six couples. Locals Angel Martinez and Rachel Rodriguez won.
LIVE BANDS AND DANCING
It is a long day as workshops begin at 9:30 a.m. and the bands often do not come on stage until after midnight. The dancing usually continues until 3:00 a.m. Most salseros join the line at Starbucks by their second day! San Juan-Habana was featured in the opening night celebration and the dance performances were interspersed so people did not have to wait to salsa.
Friday night was the most packed of all for the highly anticipated Grupo Niche from Colombia and they did not disappoint. In fact, they commanded more attention than any other band with perhaps as many salseros watching transfixed as were dancing given Niche's laundry list of crowd pleasing hits of salsa and cumbia. Founding member Jairo Varela, who wrote most of the songs and basically owns the band's name, no longer performs as Niche seem to be more of a business these days with barely any of the original members still performing after some 30 years of storied history. If you weren't sure you knew their material, by the end of the evening I am sure you realized that you knew almost every song!
This was the third trip to the Chicago Congress for Sammy Garcia y Sabor de Puerto Rico (here in 2007 as a brand new line-up and back in 2008) as headliners on the typically well-attended Saturday night. Once again, conga artist Garcia led his 14 piece ensemble fronted by his high energy vocalists - Wilfredo, Joselito and Jesus - whose entertaining choreography puts the "show" back in show business as do their matching suits. Our very own Miguel Mendez' SalsaChicago Mambo All-Stars Orchestra (4th year performing at the CISC) kicked off the evening heating up the dancers and the dance floor for Sammy Garcia y Sabor de Puerto Rico.
Closing out the 2011 Chicago edition all too soon was another familiar face, Jose Alberto "El Canario," who was born in the Dominican Republic, moved to Puerto Rico at the age of seven and later on was part of the fledgling salsa scene in New York in the early 1970s. Alberto takes the frequency prize with his fourth appearance at the Chicago Congress this year as well as in 2003, 2004 and 2010 and his vocals and orquesta is always a crowd pleaser.
There was also an additional Tango Dance Party on Saturday night put on by Marco Mambelli and Ana Savitzky from GentleTango including a class and performance. Unfortunately one had to choose between the tango and Sammy Garcia y Sabor de Puerto Rico and salsa dancing in the Grand Ballroom taking place simultaneously proved to be too much competition. On top of this there was a nightly Bachata Room as well.
Well, it is great that the official Chicago International Salsa Congress has made it to year TEN and thankfully is now a permanent fixture on our calendar! Amazingly many of the performers, instructors and volunteers have been with us since the first year in 2002. Be sure to join us next year February 16-19, 2012 for another great salsa congress. Mark your calendars now!
Click here or on image above for pictures of the 2011 CISC!
