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Salsa Dancing News and Information in our first ever video podcast! That's right, we're joining the video bandwagon, and having fun doing it. 

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Massimo Scalici, Eurocuban Project, El Berna Jam - Ever heard of them?

Just a quick and meandering post for a Wednesday morning, but I wanted to share with you a couple of music videos and revelations from abroad, now that I'm (in theory) back…salsa dancing in Europe was great, but definitely more Cuban based…

What's different about salsa music in Central Europe? Well, the Remix is alive and well, far more than in any US club I've seen. This is true alll over Europe, the dancers are dancing to remixes of golden oldies, or their favorite songs, and a lot of them totally jam. Great salsa music that is really fun to dance to…

Let's start with a video from one of the "daddies" of the modern remix, who seems to be producing tons of amazing brand new dance floor magic (music), Massimo Scalici, "You". Strangely enough, I couldn find his website, but by googling the name, you get a ton of info.  I say modern remix because of course Ray Baretto, and the sixties and seventies funk era producted a ton of Latin funky style salsa, that covered a lot of pop tunes. Ray Baretto has "Pasttime Paradise", later made into Gangsta's Paradise, and both made into great salsa songs. This has been going on for quite a while!

Of course, as I mentioned in a previous post, Massimo Scalici is out of Italy!  I first heard him because of his cover of "Fragile", the Sting song that everyone wants the minute they hear.  This is a fantastic song, and has actually spawned many salsa versions (one of the best coming from the Buena Vista Social club album titled rhythms del mundo. You can find that on YouTube, but I'll actually choose a different selection:

Yet, it does get quite a bit crazier in clubs all over Europe. Some of it is so good!  Perhaps it's just that I hadn't heard any of this music played in clubs around here. Perhaps its' the fact that cuban style dancing is not the norm in most US cities and clubs. Anyway, check out this remix, a bit more edgy, and a bit more dance-mix crazy, I love it…El Berna Jam Rem of Get Busy:

They'll be more on SalsaCrazyEurope.com, Salsa Dance Europe, but that's for a future date. Perhaps you want to visit the blog, add yourself to the mailing list and RSS Feed (I'm sure you're already on the mailing list and RSS Feed of this blog, right? If not, you want to do that right away).

What do ya' think? Did you like this post? Want more? Leave a comment and let me know what ya' think, and what ya' want! 

Keep Dancing and Keep it Crazy….
SC

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Wow, what an epic tour of the Eastern Europe (darn, I mean central Europe). It was fairly amazing to see salsa over there, and in a later post, I'll share some of the many things I learned in my travels abroad. It's been six months of non stop travel, and I'm…done (for now). I'm ready to focus entirely on salsa, right here in the US, for at least the next few months!

What a perfect time to do it eh? Summer is right around the corner. The mammoth West Coast Salsa Congress is this month, and there is simply so much going on, it's mind boggling. So, as a recap for everyone, here's the top three things that are going on in the next few months.

1) We're launching our Advanced set of SalsaCrazy DVDs. After years of only taking students to an intermediate level, we're now taking you to the ends of the instructional salsa dance planet (and beyond), with our new SalsaCrazy Advanced Salsa Dance Mastery System.  Go ahead and get on the email list, these DVDs launch at the end of June!

2) We're about to unleash our next SalsaCrazy Cruise on the "let me take an amazing vacation" public. If you're a member of SalsaBootCamp.com, our online learn to salsa dance school, you'lll get first notice, but join our SalsaCrazy Salsa Dance Cruise email list, to be 2nd in line! This is a great cruise. The dates are set, January 25th, 2009, out of LA!

3) Yes, after all these travel, I've found that finding other dancers, and creating a community, is going to be a top priority for me in the coming months.  We currently are testing a fairly local (West Coast) social salsa dance community at, www.SalsaCrazySocial.com. It's a great way to meet new dancers, find dance partners, and keep up on current events!

Other Big News:

Do you attend salsa congresses, salsa festivals, salsa dance events all over the world? Check out our new site that has salsa dance events all over the world, in one place, www.SalsaCongress.com. It has all the festivals, congresses, and events, taking place over all the world, in one place, with all the info. We're just getting started, but I think it will be a great addition!

Local to the San Francisco Bay Area Salsa Dance Scene? Some hot stuff is going on. The SalsaCrazy San Francisco Bay Area Salsa Dance Event Calendar has it all, but here's a few tidbits: Yerba Buena Gardens has salsa at lunchtime on May 9th, In Los Angeles, Junior and Emily (rockin' SF salsa champions and friends) are at the San Diego Convention Center, Roccapulco has Orq. Guayacan on May 10th (Saturday), El Gran Combo is playing at Cocomo on May 10th, Jelly's has Karabali on May 11th… and so much more. It's all on the calendar, so check it out! 

Don't forget to sign up for Blog updates via email! That's right, sign up below to get blog updates via email, so you can always be on top of what's going on: 

There is so much to update everyone on, but it will have to wait. After all, I just got back!

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Ok, I'm going to share with you a secret you may not know. Salsa Dance in Rome is off the hook. I mean, it's simply amazing! Speaking at the Prague Salsa Festival to Pedro Gomez, he told me of the thriving Rome Salsa scene. Pedro, who was a nice guy I met having a latte in my Congress hotel, is quite a well known guy here (he's a bona fide salsa star), but when first meeting him, I had no idea who he was. Very nice, very down to Earth, a seriously nice guy.

So, in Rome, clubs on weekend would get thousands of people (yes, each and every week, thousands of dancers). While all the clubs are located outside of the center of the city, Salsa in Rome is plentiful, with options every single day of the week to fill your salsa dancing needs, and give you your salsa fix. The dancing is very big, with a strong On1/On2 population, joining alongside their massive cuban population.  Going to Italy latey? I also heard the same of Milan.

Also, the biggest tip of all, only for my SalsaCrazy SalsaNews readers, the best music is coming right out of Italy as well. That's right, salsa music out of Italy. I can't find these songs anywhere else, but I found a place online that sells some great compilations. This is such a salsa secret, since no DJs seem to share this info!

Now, I have ordered everyting this store has, but I have not recieved anything, so buyer beware! The store seems legit, but until I get my CDs, you may want to wait for my report.

http://www.cdonline.it

All their Latin music is fantastic.  There are some songs you simply can't find anywhere else (like the Sting Salsa song, Fragile, and others). This salsa music is just so good, it's mind boggling. Now, bear in mind, this is cutting edge stuff, so is NOT intended for the salsa purist. There can be rap, reggaeton, salsaton, fusion, etc…

But it's dance floor magic! It will burn the salsa dance floor of any club.

Rome, Spain (again), and yes, Greece, are all seriously on my salsa radar!

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Salsa Prague, Budpast and the start of Krakow

I felt I had to take a break from all this traveling, and salsa dancing, to at least briefly update my salsa crazy blog with word of my travels.  My apologies for not updating sooner, but things are crazy (crazy travel) and I’ve got tons of salsa dance tips, reviews, and city travel guides for you, for all of Eastern Europe.

After just arriving in Krakow, Poland, on the night train from an exhaustive day of sightseeing in Budapest (proceeded by, of course, a fantastic night of salsa dancing in Budapest), I’m now sitting at a most lavish Breakfast buffet at the Hotel Grodek. I can already tell you, this hotel is great (a must for those visiting Krakow).

Salsa Dancing through Eastern Europe has been amazing, and my full review of the Prague Salsa Festival is complete (and will be posted on http://www.SalsaCrazyEurope.com). It was an amazing salsa festival, and a beautiful, gorgeous, friendly city. In addition, Budapest was enormously fun, and even though my stay was brief (I may return), I was amazed to dance On2 the entire time in one club, and entirely Cuban style in another. Both had exceptionally good music (and yes, the full stories will be at SalsaCrazyEurope.com).

I’ve lined up some possible salsa dance venues for tonight in Krakow, and look forward to leisurely touring the beautiful old town cobblestone streets of Krakow later today. What an amazing city from what I’ve seen so far. I’ve heard people compare Krakow to the Prague of ten years ago, so we’ll see how that holds true. I must admit, on my brief walk through the city from the train station, it was both beautiful, and friendly.

What about the other things we’re working on. Well, we’re getting closer to launching our social, Facebook style site for all people, worldwide, whom are similarly SalsaCrazy! Go there now and post your salsa crazy profile, http://www.SalsaCrazySocial.com. Are you there yet?

Likewise, we are still putting the finishing touches on our incredible SalsaCrazy ADVANCED Salsa Dance Mastery System (a follow up to our bestselling Salsa Dance Mastery System). It’s so massively huge, and intricately detailed, its taking some time to put it together. There is simply nothing like this that has ever been done in the salsa world. We’re paving the road with a series of exceptional quality and depth, you’ll want to be in on the pre-notification list. Go there now and sign up!

Oh, and one last thing! We’re about to take the wraps off our next SalsaCrazy Cruise, so if you aren’t signed up on our notification list at http://www.SalsaCrazyCruise.com, you’ll want to go there now and signup. Now, as usual, all our SalsaBootCamp.com members, who are part of our SalsaCrazy Insider: Learn to Salsa Dance School, will be notified first, follow by everyone on the pre-notification list. We’ve got a big surprise for you on this cruise (huge actually), so I’m sure you’re going to love it. The dates? Save them now, January 18-25^th!

You can expect some more posts, and some more fun, coming soon! This is SalsaCrazy, roving Salsa Dance reporter, signing off from the Krakow, Poland…

P.S. Stay tuned, for the new look of SalsaCrazy.com, coming soon!

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